A few minutes earlier.
"Uwaa!! Don't pinch my ears! Don't! Mizuki-nee, I know I was wrong~"
At the base of a mixed-use commercial and residential building, Chisato Nishikigi had grabbed Nakahara Mizuki's wrists in desperation, begging for mercy.
"If an apology was all it took, what would we need the police for?"
Still in her Japanese-style shop clerk outfit, Nakahara Mizuki twisted Chisato's ear again in lingering annoyance, scolding:
"All you had to do was take Yukinoshita to see Luo Shu-kun and you'd be done, but instead you left by another exit on the other side of the training grounds and ran off here to stuff your face?"
"This is your idea of a 'few minutes and it'll be fine'?"
"Do you have any idea how busy Mika and I are? It's after-school rush hour, you idiot!"
"I'm sorry~~ please forgive me!!"
Hands pressed together in apology, Chisato kept pleading.
Seeing her like this, Mizuki snorted, then turned her head to look up the stairs—where Luo Shu and Kisara were watching the scene play out.
At that moment, Mizuki shifted the bento box in her hand behind her back, then said coolly:
"In light of the fact that Kisara made this bento, I'll let you off for now for abducting Chisato."
"How deeply I appreciate your mercy," Luo Shu replied with mock gratitude even he wouldn't believe, before adding, "If Chief Kirika's gone back to Lycoris, make sure to send her my regards."
"Regards?" Mizuki's expression turned sly: "Sounds more like you want to remind her about that delivery."
"I've heard, you know—you're having some of the stored treasures transferred here."
"Mizuki-nee, the rules," Takina Inoue, who'd been watching quietly, frowned and reminded her.
"Yeah, yeah, secrecy rules, I get it."
Waving her free hand, Mizuki gave Chisato's ear another pinch, then shook the bento at Luo Shu and Kisara:
"Anyway, I'm taking this one back with me."
With that, she pulled Chisato toward a car parked at the curb.
Seeing this, Takina bowed slightly to Luo Shu and Kisara. "Thanks for the bento earlier—it was delicious."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Kisara smiled, returning the bow, though inwardly she thought: That was close… luckily Miss Inoue and Miss Chisato both have small appetites. One each, and I still got a solid read on Shu's tastes.
"Come by more often~" Luo Shu called after Takina as she got into the car, waving to the teary-eyed Chisato inside as if sending her off with joy.
Once they were gone, though, Luo Shu's face smoothed into a flat look and he clicked his tongue.
"Damn it… lost two pairs of hands for nothing. Didn't think Mizuki would just happen to show up here at dinner time."
"Eh?" Kisara, still waving, blinked in guileless confusion.
Luo Shu ruffled his hair, frowning.
"No 'eh'. My plan for cleaning the department's six floors was to have Chisato and Takina, plus Utaha and Eriri, and you—one floor each. I'd take the biggest area—the basement, which needs clearance to access."
"And now? Mizuki snatched away two people. That's two floors just left hanging."
Hearing this, Kisara quickly piped up: "If you don't mind, Shu-kun, I can take on three floors."
She spoke as if afraid that if she said it too slowly, it might give him the wrong impression.
Looking down at her, Luo Shu chuckled. "Half and half. Or we'll do it all together later—should be more efficient as long as we don't mess things up."
"Alright." Kisara fiddled shyly with her fingers, then asked in a small voice, "Shu… did you like today's bento?"
"It was very good. Where'd you learn it?" Luo Shu answered absently, reaching for his phone to text Utaha and Eriri to ask where they were.
"Then… the reward…" Kisara rubbed her two index fingers together, cautiously testing him.
"Reward?" That got Luo Shu's eyes off his phone and onto Kisara's flushed face.
After a moment, he tapped his own cheek. "Your call."
Kisara blinked, then narrowed her eyes, lips curling into a fox-like smile. "Then I won't be shy."
On tiptoe, she leaned in—not for his cheek, but straight for his lips.
For an instant, Luo Shu froze, his hand still pointing to his cheek… but he didn't push her away.
The very next second, though, a prickling alarm went off in his head. He turned his gaze right—catching sight of two familiar figures just rounding the corner.
Recognizing them, Luo Shu's eyes went momentarily wide. Does it really have to be this coincidental?
Kisara half-opened her eyes, casually flicking a glance toward Kasumigaoka Utaha—and, if anything, her action only grew a touch bolder.
"Tsk!"
Eriri, just recovering from her initial shock, could swear she'd heard a tongue-click.
"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!"
This time it wasn't just clicking—there might have been stomping, too.
Noticing this, Eriri quietly stepped back, setting aside her irritation at Utaha's abrupt stop, and instead slipped behind her, holding her breath.
Utaha just stared at Luo Shu without blinking.
Feeling that stare, Luo Shu quickly pressed lightly at Kisara's shoulder, nudging her back a little. "Kisara, stop."
"Didn't you say it was a reward?" Her red eyes gleamed faintly. "At an award ceremony, having guests is perfectly normal, isn't it? Don't you think so, Shu~~?"
Hearing that saccharine call, Luo Shu's brows lifted slightly. "If you keep going, I may have to do something more than ten times as improper to the person standing nearby—just to calm her down. Would you be fine with that?"
The glow in Kisara's eyes blinked out instantly.
One for her, ten for the other? She'd be losing big time.
Realizing that, she lost all motivation to keep teasing Utaha, puffing her cheeks. "Shu, that's just playing dirty. You're biased!"
Hearing her grumble about favoritism, Luo Shu rubbed at his hair, then glanced at Utaha's stoic face and pointed toward the stairwell behind him.
"Anyway—let's take this upstairs."
Utaha gave him a perfectly pleasant smile.
"Yes… I do think we need to have a proper talk."
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