One minute later, Kitahara Sota's dorm.
Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka sat a little stiffly across from Kitahara.
Beside them, Agnes Tachyon held her head, eyes brimming with tears.
Just a moment ago—right after Tachyon had dropped that god-tier nonsense line—Kitahara had smacked her with a forehead flick so loud it could be heard several meters away.
She'd broken down in a second, clutching her head, teary-eyed, her expression pitiful.
After that, Kitahara let all three of them in.
With Scarlet present, he wasn't too worried about Tachyon pulling anything.
Sure, she might still run her mouth—but actually drugging him or causing an "incident"? Even the faintest glow of suspicion would hurt the image she had in Scarlet's eyes.
And Scarlet and Vodka—probably because they hadn't begun their full maturation yet—looked smaller than Kitahara remembered from canon.
Calling them "little Scarlet" and "mini Vodka" wouldn't have been wrong.
After everyone sat down, silence hung for a moment.
Scarlet was the first to break it.
"Um… Trainer Kitahara, about before… really, thank you so much…"
She was talking about when he had saved them.
Though he hadn't seen them again until today, the Chairwoman had already sent people to explain things to them.
Of course, for the sake of their hearts, the Chairwoman hadn't told them everything.
Just said those men were criminals. That they'd been caught. That they were safe now.
But Scarlet and Vodka weren't stupid.
Maybe they hadn't realized in the moment, but afterwards, it wasn't hard to see the truth—those men meant them harm.
And Kitahara, along with another mysterious person whose identity they still didn't know, had clearly saved them.
So after that, Scarlet went to Tachyon.
Asked her to bring her and Vodka to meet Kitahara, to thank him face-to-face. Which led to this scene.
And though they hadn't debuted yet, hadn't even reached full maturation, Scarlet and Vodka didn't have money to buy fancy gifts.
But the day before, Scarlet had applied for permission to use the student cooking room. Together with Vodka, she made some sweets with her own hands, and brought them as thanks.
Since it wasn't anything extravagant, Kitahara didn't refuse.
He accepted, opened them on the spot, and shared them while chatting with the girls.
And because Scarlet's cooking was actually quite good, Kitahara praised the sweets. Which made Scarlet's ears twitch uncontrollably.
As expected… Trainer Kitahara really is a good person…
Her tail swayed faintly behind her as she looked at him.
Thanks to Tachyon's influence, Scarlet had already been leaning toward Kitahara's faction.
Later, after constant debates with Vodka, her stance had only grown firmer. By the time of the incident, she was already hardcore Kitahara faction.
And now, face to face, hearing his praise—her expression remained composed, but her twitching ears and restless tail betrayed her feelings.
Fortunately, no one noticed, since everyone was too absorbed in chatting.
After a while, Scarlet remembered something.
Her gaze slid between Kitahara and Tachyon.
"Um… Trainer Kitahara, you and Tachyon-senpai… are you that kind of relationship?"
"No."
Kitahara answered without hesitation. Glanced sidelong at Tachyon.
But Tachyon still held a grudge over his flick. When he looked, she showed no remorse.
Instead, she blinked pitifully under the others' gaze, sighing with feigned sadness:
"Ah, so you've truly changed your heart. Even after doing that with me just the other day… honestly…"
"…Yesterday, Hayakawa-san messaged me privately. Said your potion business had blown up again. She just got the news, and her last bit of vacation got ruined. She told me if I knew where you were, I should let her know. She wants to talk with you. Should I contact her now?"
"…I'm sorry, Guinea Pig-kun. I was wrong."
Seeing Kitahara reach for his phone, Tachyon panicked, leaping forward to stop him.
While wrestling for his phone, she hastily tried to explain to Scarlet that she'd just been joking, please don't take it seriously.
After a long fuss, Kitahara let her off.
Meanwhile, Scarlet and Vodka had been watching quietly, but with very different feelings.
Scarlet wasn't an idiot. She wasn't dense. She didn't mistake this bickering for dislike.
On the contrary—their playful quarrel only convinced her further that the two were close.
Especially since she knew Tachyon. That kind of attitude only appeared in front of the closest, dearest people. Proof of how much Kitahara mattered to her.
And Scarlet's thoughts on it?
She thought it was good.
