Anime Multiverse: Building a Pantheon from Scratch

Hearing Luo Shu's greeting, Tsubakihara Mira quickly recovered from her daze. With a smile so elegant that not even Luo Shu could find fault with it, she nodded and returned the greeting. "Good morning, Luo Shu-kun. Did you sleep well last night?"

Carrying her handbag with graceful composure, her expression was curious, as if subtly probing for something.

"Me? Slept like a baby till morning," Luo Shu replied casually. It was technically true—even if that sleep only came after his abilities evolved. He added the clarification silently in his heart, then lifted his gaze to meet Mira's and suddenly realized—he could now sense the emotion behind her eyes.

'Huh? I can even feel what others are feeling now?' He was a bit surprised by his newfound perceptiveness, but didn't dwell on it long. He turned slightly and said warmly, "You've been standing out there for a while. Come in and sit down."

"Then… I'll be intruding." Mira smiled with just the right amount of hesitation, taking small, graceful steps into the apartment.

—

Meanwhile, not far away, inside a hotel suite, Nishikigi Chisato let out a loud, delighted "Oh!!" as she peered through a telescope, a cookie stick dangling from her mouth.

"What's going on?" Inoue Takina, who had been dozing in the corner wrapped in a blanket, shot to her feet. She rushed over to the sniper rifle and peered through the scope toward Luo Shu's apartment.

What she saw was the tail end of Luo Shu and Tsubakihara Mira entering his room together.

Takina's mind instantly filled with a cascade of: ????

At that moment, Chisato exclaimed excitedly, "Impressive, Luo Shu! He got her into his room after just one day? Could it be that our café's only handsome guy is about to be claimed by a curvy, high-society ojou-sama?"

Hearing Chisato's teasing tone, Takina—who had thought there was a threat or enemy attack—felt a different kind of tension rise in her chest.

Her fists clenched. Literally.

"Chisato!!" Takina growled, gritting her teeth and glaring daggers at her companion.

Chisato tilted her head innocently, blinking at Takina's fiery gaze. "Eh? You're awake? Want me to order breakfast for you?"

"No need." Takina straightened, walked over to a chair, and took a bite of the cookie stick herself. She asked calmly while chewing, "Nothing happened during the latter half of the night?"

Chisato shook her head. "Nope. Whether it was us, security upstairs, or any possible threats—nobody moved."

"I see…" Takina rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Could it be the Demon Hunter's Hound never reported back? Or maybe that jewellery store clerk didn't include any information about this place in the files she handed over…"

"It's too bad the Director's memory-retrieval device only works on the dead. Otherwise, we wouldn't be this blind right now."

"Want some coffee?" Chisato held up a cold can from beside her.

"No thanks." Takina paused, then added, "Let's switch shifts. I'll take over for now. If anything happens, I'll let you know."

"Sure~" Chisato gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Don't stress out too much, Takina. Believe in Luo Shu-kun. He'll get the job done."

"…But he's still just a rookie," Takina replied, a bit exasperated. Only Chisato would trust an untrained newcomer this much.

"Yeah, but Luo Shu-kun's a genius~" Chisato grinned and leaped onto the nearby bed. "Ahhh, I'm so tired. This time I'm definitely sleeping in."

"…" Takina gave her a silent, unimpressed look before lying down prone behind the sniper rifle, peering once again through the scope and resuming her surveillance.

—

"Sorry, I don't have any guest slippers—only men's indoor ones. Hope you don't mind."

Japan's practice of separating indoor and outdoor shoes was strict. After moving here, Luo Shu had adapted to the custom easily. His hometown had similar habits, though there, shoes were kept outside the door, whereas here they were left in the genkan inside.

He grabbed a pair of checkered slippers and placed them upside-down in front of Mira to make them easier to step into, then headed toward the living room.

Mira glanced down at the men's slippers thoughtfully, then slipped off her heels and put them on before walking inside.

"Hm?"

As she entered the room, she noticed the uncleaned instant noodles and empty glasses on the glass table. She blinked, surprised.

Realizing the oversight, Luo Shu quickly glanced at the mess and let out an awkward laugh. "Ah… Sorry. Typical single guy—bit of a slob."

"Oh, I see." Mira chuckled and walked over to the sofa, where she spotted his school uniform jacket tossed casually over the backrest. She stared at it for a second, then looked at Luo Shu's still-wrinkled suit and couldn't help but giggle. "Don't tell me… you slept in that?"

"Uh…" Luo Shu scratched his cheek, looking a bit sheepish. He hurried to gather the clothes from the floor, tossed them into the laundry machine, then fetched a cloth from the kitchen to wipe down the table and clean up the empty containers.

"Sorry about the mess," he said again.

Mira stifled her laughter, teasing gently, "Maybe you should consider getting a girlfriend."

Luo Shu paused at that and gave it serious thought before shaking his head. "…I don't think I'm ready to be responsible for someone else's life."

"…Hmm? Luo Shu-kun, you're more serious than I expected." Mira gave him a surprised look, clearly not expecting such a heartfelt response to what was meant as a lighthearted joke.

After clearing everything, Luo Shu considered brewing some tea, but hesitated—his cheap variety might not suit Mira's taste. Slowing his pace, he asked, "I have black tea and coffee. Which would you prefer?"

To his surprise, Mira smiled and replied, "Just hot water is fine for me."

"Hot water, huh…"

Luo Shu headed over to the thermos. He found it still half-full with water he'd boiled the previous morning and was about to dump it out when Mira added, "As long as the water in a thermos is less than three days old, it's perfectly fine."

Luo Shu blinked and showed a somewhat complicated expression. He sighed, then fetched two clean cups, poured the water, and sat down, handing one to Mira.

"By the way, what brings you here so early?" he asked.

"There's actually something I wanted to give you." Mira opened her handbag and pulled out a sheet of paper, rotating it toward him and handing it over. "This is the document I asked the lawyer to prepare yesterday. It just arrived."

Luo Shu looked down at the paper. His eyes immediately caught the title at the top:

[Real Estate Ownership Transfer Agreement]