The Wandering of an Unstuck Stepbro: Multiverse Travel

Chapter 11: The return

(Ryoto's pov)

The dinner was awkward. Lala was lost in her thoughts the whole time, and everyone noticed it. I was the only one who knew why she was like that, though.

Mikan: "What did you do, Ryoto?"

Ryoto: "Why do you assume that it was me who did something."

Mikan: "Because I know you."

Ryoto: "You break my heart, Mikan."

Lala: "Hey Mikan, what kind of meaning have a kiss on the lips?"

Lala brought the attention of everyone at the table, Rito dropped a fork in his hand with a while face already red, and Mikan had an open mouth looking between Lala and me. I, on the other hand, was sitting calmly and continued eating.

Mikan massaged her nose bridge and looked at me with an annoyed look.

Mikan: "You kissed Lala?

Ryoto: "Yes."

Mikan: "And you didn't explain to her what it was?"

Ryoto: "It happened in the heat of the moment. I didn't know how to convey my feelings, and boom, the kiss happened."

Lala: "Don't be mad at Ryoto, Mikan. It was also me who kissed him back, but I just wanted to know the meaning of a kiss. Since we did it, my heart has been beating really fast, and it starts getting hot when I think about it. When I was younger, my sisters and I were kissed on the cheek a lot by mama, but it feels different this time."

Mikan: "*Sigh* Kiss on the lips is the simplest form of showing affection to your partner. There are different types of kisses, but the most known are peck on the lips and French kiss.

Lala: "French kiss?"

Mikan was starting to get red the same way as Rito was... okay, not the same as Rito. He was already out because of his delusions. Like a good brother, I'll help out my little sister.

Ryoto: "French kissing is when you put tongue inside your partner's mouth."

Lala: "You mean like what we did before?"

The air around us suddenly got a lot colder.

Mikan: "Ryo-to! Did you French kiss her?"

I wiped my mouth with a napkin, stood up, and drew in the air a straight line with my thumb.

Ryoto: "Yes, I did!"

Mikan: "Ryoto, are you serious about her?

Ryoto: "What do you mean?"

Mikan: "I don't want to see you repeat the same mistake twice. I know that you weren't serious about any girl you confessed to, so seeing you with Lala made me hope that it would change, that finally, you would open your heart to someone once again. Still, moving so fast with her makes me think that you are playing around just like before. So answer me, Ryoto, are you serious about Lala?"

Mikan was looking at me seriously, waiting for my answer. And Lala as well was patiently waiting for me. I took a few deep breaths a d opened my eyes.

Ryoto: "I'm not sure if I love her... I've never felt that before besides familial love. What I know, however, is that I care about her."

Mikan's stare softened as she smiled at me.

Mikan: "I see, that's good then."

She then stood up and dragged Rito by the feet to his room, and his head hits every step.

I looked at Lala, who had a worried look on her face until recently. But now, she was gazing at me with love.

Lala: "Ryoto, so you care about me~!"

Lala launched at me, hugging me by the neck. I just patted her head.

Ryoto: "Of course care about you. It's just that I felt like that I took advantage of your personality too much, so when you gave me these web-shooters, I felt incredibly guilty, but at the same time, a thought was born inside my brain, 'I'll make her happy, whatever it takes."

Lala: "You don't need to do anything! Whenever I am with you, it's fun. I can go to school where I have friends, and I experience a lot of new things every day!"

Ryoto: "We've known each other for five days..."

Lala: "And these were the best five days of my life!"

Lala tightens her grip on me. I started tapping her on the back a few times.

Ryoto: "Lala, I understand. You conveyed your feeling enough. Let me go for now, or you'll break my neck."

But Lala didn't loosen her hug.

Ryoto: "Hey Lala, Lala, Lalaaaa!"

That was the closest thing to death since my... you know, death.

---

Today Karen will return. I hope that the therapy helped her a bit... okay, I hope that treatment will mellow her down. I'm not M, so I don't find pleasure in her abuse.

__________

*PING*

'Karen' has returned. Because of the absence of a guidance system, the user couldn't complete any quests, so as compensation, the user will get a 'summoning scroll'. Please remember that summoned a creature or creatures will be completely random, but after it or they appear, it won't change unless you acquire or buy a new 'summoning scroll'.

Thank you for understanding and happy new life.

System.

__________

Wait, there's a lot to unpack here. So Karen was the one giving me a quest, but she wasn't the system itself but system guidance. What kind of power does she have. Does she only give me quests, or does she create them too? So many questions but so few answers, and the only o e that can answer me is Karen. So let's do just that.

'Hey, Karen?'

Karen: "Yes?"

'How are you feeling?'

Karen: "Well, for one week, I was talking about my feelings and why I was, and I quote 'an insufferable bitch'."

'What kind of therapist did you have?'

Karen: "I had plenty. The first one didn't last fifteen minutes with me. I didn't even do anything to him."

'Is he okay?'

Karen: "I don't know. The last time I saw him, he was going to a therapist."

'...'

'I'll ignore for now. The question is if it did help you.'

Karen: "You can say that. We figured out why I behaved in such a way, at least."

'Was it your beautiful personality?'

Karen: "That too, but when I was designated as system guidance, your negative emotions were filtered out through me. That's why you were so confident and didn't feel sad about dying or your whole situation in general."

'Does it mean I can't feel any negative emotions?'

Karen: "That's incorrect. You can still feel them. They are just enfeebled. If they exceed a certain limit, you will feel them.

'That's good to know. I wouldn't want to be emotionless. Well, not entirely apathetic but being human is about feeling both the good and the bad.

I have the last question, will you be nicer?'

Karen: "...I'll try."

'Hey!'

Karen: "What? How can you expect someone to change so suddenly? If you haven't noticed, I didn't insult even once since I came back."

'We're talking for a few minutes...'

Karen: "Baby steps."

Well, at least she'll attempt to be nicer. For now, let's focus on the summoning scroll.

'Karen, can I get the summoning scroll?'

Karen: "Sure."

The scroll appeared in my hand, and I used it immediately...

---

END

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