Several Anime Girls Appeared in my World

Chapter 61: The Forehead Gambit

The atmosphere within the "Little Express" remained thick with a volatile cocktail of suspicion, weariness, and barely suppressed animosity. Himeko, ever the pragmatist, had attempted to steer the conversation towards practicalities – identifying potential local resources, discussing methods to track the other displaced individuals like Pip and Zylar, and analyzing the energy signatures Kael, the enigmatic Tracker, left behind.

Each attempt at collaborative discussion, however, inevitably devolved into a fresh fight between Erza Scarlet and Boa Hancock.

"If we are to consider this town a temporary operational base," Himeko stated, pointing to a holographic map of Healdsburg displayed from her datapad, "we need to understand its vulnerabilities. The power grid, communication networks…"

"Vulnerabilities?" Hancock interrupted, examining a chip in her nail with a look of profound tragedy. "The primary vulnerability appears to be an appalling lack of taste and an overabundance of… commoners. Frankly, I find the entire planet rather vulnerable to my displeasure."

"And the universe finds your ego rather vulnerable to puncture," Erza muttered, not quite under her breath. She was reviewing combat schematics Himeko had pulled up, her mind trying to strategize against an unknown enemy – the Conqueror – while simultaneously enduring Hancock's presence.

"Did you say something, armor-plated mushroom?" Hancock's voice was dangerously sweet. "Or were you merely grunting in exertion from the complex thought of, perhaps, polishing your oversized letter opener?"

"My 'letter opener' has defended realms and protected the innocent!" Erza snapped, her hand instinctively going to where her sword hilt would be. "Which is more than can be said for your… hypnotic parlor tricks!"

"Parlor tricks that have brought empires to heel!" Hancock rose, her eyes blazing. "While you were likely wrestling withstableboys for an extra bread ration!"

Joey, who had been nervously sketching in a notepad Himeko had given him, flinched violently, dropping his pencil. Lyra patted his arm reassuringly, though her own eyes were wide with alarm.

"Enough!" Mirajane's voice, though gentle, cut through the escalating tension. She had been observing them with a deep, maternal sadness. "This constant bickering is achieving nothing. We have a dire warning of a 'Conqueror of Worlds,' and you two are behaving like rival fishwives over a prime spot at the market!"

Erza had the grace to look slightly abashed. Hancock merely sniffed disdainfully but subsided, returning to the critical examination of her nail.

"Mirajane is right," Himeko said, her tone firm but weary. "We need focus. Perhaps some fresh air and a broader perspective are in order. Mira, would you accompany me? I need to recalibrate some of the external atmospheric sensors and take a few environmental readings. The energy traces left by the… informant… and your arrivals are still faintly detectable, and I want to ensure their dispersal patterns aren't attracting unwanted attention locally." It was a plausible excuse, and it would also give the two warring queens a much-needed period of separation from their calming influences.

"Of course, Himeko," Mirajane agreed readily, relieved for a respite. She gave Erza and Hancock a pointed look. "Perhaps you two could use this time to… contemplate the benefits of mutual cooperation? Or at least, a temporary ceasefire?"

With Himeko and Mirajane gone, an oppressive silence descended upon the main cabin of the Little Express. Joey quickly busied himself with his drawing, pointedly not looking at Erza or Hancock. Lyra watched them both with an unnerving, silent intensity.

Erza paced the length of the cabin, the metallic tang of adrenaline still sharp on her tongue. Hancock, with a sigh of profound suffering, began to meticulously rearrange the few personal items she had – a silken pouch, a small, jeweled mirror – on a side table, as if attempting to impose some semblance of imperial order on the functional chaos.

"Contemplate cooperation," Hancock finally sneered, more to herself than to Erza. "With her."

"Believe me, the sentiment is reciprocated," Erza shot back, stopping her pacing to glare at the Pirate Empress. "But the scarred man's warning… it was specific. He believed we were crucial."

"His judgment was clearly addled by desperation and an appalling lack of aesthetic discernment," Hancock stated. "However," she paused, her reflection in the jeweled mirror catching her eye, "the vision he showed me… Luffy… Amazon Lily…" A shadow of genuine pain crossed her beautiful features. That, at least, had felt terrifyingly real. She couldn't afford to dismiss the threat entirely, not if it concerned her beloved.

