Chapter Five
Suzuki Yuki [Seeking Data]
Soubu High School.
Beneath the shade of a tree at the edge of the plaza, a figure in a form-fitting black dress sat with one long, elegant leg crossed over the other. She watched the opening ceremony with an air of detached boredom.
B-Class Hero Rank One of the Hero Association, Hell's Blizzard.
Behind her, a member of the Fubuki Group chuckled.
"Lady Fubuki, school assignments are the best. Just sit around, chat a bit, and get paid!"
"Too bad these gigs only pop up a few times a year. If only students started school every day!"
For professional heroes like them, easy, safe money was a no-brainer.
But the moment their conversation ended, a sharp, urgent Spatial Quake alarm tore through the air.
Fubuki's bored expression instantly shifted.
She shot an annoyed glare at the subordinate behind her.
"Shut it!"
"Help the school evacuate the students. We should still have a little time..."
Her words hung unfinished as she spotted a black dot in the sky beginning to swell rapidly.
'So fast? Impossible!'
Her emerald eyes widened. A shocked gasp escaped Fubuki's lips, her face paling.
She looked ahead. Nearly ten thousand teachers and students stood packed in the plaza.
If she couldn't stop this Spatial Quake, they'd all be ground to dust.
'Can I stop it?'
The question echoed in her mind.
An image of her sister, Tatsumaki, flashed before her eyes.
Already, she could feel the tremors heralding the Quake's formation.
No time to hesitate. She had to meet it head-on.
Fubuki's graceful form lifted into the air, a faint phosphorescent glow emanating from her body.
Tendons stood out on her slender neck and smooth forehead. Gritting her teeth, she focused her full Psychokinesis on the expanding black void above.
She tried to construct a barrier, to contain the Spatial Quake within it.
But she'd underestimated the sheer force, the raw energy of the eruption.
Under that colossal impact, her psychokinetic shield groaned in protest.
It lasted mere seconds.
Then, with a sound like shattering glass, it exploded into fragments.
Fubuki hovered in the air, face white, body swaying slightly.
'It's no use... I can't hold it.'
Her power couldn't even buy a few seconds.
She looked up, a wave of despair washing over her.
That's when she saw it.
A blot of pure darkness, materializing out of nowhere.
'What is that...'
She froze.
That darkness, deeper than any abyss, felt far more dangerous than the Spatial Quake itself.
In the next instant, before Fubuki's horrified eyes, the dark mass suddenly expanded.
Like a bizarre, blooming petal of absolute black, it swiftly enveloped the Spatial Quake.
'The Spatial Quake... was swallowed?'
Fubuki's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief.
***
At the same time.
A girl named Rin Tohsaka looked up at the now-empty sky. Confusion and shock played across her delicate features.
'Was that just now... the Imaginary Number Space?'
Even having seen it with her own eyes, she couldn't be sure the mass that absorbed the Spatial Quake was the conceptual Imaginary Number Space.
But.
Amidst the chaos, her sharp senses had caught a distinct fluctuation.
A fluctuation of Mana.
Rin was certain. A mysterious Magus was nearby.
'Who could it be?'
Her gaze turned sharp, scanning the crowd.
***
The Spatial Quake was gone, but the school staff didn't dare relax.
Who knew if the damn thing would come back?
With hearts in their throats, they organized the students into the Shelter.
Only when the chaotic lines finally filed in, becoming orderly, did the school authorities breathe a sigh of relief.
The air inside the Shelter was stifling, thick.
In this situation, Shizuka Hiratsuka demonstrated what made an excellent teacher.
She directed student council members to bring out the stored drinking water.
Yu Hisashi's eyes immediately found a flash of dazzling silver hair in the crowd. The Russian girl was handing out bottles of water to the students.
"Was anyone injured in the earlier confusion?"
"There's an Infirmary by the Shelter entrance! Any injured students, please proceed there immediately!"
A familiar voice reached his ears. Yu Hisashi turned his head.
There she was. The black-haired, straight-haired girl who bore a slight resemblance to him. She made the announcement, but her eyes kept darting around, searching for something.
Then her gaze met Hisashi's.
The worry in her eyes instantly melted into relief.
"Hisashi, are you hurt?"
The girl took small, quick steps to his side and grabbed his hand.
"Yuki, I'm not hurt..."
Yu Hisashi said, a note of helplessness in his voice.
Out of the corner of his eye, he clearly saw Eri, who was handing out water, stiffen slightly at Yuki's action.
"You *are* hurt! You're bleeding!"
Yu Hisashi looked down. Suzuki Yuki was blatantly squeezing ketchup onto his palm.
"You need to get to the Infirmary right away!"
Meeting Suzuki Yuki's mischievous eyes, Yu Hisashi sighed and let her pull him toward the medical room.
Suzuki Yuki. His biological younger sister in this world.
When their parents divorced years ago, Yu Hisashi went with their father. Suzuki Yuki stayed with the Suou Family.
"Yuki, what's this about?"
The moment he asked, the girl threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. All the anxiety and relief she'd been carrying poured out.
"Brother... I'm so glad you're okay..."
Her voice was muffled against his shirt.
A touch of tenderness surfaced in Yu Hisashi's eyes.
But the next second, Yuki lifted her head, a pout on her lips.
"Brother, what are you spacing out for? Isn't this where you're supposed to give me a head pat?"
Faced with this sudden shift in her demeanor, Yu Hisashi could only feel more resigned.
He opened his palm. The ketchup she'd smeared there was sticky and wet.
"Got blood all over my hand here..."
Suzuki Yuki gave a soft hum, her beautiful eyes shifting slightly.
"Then let me treat it for you!"
Before Yu Hisashi could process her words, she was already rising on her toes.
The next moment, he felt it clearly—a warm, wet tongue delicately licking the ketchup from his palm.