The door lock of a mere hot spring inn was as good as nonexistent to a professional thief.
Unlike Phinks, who had to sneak into Machi’s room to avoid being seen, Shalnark had already spoken to Machi. He openly picked the lock on her door and entered her room, feeling a moment of pride for his lock-picking skills, which surpassed 99% of his peers worldwide.
After they finished last night, as Machi was dressing to return to her own room, Shalnark told her the boss’s next decision: they had to return to the ruins to check the submerged area at the end of one of the branching paths. This meant preparing the necessary equipment for diving.
Shalnark was responsible for purchasing, and Machi for transport.
As for the departure time…
“No need for an alarm. I’ll wake you up,” Shalnark said, tying the knot on the back of her yukata’s obi. The lingering warmth in the room made him want to untie the knot again and fall asleep holding her soft, fragrant body. Unfortunately, Machi had explicitly told Shalnark that she wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly if someone was sleeping next to her.
Well, if his bedmate couldn’t sleep soundly, it would also affect Shalnark’s own sleep. Forcing them to sleep together would be beneficial to neither.
Since he couldn’t experience the process, could he at least experience the wake-up call? Shalnark had never seen Machi just after she woke up.
Machi’s heart was like a completely sealed black box. No matter how close they were physically, he couldn’t touch the box – her expression was always indifferent.
The abnormal resonance from the Nen ability’s power had vibrated through her spirit, and she would slip away, giving him no chance to find a weakness.
Perhaps he could try a different approach?
Machi’s alertness was as she herself had stated. As Shalnark, whose presence was concealed, was about to touch her blanket, she woke up. She pulled the blanket down, and only then did Shalnark see her face.
“So, you like to sleep with your head covered,” Shalnark said, his smile as bright as the sun outside the window. “Good morning, Machi.”
He rested one hand on the pillow, while the other brushed away the hair covering her eyes. He leaned in, wanting to give her a good morning kiss.
Machi’s palm blocked her face, preventing the kiss.
Shalnark knew that Machi wasn’t keen on kissing unless she intended to be intimate. She likely saw kissing as just a common part of lovemaking, like fulfilling a task requirement. At other times, she seemed somewhat resistant to kissing.
This made him want to kiss her even more, to touch her boundaries, and then cross them, or… break them.
But Machi’s defenses were truly high.
“Let me kiss you just once. I like you so much,” Shalnark said, advancing by retreating. “Then, how about a kiss on the cheek?”
The result was still a refusal. Machi stated that she hadn’t washed her face yet.
Oh, this young lady’s潔癖 (jiketsu, cleanliness obsession) was indeed severe, especially towards herself, stricter than towards people she was intimate with. She had to shower before anything, and even if Shalnark didn’t mind that she hadn’t, she was firm in her stance.
Generally, such an abnormal situation of being strict with oneself and lenient with others was a sign of lack of self-confidence.
…Lack of confidence?
As a man who had seen every inch of Machi’s body, Shalnark didn’t believe there was any part of her that shouldn’t be confident about. Her proportions were perfect, her skin was delicate, and she had none of the scars that girls often worried about. She was so flawless it was breathtaking.
Her pale complexion? That couldn’t be considered a flaw, could it? Did she think her breasts weren’t full enough? Shalnark couldn’t help but recall the sensation. No, that was getting off track. This seemed to have little to do with her “cleanliness obsession.”
She had been blindfolded for most of last night. The design of her yukata collar was perfect for reaching inside from behind. Thinking about it, Shalnark felt a stir of desire to confirm Machi’s body with his own eyes. Machi, with a toothbrush in her mouth, twisted his wrist, forcing him to wisely surrender immediately.
Machi was extremely rigid when it came to following certain rules. Shalnark gave up on untying her yukata and instead put his hand inside her clothes. She meticulously brushed her teeth for a full three minutes, and then washed her face.
While she was brushing her teeth, Shalnark picked her up. After she washed her face and was carried back to bed, her eyes widened slightly, looking somewhat surprised.
“Oh, you underestimated me after all,” Shalnark said with a smile, placing his hand on the collar of his sleeveless jacket. “Machi, you didn’t know, did you? After a good night’s sleep, I’m re-en-er-gi-zed.”
“…”
Machi wasn’t sure if Shalnark was exaggerating, but the important thing was whether the ligature marks left by Kaito’s Nen threads had completely faded. There was also the bite Phinks had given her thigh; that tooth mark was much deeper than Kaito’s Nen thread marks. An ordinary person might confuse tooth marks from different people, but Shalnark, being a “Spider Brain,” might notice that Phinks’s tooth marks were different from his.
