Luo Shu looked at her in surprise.
By then, Miku had realised Luo Shu wasn't actually asking for her opinion, and immediately flushed red.
"How could she do this...?"
Miku felt equal parts anger, embarrassment and frustration. Her supposed friend knew she'd face danger, yet chose to arrange a heroic rescue scenario? And made her look foolish in front of Luo Shu?
Miku truly didn't know how to describe Nia Honjo's behaviour.
'I keep your ability secret, and you backstab me like this? Do we even stay sisters after this?'
Seeing Miku's flustered expression, Luo Shu smiled slightly and explained:
"For Nia, this was probably the most interesting way to protect you. Though admittedly, she also just wanted to see the drama - you know what she's like."
"To her, watching me anxiously waiting for the right moment to play the hero while making a fool of myself is probably part of the fun."
Miku's eye twitched slightly as she turned to Luo Shu with an awkward expression:
"Should you really be telling me this...?"
Admittedly, Nia Honjo was backstabbing her by giving Luo Shu an assist, but wasn't Luo Shu also backstabbing Nia by telling her this?
Moreover, pretending ignorance would clearly be most advantageous for Luo Shu, so why reveal it to her?
Could it be because he didn't want Nia to feel smug?
Most importantly, was she really so lacking in charm that she wasn't worth him patiently waiting for an opportunity?
As Miku Izayoi pondered, her thoughts gradually veered off course.
She even felt like asking Luo Shu why he wasn't waiting for that chance to win her over, but her shyness kept her from voicing it.
Faced with Miku's questioning, Luo Shu merely smiled before calmly responding as the elevator doors slowly opened:
"Staying silent would indeed benefit me, but not necessarily you."
"Suddenly facing hidden schemes or even more attacks—even if I could resolve it afterwards, that's still after the fact."
"If possible, I'd rather none of you get hurt. After all, you Spirits could all be considered my future subordinates."
"So, as your superior, isn't protecting my subordinates only natural?"
With that, Luo Shu stepped out of the elevator, garbage bag in hand, heading toward the apartment's trash room on the first floor.
Miku froze at his words, watching his retreating back as he left the elevator, struck by how unusually tall and imposing he seemed in that moment.
She stared for a while, only snapping out of it when the elevator doors automatically closed. Flustered, she quickly pressed the open button, her cheeks flushing as she muttered:
"Subordinates... huh?"
"No wonder Nia kept urging me to come, even offering help like that... So this was the reason..."
At this thought, Miku suddenly whispered to herself:
"Being protected... doesn't seem like such a bad thing..."
With a click, the elevator doors reopened. Miku glanced in Luo Shu's direction before hurrying after him.
...
Room 303, on the sofa.
Nia Honjo sat cross-legged, leaning back against the cushions while holding the black tome Raziel in her hands. She clicked her tongue in amazement at the words automatically appearing on its pages:
"Tsk tsk tsk, so there's this kind of approach? That little airhead Miku is already swayed? She's way too easy to fool!"
"Still, I've got to hand it to Luo Shu~ I thought you'd wait for that opportunity before making your move..."
After skimming Raziel's contents, Nia realised her assistance probably wasn't needed anymore.
She glanced at Megumi Kato busying herself in the kitchen, then at Kisara, who had just emerged from the secondary bedroom after settling Mukuro Hoshimiya. Flipping Raziel open again, she twirled the quill that materialised in her hand, deep in thought:
"Luo Shu asked me to research how to strengthen Familia members quickly... and said he'd granted access to that thing's authority, letting me retrieve partial information... Ugh, what a hassle..."
Nia sprawled across the sofa, Raziel in hand, legs dangling over the armrest:
"Even with the authority unlocked, something of this high-level authority is beyond Raziel's retrieval capabilities. So if I want to study reasonable advancement methods for Familia members, I'll have to compile and analyse existing intelligence..."
In short, it was about deducing the most suitable abilities and their manifestations for Familia members based on known information—in other words, using Raziel's omniscient power to predict their future Classes. It was about using the present to extrapolate the future.
"It feels incredibly troublesome... No, scratch that—it is incredibly troublesome..."
After a moment of thought, Nia Honjo wrote down the names Eriri Spencer Sawamura, Utaha Kasumigaoka, Kisara, and Megumi Kato in Raziel.
Eriri was Luo Shu's request, Utaha Kasumigaoka was the first to join Luo Shu's Familia and thus deserved priority, Kisara was included because Nia wanted to freeload off her cooking, and as for Megumi Kato...
Nia had a vague sense that Megumi was a dangerous person, and thinking it best not to offend her, she added her name to the first batch anyway.
After finishing the list, Nia sighed.
"Let's start with these four. Though I can only handle four at a time anyway..."
"I just hope I don't work myself to death..."
As for Luo Shu's request for her to move—she was working so hard already, surely he wouldn't have the nerve to push her further, right? Definitely not.
Just as Nia began her busy work...
At the first floor of Sakura Apartments.
Luo Shu waved goodbye to Miku Izayoi, who was wearing a beret and mask, leaving only her eyes visible.
"Send me a message when you get home." Luo Shu shook his smartphone, the screen displaying Miku's private LINE account—exchanged just moments ago when she had caught up to him.
Hearing this, Miku's face beneath the mask broke into a sweet smile as she bowed.
"Understood. Then... I'll take my leave now."
Luo Shu watched Miku's retreating figure until she disappeared from sight, then suddenly realised something and turned around.
At that moment, a voice tinged with surprise came from the side:
"Mr. Luo Shu, were you... seeing off a friend?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu looked up at Mahiru Shiina standing before him, his expression shifting slightly in surprise.