When the office door slammed open with a bang, Su Tang was under Makima's desk pondering life.
Why? How had things come to this?
He felt he'd been somehow coaxed by Makima into ducking under the desk. In hindsight, it didn't seem necessary.
Granted, her reason did make sense. But he couldn't shake the feeling she'd used some kind of psychological suggestion on him.
He knew that trick well. Never thought the skilled swimmer would drown in water one day.
Fine. Under the desk it was. Since Power had already come in, crawling back out would only make the misunderstanding worse. They were going to work together for a year—no need to leave a bad impression on his employee at the start.
Besides, under this desk… the space was pretty big.
Really big. He realized he didn't need to hunch at all down here—just sit cross-legged, with his back naturally resting against the desk's side panel.
No sooner had he adjusted his posture than he heard an unfamiliar woman's voice from in front of the desk.
"Miss Makima, Denji-ko's onboarding is complete."
Oh—Denji-ko was here too?
He blinked. Then that unfamiliar voice must be Hayakawa Aki's senior, Himeno.
"Mm." Makima's voice came from above. "Joining Public Safety means fighting on the front line against devils. Denji-ko, are you sure? If you regret it, you can resign."
As she spoke, her fingers tapped the desk lightly.
Su Tang knew it was a signal for him—that this sentence was asked on his behalf.
Worried he might think Denji-ko had been coerced into agreeing.
But Makima was overthinking it. Sure enough, the next second, Denji-ko's voice sounded:
"Ah-ha, I know, I won't regret it! Because Miss Himeno said in Public Safety I can have toast with butter and jam every breakfast, with salad, and hot coffee! That's the life I've dreamed of, hehe."
Su Tang laughed silently.
Exactly as he'd thought. But… why hadn't he heard Power? Had that crazy woman gotten all obedient once she entered the office?
As it turned out, he was wrong; a madwoman's nature can only be suppressed for a while
Just as Denji-ko finished speaking, Power's eminently punchable, defiant voice rang out: "Hah! Is that all foolish humans ever want? To be coworkers with that kind of person would be an embarrassment to the great me!"
Uh-oh.
Su Tang sighed softly. Given Denji-ko and Power's IQ and mental states, it would be hard for them not to start fighting right here.
But things once again developed beyond his expectations.
He didn't hear Denji-ko talk back—instead he heard Makima:
"Mm? Denji-ko? Can you tell me what you're looking for?"
Across the desk, the short-haired blonde Denji-ko rolled her neck, twisted at the waist, and couldn't stop herself from peeking around here and there.
Hearing Makima's question, she scratched her head and said, puzzled, "Weird—where's Mr. Su Tang? I clearly saw him come upstairs with Miss Makima."
"Su Tang? Which Su Tang? That hateful human punk?" At the sound of the name, Power looked toward Denji-ko and bared her teeth:
"That guy took me away to his place—he must be up to no good, coveting something about the great me! He's here now? No way. I'll look."
With that, she imitated Denji-ko's movements, hunching and sniffing around like a hound.
Himeno stood between the two. One eye was covered by an eyepatch; the other, a green pupil, turned toward Makima.
As if something occurred to her, her brows curved, as though smiling.
Right now, hiding under the desk, Su Tang didn't dare breathe, trying to make his breathing lighter—lighter still…
Please, Denji-ko, Power, whatever you two have to say, say it fast and go, okay? Don't shred my nerves in here…
Because there was a panel blocking the front of the desk, Su Tang couldn't see what was happening. He could only judge the situation's urgency by Makima's crossed leg, the foot gently swaying.
Also, the Public Safety uniform was suit trousers, so there was no prospect of any "peeking from under the desk."
But today Makima was wearing a pair of black heels; the heels weren't high, less than five centimeters, yet they set off the delicate shape of her feet to perfection.
Strange—he distinctly remembered that at the factory she'd been wearing little leather shoes. When had she changed to heels? While he was changing shirts just now?
But that wasn't his concern. He just wanted to prompt Makima to move the scene along and get Denji-ko and the others out quickly.
So he lightly tapped Makima's heel.
Mm… maybe too light—she didn't feel it?
Su Tang blinked, hesitated two seconds, then lifted his hand an inch and tapped Makima's exposed, rounded ankle.
This time she felt it.
Only…
Su Tang cocked his head, puzzled, as Makima's foot nudged forward a bit—one more centimeter and it would have bumped his face.
Had this chief of Division 4… misunderstood something?
Fortunately, she stopped in time.
Leaning his head further in, Su Tang heard Makima say, "Alright, Mr. Su Tang has already left ahead of you. You won't find him."
At that, Denji-ko scratched her head, looking disappointed.
Power folded her arms, acting cool and saying nothing.
Smiling, Makima looked at the subtly expressive Himeno in the middle and instructed, "Both of them carry very high risk. We can't let them act alone yet. For the time being, you'll accompany them for lodging arrangements, patrol, and other duties."
"Eh? Me?" Himeno looked like disaster had struck. Propping her cheek, she said, "Miss Makima, you know I can barely take care of myself…"
Makima said nothing, just smiled at her.
"Alright then." Himeno finally compromised, sighed, struck a look of utter resignation, turned and waved. "Ladies, let's go. I'll show you today's patrol route."
Denji-ko and Power exchanged a glance.
Both clearly wanted to say something, but under Makima's smiling gaze, each sensibly chose to scuttle out of the office first.
With a bang, the door shut.
Makima's smile relaxed.
She slid her chair back, then lowered her head and, with a soft laugh, said, "It's safe now. Mr. Su Tang can come out."
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