No, he very likely would notice. Because the force Phinks had used to bite was different from Shalnark’s, the depth and color of the tooth marks would be different.
And the most important point: being overly accommodating would likely lead to annoyance.
“…” She never wanted to be abandoned again.
Before being abandoned by others, she had to abandon them first.
Death, too. It was better to die before her living family.
Keep the world for yourselves. I don’t need it.
Machi produced paper and a pen in her hand, and showed the written content to Shalnark: She didn’t want to spend more time bathing and should prioritize the mission assigned by the boss.
Persuading Shalnark with troupe matters was indeed effective. The loyalty of these true “Spiders” to the Troupe was incredibly baffling. Thinking back to last night, Phinks had even taken off his clothes, but when the boss called, he immediately put them back on and reported to the boss.
Chrollo truly valued the Troupe as his most important possession, and it was worth it.
“But there’s still time for just one round,” Shalnark said, having taken off his jacket. “Come on, Machi, I’ll be quick.”
Not worth it. The Troupe was indeed nearing its end.
But what did that have to do with her?
She was a “player,” and they were NPC paper figures. Their species and worldviews were fundamentally different.
Happiness was an illusion. In the “real world,” kissing was exchanging saliva, and sex was worse than excretion, utterly terrible. Therefore, happiness was the least real thing.
Machi yanked off the wet underwear Shalnark had dislodged and, along with a pack of tissues that appeared out of nowhere, threw them into his arms. Then, she rolled out of bed and closed the bedroom door, blocking Shalnark’s view.
“?!” Shalnark stood in place, smiling somewhat helplessly. “I was just joking. You don’t have to do this.”
But…
She clearly had feelings. Why resist?
The optimal choice, balanced between doing too much and not doing enough, was difficult to grasp.
After putting on his jacket, when Machi reopened the bedroom door, she had already changed her clothes and tidied her hair. Shalnark reached out to give her a hug, but she raised her hand to cover her nose and dodged sideways.
The next second, Shalnark understood what she was avoiding.
“I didn’t do anything! I was just joking before,” Shalnark said, spreading his hands. “Why don’t you smell me?”
“…” Machi shook her head like a rattle drum.
Oh, right. Although Shalnark hadn’t touched himself, these hands had touched her before, so they definitely needed washing.
Realizing this, Shalnark obediently washed his hands and then stepped out of the hot spring inn with Machi onto the street.
Unlike the collective activities of the Troupe, the occasion of them being together could be more intimate. Thus, Shalnark put his arm around Machi’s waist, entering the conventional couple mode with great openness.
Women with strong abilities were either cold or fiery. It was rare to find someone like Machi, who was willing to be delicate and dependent. Shalnark guessed that she might have had some past trauma, which led to her gentle personality, her efforts to shrink herself to avoid harm. As long as her boundaries weren’t touched, she would be very docile, even weak, appearing easy to bully.
Shalnark could feel her body stiffen slightly. She wasn’t yet accustomed to him putting his arm around her waist, but she was trying to suppress her discomfort.
Just like the issue with her “cleanliness obsession,” she easily prioritized the other person’s feelings over her own.
…She really made me want to keep bullying her.
No, he had to be careful. If he went too far, she would hit him.
Come to think of it, Machi’s waist was very soft, and her hair was also soft. Holding her felt like hugging a ball of cotton candy.
Shalnark suddenly lowered his head and pecked her cheek. She sensitively recoiled her shoulders, like a fragile herbivore.
Mmm, so sweet. Bullying her just a little like this was very interesting.
If only he could attach an antenna to her, making her unable to resist what she wanted to resist in bed… It was best not to do that, as he would be beaten to death afterward.
To curb this itch, Shalnark pretended to organize his thoughts and spoke as if to himself about the items they needed to purchase.
The cotton candy in his arm was clearly distracted, gazing at the scenery on both sides of the street. When she stopped, Shalnark followed her gaze to the end, which was a noodle shop.
Shalnark’s private life was随心所欲 (suíxīnsuǒyù, doing as one pleases). When immersed in his hobbies, he would stay up day and night, only eating or ordering takeout when he was starving, and his eating habits were often irregular. At this moment, he remembered that it was currently breakfast time.
Judging by the seriousness with which his dear Miss Cotton Candy brushed her teeth, her meal times were probably very regular.
Even her personality was rigidly conventional, twisted as it was. The educator of Miss Cotton Candy must have been extremely controlling.
That educator was probably dead?
Otherwise, Miss Cotton Candy wouldn’t be here.
