Meanwhile, Utaha Kasumigaoka surveyed the group before turning to Luo Shu with a question:
"What's going on here?"
Luo Shu glanced at the two non-Familia members present, Toyomi Fujiwara and Aya Natsume, then decided not to conceal much:
"Maya Natsume was assigned to our department by the Natsume family of the Bujin-shū. Loosely speaking, she's something of an exchange student between us and the martial artists."
As he spoke, Luo Shu shot a glance at Maya Natsume, who averted her gaze, before calmly continuing:
"However, this one seems to have missed her reporting deadline and hasn't shown up in Akihabara for duty. At least, I haven't seen her around much."
"I did go," Maya Natsume muttered in protest. "But at the time, someone named Kurumi Tokisaki told me it was outside working hours and to come back another time. That's hardly my fault, is it?"
Hearing this, Aya Natsume looked up at Maya Natsume and narrowed her eyes slightly, but remained silent.
Utaha Kasumigaoka's expression turned peculiar at this excuse:
"Outside working hours... so you went between 10 pm and 8 am?"
"Are you seriously suggesting that's an appropriate time for reporting?"
"Not just that—she probably only went once and never bothered to return."
As Luo Shu said this, he observed Maya Natsume's uncomfortable expression before asking:
"Does your brother, Shin Natsume, know about this?"
At this question, Aya Natsume eagerly responded: "Big brother is currently on a business trip in Kyoto!"
Hearing this, Kisara suddenly understood: "The Hagoromo Group incident in Kyoto?"
Now Luo Shu comprehended too—with Shin Natsume away from home and no one keeping watch, Maya Natsume was effectively in charge. Naturally, she could slack off as much as she pleased.
At this thought, Luo Shu frowned and asked in a strange tone:
"What exactly were you thinking?"
Although Maya Natsume was technically an exchange student, in essence, she had been sent to him by Shin Natsume as a refuge.
The reason was naturally because Maya's ability, Amaterasu Dragon Gate, possessed the special ability to nullify powers. To prevent certain actions by the Bujin-shū higher-ups, Shin had sent his sister to him.
But now, this woman was pulling such a stunt?
Was Maya Natsume really this bold?
Seeing this, Maya looked embarrassed.
She hadn't expected to run into Luo Shu during this visit and get caught red-handed. Had she known, she wouldn't have listened to her sister and accepted the security assignment issued by the Metropolitan Police Department.
Wait... listened to her sister?
At this realisation, Maya picked up Aya Natsume and said seriously to Luo Shu:
"I need to tell you something – don't be shocked!"
Hearing this, Luo Shu exchanged glances with the others before nodding:
"Go ahead."
Meanwhile, Utaha Kasumigaoka scrutinised Maya before locking eyes with Megumi Kato. When the latter shook her head slightly, Utaha remained silent.
Kisara, standing nearby, looked suspiciously at Aya Natsume, her expression faintly guarded.
Only Toyomi Fujiwara, the true outsider in this situation, watched with an amused smile as an observer, as if enjoying some entertainment.
Taking a deep breath, Maya declared solemnly:
"This was all my little sister Aya's idea! She's the one who stopped me from reporting!"
Luo Shu fell silent at this.
Utaha seemed to have anticipated this and thus didn't comment.
Though Kisara appeared sceptical, she remained quiet when she saw Luo Shu's silence.
It was Megumi who broke the silence first with her gentle voice:
"So... it was this little girl who's been stopping Miss Maya all along?"
"You actually believe me?" Maya looked astonished.
Luo Shu shot her a look: "What? Were you lying then?"
"I wasn't lying... I just didn't think you'd believe me..."
As she spoke, Maya looked down at Aya and said:
"Hey Aya, didn't you say it would be dangerous for me to approach the Hidden Management Department?"
"So why did you make me accept this assignment today and come straight to Minister Luo Shu?"
"What exactly did you see?"
"See something?" Utaha noticed the peculiar emphasis in Maya's words and turned to Luo Shu.
Luo Shu calmly explained:
"The Natsume family's inherited ability, Dragon Eye, possesses the ability to see the future."
"Presumably, Aya Natsume awakened the Dragon Eye, saw an unfavourable future, and thus warned Maya."
"See the future?" xN
This statement surprised everyone present, as the ability to see the future seemed somewhat exaggerated in their eyes.
"If it's about seeing the future then..."
Megumi gazed at Aya's eyes and asked calmly:
"That means there was one future vision that made little Aya advise against something, and another vision that led you here today, correct?"
Aya stared at Megumi with wary eyes, showing no intention of answering.
Meanwhile, Utaha frowned at Aya before turning to Maya to ask: "So, what future did she see?"
"She didn't say." Maya Natsume replied helplessly.
At this moment, Luo Shu chuckled and said:
"So you're really not going just because of your sister's warning? Even though it had no specific content, just a vague 'don't go'?"
Maya seemed to detect dissatisfaction in Luo Shu's tone and shrank her neck slightly:
"What can I do? Coming from a family like mine, those who ignore warnings from Dragon Eye bearers almost never escape unscathed."
"This..." xN
No one could find fault with Maya's reasoning.
With a prophetic master in every generation of her family, those who ignored advice were indeed extremely rare. The Natsume family motto probably consisted entirely of the words "heed warnings".
The justification was truly impeccable.
Thinking this, Luo Shu couldn't help but look at Aya Natsume and ask:
"So, what exactly did you see in the future?"
Hearing Luo Shu's question, Aya's eyes darted about. She took a deep breath, then suddenly broke free from Maya's embrace, stepped onto the stone table before her, and lunged at Luo Shu.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, Aya's childish figure rapidly transformed during this motion.
In the blink of an eye, an 8-year-old girl grew before their eyes into a tall, curvaceous beauty whose clothes could barely contain her figure.
This instantaneous transformation left everyone dumbstruck.
Seizing the moment, Aya pounced on Luo Shu, cupped his face in her hands, and crashed her lips against his.