Mari Makinami's body was stiff like a piece of quick-frozen raw meat.
Trapped in Hansen's embrace, by arms that weren't particularly thick but seemed to contain the power of mountains, her muscles, originally tensed to the extreme by battle instinct, now trembled slightly from a deeper tremor.
It wasn't just the absolute disparity in strength.
It was also because of that secret, which should have been known to no one.
"Mr. Han Sen, supervisor, who... exactly are you?"
Mari Makinami's voice lacked its usual flippancy. Her willow-like brows were slightly furrowed, and she stared intently at Hansen.
"Oh? You recognize me now?"
Hansen released her wrist. "Who I am isn't important. What's important is..."
"I can get you closer to 'her'."
—This guy, he really knows everything!!
Mari Makinami unconsciously bit her lower lip, her blue-green eyes filled with complexity.
"If you want to continue working under that bearded uncle who only wears gloves and props his chin, then be my guest."
Hansen didn't look at her again, instead taking long strides towards the end of the dark, deep street.
His voice drifted back, carried on the night wind, with a fatal allure.
"But if you want to truly touch a miracle..."
"Or rather, if you want to see her again."
Hansen paused for a moment, leaving his final verdict.
"Then follow me."
Just a few words.
No threats, no coercion, yet it was like an invisible 鎖 that instantly blocked all of Mari Makinami's retreats.
Mari Makinami stood dumbfounded.
The night wind howled, roughly messing up her twin ponytails. A few strands of hair clung to her face, damp with cold sweat, looking somewhat disheveled yet possessing a strange, poignant beauty.
She watched that tall figure gradually disappear into the distance.
The apprehension in her eyes receded like a tide, replaced by an unconcealable excitement.
It was a pathological and fanatical obsession, like a moth drawn to a flame.
It was like a seasoned addict seeing a sealed temptation.
"Seriously..."
Mari Makinami murmured softly, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly, then slowly turning upward into a complex smile mixed with bitterness and ecstasy.
"This kind of thing, it's against the rules, isn't it...?"
She took a deep breath and pulled out the encrypted phone that had just hung up from her pocket.
Without hesitation, she quickly entered a series of commands, directly cutting off the pre-set positioning signal.
"Sorry about that..."
She spoke softly to the phone screen, her tone light to the point of cruelty: "Although I'm a little sorry about your arrangements, tonight's 'date' has to be canceled."
"Later? Let's get in touch then~"
Click.
She turned off her phone and casually tossed the expensive, custom-made communicator into a roadside sewer.
With that soft sound, she completely severed her original mission line.
"Oh dear... I really lost completely this time."
Mari Makinami pushed up the slightly crooked red-framed glasses on her nose, and the carefree cat-like smile returned to her lips.
Only this time, the smile held less of her usual pretense and playfulness, and more solemnity and contemplation.
"Since I can smell Ms. Yui's scent... even if it's eighteen layers of hell ahead, I have to go and see."
Since that man's stance aligned with Yui's, changing masters seemed reasonable, didn't it?
"Wait for me, Boss~"
The girl hummed an unknown tune, its light melody echoing in the silent night.
She took light steps, like a cat that had caught the scent of fish, resolutely chasing after the man walking in the darkness.
The moonlight stretched their shadows long, finally overlapping at the end of the streetlamp... Half an hour later.
NERV members' high-end apartment complex.
Click—
With the crisp sound of the electronic lock opening, Hansen pushed the door open and entered.
Mari Makinami followed him in without ceremony, like a stray cat just adopted, showing no awareness of being an outsider.
She casually tossed the heavy parachute bag by the entrance, kicked off her small leather shoes, which were a bit worn from landing, and her small feet, encased in wine-red stockings, stepped onto the expensive solid wood floor.
"Wow, nice environment! A guy's apartment is actually this clean, that's quite a surprise!"
Mari Makinami looked around curiously, her gaze sweeping over the tidy living room and the large floor-to-ceiling windows, then her eyes lit up.
She quickly ran to the refrigerator, opened it, grabbed a can of beer, pulled the tab with a "clink," and took a big gulp, tilting her head back.
The pale yellow liquid trickled down the corner of her mouth, flowed over her slender neck, and finally disappeared into the deep, bottomless collar of her shirt.
"Hah, I'm alive again~ supervisor, do you mind if I borrow your bathroom? That workout just now made me all sweaty and sticky, it's so uncomfortable."
"The bathroom is over there." Hansen pointed the way.
"Thanks~~" Mari Makinami gave him a wink, humming an old song, and swayed her way into the bathroom.
Hansen sat on the sofa and casually turned on the TV, which was broadcasting news about the enhanced defense capabilities of Tokyo-3.
Soon, the sound of trickling water came from the bathroom.
Hansen leaned back against the sofa, deep in thought.
For someone like Mari Makinami, conventional threats and inducements were meaningless.
To tame this wild cat, he had to give her what she wanted most—hope concerning Yui Ikari.
Keeping a fiery little wildcat was also a nice diversion.
Not long after, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.
There was no sound of a hairdryer, and then, the bathroom door was pulled open with a "whoosh."
A blast of warm, humid air mixed with the fresh scent of shower gel wafted out.
"Phew—! So comfortable!"
Mari Makinami walked out with the half-empty can of beer in her hand, her two long legs striding forward.
Hansen opened his eyes, his gaze slightly narrowed.
This woman, she really is... not a stranger at all.
She was wearing only a white bath towel, barely covering the crucial areas from her chest to her upper thighs.
Her wet brown hair was casually draped over her shoulders, with water droplets falling from the ends, sliding down her slender neck, and then into the deep cleavage.
Having just taken a hot shower, her skin had an alluring pink flush, like a ripe peach.
She wasn't wearing the red-framed glasses from Senior Yui, and her blue-green eyes, blurred by the steam, appeared especially hazy and charming.
She walked barefoot to Hansen, not sitting on any other chair, but directly plopping down on the coffee table in front of him.
Her long legs crossed, and the hem of the bath towel dangerously shifted upwards.
Revealing a large section of smooth, firm, fair thigh, and that absolutely forbidden zone that made one's blood rush.
"I say, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
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