Chapter 48 - Unforeseen Metamorphosis

Ever since Aoi came into my life I have been exposed into so many things, things that in the end change the way I perceive this world.

While most of the time I calmly accept those changes, this one...is just too bizarre for me (and even others) to stay calm.

"What in the world...has happened here?" Saku widened his eyes instantly the moment he entered our room.

"..."

Aoi however, didn't replied as she looked down the floor, shaking her head lightly.

"Brother Ren..."

Saki on the other hand looked at the scene with great worry more than shock, as she pulled her brother's hand vigorously, telling him to quickly get the ladder.

Obviously enough, the reason the siblings are frantic right now is because of me.

They told us that after they heard a somewhat loud 'bang' coming from upstairs, which made the customers of the inn currently having their breakfast downstairs to be startled. Saku and Saki then intuitively deduced where the sound came from, and they hurriedly went to our room.

Upon entering, they shrieked in horror as they saw me hanging above them, with my head stuck in the hole I made on the ceiling.

"Ehhh...I'm okay, guys. It's just that I've been stuck in here for a while now," I gave them a guarantee that I'm still alive and kicking, and there's no need for them to panic that much.

Yes, I literally kicked my legs back and forth to show to them that I'm really okay, and to try if I could unstuck my head from the ceiling.

"U-Uh, okay," Saki answered. "But hang in there Brother Ren, we'll get you out of there as soon as possible!"

"P-Please do," I replied.

So...how did I end up stuck on the ceiling? It happened a few minutes ago after I just woke up:

*

"So, I could feel and move my legs again? What a relief..."

After letting out a big yawn as I was still lying down on the bed, I immediately noticed that my lower body that became paralyzed last night has already recovered.

"Though I may not have died last night, I don't want to be a cripple all my life instead..."

Getting up, I noticed another thing in my body.

"For some reason, my body...feels so strangely refreshed."

No tension, no fatigue, no pain whatsoever. Just like a healthy, newborn child, my body felt so incredibly light.

Is it because of the changes in my sleeping routine after I met Aoi? Surely enough, having a very cute little sister to sleep beside with every night is truly a bliss, but experiencing a sensation of this level is a first for me.

"Or is it because I lost muscle mass without me noticing...?"

No, that would be impossible. Compared to my lifestyle back in my world, my current lifestyle requires more physical labor, I get to eat more vegetables than before, and I think my growth spurt haven't stopped yet. If the reason why my body felt so strange out of the blue is because my body deteriorated instead, there's something wrong happening in me certainly.

Well, there's only one way to find out.

After doing some light stretches, I did a series of exercises without minding the proper sequence in which they are supposed to be executed: push-ups, curl-ups, squats and a few more.

Yeah, it's really strange I could finally do 100, or even 200 of each without taking a pause in between.

"...Fuwaaaaaaaa~ Good morning, big brother..."

Maybe because of the noise, that Aoi woke up.

"Ah, good morning Aoi," I greeted her in return. "Sorry for interrupting your sleep."

Aoi's unkempt, long blue hair swayed lightly as she shook her head.

"...What are you doing, big brother...?"

"Me? Oh, I'm just checking if there's changes in my body that happened recently," I replied.

"...Changes...like, growing up?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Saying that, Aoi's face turned into a frown.

"What's wrong?"

"...Just now I realized again, big brother, I haven't grown up all this time," Aoi replied bitterly.

Not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally, she added. She thought, if her body would be that of a child forever, why would she bother thinking and acting like an a.d.u.l.t?

Still, it doesn't mean that she would give up that easily.

"Ah! I haven't told you about this but in our place, every New Year's eve children would hop a few times as soon as midnight strikes. The elders say that by doing so, it'll help them grow faster, though I'm not that kind of person to believe such supersti--"

"...But I don't want to wait until New Year or midnight!" Aoi protested. "Let's do it right away, big brother!"

Aoi then stood up on the bed, her face shows that she's already fired up.

"O-Okay, if you insist."

Bending my knees, I prepared myself to hop.

"On the count of three, hop as high as you can, okay? Here we go, one...two...THREE--"

"So that's how Brother Ren got stuck there, now I understand," Saki said calmly while pouring tea in her cup.

"I-It's embarrassing but yeah, that's what happened."

Even though the other customers don't know what happened, the ruckus earlier has made me unable to look directly at the siblings' eyes out of shame.

"Still, you managed to punch a hole on the ceiling. Just how high can you really jump?" Saku spoke with a bewildered expression.

Saki nodded. "At that height...anyone would surely become injured if they fall. As managers of Sandy Fish, we don't want anyone to be put into harm while inside the inn premises."

"I-I'm very sorry. Saku, Saki..."

"...It was I who asked big brother to do it, so, uuuuuu..." Aoi struggled to apologize to them.

At first I thought they're going to be mad at us, but it turns out that they're more concerned about my safety than the ceiling that I destroyed. Even so, they're not in a good mood either to just let it slide.

Saku sighed. "Anyway, as punishment for the trouble you've caused us this morning, you have to replace the ceiling panels that you destroyed. Luckily, I have some spares at the stock room, so no need for you to buy one."

"Is that so? Thank goodness..."

"Yeah, but the next time you do it I'll call the town chief, have you arrested, and make you pay a really huge fine, you hear?" He warned me with a sharp gaze.

"O-Okay..."

Since I don't want to leave a bad impression on them (and I don't want to have a record to the authorities as well), I had no choice but to agree.