At Tracen, few dared face Tachyon without fear. Scarlet did, and often.
Though Tachyon always acted mature and reliable in front of her, Scarlet had still sensed problems beneath.
But after Tachyon joined Kitahara's team, Scarlet had noticed changes.
Her smile grew more frequent. Her emotions more vibrant. Even her aura shifted—less mad-scientist eerie, more girlish charm.
Scarlet had suspected this was Kitahara's influence.
And now, seeing it in person, seeing Tachyon's unfamiliar expressions when interacting with him—Scarlet was sure.
One was the senpai who had looked out for her since admission, powerful and admirable.
One was the excellent trainer she had already decided to follow, who had recently saved her, and who gave her such a good impression in person.
Both were people she liked very much.
Seeing them so close, she felt happy.
But beyond the happiness, a thought rose naturally in her mind:
If I could join Trainer Kitahara's team… maybe…
Her tail swayed as she sank into thought.
Vodka's tail was swaying too. But not with excitement.
With embarrassment. Unease.
The reason was simple: Scarlet was firmly Kitahara faction, so of course she was thrilled.
But Vodka—Vodka had been firmly anti-Kitahara faction.
The happier Scarlet was, the more awkward Vodka's own stance became.
Not that she'd been blindly against him.
Her opposition was based on reasoning, on online rumors and speculations she'd debated and believed.
But here, in Kitahara's dorm, after talking with him—she realized quickly: much of the negativity spread online didn't hold water at all.
Especially considering he had just saved her life.
Thinking of her past words and actions, Vodka wanted to crawl into a hole.
And as they talked more, seeing Kitahara's kindness toward her, her embarrassment only deepened into guilt.
The others noticed.
Scarlet knew why, but still smarted from their past arguments, so she didn't help.
Kitahara, not knowing the history, just assumed Vodka was shy.
He couldn't recall her situation clearly, but she didn't seem dangerous.
So he spoke up, deliberately pulling her into conversation.
And, thinking kids liked games, he brought up the one Teio had introduced to him before.
Asked if she played. Tried to ease her nerves.
Which only made Vodka more awkward.
Because just a few days earlier—literally the day before the incident—she had been online ranting to "Hulubei" about Kitahara, swearing she would one day expose his false mask.
And then—the very next day…
While she floundered for an answer, Scarlet cheerfully "helped":
"Oh, she plays that all the time in the dorm."
At that point, Vodka had no choice. She admitted it, then forced herself to chat with Kitahara.
But as the conversation went on, she realized he wasn't just humoring her.
He really knew the game.
Character picks. Combo paths. Even quirky tricks only hardcore players knew.
Talking, she got drawn in. Forgotten was her shame. She debated mechanics with him earnestly.
But oddly—throughout, she felt something. A weird sense of familiarity.
As though… they'd had this exact conversation before.
But engrossed as she was, and with her naturally thick nerves, she didn't dwell on it.
She brushed it aside.
By the time Vodka was relaxed, the atmosphere in the room had completely lightened.
They all chatted and played around until noon, when the visit finally ended.
But afterward, because of that game discussion, Vodka—still embarrassed—summoned her courage.
"Trainer Kitahara… could you tell me your game ID?"
"That's fine. But I'm pretty busy, so I don't log on often. Especially with the semester starting soon, you might not run into me much…"
He didn't mind. Scribbled his ID and friend code on a piece of paper, handed it over.
Vodka accepted carefully.
She wasn't asking only for herself.
Yes, part of it was wanting to play or chat more with him.
But mostly—she wanted "Hulubei" to add him. Wanted them to meet in-game, break down the wall of misunderstandings.
Because though she had now cleared her doubts, and seen Kitahara with her own eyes—better even than Scarlet had said—Hulubei-oniisan still didn't know.
In fact, just two days ago, he had ranted to her about Kitahara again. Wondered why she suddenly didn't want to join in.
She had considered explaining. But decided—better to learn more firsthand first.
But now—why waste words? Better to let them meet directly.
So she clenched her courage, got Kitahara's ID, planning to pass it on.
Until—her thoughts stopped.
She stared at the paper.
At the familiar game ID. At the friend code she knew by heart.
Hulubei.
And that familiar sequence of numbers.
Realization hit like a thunderclap.
Vodka's body froze.
Her mind went blank.