The third video was posted.
No pinning. No promotion. No other means whatsoever.
When the entire world had its eyes fixed on the Tokyo metropolitan area—fixed on that battle that had erupted without warning—the falling fire-feathers raining from the heavens were more than enough to push the girl's sideways profile, head tilted back toward the night sky, straight to the top of the trending charts.
The video opened with a scene beneath the night sky: a girl standing in the grass, leaning against a railing, and the woman facing her.
When the camera panned to "Raven," the tone of the comment section seemed to go a little strange.
"She's so hot... off-shoulder lab coat and a pencil skirt. Genuine question — are all Aberrants this... dressed to kill?"
[This counts for what? I suggest you go watch the first two episodes.]
[Fair point——]
[The qipao alone is way hotter than any lab coat and pencil skirt.]
[Nah... the qipao doesn't have that vibe. This big sis is clearly the type of white-collar professional you'd find running a research institute. Just imagine her taking her shoes off... Sis, step on me!]
"There is a pervert here."
[There is a pervert here.]
"..."
However, when the pair of dark golden vertical pupils behind the woman opened one by one—and the erosion domain expanded in an instant—it was as though all the comments froze solid in the face of that terrifying pressure. Everything seemed to change along with it.
[Holy sht holy sht holy sh*t... is this real or fake? I heard there really was a battle with an Aberrant in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Is this footage from the actual scene?]
[It's probably just CGI... right?]
[If it was filmed on-site, how could it be this high-definition? An Aberrant's erosion domain causes severe interference with all electronic devices.]
"And besides... the Japanese side wouldn't allow this kind of video to leak, would they."
[This video looks like it might be... Highway 107? That's practically in my neighborhood. Brothers, I'll go check it out and report back.]
[Stay safe up there——]
[Stay safe——]
"Holy sh*t!!! All of Highway 107 has been sealed off. The whole area is swarming with Investigation Bureau and Investigation Bureau Fourth Action Division personnel."
[This...]
"Hissss——"
You really couldn't blame them for reading into it.
If all of this was real... then what exactly was the purpose of the person who filmed these videos?
Many people suddenly thought of the Soga clan's banquet this weekend.
It was the day the eldest daughter of the Soga clan, Soga Yura, came of age.
Everyone knew of Soga Yura's heaven-defying talent. At just seventeen, she already stood at the very peak of the Second Sequence, and could step into the Third Sequence at any moment.
Her aptitude was said to be approaching—and possibly surpassing—that of the legendary Nightmare-type Esper of the Empire from years past. The Empire's Strongest Valkyrie, who had once been the very symbol of the Empire's hope.
And yet—
The protagonist of this video was clearly not Soga Yura.
Soga Yura didn't have a figure like that. And besides, Soga Yura was currently enrolled at Imperial Capital University, whereas the girl in the footage was clearly wearing something resembling a naval-style jacket and a sailor skirt.
That was Keigunen Private Academy's spring-summer uniform.
She was Soga Yura's younger sister — Su Yuzu. The one rumored to be a "useless" Psychokinesis user.
But... in the video, fire-feathers rained down across the heavens and crashed into the earth.
The girl braced that enormous dark-red shield — which looked several times larger than she was — and nimbly dodged and weaved through the fiery bombardment. She even swung the great shield, which cracked and warped before instantly transforming into a longsword nearly seven or eight meters long, and brought it crashing viciously down upon the Aberrant.
And you're telling me... this is a useless waste!?
They fell silent, and began to think.
It was said that Soga Yura and Su Yuzu were identical twins. Due to a difficult labor, Su Yuzu had been born several hours after her elder sister — but on the same day.
So then... could this series of videos be the Soga clan building up Su Yuzu's public image? Very possible.
[This Aberrant looks terrifying... she's Third Sequence, right?]
"I feel like even an average Third Sequence doesn't hit this hard. Is she... at that level?"
[Not quite——]
[She probably hasn't reached it yet. If she were at the Fourth Sequence, she could've simply detonated those feathers right next to the girl instead of using a wide-coverage attack.]
[But... she must be close.]
"So can you tell what level the girl is? I heard she's a mental-type Esper."
[???]
[???]
[Are you joking, bro?! You're telling me someone this agile — someone who can swing a ten-meter-plus heavy weapon — is a mental-type Esper!?]
[It really is hard to believe, but... there's one unfortunate fact—]
[Every single descendant of the Soga clan who carries those crimson eyes, without exception, is a mental-type Esper.]
"From her eyes alone, she appears to be of very pure main family bloodline. Combined with her looks and figure, she's probably the legendary failure, Su Yuzu."
"And her elder sister... would be the prideful flower of Imperial Capital University, Soga Yura."
[Can the earlier poster confirm that Yuzu-hime is the younger sister?]
[The younger sister... can be that much more... gifted than her older sister?]
Watching the girl's graceful curves that even her tightly-wrapped jacket couldn't conceal in the video—
[Indeed.]
