Ten minutes later.
"Wow, so this is Dying Will Flames? It feels amazing—my whole body's so much lighter!"
A lively, excited voice carried in from outside the window.
"Takina, how do you feel?"
"Mmm, impressive. My mind is unusually clear. If I focus, it's like time slows down."
"This shouldn't be Mist Attribute Dying Will Flames, right?"
This time, a composed female voice—was it Takina-san, who sat beside her during Friday's dinner gathering?
"Right. Chisato has Sun Flames, with the ability of Activation—enhancing herself or healing by stimulating cells."
"As for Takina, hers is Rain Flames, with the ability of Stillness. It can immobilise moving molecules, extinguish others' Dying Will Flames, and induce paralysis."
Hearing that final male voice, Yukino Yukinoshita's consciousness gradually returned.
She finally recalled what had happened earlier.
Remembering how she'd acted like a madwoman, frantically sweeping her room with a broom and dustpan, Yukino's eyes seemed to lose all light.
"This can't be real..."
"It must be a hallucination. Maybe I'm still asleep in bed at home. Yes, that's it. No—I must've dozed off in my sister's car."
"Honestly, she never wakes me up. What if I'm late?"
As Yukino muttered blankly to herself—
Creak.
The door swung open.
Luo Shu stepped inside, surveying the now-cleaned room with a satisfied nod.
"Not bad."
Then he turned to Yukino, crouched in the corner.
At this moment, Yukino wore a face mask, a grimy headscarf, and a dust-covered apron—utterly dishevelled.
Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita in such a seemingly broken state, Luo Shu was startled:
"Hey, are you alright?"
Hearing the voice, Takina Inoue peeked in, scanned the room, then stared at Yukino:
"Is this... a side effect of failed Dying Will Flame infusion?"
"What what! What happened to Yukino?"
Chisato Nishikigi squeezed past Takina Inoue and peered inside. Upon seeing Yukino Yukinoshita's despairing posture, she immediately exclaimed:
"Whoa!! Her eyes look completely dead!!"
Chisato quickly rushed over, waving her fingers in front of Yukino Yukinoshita:
"Yukino, do you know what number this is?"
Yukino Yukinoshita raised her head and gave Chisato an empty look before replying hoarsely:
"It's 2. Also, could I have some time alone?"
"Eh? Oh!"
Chisato took a step back, then turned to Luo Shu, nudging his chest with her elbow as she whispered:
"Luo Shu Luo Shu, did you inject too much Dying Will Flame?"
"Looking at this, Yukino seems completely broken by you."
Luo Shu rolled his eyes and whispered back:
"What do you mean by 'broken by me'? Choose your words more carefully."
Hearing this, Chisato nudged Luo Shu's chest again with a teasing grin:
"Mental violation is a more serious crime than a physical one, you know. Luo Shu, confess—did you deliberately overload Yukino with Dying Will Flames just now?"
At this harassing remark, Luo Shu rolled his eyes again:
"Relax, the amount I gave you was definitely ten times more than Yukino's."
"Oh my, how generous of you," Chisato teased.
"You two, honestly..."
Takina sighed and walked over to Yukino Yukinoshita, offering a bottle of water:
"Want some? Don't worry, I haven't drunk from this one."
Yukino Yukinoshita looked up at Takina, paused for a moment, then took the bottle. She pulled down her mask and took a small sip.
"Thank you."
After drinking, Yukino handed the bottle back. Once Takina took it, she turned her gaze to Luo Shu.
Noticing Yukino's stare, Luo Shu stopped bantering with Chisato and met her eyes.
They looked at each other for several seconds before Yukino, still crouched with her knees hugged, spoke:
"Director, does this mean I failed the test?"
"I'm gonna—"
Chisato nearly slipped, leaning against Luo Shu, who caught her by the waist. She then shouted in disbelief:
"Yukino, you were worried about THAT all along?!"
"Is something wrong?"
Yukino's expression looked slightly dazed, almost silly.
"Shouldn't I be concerned about this?"
