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This was a room awash in soft pink, an atmosphere filled with girlish charm.
After stepping inside and seeing the plush Guatai decorations and racks of adorable, pastel-themed outfits, Misaka Mikoto let out a surprised squeal. Her eyes sparkled as she sprinted across the room and dove onto the oversized bed covered with Guatai plushies, her face overwhelmed with disbelief—like she had stumbled into a dreamland. Her expression bordered on a dazed dementia-like bliss.
It wasn't until Shen He cleared her throat lightly that Mikoto jolted upright like a startled rabbit. Noticing Shen He's amused smile, her face turned a deeper shade of red, almost crimson.
"I-I just… I wasn't…" she stammered, fidgeting with her fingers.
She babbled for a while, unable to come up with any logical excuse for her impulsive display.
If her face had been pink before, it now matched the red of a ripe apple.
"What's there to explain?" Shen He chuckled gently and walked over, reaching out to ruffle Mikoto's hair with affection. "These are normal girl interests. We're like family now. In my heart, you're like a younger sister. There's no need to hide what you like. Just tell me openly."
"…This… It's kind of embarrassing," Mikoto muttered under her breath, her fingers brushing against her chest without realizing it.
She remembered Shen He's words back then—'This isn't me helping you. It's you helping me.' But the truth was, Shen He had acted without hesitation, forcefully pulling her out of the depths of despair.
If I had an older sibling, they'd probably be like this, she thought, unable to stop the warm surge in her chest.
"But seriously," Shen He tilted her head playfully, watching Mikoto's unexpectedly meek behavior with amusement, "Mikoto, you're in junior high now. As your 'Master,' I'm kind of worried. If you keep acting like this, when will you ever find a boyfriend?"
"…"
The calm that had just returned to Misaka Mikoto's expression vanished in a heartbeat. Her face exploded with embarrassment and rage. Without a word, she raised her fist and delivered a solid punch into Shen He's abdomen, sending her staggering toward the doorway.
"I don't want a brother like you—!" Mikoto screamed as she slammed the door shut with a resounding bang.
Outside the door, Shen He rubbed her stomach with a wry smile. Brother, huh? she mused to herself, the corners of her mouth still curled upward. Indeed, the tsundere Sister Pao was endlessly amusing.
But she forgot to mention—this room's layout was an exact replica of Misaka Mikoto Alter's room.
Despite their stark personality differences, the two Misakas shared surprisingly similar tastes.
On another side of the castle, Party Leader was indifferent to room decorations. He only needed a bed. However, Lelouch approached Shen He with a request.
"Master, I'd like to prepare a room for Nunnally."
"No problem," Shen He said, patting his shoulder. "Once Dr. Gutai's infirmary is fully set up, we'll head to your world and bring Nunnally over for treatment. Think about what you'll need to make her comfortable."
"I understand." Lelouch nodded solemnly.
After surviving a multiversal war, Lelouch found that even the mighty Britannian Empire no longer seemed daunting. He could ask Shen He for help at any time, and vengeance would be delivered swiftly.
But these days, his focus was shifting—more toward protecting his sister, Nunnally. Revenge remained important, but it was no longer everything.
Shen He remained busy, managing the virtual castle's interior logistics. Later, she returned with a stockpile of supplies—food, clothing, cooking gear—and prepared an extravagant banquet.
It was their celebration for completing the Demon-Forbidden Instance Activity.
After the feast, Shen He enjoyed a long soak in the castle's hot spring with Jeanne d'Arc, then chose to rest in the virtual castle overnight.
She didn't return that evening.
Back in the Marvel World, Coulson was beginning to worry.
"Mr. Stark," he said, contacting Tony directly, "Sir hasn't returned all day. Do you have any data indicating his return?"
"Really?" Tony frowned, rubbing his eyes. "Let me check."
Though already resting, Tony noticed the tension in Coulson's voice over the video call and got up again. Several areas of Shen He's base were equipped with Jarvis terminal projections—a system she had requested. It made it easy to track her activity.
"He did return earlier tonight," Tony reported after scanning data logs. "He took a lot of food, his personal gear, and even that prized cooking set of his... but there's no record of him leaving again. Unless he used teleportation, which is likely, he probably shifted to another world. Nothing we can do but wait."
He sighed, but his brows were furrowed.
Tony wasn't afraid Shen He had abandoned them—he trusted her more than that. What concerned him was the risk of something happening during her multiverse travel. Getting trapped, attacked, or worse...
And if disaster struck their world while she was gone, they'd be left to handle it on their own.
To be blunt, Tony didn't believe they could.
Whether it was alien threats or the apocalyptic warnings Shen He had mentioned—events so serious that Chaldea deemed it necessary to intervene—Tony knew he was outmatched.
If he truly believed he could handle such threats alone, he never would've joined Chaldea. That wasn't something the prideful Iron Man would've done lightly.
"Mr. Stark," Coulson spoke again after a pause, "Fury used to remind us: we can't depend on the 'unknown' to save the world. Shen He might be trustworthy, but Chaldea as a whole remains a mystery."
And that mystery deeply unsettled Coulson.
It had been acceptable when Shen He left for just an hour daily.
But now, involved in multiversal conflicts, she was staying away longer—entire nights, even days—with no communication. If that became a regular pattern, what would happen if Earth faced another world-ending threat?
"Back when you were still S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony said, spreading his hands, "you were also an 'unknown' to the public. Did that stop you from acting when the world needed saving?"
"If I could, I'd hack into Chaldea the way I once hacked S.H.I.E.L.D.," he added with a wry grin, "but clearly, that's impossible."
Ever since Shen He had shown him footage of her battles across worlds, Tony had felt a heavy sense of inadequacy.
He had always taken pride in his intellect and wealth—believed those things could change the world.
But when compared to Shen He, whose every action rippled across dimensions, all he had done was take down terrorists and rescue civilians. Chaldea was out there rewriting the fate of worlds.
"Mr. Stark," Coulson said firmly, "I think it's time you had a serious talk with Shen He."
He didn't elaborate, but Tony understood perfectly.
They needed answers.
And Shen He's sudden, prolonged disappearance? It was the perfect justification to start that conversation. They needed her to understand their fears—and they needed her transparency now more than ever.
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