Of course, Yukiko—who was on the verge of fainting—was furious.
What made her even angrier was that the young shota not only went back on his word but escalated things further, using a two-pronged approach!
"This guy is completely untrustworthy! Damn it!"
She glared at the bed just a few steps away. Despite how close it seemed, to her, it felt like an unbridgeable chasm.
No matter how she crawled on her hands and knees, she couldn't reach it.
The superstar finally collapsed onto the carpet with a dull duang duang—as if special effects had been added to her fall.
Her entire body was steaming.
She had lost way too much water.
Trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing Yukiko like this, the young succubus shota didn't dare to waste a moment.
He rushed to the bedside table, grabbed the bottled water provided by the hotel, twisted off the caps, and offered one to Yukiko while drinking the other himself.
Then, he leaned down and pressed his lips gently to Yukiko's pink ones—transferring the water mouth to mouth.
Once raw, twice familiar.
Akashi was already well-practiced at handling such situations.
Yukiko, whose entire body was overheating and nearing dehydration, instinctively swallowed.
Only after both bottles of water had been delivered did her body begin to calm down.
Akashi let out a sigh of relief.
His tense body finally relaxed as he leaned lightly against Yukiko's soft frame.
In truth, he hadn't meant to activate the 『God's Right Hand』 Skill. He'd just been curious and subconsciously gave it a try.
After a few moments of experimentation, he hadn't expected such a massive critical strike.
Yes, it felt like the sky had fallen.
Yukiko had already been on the brink after enduring the overwhelming impact of the earlier technique. Who would've thought that Akashi's spontaneous idea would cause another critical strike?
Under the back-to-back assaults of these two catastrophic skills, Yukiko was completely annihilated.
Note to self: tricks like that should be used sparingly.
Unless… there's more than one target—then it might be worth using again.
As for Akashi, his special physique was no joke.
With his physical stats nearing fifty, a short rest was enough for a full recovery.
When he turned back to Yukiko—the superstar adored by countless fans—he found her completely unconscious.
What was more surprising was that, despite fainting, her body would twitch now and then… as if she were stepping on some invisible switch.
Which was why Akashi hadn't realized she had passed out.
Even in her dreams, it seemed the aftershocks from pleasure were still tormenting her.
Akashi exhaled calmly. He wasn't too alarmed.
He had already handled something similar on the cruise ship just yesterday.
A repeat performance today? Child's play.
Besides, Yukiko might have fainted, but her body had no injuries.
With Lv2's 『Preaching and Imparting Liquid』 and Lv3's 『Imported Sugar』 skill—both top-tier healing abilities—there was no way anything serious could happen.
『Preaching and Imparting Liquid』 Lv2: The host's bodily fluids have undergone miraculous changes. By "preaching," the host can heal the critically injured. 』『Imported Sugar 』lv3: Host's saliva is now exceptionally sweet and carries a therapeutic effect.』
At worst, there was just too much 'milk' inside her.
She had overflowed and couldn't bear it.
All she needed now was a good nap.
Naturally, Akashi wasn't going to just leave her lying there.
Thankfully, with his strength now doubled, he was far from the weakling he used to be.
He wrapped one arm around Yukiko's slim waist and lifted her easily.
Though her long, slender legs dangled limply and her toes scraped the carpet, it wasn't anything unmanageable.
Just like that, the young Shota carried Yukiko into the bathroom and turned on the faucet and shower head.
Before long, two refreshed figures emerged with a brand-new look.
Akashi gently laid Yukiko back onto the bed.
Almost forgot—
In the next moment, his 『Retractable Bandage』 skill to picked up the hair dryer.
Akashi propped Yukiko up into a seated position.
Activating Lv3's Updraft skill, he summoned two streams of focused air. Combined with the hair dryer's warm wind, the three currents worked together to blow-dry her long brown hair.
Sure enough, no skill was truly useless.
Even this Updraft skill turned out to be super practical.
Akashi completed the whole process with patient care and surprising gentleness.
He took meticulous care of the unconscious Yukiko.
The only downside was the constant ringing of the room phone.
With his hands full, Akashi didn't answer. But the repeated buzzing was becoming an annoyance.
Meanwhile, the little devil Conan had already joined the diving club members in Kogoro's car, heading straight to Ito Hospital.
As always, nothing mattered more to him than a case.
Murder? That came before anything else.
Even if Ran was involved.
Even if his own mother was involved.
He had no idea what Yukiko had been through during his absence.
But as he quietly followed the group, Conan began noticing things.
Kiwako Toda and the men in the club had all been childhood friends.
It wasn't just Masahiko Matsuzaki—Kunio Kawazuo and Hiroshi Itou also had feelings for Kiwako.
Only Harumi Matsuzaki had transferred from another school later on.
Still, there was one thing Conan couldn't wrap his head around.
According to his deduction, the murderer who used sea snakes as the murder weapon had to be one of them.
But how could they have known that Kiwako could even enter the water?
How did they capture sea snakes in advance and store them for use?
Conan scratched his head.
He tried to piece everything together, but something just didn't click.
That one moment of revelation was missing.
Back at the beachside restaurant, the three women exchanged worried glances.
Eri had called more than a dozen times—but none went through.
She couldn't reach Yukiko at all.
Anxiety gnawed at her as she stood up abruptly.
"No, I have to go to the hotel and borrow a radio."
It wasn't clear whether the Yukiko who had taken Akashi away was the real one or not. They couldn't risk it.
Just as Eri turned to leave, a familiar figure entered the restaurant.
A young boy, handsome and composed.
It was Akashi.
Eri immediately rushed forward and scooped him up in her arms.
Her brows eased slightly as she closed her eyes and sighed in relief.
"Akashi, where have you been? And why couldn't I reach Yukiko?"
Akashi blinked innocently and replied, "Couldn't reach her? Maybe the phone got wet."
"Sister Yukiko took me surfing just now. The waves were huge! Super fun. I didn't even dare to bring my phone—it would've gotten soaked."
Ran and Haibara had come over as well.
Ran looked around and asked, "Where's Aunt Yukiko?"
"She was too tired after surfing and went back to the hotel to rest," Akashi answered smoothly. "She said she's gonna sleep until late at night. Told us not to bother her."
Eri frowned. "That's irresponsible. She should've brought Akashi back before returning to the hotel. What if he'd been kidnapped?"
But of course, the unconscious Yukiko couldn't have done that even if she wanted to.
Ran wanted to ask more about what happened between Akashi and Yukiko, but Akashi quickly changed the subject.
"I'm starving. Is there anything to eat? I feel like I haven't eaten in days."
"Yes, yes! Of course!" Eri and Ran chorused.
They ushered Akashi back to the table like pampering a tiny emperor and began ordering from the boss.
Even Haibara, though less enthusiastic, helped by pouring him a glass of lemon tea.
She, too, was relieved that Akashi had returned safely.
Thank goodness it wasn't Vermouth who took him.