"No, it's just..." Chisato hesitated, then pushed Luo Shu forward. "Never mind, Luo Shu, you explain it to Yukino."
Luo Shu, now shoved forward, twitched his lips before speaking:
"Chisato thought you were upset about the earlier... um, mental breakdown during cleaning. Ahem, the incident."
"Yeah, she thought you were embarrassed about the cleaning incident."
"That..." Yukino Yukinoshita's cheeks flushed red, but she forced herself to remain composed. "Although it was indeed an embarrassing state, it must have been a side effect of awakening those Dying Will Flames, right?"
"Exactly." Luo Shu nodded in agreement before explaining, "In fact, the complete form of that state is called Hyper Dying Will Mode - a dangerous condition where failure to endure could prove fatal."
"However, considering the risks of this mode, Dr. Verde and I opted to use Mist Flame to simulate Dying Will Bullets to facilitate the awakening."
"But due to the high precision required for this simulation, currently, I'm the only one capable of performing it."
Hearing this, Chisato Nishikigi gasped in astonishment:
"Eh? So you're saying only you can help people awaken, Luo Shu?"
Chisato began circling around Luo Shu, occasionally patting his shoulders and touching his hands:
"No wonder you were suddenly transferred to another department and promoted several levels to become a director."
Chisato Nishikigi crossed her arms and sighed with emotion:
"Suddenly, I feel like my own child has grown up overnight. Ouch!"
Chisato rubbed her head, teary-eyed, as she looked at Takina Inoue, who was clenching her fist:
"Takina~ Why..."
"Don't interrupt others randomly..." Takina glared at her, pulling Chisato aside while nodding at Luo Shu.
Noticing this, Luo Shu nodded in return before turning to Yukino Yukinoshita:
"So, you think SDS will abandon you if your Dying Will Flames awakening fails?"
Yukino bit her lip lightly, saying nothing yet conveying everything.
"Let me put it this way."
As he spoke, Luo Shu walked towards Yukino. Once close, he crouched down, staring directly at her exquisitely cold and beautiful face:
"To awaken Dying Will Flames relatively easily, you need an injection of the Adjuster Drug."
"Generally, newcomers are gifted a dose after three months of observation. After taking it, awakening Dying Will Flames becomes effortless."
"Since there's no difficulty, what does it mean if someone awakens Dying Will Flames before receiving the drug?"
Hearing Luo Shu's rhetorical question, Yukino froze momentarily before replying, "It means... a genius?"
"Exactly." Luo Shu nodded, then raised his hand to ruffle Yukino's hair vigorously: "Do you, who just joined SDS, think you're a genius~, Miss Yukino Yukinoshita~~"
"Wait, please hold on—stop messing up my hair."
Yukino resisted, trying to swat Luo Shu's hand away, but she clearly failed, soon left with a dishevelled bird's nest atop her head.
After thoroughly tousling Yukino's hair, Luo Shu stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the park outside:
"Don't set your standards too high. Start from the passing line—that's my life advice to you as your senior."
With those words, he turned around, hands in his pockets:
"Get ready. We're heading to Akihabara for dinner. After that, once the equipment delivery team arrives, we'll continue organising the office. If you still want to test whether you're a genius by then, I can give you another injection."
Hearing this, Yukino paused, her expression softening considerably.
She stood up, dusting off her apron, then muttered quietly:
"Director, please refrain from using such ambiguous phrasing with me in the future. Otherwise, I might call the police."
"Call the police?" Luo Shu tilted his head, giving Yukino an amused look. "You're welcome to try."
With that, he gripped the door handle, twisted it, and pulled.
Just as he was about to step out, he came face-to-face with a towering stack of vermilion lunchboxes.
"What the—?" Luo Shu startled at the sight.
Then, from behind the lunchboxes, Kisara's head popped into view, followed by a kindly smile:
"Shu-kun~ I've brought you dinner~ You'd better eat every last bite, okay~~"
Hearing this, Luo Shu glanced at the lunchbox stack—towering two heads above Kisara's 158 cm frame—and twitched his lips before turning back to Yukino.
"Perhaps we don't need to go out for dinner tonight..."