About ten minutes later, Luo Shu arrived at the apartment building where Utaha Kasumigaoka lived.
Both of them resided in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, not too far apart, which was why Luo Shu had directly changed course to come here.
Of course, from Utaha Kasumigaoka's perspective, this sudden visit carried a certain implication of sending special signals.
"Suddenly messaging to meet up... Could it be that the great god is finally willing to listen to the troubles of this humble Familia member?"
Outside the first-floor entrance of the apartment building, Utaha Kasumigaoka - wearing Toyogasaki High's uniform with thigh-high black stockings that didn't violate school regulations - smiled coquettishly at Luo Shu.
It was clear that receiving Luo Shu's message about visiting so early in the morning had put Utaha in an excellent mood.
Hearing this, Luo Shu, holding his schoolbag, looked exasperated as he placed a hand on his hip:
"Even though I didn't contact you much after school yesterday, is this tone really necessary?"
"My tone depends entirely on your attitude."
Utaha Kasumigaoka quickly closed the distance while carrying her bag, then looked up at Luo Shu's face with a smile, examining and sniffing at his neck:
"Good, it seems you haven't committed any illegal acts with SDS's beautiful female operatives."
Utaha teased while tilting her head, gesturing for Luo Shu to follow her.
At this moment, Luo Shu grabbed Utaha's hand, causing her to look at him in surprise as he said:
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go to your apartment."
Utaha blinked in slight surprise, then deliberately drew out her response: "Hmm~~ Should I call school to say I can't attend due to... difficulty walking?"
"Enough already." Luo Shu couldn't help but laugh at this remark.
'Though, come to think of it, why use difficulty walking as an excuse? Would my next actions really make it hard for you to walk?'
He mentally complained, but maintained a serious expression: "This is official business."
Hearing this, Utaha immediately stopped her teasing, though her expression showed slight surprise.
"Official business?" Utaha murmured softly before taking Luo Shu's hand and leading him while carrying her bag. "Come with me."
After fingerprint unlocking, they took the elevator up to Utaha's rented apartment. Upon entering, Utaha took out a pair of blue men's slippers she'd bought at the supermarket yesterday from the shoe cabinet, placing them properly before Luo Shu:
"Let me know if they don't fit."
Hearing this, Luo Shu glanced at the slippers, then at Utaha, who was changing into her indoor footwear, suddenly remembering Mira Tsubakihara.
'Are all girls... this proactive?'
Last time he visited, there definitely weren't any men's shoes in Utaha's home, and these slippers were clearly recently purchased, weren't they?
Muttering to himself, Luo Shu quickly took off his shoes, changed into slippers, and followed Utaha Kasumigaoka into the living room he'd visited once before.
As she walked into the kitchen to prepare hot drinks, Utaha asked Luo Shu:
"Should I take the day off?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu sat down on the sofa and explained:
"That won't be necessary. The spare time we have could be considered equivalent to taking the subway to school."
"So, 30 minutes then?"
Utaha, who was boiling water in the kitchen, tilted her head in realisation:
"Could it be through the Astronomy Club's space?"
"Brilliant!" Luo Shu couldn't help but clap his hands at how quickly she'd figured it out.
"That's not brilliance, just logical deduction. After all, the only method I can recall for quickly reaching school is the emergency evacuation teleportation you set up beforehand."
For just 5 points, one could directly access the alternate space where the Astronomy Club was located, and that space was connected to the school's clubroom.
"Suddenly, we have a new fast route to school, though the price is a bit steep."
Utaha opened the overhead kitchen cabinet and then asked:
"Coffee alright?"
"Sure."
Luo Shu answered casually, and soon saw Utaha walk out, biting two instant coffee sachets while carrying a kettle and two mugs.
Seeing Utaha emerge with the instant coffee sachets between her teeth, Luo Shu visibly froze for a moment.
The square, black packaging of the instant coffee bore an uncanny resemblance to certain newly designed 'preventive measures'.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing Luo Shu staring intently at her as she sat opposite him, Utaha's expression became slightly awkward. She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear and asked sheepishly:
"What are you looking at?"
"Just thinking about some things concerning you and me." Luo Shu deliberately responded with vague phrasing.
Hearing it was about her and Luo Shu, Utaha immediately didn't dare to probe further.
In a way, Utaha was the type of woman who excelled at retreating at crucial moments.
"So, what exactly happened on your end?"
Seeing Utaha change the subject, Luo Shu wasn't disappointed but rather secretly relieved, as his earlier imagination would have been quite rude towards her:
"The specifics probably start from last night."
Luo Shu then proceeded to explain in detail everything that had happened from when he left school yesterday evening until this morning.
The series of unexpected events left Utaha, as the listener, utterly dumbfounded.
After nearly 10 minutes of explanation, Utaha held her untouched coffee and asked blankly:
"So, under the noses of SDS's key members, you recruited that Seven-Star Demon Hunter called Sharon Holygrail as your subordinate, drugged the young lady of the Yakushiji family who offended you, and also had that woman named Sharon secretly investigate the Yakushiji family to obtain information about that sealed demon?"
"And just now, that Sharon has already captured the key person, only missing the step of extracting the intel from their mind?"
Hearing Utaha Kasumigaoka's wide-eyed summary, Luo Shu confirmed there were no discrepancies before nodding:
"Pretty much, yeah."
Utaha paused at this, finally taking a sip of her now lukewarm coffee with a pensive expression.
Seeing her like this, Luo Shu couldn't help but frown:
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Utaha murmured, feeling rather glum at the thought that so much had happened to Luo Shu during the mere half-day she hadn't been paying attention to him.
It gave her the strange illusion that her 'baby' had grown several years older in just half a day.
Of course, the main issue was that she hadn't been by Luo Shu's side to witness his growth - that was the truly unbearable part.
And that! That high-status, golden-haired nun big sister who worshipped Luo Shu like a god was clearly a terrifying rival!!
In an instant, Utaha felt an urgent need to push forward:
"The captured Yakushiji family member is at the base, right?"
Utaha stated this as fact while looking at Luo Shu, then gritted her teeth:
"Take me there to handle it."
"That's not urgent right now."
Luo Shu shook his head, producing a test tube filled with red liquid:
"Before that, there's a crucial step we need to prioritise."
As Luo Shu spoke, the Succubus Blood in the test tube faintly glowed with an unusual light.