In the center of the chaotic race track.
Kaito's suit jacket, which still retained his body heat, covered Justify, acting as a final and fragile defense protecting her from most of the frantic and blinding camera flashes, like piranhas.
Several WMA security guards, tall and imposing like grizzly bears, coldly and forcefully pushed through the frantic journalists to approach the couple.
The man leading them, burly as a tower, gave an "order" to Kaito in a distant and condescending tone.
"Sir, Catherine ordered us to accompany Ms. Justify back to the lounge, please, step aside"
Kaito did not move.
He simply looked at them calmly, his gaze completely unwavering.
But behind him, Gold City, Air Groove, Symboli Rudolf... his Harem Legion, the strongest and most formidable group in the world, had discreetly gathered around him.
They formed an indestructible "human wall" made of beauty and power.
A tense confrontation ensued with the aggressive security guards.
The tension in the air was explosive!
It was a public struggle for the "ownership" of a shattered girl, unfolding before hundreds of millions of spectators worldwide through a live broadcast.
Just as both sides were at a standstill and the atmosphere froze to absolute zero...
Kaito moved suddenly.
He leaned down.
Amidst Justify's gasp of surprise.
Under the incredulous gaze of everyone present.
He picked her up in his arms like a princess, in a way so perfect it could be recorded in the history of any idol drama.
He held her firmly against his chest, her small body cold and violently trembling.
With his chest, which was not particularly massive but incredibly solid, he completely protected Justify, whom he carried in his arms, from all external cameras and malicious stares.
He ignored the security guards who were already preparing to intervene.
Instead, he slowly raised his head and looked toward the VIP box.
He looked at the woman he knew must be furious.
With a voice that was not loud, but clear enough for all the nearby media microphones to record perfectly, he declared calmly:
"The patient needs treatment now, not judgment"
"From this moment on, she is under my care"
With that said...
Kaito, holding Justify
Under the "forceful path-clearing embrace" (by Gold City) and the "rear-covering aura" (by Symboli Rudolf) provided by the strongest Harem Legion in his world.
Ignoring the angry warnings from the WMA security guards and the frantic questioning from journalists, he walked directly toward the Olympic Village.
This scene, transmitted instantly through high-definition live channels, spread across the world.
This did not look like a simple rescue.
It looked more like... the romantic and dominant escape of the century, staged publicly before the entire world.
...
In the VIP box.
Catherine watched on the big screen as the Oriental man brazenly took away her most perfect "creation" as if she were a trophy.
She was so furious her whole body trembled violently!
For the first time in her life, she felt things slipping out of her hands.
...
Late at night.
Inside the penthouse presidential suite prepared by the WMA for Justify, there was a space so luxurious it felt, coldly, like being in a golden cage.
The lights in the room were off.
Only the endless neon light of Los Angeles shone through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, casting spots of mottled light onto the expensive carpet.
Justify was curled up alone in front of the enormous and cold floor-to-ceiling window.
Hugging her knees, she looked like a helpless child abandoned by the whole world.
She was not crying.
But that deathly silence was more heartbreaking than any hysterical weeping.
Just at that moment...
The door to the room opened silently with a "Master Access Card with Supreme Authority," kindly provided by the director of Tracen, Yayoi Akikawa.
Kaito, with a cup of freshly heated and slightly steaming milk in his hand, entered as silently as a ghost.
Gently, he placed the cup of hot milk next to her hand.
He did not immediately begin with any "lecture" or "treatment"
He simply sat in silence beside her.
He contemplated with her the prosperous but incredibly lonely night view stretching before the window.
His arrival caused Justify's body, which was already numb, to tense up instantly!
She thought he would also question her, like Catherine, about why she had failed and why she was so... imperfect.
After a long, long silence.
Kaito finally spoke.
His voice was as soft as the bright, cold moonlight coming through the window.
"If you want to cry, cry"
"Here, there is no 'American Idol' who is forbidden to fail"
"Nor is there any 'Triple Crown winner' who must be perfect"
"There is only a... girl who is exhausted from running, who can't run anymore, who wants to act like a spoiled child but was never allowed to do so"
"Little girl..."
