"Yeehaw~ Perfect landing!"
Accompanied by a cheerful shout, Mari Makinami aimed for the rooftop of an abandoned skyscraper, preparing to complete her parachute landing.
Just as her long legs, encased in torn stockings, were about to land firmly on the solid rooftop, a sudden crosswind struck, lifting the girl's skirt and causing her to cry out in surprise.
"Waaah—Seriously, what a hateful wind!"
The parachute's landing spot was now beyond the rooftop. Out of necessity, Mari Makinami settled for landing on a quiet street outside the abandoned construction site... The night wind suddenly intensified, tearing past her ears with a roar.
The perfectly calculated trajectory was violently skewed by this sudden crosswind. Mari Makinami had to yank hard on the parachute cords, her body swinging wildly like a pendulum in the air as she tried to correct her landing point.
But this strange wind seemed to be deliberately working against her; the parachute filled completely, dragging her through the air in an uncontrolled, rapid descent.
The designated empty lot below grew farther and farther away, replaced instead by a quiet street.
Even worse, beneath a flickering streetlamp, a figure was standing.
That poor soul had his back to her, seemingly admiring the moon, completely oblivious that a 'Glasses Girl' meteorite was currently plummeting toward his head.
Not enough altitude!
No time to change direction!
Mari Makinami's pupils contracted. Her animalistic instinct made her judge instantly: rather than crashing onto the hard concrete, she should use this passerby as a cushion!
I'm sorry, but to protect my butt, you'll have to be sacrificed!
"Get out of the way, get out of the way—! Move it!"
The girl's cries, intermittent due to the wind, sliced through the night sky.
The next second, a massive impact, combined with inertia, slammed violently into the tall figure.
Even for a well-trained body, a hard landing from this height and speed would certainly be painful.
She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, already bracing for the crunch of bone against concrete in her mind.
Thud—!
A dull sound.
The intense pain of hitting the hard ground never came. Instead, the arms that should have been knocked away caught her steadily.
Mari Makinami felt a large, vice-like hand firmly supporting her waist, and she felt as if she had crashed into a thick sponge.
"Ah, that hurt... Huh?"
Although she wasn't actually injured, driven by feminine instinct, Mari Makinami subconsciously whimpered and found herself hanging in the man's embrace.
Then she froze.
No broken bones, no scrapes, just her stockings—already damaged from the infiltration—suffering a little more battle damage.
She opened her eyes blankly. Her vision was a blur without her glasses, allowing her only to vaguely see that she was draped across a broad, solid chest.
The sensation pressed against her cheek was the taut, powerful muscle definition beneath the fabric of a high-end tracksuit.
A faint, pleasant scent lingered at her nose, like the crisp, negative-ion-filled air before a storm, mixed with a certain inexplicable aroma that made her feel safe.
"Thanks, you were a huge help..."
Coming back to her senses and confirming her safe landing, Mari Makinami did not linger in the warm embrace.
She offered a casual thank you, then, like a nimble cat, twisted her waist and lightly jumped back onto the ground.
The moment her feet touched the ground, her vision went completely blurry, as if the world had been heavily pixelated.
"Oh dear, where are my glasses? Where did they go?!"
She disregarded her image and immediately knelt on the ground, frantically searching the concrete with her hands.
They were not only her window to the world but also an important keepsake left to her by someone very significant.
Under the dim yellow streetlamp, the girl was kneeling, her shapely backside sticking up, her long legs encased in wine-red stockings, displaying her stunning curves completely unguarded.
Her pleated skirt lifted slightly with her movements, revealing a strip of blood-pumping white skin in the 'absolute territory.'
Hansen stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down and appreciating a scene that would make any adolescent boy have a nosebleed.
He had to admit, this 'Glasses Girl' was certainly well-endowed, a top-tier stunner.
Unlike Rei Ayanami's lack of expression or Asuka's tsundere attitude, Mari Makinami possessed a mature mix of wildness and intellect that offered a unique flavor.
He moved his toe slightly, gently nudging the pair of red-rimmed glasses closer to the girl's hand.
"Ah, found them!"
Mari Makinami's fingertips touched the cold frame, and she immediately cheered, grabbing them like a treasure. She hastily wiped them on her sleeve and put them back on her nose.
The world became clear again.
She stood up, dusting off her knees while quickly and deftly gathering the parachute dragging on the ground.
Just then, the encrypted phone in her pocket vibrated.
Mari Makinami glanced at the caller ID, answered the phone, and immediately launched into a stream of fluent English with a London accent.
Her tone was as light as if she were discussing tomorrow's weather, not carrying out an illegal infiltration:
"What? No, no, no...Just a little accident."
She held the phone between her head and shoulder, quickly rolling the parachute into a bundle and stuffing it into her backpack, her voice lazy and slightly complaining:
"What? Didn't you ask me to sneak in secretly? Just let those stuffy Europeans handle that kind of thing... I just got blown off course by the wind. I think I'm currently next to... hmm, a construction site?"
"Don't worry, there won't be any witnesses. Even if there are..."
She glanced at Hansen, who was waiting quietly beside her, lowered her voice, and chuckled, "I can handle them."
"Alright, remember to send a car to pick me up soon. I need a hot shower; this body odor is absolutely dreadful."
Hanging up the phone, Mari Makinami smoothed her messy bangs and let out a long breath.
Although there was a small accident just now, the infiltration mission was generally successful.
She swung her backpack onto her shoulder, stretched her neck, and then turned around to take a proper look at the "passerby" who had just served as her human cushion.
Mari Makinami was ready to smooth things over with a few witty remarks or simply knock the passerby out.
That was the plan, and that's what she intended to do.
"Sorry about that, handsome, that was really... hmm?"
However, before she could finish speaking, Mari Makinami's voice abruptly stopped.
At the same time, her nostrils flared, and she took two extremely keen sniffs.
"This scent... it's the Water of Life!"
The Water of Life is also known as LCL.
It had a scent similar to the origin of life, clear and sweet yet slightly fishy, filled with various pure nutrients.
Deep within the complex scent Mari Makinami detected, there was a trace of fragrance she would never forget, even if she turned to ash.
That was the person she had dreamed of protecting throughout countless days and nights, the one she swore to guard until the end.
"Not just that, there's also... Miss Yui?!"
"How is that possible?!"
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