Aoko nodded. "I learned about it while traveling in China before. Thought Magi often use it as a catalyst for making mystic codes... Why do you have one of these?"
"Well, I recently met a Thought Magus."
Shirou explained absentmindedly as he held the "cup divination blocks" under the fluorescent light and examined them.
Ye Sizhen had told him before that if anything happened at home, she would use this mystic code to contact him.
It was almost ten at night... Had something happened at home?
"A girl?"
Aoko stared at Shirou's face and suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"The Thought Magus Shirou recently met—is she a girl?"
"...Yeah."
"Heeey~ Is that so, is that so? Shirou's met another new girl~~~"
Aoko Aozaki wore a meaningful expression, making Shirou inexplicably uncomfortable.
"Ye Sizhen and I aren't in the kind of relationship you're imagining."
"Oh~ So that girl's name is Sizhen~"
Aoko rested her head against the boy's chest. "Even if Shirou doesn't have any such intentions, that doesn't mean the other party won't have any ideas, right?"
She had never even met Ye Sizhen, yet she still criticized her with complete confidence.
Shirou frowned unhappily. "Not everyone is as improper as you are, launching attacks on younger men."
"So, in Shirou's eyes, Arisu and I are both lewd women?"
"I never said that..."
"Speaking of which, she's older than Shirou... About my age, actually."
The smile on Aoko's face grew even wider, giving Shirou a bad feeling.
"Answer it," she said.
"Huh?"
Aoko said, "That's the terminal mystic code for Communication Magic, right? It's been ringing nonstop. Miss Sizhen is trying to contact you.
"It's so late. She must have something important to say."
Shirou shook his head. "Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow."
As he said this, he moved to