He paused and then uttered the most fatal words, which, like the most precise surgical scalpel, instantly shattered all her emotional defenses.
"I know..."
"You are not sad about today's failure"
"You feel... relief and fear... because finally you can no longer be the 'perfect machine' she wanted..."
"...isn't that right?"
Boom!
This phrase was like a unique key.
It opened precisely the door to Justify's heart, which had been sealed for too long—so long that she herself had forgotten how to open it.
Suddenly she raised her head!
She looked at Kaito with a look of incredulity, as if she had seen a monster!
The tears, suppressed for so long and surging like a mountain flood... finally burst like a broken dam, completely uncontrollable...
They came rushing out!
When she finally sobbed out loud, releasing all the resentment, pain, and reluctance accumulated over the years...
Kaito reached out his hand.
Using his warm and dry fingers, which seemed to possess a certain magic, he gently placed them on her temple.
And then—
[Hand of God: Mental Resonance Mode activated!]
This time it was not a physical massage.
Instead, through the faint but incredibly precise bioelectricity at his fingertips and the fatal body aroma that calms all souls, he directly soothed her brain nerves, which were on the verge of total collapse due to excessive and prolonged tension.
An indescribable sensation, warm and safe, like a mother's embrace.
Starting from her head, it slowly flowed through her entire body like the gentlest stream.
It was as if the softest and most merciful hands were gradually dissipating all the anxiety, all the fear, and all the overwhelming pressure she felt in her mind...
Her nerves, which were so tense they almost snapped, slowly relaxed, one by one.
The fatigue accumulated over several years, clinging like worms to the bones, was released at that moment in the most complete and gentle way.
Her crying gradually ceased.
It transformed into soft sobs, like those of a kitten.
Finally—
With a deep and unprecedented sense of security, as if she had returned to childhood... she took refuge in Kaito's solid and warm embrace and fell deeply... asleep.
This was the first, and only, night of restful sleep she had had in years.
Kaito looked at the girl in his arms, whose sleeping face was as serene as an angel's, but who still unconsciously clung to the corner of his jacket.
His face reflected infinite tenderness.
[Ding—!]
[Congratulations, host! A preliminary mental link has been successfully established with the "starry glory" Justify!]
[Current Trust Level: 45%!]
[The target's emotional state is preliminarily stable; the conditions for subsequent deep therapy have been met!]
Just as Kaito was about to carry her to the large, fluffy bed, Justify, in her sleep, suddenly and unknowingly squeezed the small hand holding him.
She murmured in her dreams a fragmented and infinitely dependent phrase.
"No... don't go..."
"...Only you..."
"...won't scold me..."
Kaito's heart shuddered violently.
He lowered his head and gave her a gentle kiss on her smooth forehead, which still held a trace of tears.
He promised in a low voice:
"Don't worry, I won't leave"
"Until you no longer need me..."
"...I won't go anywhere"
He decided to stay here tonight, protecting her in this way.
...
Meanwhile.
Outside Justify's presidential suite.
A "Forced Intervention Team," composed of elite WMA security and medical personnel, was preparing for a "forced entry" following Catherine's remote instructions.
But they discovered...
The hallway outside the door, which should have been empty, was now completely full of people.
El Emperador, Symboli Rudolf; the Queen, Gold City; the "Host," Taiki Shuttle... Kaito's Harem Legion stood like the strongest guardians protecting a dragon's treasure.
They blocked the entire hallway without showing any emotion.
Symboli Rudolf smiled and spoke to the pale-faced head of the security team in impeccable English, imbued with a regal aura.
"I'm sorry, gentlemen"
"Our chief is currently conducting a very important 'academic exchange'"
"Before this 'exchange' ends..."
"NO ONE is allowed to enter"
Catherine's plan for a "forced rescue" had failed.
...
The next day.
When Justify slowly woke up with a ray of morning light and discovered that the man who had guarded her all night was sleeping peacefully beside her bed... what kind of proactive, grateful action would she take?