The two of them held hands as they descended the stairs.
As they passed the café on the first floor, the girl at the counter greeted them. But the beauty beside Akashi didn't even glance at her.
With a single bare hand, she pressed a hidden button—causing a panel to slide open and reveal a staircase leading to the basement.
The moment they stepped onto the stairs, Rui Kisugi turned back and pressed another switch on the wall.
Boom!
A mechanical door slammed shut behind them with a loud thud.
Click! Click!
The iron door locked tightly with the sound of a combination mechanism sealing into place.
"Seriously?" Akashi groaned inwardly. Last time I dated her, I didn't even get this kind of security protocol. What's with all the locking doors? Planning to beat me to death in private?
He looked up helplessly, tears brimming in his eyes.
But Rui's once playful expression quickly turned cold and unreadable.
By the time they reached the underground base, Akashi hadn't even found his footing when—
Rui suddenly reached into her cleavage, pulled out a pistol, and aimed it directly at his forehead.
"You really deceived me, Bacardi," she said coldly. "Or should I call you by another name?"
Cold sweat trickled down Akashi's spine.
Hah... I knew something felt off when she said we'd "discuss business".
This woman... she'd been eavesdropping the whole time. She never went to sleep at all.
Such a careless mistake!
Ai had warned him before—some women pretend to be innocent children, but the act runs deep.
He was afraid his disguise had been completely exposed.
Still, the succubus shota decided to put up one last desperate struggle.
"Sister Rui, what are you talking about?" he asked in a sweet, confused voice. "What happened to Brother Bacardi? I don't get it…"
At the sound of that overly cutesy tone, the corners of Rui's mouth twitched.
Her hands tightened around the gun. She pulled the trigger—
Click!
"If you talk to me in that tone again, I swear I'll shoot you!"
She's serious!
"What the hell is going on with you?! How did you become a child? Tell me the truth!"
Rui was nearly trembling, eyes filled with tears. All traces of the dignified Kisugi family head were gone. Her hands shook with emotion; she could barely hold the pistol steady.
The young Akashi quickly dropped the act.
"LeoCat, calm down, calm down! I'll explain everything!"
He activated his Lv1 voice-changing technique. His childlike voice shifted back to his original tone.
"!!"
And the moment Akashi called her "LeoCat," Rui's brown eyes widened in shock.
That nickname... only one person ever called her that—in private.
"It really is you, you bastard!"
F*CK! It turns out—she hadn't been entirely sure. She'd been bluffing!
This woman's instincts were terrifyingly sharp!
The moment she confirmed his identity, she tossed the pistol aside and lunged at Akashi.
In the past, she would've pummeled him with her fists.
But now—looking at that innocent, adorable little face—she couldn't bear to hit him properly.
So instead, she flipped him over, pinned him across her lap, and began spanking him.
No hesitation. No holding back.
"You bastard! Don't you know how worried I was?!"
"You turned into a child and didn't even tell me!"
"What the hell were you thinking?! Is this your idea of a joke?!"
"I thought something serious happened to you!"
The helpless succubus Shota had no strength to resist and could only squirm under her grip.
It didn't hurt physically—but the shame was unbearable.
"Okay, okay!" Akashi cried out. "Didn't I come find you right after I shrank? I'm not dead, see?!"
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you involved with the organization's affairs!"
"LeoCat, I really didn't mean to lie to you!"
The moment he called her "LeoCat" again, Rui's whole body shivered. Goosebumps appeared all over her arms.
"Don't call me that. I can't handle it right now!"
Akashi smirked and doubled down. "LeoCat~ LeoCat~ LeoCat~!"
That earned him another shove.
"Shut it!" Rui snapped. But as she looked at him again, something shifted.
Despite everything, his eyes were still filled with tenderness.
But seeing that expression on the face of a tiny, soft Shota was too much—it felt way too creepy!
If it were the mature and dignified Bacardi looking at her like that, she might've been moved.
But now? Her fists itched to punch someone.
"You still haven't told me—why did you become a child?"
Only then did Rui release her grip on his mouth.
Akashi took a breath and explained.
"It's because of a drug—APTX."
"The organization I worked for developed ten types of human-modification drugs called APTX. This one specifically causes programmed cell death while boosting telomerase activity. It was originally used as a lethal poison…"
"But in rare cases, it triggers a regression in all bodily tissues except the nervous system. Bones, muscles, organs, hair—all revert to childhood form."
"I took it to save my life. That's why I became like this."
Rui's eyes widened. "Then… when can you turn back?"
Akashi frowned. "That's the tricky part."
"We'll need an antidote. The girl upstairs is actually the researcher behind the drug."
"She's working on a cure. I'm relying on her to reverse the effects."
Rui's face fell slightly.
"So… that girl also took APTX and shrank?"
Akashi nodded. "Yeah."
"She and her sister are being hunted by the organization. Their identities must remain hidden."
Despite his small frame, Akashi's expression was serious and commanding.
"I know," Rui replied. "I'm not careless."
"I just… never thought a drug like that could actually rejuvenate someone."
"But Bacardi, don't think becoming a kid lets you off the hook."
"Tell me—what are you going to do about Hitomi?"
That question made Akashi stiffen.
Yeah… the reason he didn't want to reveal himself to Rui earlier was precisely because of this.
Back when he was in his Bacardi form, he got drunk, entered the wrong room—and ended up with Hitomi.
How was he supposed to explain that?
He couldn't tell the truth. If he did, Rui would explode into a volcano on the spot.
No hesitation.
Akashi instantly activated his Lv3 skill: Grasp of Immortality.
Two invisible hands manifested and gently wrapped around Rui.
His small hand reached forward and overlapped with the invisible ones.
[Ding! Skill activated. Physique absorption failed. Daily absorption limit reached.]
"Of course, LeoCat," Akashi said sweetly. "You have the final say when it comes to Hitomi."
"But let's not talk about her, okay?"
"I missed you these past few days."
Rui's eyes twitched. That line—so shameless—it was exactly like that bastard Bacardi!
But looking at this tiny figure saying those words… it was just too perverse.
So cute. So wrong.
So him!