<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Bloodedge]

Makima's clothes, once he noticed them, were one of the strangest things Yugi had seen thus far. It had nothing to do with the choice, the fit, or how that yukata worked on Makima specifically ─ all of those factors were undeniably on the positive side of things. However, the strong curiosity of how she acquired those articles remained. According to Makima, she acquired them from the System Shop. Yugi's head tilted. He looked at her phone when it was shown, and indeed... she had a similar purchasing option to the Players themselves, and a showing of Gold that wasn't the same number they had. When asked if that was the cause for his curiosity, Yugi tilted his head further. "Sort of. It's not the only thing, but... it's the weirdest thing. Everything else was just hot," he clarified.

This conversation was unrelated to the topic Makima intended to bring up. To Yugi, that didn't matter; this was a potential blaring issue. "It isn't, but it's too weird to ignore. We just got the ability to share Gold bags with a single Shadow Concubine each, with one exception made during the job-change quest. You don't have that rank, so it doesn't make sense that you'd have Gold. That's also... a lot more than what Kozuki got. Is that... the sum of their funds? If my math is right, and my assumptions aren't totally off... I think that's the full Concubine bank. Definitely an exploit... or even another bug? Freaky either way."

[Apollymi]

According to Yugi, his curiosity was indeed about the nature of her purchasing power. He claimed it wasn't his only curiosity but that it was the weirdest thing. Makima fully expected some sort of explanation, but she'd wait for it, she knew the lad's brain needed space to work. "I also agree. Definitely hot♪!~" Miko chirped. Of course, she also found the pure flex of setting up a room in this way and waiting for someone to show up for a conversation to be odd, but she definitely wasn't going to complain about being in a room with lighting directly to her liking.

At the same time, Makima fully understood that the pair was still learning and growing with their System so she wouldn't be withholding information as she figured it out. "Oh? I wouldn't know why I'd get access to all their funds. Strange, but it did allow me to make the purchases. If you've only just gotten the function perhaps there are a few more oddities or exceptions for it?" Makima gave a fairly reasonable answer. "Definitely weird. I could test it. I have one to give, and I just recently got a route of the only person I've met so far I'd consider giving a bag to," Miko claimed pulling up her screen in front of herself. She'd planned to accept the Vice-Chairman in his presence, but she'd easily press accept to give a little test. Miko would then drop a million gold in the bag and assign the bag to Daikichi Hiruko, he was five percent short of being notified of important information but just the movement would make the funds changed if it applied to all concubines. And lo and behold the number on Makima's phone shifted. "Oh? It went up..." she mused, turning the phone back towards the teens so they could see. Makima was being an enigma, even more so than she already was, she'd forced her way into the job-change quest. She'd commandeered Concubine funds, she'd forced the opening of her route, and even before then... she'd tracked down the Players. She had almost special tamed boss energy, for an otome game.

[Bloodedge]

An intermission between the Players' arrival and the topic Makima wanted to address had to be made; this wasn't a matter they could hesitate on. Some points of confusion simply had to be acknowledged without hesitation. How did Makima make purchases in the shop at all, when there was no reason for her to have gold? Yugi's quick mental calculations had him assuming that number on her screen was the sum of all available Shadow Concubine funds. He could have checked by inspecting the inventories of Tae and Kaguya, but... Miko had an even easier way.

A very quick drop of Miko's Concubine funds into one Daikichi Hiruko's unknown inventory would effectively change everything in a single moment. When she made that choice, Yugi didn't question it; he passed the few moments it took by responding to Makima. "The System doesn't do 'oddities' or 'exceptions' in ways that make a lot of sense. It's early, obviously incomplete and growing. This kind of thing is either a bug, or an evolution that isn't done yet," he explained. With that, Miko was done... and a change in number was visible on Makima's phone. "... Hm. That's too many oddities. It's not a bug, but it's hard to say what direction that's going in. I'll keep that one running in the background. You had something to bring up? Besides my dick at least?"

[Apollymi]

Miko would always offer an easy or effective way to do something based on her own instincts. Makima watched their interaction and considered it another positive in their general favor. Miko was a different sort of brilliant and Makima understood that. At the same time, Yugi was willing to take time to put together an explanation she could understand. Their System didn't just make allowances or exceptions. It was still growing along with the Players, so anything odd had to be either a bug, or a feature in its earliest stages. "Sou ka, well let me know what it is. Assuming I won't know by the time you figure it out. And yes I called you both here for a very specific reason," Makima said seemingly pleased by their remaining curiosity. Miko having done what she needed to do, put her phone back into her Inventory and turned her eyes up to look at Makima. She saw the girl's comfort in doing so, and continued.

"I have now done enough observation of you two and have a pretty good understanding, given your attitudes and your own words. I've decided you two will be my new pets," Makima's words caused Miko's face to shift, excitement and confusion. That sounded much more permanent than most things did, but Miko wouldn't be one to argue with essentially being adopted by another adult. "That is to say, I like keeping odd and powerful beings close to me. And since you're both still so young, I'll also manage your lives and help you grow that is both for my benefit and yours," Makima concluded. Such a relationship obviously came with several known benefits including her power and protection while they were still weak enough to need it, and the freedom to act as they pleased with impunity. Though it would also mean they were at Makima's beck and call, Miko didn't see either of them having a problem with that... considering how they'd even ended up in this room. She'd call this a formal adoption dinner under normal circumstances.

[Bloodedge]

Whenever this odd new 'feature' was figured out, if Makima wasn't already privy to its meaning, she'd be the very next person to know. It probably wouldn't take too long to reach a realization. Ah, but it didn't make too much of a difference currently. Makima called them here for a purpose. It was obviously more than just showing off her yukata or... another thing Yugi could tell was going on, but couldn't properly visualize in his mind. Oh well; that would surely come up soon enough too.

What Makima truly wanted, was to announce a decision. She was the type of person who kept 'pets' at her disposal, and had officially decided the Players would become the newest pair. She'd continue managing and aiding them, as she'd been doing already, but presumably with much more certainty. That was fine; neither of them would even think of arguing against that. Yugi even had an immediate response to hearing that declaration ─ one that would confirm his thoughts on the matter. "Woof," he said plainly, quickly even. Ah, but a declaration of that nature wasn't normally so simple. Yugi was already willing to discredit any true negatives, thinking none could be major enough... but there was always another side worth knowing about. "And in exchange?"