Having said her goodbyes to Teacher Unohana Chiyo, Su Yuzu headed back to the dorm alone.
It was the weekend. No classes.
Originally she had planned to go over to Imperial Capital University to hang out with Sister, and while she was at it~ while she was at it, pay a visit to Senior Tsukiyomi Fuya.
On second thought, better not.
Forcing her way off campus probably wouldn't have caused any real trouble.
But she had already given her word to the girl superintendent, so — never mind.
Su Yuzu's impression of Lin Jingjing was actually quite good.
The girl superintendent's clothes carried a clean, crisp, pleasant scent, and that upright, by-the-book air of hers made a person itch to back her into a corner and tease her a little.
"Miss Superintendent~"
"How can you let your guard down! With a suspect like me, you have to be ve~ry~ dil~i~gent~ okay~"
Something along those lines.
Su Yuzu didn't want to make trouble for the girl superintendent.
She stopped at the crepe shop on the commercial street and bought two things — strawberry cream crepes and an apple pie — then went back to the dorm.
She didn't go straight to her own room.
Instead —
Knock, knock, knock —
Su Yuzu rapped on the wooden door across the hall. "I'm ba~ck~"
Pit-pat, pit-pat —
A rapid patter of bare feet came from inside.
The one who yanked the door open was Kirishika, and the first thing her eyes went to wasn't Su Yuzu's face — it was the crepe shop's paper bag in her hand.
"What flavor did you get today?"
"Strawberry cream?"
"I can already smell the strawberries."
"And what's the other one? Is it that apple pie Yuzu~Yuzu was talking about last time?"
Su Yuzu took in the sight of her: half-dressed, the camisole nightdress hanging loose, one strap already slipped off her shoulder with a kind of sly, practiced cunning — and lunging at her anyway.
This girl's "Seat of Hunger" Talent really was working perfectly.
It brought to mind all the grievances Honored Aunt Sakura had poured out to her.
These days, the moment Honored Aunt Sakura heard the word "eurypterid," a current seemed to go crawling up her spine.
Even… even Senior Tennouji Jurei, whenever she and Honored Aunt Sakura were playing, would steer the conversation to eurypterids on purpose, putting on the face of a pure, innocent schoolgirl and earnestly begging "Teacher Sakura" to explain the origin of life to her too.
Honored Aunt Sakura had worn such a bitter, wounded expression while she railed at her own daughter for growing up only to side with outsiders — and to tattle, no less.
Pitiful and adorable, really.
Su Yuzu never would have guessed it, though.
Senior Tennouji Jurei looked so stiff and humorless, and yet she knew exactly what she was doing.
Sometimes Su Yuzu wondered — what if, what if Sister Sakura had inherited not Senior Tennouji Jurei's temperament, but Honored Aunt Sakura's: that soft, weak, tempting sort, the kind whose only hard part was her mouth, everything else — bones included — seemingly made of nothing but softness.
That… would probably be a lot of fun too.
Su Yuzu suddenly thought of the will of the "Sword of Erasure."
When the will of the "Sword of Erasure" took the wheel of Sister Sakura's body, that was more or less exactly what she was like.
Excellent~ The collection was coming along nicely.
Raising her right hand up high, Su Yuzu teased Kirishika on purpose.
In Soga Yura's memories, Kirishika was the big sister whose face you could only see if you craned your head back while she held your hand.
But twelve years had slipped by since then.
Su Yuzu and Soga Yura had both grown up. Kirishika looked exactly the same as she had twelve years ago.
Su Yuzu was nearly a head taller than her now.
So when Su Yuzu lifted her right hand up high, all Kirishika could do was brace both hands on her shoulders and hop for it.
She snatched the crepes and the apple pie away, and Su Yuzu simply reached back and shut the door. Then, watching Kirishika cheerfully tear into the wrapping, she reached over and tugged the nightdress back up where it belonged.
"No socks, no slippers. Fine."
"But you can't even be bothered to wear your clothes properly."
Kirishika just ducked her head and mumbled, "I literally just got up…"
"Besides —"
"Relax! My feet don't get dirty!"
Grinning, she lifted one cute little foot for Su Yuzu to see.
Sunlight slanted down through the window, and there was the picture: a girl holding up a soft, small, pale bare foot. In a game, that would absolutely be worth freezing into a CG, the kind that has certain hentai-minded individuals hollering "Ice cream!" Lick, lick.
[Ding —]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new CG.]
[Please view it under "Operator: Kirishika" → "Interact."]
Sure enough —
A new CG had been unlocked in Kirishika's [Interact].
"I noticed it after I came back to life as one of the Aberrants."
"My body seems to come with a permanent clean status. Even barefoot, nothing dirty sticks to me."
Kirishika ripped the wrapper open, cradled the crepe, and took a first big bite.
"Mm —"
"Though if someone smears something on me on purpose, that still works."
Su Yuzu followed her into the room, and what really gave her a headache was waiting inside: the Seat of Evil, stark naked — or rather, Kirikashi — huddled in the corner of the bed clutching the sheet, watching her with wary, frightened eyes.
It all traced back, more or less, to the day Su Yuzu first tried out the "Combat Records."
Because of the Inherent Ability shared by Kirishika and Kirikashi — [Synesthesia].
Su Yuzu had effectively Fed her two "Advanced Combat Records" straight to the face, and that instantly dragged Kirikashi back to the memory of that day — her glorious, glittering entrance out of the Abyss, only to be devoured whole, licked clean, and eaten right back down into human form. A truly tragic experience.
Ever since then, every single time Su Yuzu came to see her, Kirikashi was like this: trembling, uneasy, frightened out of her wits — and yet utterly obedient.
Su Yuzu beckoned to her.
The mighty Seat of Evil!
Shoulders hunched, waist pressed low, she crawled slowly out of the corner of the bed and over to Su Yuzu's waiting hand.
The girl's beautiful eyes stayed locked on Su Yuzu, her spine arching up with tension.
Su Yuzu simply bent her head and started getting her dressed.
"Why isn't she wearing anything?"
"I gave her a bath yesterday and couldn't be bothered afterward," Kirishika said, lounging off to the side.
"Though if you ask me…"
"There's no point putting clothes on her now."
"Once you use that "Throne" power of yours, she's going to need another bath anyway."
"She'd just have to strip all over again. So right now is perfect…"
Su Yuzu turned and looked at her. Under that stare Kirishika's nerve wilted, her voice dropping lower and lower. "Wh… what are you looking at me for…"
"It's not like I'm wrong."
Strictly speaking, Kirishika was the first Throne Su Yuzu had ever Recruited.
Her case was nothing at all like Saint Michael and Lyudmila, or the Sword of Erasure and Sakura Mai.
Kirishika understood more about the "Thrones" than most, enough to faintly sense the connection between Su Yuzu and that Goddess of Fate's Blessing.
So of course she had concluded that this was the power of Su Yuzu's own "Throne."
"You know what, you should stop calling yourself the Seat of Karma."
"Might as well go with the Seat of Lu — mmgh!!!"
With practiced ease Su Yuzu swiped open [Operator Development], and with equally practiced ease tapped Confirm on Kirishika's [Development].
Only — a pair of arms clamped tight around Su Yuzu's waist.
She looked down at Kirikashi in her arms, so terrified she seemed on the verge of tears.
Synesthesia… could be a real nuisance sometimes.
And then —
Better a sharp pain than a slow one. So while Kirikashi wore that dazed, unfocused look, as if she might cry herself right out of her own mind, Su Yuzu tapped Confirm a second time.
Yes indeed~
A real nuisance.
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