Erza saw that flicker of vulnerability, the first genuine crack in Hancock's arrogant facade she'd witnessed outside their shared mental link. The future Joey had given them a terrible burden, and a strange, unwelcome gift. The ability to communicate mentally was a double-edged sword – intrusive and infuriating, yet potentially vital.

"There are things we need to discuss," Erza said, her voice lower, more serious. "Things that cannot be overheard, not even by them." She nodded subtly towards Joey and Lyra, who were pretending to be absorbed in the notepad but were undoubtedly listening. "The note he left. The 'people he brought with them'."

Hancock met her gaze, her expression wary. The mental communication they'd stumbled into earlier had been jarring, chaotic. Uncontrolled. "That… unfortunate resonance?" she said coolly, though her heart hammered. "It was hardly a precise method."

"No," Erza agreed. "But the note… 'Touch foreheads to communicate mentally, a farewell gift from me, your future self, Joey'. He implied a more… deliberate connection." She felt a flush rise to her cheeks at the thought of such a deliberate, physical act with this woman. It was a desperate measure.

Hancock looked horrified. "Touch foreheads? With you? The indignity! It's unthinkable! That… future peasant clearly had no grasp of personal space or imperial decorum!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Erza challenged, her patience wearing thin. "We need to understand his message, every nuance of it. We need to know if we can trust anyone here with the full truth. And we certainly cannot discuss it openly while your voice carries like a banshee's wail!"

"My voice is melodic and commanding!" Hancock corrected sharply. "Unlike your grating, parade-ground bark!"

"Regardless!" Erza ground out. "We need clarity. If his words about 'people he brought' refer to allies from his time who might already be here, or others yet to arrive… it changes everything. Are you willing to risk misunderstanding something vital because of your… fastidiousness?"

Hancock hesitated. The image of Luffy, broken and defeated, flashed in her mind again. The welfare of her beloved, the safety of Amazon Lily – those were her ultimate priorities. If this bizarre, repulsive method was necessary…

"Very well," she conceded, her voice dripping with distaste. "But if your… forehead… is in any way unhygienic, I will not be responsible for the consequences."

"Just… try to clear your mind of insults for one minute, if that's possible," Erza muttered. She glanced towards Joey and Lyra. They were still focused on the drawing, though Joey's hand was trembling slightly. She hoped they would remain oblivious for a few moments longer. This felt incredibly risky.

Taking a deep breath, Erza stepped closer to Hancock. The Pirate Empress stood rigidly, her expression one of acute suffering, as if about to embrace a particularly noxious swamp creature.

"This is solely for the purpose of strategic information exchange," Hancock declared icily, as if trying to convince herself.

"Understood," Erza replied, equally tense.

Slowly, hesitantly, they leaned towards each other. Their foreheads, one framed by fiery scarlet, the other by cascading black, touched.

At that precise moment, the ramp of the Little Express hissed open.

Himeko and Mirajane stepped back into the cabin, Himeko holding a small device covered in blinking lights, Mirajane carrying a few carefully selected local flora samples in a specimen bag. They had finished their external readings sooner than anticipated.

They both stopped dead in their tracks.

Before them, in the center of the main cabin, stood Erza Scarlet and Boa Hancock, the warrior and the empress, their usual animosity momentarily suspended. Their foreheads were pressed together in an act of unexpected, almost intimate, physical contact. Both had their eyes closed, their expressions intensely concentrated, oblivious to their surroundings. A faint, almost invisible shimmer of energy, like heat haze, seemed to play between their brows.

Joey gasped, his eyes saucers. Lyra stared, her head tilted in utter bewilderment, a half-eaten piece of pastry forgotten in her hand.

Himeko's scientific mind processed the scene with lightning speed. The forehead contact. The focused expressions. The subtle energy shimmer. It wasn't a shared traumatic echo. It wasn't psychic residue. This was deliberate. This was controlled. This was the communication she had suspected.

Mirajane's heart sank. The excuse, plausible as Erza had tried to make it, had been just that – an excuse. This was the secret they had been hiding. The depth of it, the reason for it, was still unknown, but the act of deliberate concealment, even from her, stung.

The two women at the center of the cabin remained locked in their silent communion, unaware that their carefully guarded secret was now starkly, undeniably, on display. The faint hum of the probe's life support seemed to amplify the sudden, loaded silence that had fallen, a silence pregnant with questions, accusations, and the shattering of fragile, newly forming trust.

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