Once they were fully inside the living room, Yuki saw that the sofa was currently occupied by quite a few people.
The Mathers sisters, Sephie Michaela Deviluke, Tiayu Lunatique, Eve, Mea Kurosaki, Nemesis, and Kurumi's close friend Sawa Yamauchi were all gathered there.
The moment they laid eyes on Yuki, each of them grew visibly misty-eyed.
"Yuki! We've finally seen you again!"
"Wuu... we waited so long for you!"
"If Master hadn't come back soon, I would have thought you'd abandoned us!"
"Master... Eve missed you."
"Thank goodness... we're finally reunited!"
The women chimed in one after another, each expressing their longing for Yuki over these thirty years.
Seeing this, Yuki could understand the pain of their long wait and yearning. He walked over to them and took turns offering comfort to each one.
Kanade Tachibana, sitting beside Mio, watched this scene unfold. Her usually calm, expressionless face was struggling to maintain its composure. She looked at these women—each more beautiful than the last—with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.
It was hard to imagine so many stunning women all waiting for and being devoted to the same man.
Kotori, who had followed them in, was also finding it hard to keep her cool.
She secretly sized up each woman, mentally evaluating their levels of beauty.
After a quick assessment, Kotori had to admit they were all extraordinarily beautiful. Each one was a formidable rival.
This made the urgency of solidifying her own position in her brother's heart even more pressing for Kotori.
However, when she noticed Origami Tobiichi's completely unfazed expression beside her, a question arose.
Why did Origami seem so unaffected? Didn't she feel even a ripple seeing so many beauties vying for Yuki's affection?
Burning with curiosity, Kotori quietly sidled up to Origami.
"Seeing a scene like this... don't you have any thoughts about it?" Kotori whispered into Origami's ear.
Origami turned her head slowly and replied in her usual flat tone, "No. Because I already knew."
"Huh?! Oh... I see!" Kotori was momentarily stunned by the answer, but then she remembered something.
She recalled that when Origami first met Yuki, it was during the accident involving her parents.
At that time, when her parents were hanging by a thread and all the doctors were at a loss, Yuki's appearance had brought her hope. And later, the ones who saved her parents were Tiayu and the others.
Tiayu, a genius scientist in cosmic bio-engineering, found saving Origami's critically injured parents as easy as pie.
Back then, after Tiayu and the others took Origami's parents in, a simple scan with one of her invented medical devices instantly cured them. It was also during that time that Origami got to know Tiayu and the rest.
Later, after obtaining a Spirit Crystal and seeking out Mio to become a Spirit, she also met Kurumi and the others. So, all the women sitting here now were already known to Origami.
After comforting the women, Yuki introduced the others to Kotori.
Once Kotori had met everyone, she had a basic understanding. Her gaze swept over Sephie and the others, curiosity burning within her.
Thanks to each of them possessing Mind Stones, Sephie and the others could easily sense Kotori's bewildered thoughts.
"Kotori-chan is wondering why we aliens look so similar to humans, right?"
"To be honest, we aren't entirely sure ourselves. But in the universe, there are indeed many alien races whose forms are nearly identical to humans," Sephie explained with a gentle smile, looking at Kotori.
Seeing that her thoughts had been guessed, Kotori's expression turned to one of astonishment.
"My, my! What an adorable little sister!" Kurumi, standing to the side, smiled brightly upon seeing Kotori's surprised face.
Naturally, as a fellow Spirit, Kurumi paid special attention to Kotori. After all, if you ranked the converted Spirits, Kurumi could be considered the first Spirit after Mio, the big sister among them.
"We all have something called Infinity Gems, given to us by Yuki. One of them is called the Mind Stone."
"As the name suggests, its functions include reading minds, controlling minds, and so on," Kurumi explained to Kotori with a smile.
Hearing this, Kotori's face instantly changed.
"This... this means whatever I think can be known?!"
Realizing the frightening nature of such a thing, Kotori grew extremely tense.
"Of course!"
"But we don't have to worry."
"Because each of us has an Infinity Gem from Yuki, it protects us from being affected."
"As for you, Kotori-chan... why hasn't Yuki equipped you with one? That's a question you'll have to ask him~" Kurumi said with a brilliantly mischievous smile, even pulling out the necklace around her neck as she spoke.
The exquisite necklace was set with six gems of different colors. Each one sparkled under the light, almost dazzling Kotori's eyes as if showing off...
And Kurumi's final words undoubtedly threw the problem right into Yuki's lap.
Leaving Yuki momentarily speechless.
"San-chan, looks like you're asking for a tickle!" Yuki quickly scooped Kurumi up, gently placing her on his lap, and began lightly pinching and teasing her devilishly charming cheeks.
"Mmmph~ I was wrong! I'm sorry! Have mercy~" Kurumi's soft body wriggled playfully in his arms as she begged for forgiveness in a coquettish whimper.
"Sigh, Kurumi, you're how old now? Still playing like this," Sawa, watching from the side, couldn't help but tease her close friend.
After lightly admonishing the mischievous Kurumi, Yuki turned to Kotori and said, "Sorry, Kotori, I overlooked that."
"It's okay, I don't blame you, Onii-chan," Kotori shook her head, indicating it was fine.
Seeing this, Yuki promptly recreated three new sets of Infinity Gems.
He then handed them to Kotori, Origami, and Kanade.
As for the form—whether a necklace or a bracelet—he let them choose for themselves. In the end, all three unanimously chose necklaces, though the styles of each were slightly different.
After finishing this, Yuki chatted with everyone about other matters.
Ellen and the others began recounting their recent trip into space, where they witnessed a war between two alien races. The topic of interstellar warfare piqued even Kotori's interest, and she listened with rapt attention as Ellen described the course of the conflict.
They were still deep in conversation when dinnertime arrived. Even at the dinner table, Ellen continued her story, now detailing how she had intervened in someone else's war. She boasted about her great achievements, like how she'd sliced through entire planets with a single stroke of her sword.
After dinner, Mio went to arrange rooms for Ellen and the others.
Yuki returned to his own room, telling Kotori and the others they were free to chat with Eve and the rest.
However, when Yuki entered his room, he found a figure on his bed who definitely shouldn't have been there.
Kurumi, clad in black lace lingerie, sat on the edge, smiling coyly at him as he walked in.
"San-chan, this is...?"
"My, my, Yuki-kun, you're so naughty! Must you really make me say it out loud myself?"
Kurumi's eyes held a seductive glint as she cooed the playful reprimand.
Hearing this, a faint, knowing smile touched Yuki's lips.
He slowly closed the door and began walking, step by step, towards Kurumi.
Seeing that this long-awaited moment had finally arrived, Kurumi's expression showed a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
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