Ten minutes later.
"Wow, so this is the Dying Will Flame? It feels amazing—my whole body feels so much lighter."
An energetic, excited voice came from outside the window.
"Takina, how about you? How does it feel?"
"Mmm… It's incredible. My mind feels unusually clear, and if I really concentrate, it's like time is slowing down."
"This probably isn't the Mist attribute Dying Will Flame, is it?"
This time it was a calm, steady female voice—the same voice that had been sitting next to her at Friday night's dinner. Was that Miss Takina?
"Mhm, that's right. Chisato's is the Sun Flame. Its ability is Activation—it can stimulate cellular activity, strengthening the body or healing oneself.
"As for Takina's, it's the Rain Flame. Its ability is Tranquility—slowing the movement of molecules, extinguishing others' Dying Will Flames and causing paralysis."
Hearing that final male voice, Yukinoshita Yukino's mind finally began to return bit by bit.
She began to remember what had happened earlier.
And the moment she recalled how she'd looked—like a lunatic—frantically scrubbing the office with broom and dustpan, Yukino's eyes instantly lost their light.
"This can't be happening…"
"This has to be an illusion. I'm probably still asleep in my bed at home… Yes, that must be it. No, wait—I must have dozed off in my sister's car."
"Honestly, she can be so thoughtless. If I'm late because she didn't wake me, what then?"
As Yukino sat there with a vacant stare, mumbling to herself—
Creak.
The door pushed open.
Luo Shu walked in, glanced around the mostly cleaned office, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad at all."
Then he turned toward Yukino in the corner of the room.
Right now, she wore a dust mask on her face, a grimy headscarf, and an apron covered in dust—looking thoroughly dishevelled.
Seeing her looking like she'd just been broken, Luo Shu was actually momentarily startled.
"Hey, you okay?"
At his voice, Takina Inoue poked her head in, looking around the room before fixing her gaze on Yukino.
"Is this… a side effect from a failed Dying Will Flame activation?"
"What, what?! What happened to Yukino?"
Chisato Nishikigi pushed past Takina to peek inside. When she saw Yukino in such a hopeless pose, she let out a cry.
"Uwah!! Her eyes look dead!!"
Hurrying over, Chisato crouched in front of her and wiggled her fingers.
"Yukino, do you still know what number this is?"
Yukino slowly lifted her head, her gaze hollow, and rasped, "It's 2… Also, could you please leave me alone for a while?"
"Eh? Oh…"
Chisato retreated a step, then looked back at Luo Shu, jabbing him in the chest with her elbow and whispering,
"Luo Shu, Luo Shu—did you give her too much Dying Will Flame?"
"She looks completely like you broke her…"
Luo Shu rolled his eyes and muttered back, "What do you mean 'broke her'? Can you choose your words a little better?"
Chisato smirked and elbowed him again. "Mental violation is an even more serious crime than physical ones, you know. Be honest—did you intentionally pump her full of extra Dying Will Flame?"
Luo Shu sighed and rolled his eyes again. "Relax—the dose I shot you with was at least ten times more than Yukino's."
"Oh my, now I feel flattered," Chisato teased.
"You two…"
Takina sighed, stepped forward, and offered Yukino a bottle of water.
"Want some? Don't worry, I haven't drunk from it."
Yukino glanced up at Takina, hesitated a moment, then accepted the bottle. She pulled down her mask and took a small sip.
"Thank you."
She handed the bottle back; after Takina took it, Yukino turned her gaze toward Luo Shu.
Sensing her eyes on him, Luo Shu dropped his banter with Chisato and met her gaze.
They stared at each other for several seconds before Yukino, still hugging her knees, asked:
"Chief… does this mean I failed the test?"
"I—what~"
Chisato nearly slipped and grabbed onto Luo Shu's side for support. Pressed against him, she blurted out, "So that's what you've been upset about, Yukino?!"
"What about it?"
Yukino's expression was vacant, even a bit innocent.
"Should I not be worried about that?"
"No, it's just…" Chisato trailed off, then shoved Luo Shu forward. "Forget it—Luo Shu, you explain."
Dragged forward, Luo Shu twitched the corner of his mouth before speaking.
"Chisato here thought you were embarrassed about… well, your earlier cleaning frenzy—" he coughed, "—your little… outburst."
"Mm. She thought you were worried about your cleaning outburst."
"That…" Yukino's cheeks flushed, but she forced herself to stay composed. "While it was very humiliating, wasn't that just a side effect from awakening the Dying Will Flame?"
"Correct." Luo Shu nodded. "In fact, the complete version of that state is called 'Hyper Dying Will Mode'—a dangerous condition where the user can literally die if they can't sustain it."
"That's why Verde and I used a Mist Flame constructed Dying Will Bullet to promote awakening. It's much safer."
"But because this kind of construction has to be extremely precise, at present, I'm the only one who can do it."
Hearing this, Chisato's jaw dropped.
"Eh-eh—so you're telling me only you can help people awaken right now?"
She circled Luo Shu, patting his shoulders and arms. "No wonder they reassigned you to another branch and promoted you several ranks straight to Chief."
Crossing her arms dramatically, Chisato said, "Suddenly you feel like my kid who grew up overnight—Ow!"
"Don't interrupt people at random," Takina muttered, thumping Chisato on the head and pulling her aside. She nodded to Luo Shu.
Luo Shu met the gesture with a nod, then turned back to Yukino.
"So, you think if you fail to awaken the Dying Will Flame now, SDS will just abandon you?"
Yukino bit her lower lip. She didn't answer, but her silence was all the answer needed.
"Let me put it this way."
Luo Shu stepped closer, crouched down in front of her, and looked straight into that finely sculpted, cold yet beautiful face.
"To awaken the flame easily, you need to take the Adjuster medicine. Generally, new recruits receive a dose after the three-month probation. Once you take it, awakening becomes trivial."
"So, if it's no longer difficult, what does it mean if you awaken before getting the medicine?"
Yukino blinked. "…It means… genius?"
"Exactly." Luo Shu nodded, then reached up to roughly ruffle her hair. "So, Miss Yukinoshita Yukino, having just joined SDS—do you consider yourself a genius~~?"
"Wait—please, stop messing up my hair!"
Yukino tried to bat his hand away, but her resistance was futile; soon her hair was a complete bird's nest.
After mussing it to his satisfaction, Luo Shu stood, walked to the window, and looked out at the park beyond.
"Don't set your standards too high from the start. Begin with the passing grade—that's my advice to you, as your senior."
Then he turned back, hands in his pockets.
"Get ready—we're going to eat in Akihabara next door. After dinner, when the equipment shipment arrives, we'll continue getting the office set up. If by then you still want to prove you're a genius, I can give you another shot."
At that, Yukino blinked, then her expression softened considerably.
She stood, patted the dust from her apron, and muttered, "Chief… try to avoid… ambiguous phrasing like that. Otherwise… I'll call the police."
"Call the police?" Luo Shu gave her a playful look. "Go ahead—give it a try."
With that, he grabbed the doorknob, twisted, and pulled it open—
Only to be met by a tall stack of bright red bento boxes.
"What the hell?" he blurted.
From behind the bento tower, Kisara's head popped into view. She smiled sweetly.
"Shu-kun I bought you dinner, You'd better eat every single bite~"
Looking up at a bento pile a good two heads taller than her 158 cm height, Luo Shu's lips twitched. He glanced back at Yukino.
"On second thought… maybe we don't need to go out for dinner tonight after all…"
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