Saku stood up. "Okay, I'll get back to work now. Saki too, once she's done eating."

After Saku went back to the kitchen, I turned my gaze to Saki, and apologized once more.

"You're being too apologetic, Brother Ren. There's no need to be depressed, you know? Even I have broken so many things here in the inn, so I know what you feel. Smile smile, okay?" She smiled brightly as she spoke, clearing me of any remaining worries.

"Nn. Thanks."

Meanwhile, as I unconsciously glance at Aoi, I noticed that she's been looking at her sharply for a while now.

I wonder why?

-----

After I borrowed the key from Saki, Aoi and I promptly went to the stock room to get the materials and tools needed for me to repair the broken ceiling.

I gotta say, this stock room is more organized than my own room back in our world. Everything is arranged based on their size, type, and use, thus it only took me about three minutes to gather all the things that I need.

"Say, you've been sulking for the whole time. Did something wrong happened again?"

Aoi didn't answer, as she just immersed herself separating the nuts from the bolts.

"If you're worried about the deal with Saku, it's all fine. We just have to be more careful from now on not to break any objects inside the..."

Before I could approach Aoi, my instincts' signals suddenly flared up, and I leaped back in reflex--just before a thick black spike pierce me from below.

The spike created a hole on this room's ceiling, much larger than the one in our room.

"A-Aoi? What the hell are you doing?!"

As I yell out at her, three more spikes burst from the ground, all going towards my direction.

"Shit--!"

Dashing towards the side I quickly evaded the first spike, which went through the wall on my left. The second and the third one curved themselves prematurely downwards, so I only needed to take a step back to avoid them all.

"You..." I glared at Aoi. "You're destroying the stock room!"

As if not hearing my voice, Aoi kept on creating more and more spikes from below her shadow. She doesn't give a care whether the tools here gets destroyed, for whatever reason she wants her brother to get hurt really bad--again.

What the hell is really wrong with her? All of a sudden she wants me to be skewered by these spikes, and yet she's not telling me any reason for that.

I swear, you better stop doing that or else...

Boom!

A small explosion came from the ground, and a bunch of smaller spikes burst from it, still aiming towards me.

If I dodge all of it, the stock room will be totally destroyed. Otherwise, I'll be a human kebab.

What will you choose, Ren Mortel?

There are about twenty spikes going towards me, each having a thickness of about two inches. Small as they be, I'm sure they'll cause so much damage to whatever object they touch.

Ah, damn it!!!

Steeling my resolve, I only stood from my position, and let the spikes run through my body and lift me from the ground.

Hm? I think, something's way off...

"...Have you finally noticed it, big brother?" At long last, Aoi finally spoke to me again.

"Noticed what exactly? Anyway, can you stop messing around and let go of me? I don't have the mood to play with you right now."

"...I'm not messing around," Aoi calmly replied.

"Then what?"

With a light sway of her hand, Aoi summoned another spike from the ground, this time it's thicker than the ones she made earlier.

"...I want to show you something."

Tchakk--! In a blink of an eye the dark spike pierced through my chest, pinning me on the wall behind.

"Keh, keh...your big brother's not good in charades, Aoi. Just tell me already what is it, for heaven's sake!!!"

"...Muuuuuu...I get it, I get it!" Aoi stomped her feet in frustration. "I just want to show big brother that your body's already immune to my power!"

As she keep on grumbling all by herself, I assessed my body's current condition.

Now that she said it, I think she's right. My chest got pierced, but I don't sense any pain in my body. There's no bleeding either--I'm just pinned on the wall, and that's it. My brain's telling me that my life's not in danger or whatsoever.

"...Not only your physical strength, but the Arcana inside your body will grow much more powerful from now on."

Immunity from Aoi's evil power, faster regeneration rate and my Arcana flames becomes more consistent--that's the changes that Aoi wanted me to show.

"And it all started after that incident yesterday, is that right?"

Even if she's not saying anything about it, I know its where all these changes began.

"...Hmph. If not because of me, big brother's already bleeding to death by now," Aoi turned her back at me.

The spikes then disappeared shortly like mist, and I saw that they didn't left any damage on my body, even my clothes that should have a huge gaping hole right now is still intact.

"This is totally unbelievable..."

"...Big brother always doubt or fear the things I could do. You should be thankful instead!"

"Oh yes, I should thank you properly, Aoi."

When I said that, Aoi turned her body towards me quickly in anticipation. I walked towards her, and...

"..Unnnyyyyaaaaaaaaa--!!!"

She didn't expect her cheeks to be pinched and pulled by me.

"I may be thankful for everything you've done for me...but, it doesn't mean I'll allow you to put this place into disorder!"

This and that are different. As her brother, I should tell her that while her intention is good, her manner of execution is just piss-poor.

I really feel sorry for the siblings if they see what has become of this stock room.

"...Soooowwwyyyy, big bwother!!!" She said in panic while tears form on her eyes.

I stopped pinching her cheeks. "Promise me you'll not use your powers unless it's an emergency, and not destroy any more objects while we're here at the inn."

Aoi only nodded as she rubbed her cheeks that became red.

"Ren! We heard Aoi screamed just now--by the name of the gods, what happened here?!"

Unexpectedly (or not), the siblings rushed here, only to see the stock room become cluttered and its walls full of holes.

Yes, I know. We're screwed. Again.

"R-Ren, Aoi...what happened here...?"

In front of the two whose eyes almost turned white, Aoi stood up and spoke.

"...This...this is what happened--"