After visiting 'Raven,' she had a brief, unhurried chat about the little cat.
Perhaps even Su Yuzu herself hadn't noticed.
Whenever the topic turned to Zero, a slight lilt crept into the girl's voice — as though she were saying: See? Your little cat likes me better now.
She's still absolutely crazy about apples, you know.
Her favorite food is apple pie.
But her favorite person has already become me.
She can say my name now.
She pronounces it weirdly — Su-Yuzu-zi, Su-Yuzu-zi — but she loves it. When she's home alone, she says it over and over and over.
Of course, Su Yuzu — rotten creature that she was — had absolutely no awareness of doing any of this.
And 'Raven'...
She was still submerged in the crushing pressure the girl's visit had dropped onto her.
Su Yuzu had only sat in that hospital room, and yet she had generated an unrelenting, suffocating weight.
The King is near.
The girl's very existence was terror.
And yet — it was just like watching a horror film. You're scared half to death, and yet somewhere deep down, some part of you wants it.
Fine —
A lot of her wanted it.
Just like Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.
Her Catastrophe Crystals violently devoured, she had returned from the Edge of Aberration — and 'Raven's' heart had been hollow ever since.
Nothing she did seemed to fill it.
That emptiness was worse than dangling the greatest breakthrough of her research career right in front of her and telling her she couldn't touch it.
It left her mind in far greater chaos than that ever could.
In the midst of 'Raven's' hesitation, Su Yuzu had left behind her email address.
She told 'Raven' she could choose to cooperate with the Investigation Bureau, and that if anything came up, she was welcome to send her a message.
Then Su Yuzu left the room.
Standing inside the semi-transparent elevator, Su Yuzu suddenly caught sight of another elevator — rising slowly from the ground floor alongside her.
The woman inside left an instant, indelible impression.
A physical one, even.
Black leather jacket, black leather pants — both wrapped snugly around a figure that was nothing short of stunning, their surface catching the light with a subtle, slick gleam.
The woman's skin was a warm, healthy tan.
Her long hair was pulled up into a high ponytail — clean and sharp.
Those alluring grey-blue eyes seemed to speak for themselves, smiling as they met Su Yuzu's gaze.
They reminded Su Yuzu of a leopard's eyes. Or a big cat's.
Filled with a raw, untamed magnetism.
The woman's lips were that kind of glossy, liquid color that seemed to gleam from within.
From the corners of her mouth to the bow of her lips, every line was bold and unabashedly seductive.
But what left the deepest impression on Su Yuzu was, above all else, the woman's sheer, impossible figure.
The zipper on the leather jacket looked like it was barely holding on — as though the pull might go flying off at any second.
Among all the girls Su Yuzu knew, only Mihou Sakai — with her [Perfect Execution] — might be able to hold her own against that woman, and only once she had grown fully into herself.
But... the contrast was total. The woman radiated a gorgeous, self-assured confidence that was worlds apart.
Mihou Sakai was simply too self-conscious, too timid.
In everyday life, she always hunched her shoulders, kept her lines tucked in, hid everything under those oversized uniforms and loose-fitting shirts.
Only when she was alone with Su Yuzu would the girl straighten up, flushed with shyness — and even then, only occasionally arch her posture just a little, almost on purpose.
Su Yuzu watched the other elevator continue its slow ascent.
Their positions crossed.
While Su Yuzu was sizing up the woman, Tsukimisato Somehana was doing the same — watching that short-haired girl on the other side of the glass.
The girl's lips were pressed together into the thinnest little seam.
That crisp short hair and those clear-glossed lips both gave off an air of quiet resolve.
She looks like she'd taste good.
A slight, curious craving stirred.
So that's Su Yuzu.
Tsukimisato Somehana stepped out of her elevator.
In the antiseptic-soaked air of the hospital corridor, she caught the faintest trace of a scent drifting from the direction the girl had come — something like a citrus fruit twisted open, its juice suddenly bursting free. Fresh. Clean.
Wonderful —
It was enough to put her in a good mood.
As expected of... Yuzu.
She didn't even glance at the room numbers. Following that faint, lingering trace of the girl's scent, she arrived at 'Raven's' hospital room door.
Knock knock knock —
She smiled, raised her right hand, and tapped lightly.
Tsukimisato Somehana and 'Raven' looked at each other.
"Hello there~"
"...Maki-san."
'Raven's' pupils contracted sharply.
In an instant, she had already determined where the woman in front of her came from.
Epiphany Manufacture.
Maki. That was a name she had nearly forgotten.
After stepping into Epiphany Manufacture, most people had called her "Ki" or "Asaba-san."
Maki — that was a name known only to a small handful of people within Epiphany Manufacture.
The woman sat down in the exact spot Su Yuzu had just vacated.
And before her, 'Raven' — or rather, Asaba-san — had already slipped her hand beneath the covers to feel for her phone, preparing to send an emergency SOS to Miss Yuzu.
Right now, there was no one else she could call for help.
"Please don't be so tense~" the woman said with a smile. "I'm not here with ill intent."
"Allow me to introduce myself —"
"I'm Tsukimisato Somehana."
The moment the name landed, 'Raven' seemed to recall something.
Tsukimisato?
This is that Tsukimisato — the owner of that place?
Tsukimisato Somehana continued at her own unhurried pace. "I was involved with the K423 Laboratory for a period of time, back then."
"For what happened to the K423 Laboratory..."
"I am deeply sorry."
Without acknowledging the pleasantries, 'Raven' only looked at the woman steadily. "What do you want."
"Please be direct."
Tsukimisato Somehana suddenly laughed. "As expected of someone who has stared down life and death. Refreshingly straightforward."
"Then I'll cut right to it."
"My Young Lady would like to invite you to join her laboratory."
"On the Fate Plan, you have more than proven your worth."
"Invite... me?" 'Raven' pulled the corner of her mouth into a dry smile. She raised her arm and displayed the restraints on her wrists. "I'm currently under close watch by the Investigation Bureau."
"None of that is a problem." The woman smiled.
"Consider it a welcome gift."
She reached into her pocket and produced a small red remote — and then — beep —
The red indicator lights on the restraints at 'Raven's' wrists and ankles all flickered to green.
Click —
The restraints opened.
"This..." 'Raven' sat there, stunned.
She knew that certain laboratories within Epiphany Manufacture had reach that stretched into every corner of the world.
But... even the Investigation Bureau's restraints — they could open those?
"Don't misunderstand~"
"The restraints were indeed manufactured by Epiphany Manufacture — but not by our affiliated laboratory."
"They were custom-ordered by those troublesome people."
'Raven' knew who the 'troublesome people' the woman was referring to were — a rigid, inflexible group who clung stubbornly to every last inconvenient principle.
She looked at the woman.
The woman smiled with total confidence, as though she could already see the moment 'Raven' accepted her invitation.
"Has Maki-san ever heard of something called an 'indulgence'?"
"It is proof that your penance is already paid in full."
'Raven' had heard of such a thing.
The only way to obtain an indulgence was money.
A great deal of money.
She thought she understood Tsukimisato Somehana's meaning now.
And then — under Tsukimisato Somehana's gaze — 'Raven' clicked and snapped each restraint back into place, one by one.
"You..."
"I'm sorry."
'Raven' cradled the phone that now held the girl's email address.
She looked up at the ceiling and lay back with an expression of perfect serenity.
"Everything I have... no longer belongs to me."
____
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