Just when a physical conflict capable of tearing down half of the medical wing was about to break out, TM Opera O, who had been the calmest the entire time, suddenly raised her hand and made a "pause" gesture.
"Stop"
Her voice was soft, but it possessed a strange magic that instantly calmed the scene.
"Ladies, please remember our position; such a vulgar and brutal struggle completely ruins the image we are supposed to project as protagonists"
Upon hearing this, Gold City and Agnes Tachyon temporarily halted their imminent explosive movements.
TM Opera O smiled with satisfaction and, like a director controlling the entire stage, proposed her solution.
"I propose that we resolve today's dispute using a more elegant and artistic method"
From her bag, she pulled out a stack of high-quality drawing paper and several sets of expensive-looking brushes and distributed them to everyone.
"Let us engage in an improvised creation based on the theme 'My exclusive behind-the-scenes supervisor and I', afterwards our dear Kaito-kun will personally judge which work best represents that irreplaceable bond"
The suggestion was absurd, but it seemed to be the only viable solution at the time.
Gold City pursed her lips; though it seemed boring to her, she knew that if the commotion continued, Kaito would definitely flee again.
Agnes Tachyon adjusted her glasses and decided that "analyzing emotional bonds through artistic creation is also an effective method of data collection", and agreed.
And so, suddenly, a "War of Drawings" began, devoid of gunpowder smoke but charged with hidden undercurrents.
Kaito and Manhattan Cafe were "invited" to the center of the room to serve as still-life models, while the three "seniors" found a corner and began to write and draw frantically.
The first to finish was the one with the most direct personality, Gold City
Her artistic style, just like herself, overflowed with power and intense possessiveness.
In the drawing, she looked like a crowned queen, dressed in a magnificent gown, sitting proudly on a golden throne; Kaito, for his part, wore knight's armor and knelt devotedly before her, kissing the back of her hand.
"Hmph, this is the only correct relationship between us" she declared with an air of absolute certainty.
The second to finish was naturally TM Opera O
Her painting depicted the sumptuous final scene of a play.
Under the bright spotlight, she and Kaito danced an elegant and intimate waltz, surrounded by countless faceless spectators offering them flowers.
The entire image overflowed with romance and the feeling of dominating the stage.
"Heh, heh, do you see? This is what a true protagonist looks like" she elegantly displayed her work.
Agnes Tachyon's style, however, was completely different from the previous two, full of an unsettling, futuristic, and manic aesthetic.
She drew a massive futuristic scientific laboratory, packed with precision instruments.
In the painting, both she and Kaito wore strict white lab coats, gazing expectantly at an enormous Petri dish; inside it, a tiny and completely new life glowed dimly.
That image was saturated with divine madness and a sense of control, centered on "co-creating a new world".
"Our bond is based on the highest dimension of soul resonance, dedicated to exploring the origin of life" she explained calmly.
Finally, everyone's attention turned to the small figure who had been sitting quietly in the corner this whole time.
It was Manhattan Cafe's turn.
She did not depict a grand, luxurious, or possessive scene like the other three.
She simply and silently used the most basic lines to draw a small, common, and cozy room.
In the drawing, a light drizzle fell outside the window.
Inside the room, she and Kaito were sitting quietly on the rug, back to back.
She was drawing.
He was reading.
There was no dialogue, no transcendental interaction, but that silent companionship, that peaceful and warm atmosphere—which seemed capable of silencing all the storms in the world—possessed a soft power that hit directly at the heart.
Four paintings, four completely different relationships, four distinct styles of possessiveness.
Now, they were placed side by side in front of Kaito
Gold City, TM Opera O, Agnes Tachyon, and even Manhattan Cafe, who had just finished her drawing (four pairs of eyes, eight gazes) were fixed on him, without blinking, waiting for his final judgment.
Kaito felt he was facing the most difficult and fatal choice of his life.
Choosing any of them would mean death!
Just as cold sweat ran down his head, his brain's CPU was about to fry, and he prepared to utter the standard suicidal response: "Everyone's drawing is excellent"
[WARNING!]
[A high-intensity energy reaction is approaching!]
It is not hostile, but it is extremely oppressive.
His crisis intuition was screaming warnings again; the alert level was even higher than at any previous time!
He felt that President Akikawa, accompanied by a group of terrifyingly powerful "VIPs" he had never seen before, was rapidly approaching that small and already crowded hospital room.
The true storm, it seemed, had only just begun.
...
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