If he were to put himself in the shoes of that controlling educator, it wouldn’t just be her mind, but also her body that he wouldn’t let go of. How could he tolerate Miss Cotton Candy being tasted by others?
Even with his strong controlling nature, that educator hadn’t completely eradicated Miss Cotton Candy’s resistance, which was quite a perverse taste. One could imagine that Miss Cotton Candy’s first experience might have been under his control, where that educator meticulously consumed her, making her subsequent coping strategy in bed lean towards escape.
In that case, attaching an antenna to Miss Cotton Candy and doing various things to her was out of the question; he would definitely be beaten to death afterward.
Although it was a pity that she had been “taken” first, Miss Cotton Candy still had a lot of room for future development. He could teach her all sorts of things her predecessors hadn’t, reshaping her and still achieving a considerable sense of accomplishment.
“Are you hungry?” Shalnark stopped and lowered his head.
“…” The cotton candy in his arms raised her head, her large, innocent azure eyes as pure as glass beads.
He couldn’t read her specific emotions. Since there was no intention of denial, it meant consent.
“Then let’s fill our stomachs first,” Shalnark added, explaining his revised plan to put her at ease. “It’s okay, we have plenty of time. We just need to get it done before noon.”
Special Beef Noodles, a dish made with noodles, beef, shiitake mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, cabbage, scallions, chives, and eggs as the main ingredients.
After ordering and finding a seat in the shop, Machi’s attention remained on the television hanging on the wall. She had been paying attention to the TV screen since they entered the shop.
“‘Tom and”
“No need to help. We’re completely fine on our end,” Shalnark said.
“You’re not alone?”
“Yes, Machi is with me.”
Marumo was recounting: “I begged him to give her up, but he wouldn’t listen to my advice.”
“No wonder… you’re not attending to business.” Phinks, who enjoyed torture and interrogation, was incredibly sensitive to the details of his target. Even though Shalnark covered the microphone, Phinks could vaguely hear the ambient sounds. “At a dining place? ‘As soon as possible’? How leisurely. Are you putting the Troupe second because of a woman, Shalnark?”
“I will complete the mission assigned by the boss on time,” Shalnark said, his momentarily serious face returning to a gentle smile. “As for how I complete it, that’s my freedom.”
The members of the Phantom Troupe each had their own personalities. The reason they could form a group was based on the unspoken consensus of not interfering too much in each other’s affairs.
“I hate lies,” Phinks said, emphasizing each word. “Even from you.”
On the television, Tom, in order to defeat his love rival and pursue White Cat, signed a contract to sell himself without regard for the consequences, using it to buy more expensive luxury goods to please White Cat. However, Tom failed and became dejected, drinking heavily every day.
“I’ll remember that,” Shalnark said, and the call ended.
Marumo’s voice became mournful: “That’s the whole story. The story of a sad cat.”
While Shalnark was on the phone, Machi kept her head down, eating her noodles with small, focused bites, her fluffy hair always facing Shalnark.
It was too distracting.
Shalnark couldn’t help but reach out. Machi quickly looked up at his unexpected approach. Shalnark couldn’t touch her hair, so he pinched her chubby cheeks full of food instead.
“You’re cute even when you’re a little chubby like this, Machi,” Shalnark said with a smile.
“…” Machi raised her hand, the one not holding chopsticks, and pinched Shalnark’s cheeks.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch! Be gentle, be gentle,” Shalnark said exaggeratedly, putting on a pained expression, as if he were being severely bullied, almost about to cry.
“What a shame,” the narrator on TV sighed. “He never got a girl as good as my girlfriend.”
“…” Machi picked up a slice of beef and offered it to Shalnark’s mouth.
It seemed like comfort.
So thoughtful. Machi is such a good girl.
Would she still miss being controlled? Habits are hard to break.
Phinks hated lies, and Shalnark hated following in the footsteps of his predecessors. That guy’s Nen was most likely of the Manipulation type. Wars of Manipulation where the first to arrive wins were zero-sum games, and their compatibility was naturally poor.
Let’s be willful for now. Don’t be a good girl taught by your predecessors anymore, Machi.
That way, when you’re caught in the spiderweb, your struggles will be all the more captivating.
“Ah—” Shalnark opened his mouth and ate it with a full smile.
There were risks, of course. Machi’s strength was superior to his, and she could slip from his control at any time.
But…
“We love each other deeply, and she loves only me,” the narrator on TV said, taking out a photo of his girlfriend and kissing it sweetly. “I will never experience heartbreak.”
Shalnark unnoticeably curled his trembling fingers.
It would be very exciting, wouldn’t it?