[Indeed.]
[I heard Soga Yura and Yuzu-hime don't get along. When Yuzu-hime went to bring Soga-senpai snacks, she got chased out.]
[These videos... couldn't be fallout from an internal power struggle within the Soga family, could they.]
"Very possible—"
[Makes sense.]
[Didn't someone say before... that they saw Su Yuzu getting very close to the Ishikawa family?]
[The Ishikawa family again...]
[Brothers who don't know, check out this video — 「History's Strongest Mental-type Esper — The Tiger of Ishikawa」.]
"What kind of title is that? But the 「History's Strongest Healing-type Esper」 bro posted last time was genuinely interesting, so this one..."
[This one's even wilder! Especially when he's standing next to his wife...]
Amid the flood of derailed conversation, only one pitiful little crying-face emoji drifted through: "It... it's not some power struggle at all!!!"
°0.(°□□□)
[Yuzu definitely loves her big sis the most!]
[The poster above has been shipping this so hard they've gone delusional.]
"But... I like it too."
[Exactly exactly!] Soga Yura typed happily.
[A stacked little sister and a flat-as-a-board elder sister — just thinking about it is great.]
□ □ [Exactly exactly! No wait!!!°.0.(°□).0.°]
—
At Soga Yura's bedside in the hospital, Su Yuzu was peeling an apple for her.
The one who had been injured was clearly Su Yuzu — though it was only a minor wound.
But Soga Yura's condition somehow looked even more pitiful than Su Yuzu's. When she had been brought to the hospital, she'd looked close to completely dehydrated.
The time had already ticked past midnight.
Looking at Soga Yura's sorry state, Su Yuzu couldn't even bring herself to tap the confirm button on the Operator Development and Combat Records panel.
"And you call me reckless... turns out you're even more reckless than me," Su Yuzu said, peeling the apple slice by slice.
"She was a Fourth Sequence opponent. How did you even dare chase after her."
"Mnngh," Soga Yura whimpered pitifully, tugging at her blanket and acting cute.
She hadn't hidden from Yuzu what she'd done. There was no need to. And... she couldn't.
Ever since she had shattered the false, manufactured image deep within her heart — that image she had once believed would protect herself and Yuzu, but had ultimately wounded Yuzu the most deeply — Soga Yura had quietly resolved to never hide anything from Yuzu again.
Just then——
The door to Soga Yura's hospital room was suddenly pushed open.
The woman who stepped inside had a remarkably slender figure and an air of mature, alluring elegance.
In Yuzu's own words, she was like... a cherry. An absurdly sweet cherry.
"Asumi-san..." Su Yuzu looked up at the woman and smiled.
That's right—
She was none other than Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's mother: Ishikawa Asumi. A Precision Manipulation Esper. The woman who, when faced with the choice between being a surgeon of death and a doctor who saved lives, had chosen the latter.
"Yuzu~~~" Under Soga Yura's furious and deeply envious gaze, the woman pulled Yuzu into a hug and pressed the girl's small face into her chest.
Su Yuzu, still holding the fruit knife, carefully spread her arms wide, terrified of accidentally cutting the woman.
Asumi smiled warmly and stroked the girl's short hair. The feeling of short hair beneath the fingertips was completely different from long hair.
At the same time— the woman shot a faintly wicked look at Soga Yura, who was steadily puffing up into the shape of a blowfish.
"Oh my, oh my~~~"
"Does Yura miss Auntie too?"
"Come, come, let Auntie give you a hug."
"I don't!!! I don't want that!!!" With Soga Yura's face a portrait of despair, terror, and helplessness, and Su Yuzu watching on with shameless glee, the woman simply reached out and pulled the bedridden Soga Yura into a hug.
Soga Yura, who had barely any strength left to begin with, gave a few feeble little kicks with her pale, delicate feet... and then surrendered entirely.
Several minutes later... Soga Yura lay on the hospital bed like a dead fish, her eyes having completely lost the will to live.
Asumi smiled pleasantly at the girl, then asked the question that was the true purpose of her visit.
"The girl Xiao Yura brought back..."
"Which branch family of the Soga clan does she belong to?"
"How did she end up becoming corrupted into an Aberrant?"
Su Yuzu knew exactly who the girl Soga Yura had brought back was — Feng Ke. She smiled and explained to Asumi, "She's not a girl from the Soga family."
Then... she suddenly noticed that Asumi-san's expression had become grave. Very serious.
"Asumi... san?" Su Yuzu hesitated.
"How is she not?" Asumi's brow furrowed.
"Her pupil characteristics match the Soga clan's traits very closely."
"So does her bone structure."
"Yuzu, haven't you noticed... her facial structure looks a lot like Kiyomi's?"
"If I didn't know that even beating Irube to death, the man wouldn't have the guts to cheat, I'd suspect she was Irube's illegitimate daughter."
"Yuzu?"
"Yuzu!?"
"What did you just think of?"
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