Tap, tap, tap.
After Su Tang—relenting—granted Denko the "special privilege" of doing his laundry, the kid got a bit careless in her excitement and was flipped over by Power's horn. The two launched straight into a new round of battle, the topic now becoming something like "wash mine too."
The corner of Su Tang's mouth twitched. He ignored the two goofs and went straight upstairs.
He was here to check on Kobeni; only when he pushed open the operating room door did he find she was gone.
Woke up early?
Su Tang came to the bedside. On the leather surface, one could still see the faint imprint of a body. Touching it, he could feel lingering human warmth.
Huh? Looks like she just left.
So she didn't run into Denko and Power?
Shaking his head in mild puzzlement, Su Tang was about to turn off the light and leave when something white under the bed caught his eye.
A tissue—slightly sticky—crumpled messily together, as if its owner had been flustered at the time, or… very nervous.
Raising an eyebrow, Su Tang squatted for a look and couldn't help but chuckle.
He knew why Kobeni had been so flustered that she slipped away in secret.
Well.
He'd just pretend he hadn't seen it.
He cleared his throat softly, swept it into the trash, turned off the light, and left.
The next two days were uneventful.
Public Safety was handling the aftermath of the Eternity Devil. Su Tang's hospital had finally officially opened and entered the groove.
His first batch of clients was the rookies from Public Safety's Division 4.
The psychological screening results matched his expectations: basically everyone had problems more or less. Normal enough for devil hunters—after all, they dealt daily with sanity-shredding things. If they stayed perfectly "healthy," that might actually be unhealthy.
Even he himself picked up a bit of manic edge when his fiery chi surged.
So he didn't hold them to the standards for ordinary people. He only needed to supervise to a certain degree. As long as the psychological issues weren't too severe, they passed the physical.
He also saw Kobeni Higashiyama. The girl came in blushing and anxious, but under Su Tang's business-as-usual demeanor, the unease in her maiden's heart dissipated and she completed the exam.
Another person, though… had a small issue, and Su Tang was counseling him.
Yes—Hirokazu Arai.
During the Eternity Devil operation, something must have triggered him; his crush on Himeno had reached a near-obsessive level. If Himeno weren't currently tied up with the "guinea pig" matter, the kid might have dropped to one knee and proposed on the spot.
Sighing, Su Tang looked at the righteous-faced young man before him and said earnestly, "Why do you think your confession will definitely succeed?"
"Because Himeno-senpai likes me too!"
"Huh?" Su Tang cocked his head, puzzled how the other arrived at that conclusion.
"Since I joined, Himeno-senpai has been teaching me and training me—more attentively than others. If she didn't like me too, why would she do that?"
"Uh…"
"And! Himeno-senpai said if I came back alive from this operation, she'd give me a French kiss—an affectionate, tipsy one at that. That proves it, right!"
"But…" Su Tang patted the dust from his white coat and sighed. "Himeno has a habit of vomiting after drinking. So every time she's drunk, she finds someone to kiss—and then throws up… The veterans of Division 4 all know this."
Arai's tough-guy face went blank for a moment.
He struggled, seeming to want to say something, clearly unwilling to give up.
Su Tang shook his head and picked up a pen. "How about this: I'll ask you a question. If you can answer it, it proves I'm wrong. Deal?"
"Okay." Arai nodded.
"All right. Suppose—just suppose—you ask four girls what color bra they're wearing today."
"Girl A replies: Not telling you. Girl B replies: A light color. Girl C tells you to get lost and says if you keep it up she'll be angry. Girl D curses that you must be sick."
"If you can tell which one likes you from those four answers, it proves you're right and I'm wrong."
When Su Tang finished, he quietly watched Arai.
This is a common cognitive-behavioral technique in therapy—helps patients self-examine and recalibrate.
Sure enough, Arai fell into thought. After about half a minute, he nodded firmly and said, "All four of them like me."
"…???"
Su Tang stared at him, baffled, then heard Arai's explanation:
"A was shy—definitely likes me. B told me directly—also likes me. C was acting spoiled with me—obviously likes me. D was concerned for me—that also means she likes me."
Impressive.
He actually reasoned himself into coherence. The case was not mild.
Su Tang weakly waved his hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Who tied the bell must untie it. Arai's fixation was seeded by Himeno; it would have to be untied by Himeno herself.
Fortunately, aside from that, Arai was normal in all other respects.
Thinking it over, Su Tang didn't hold up his medical report—he stamped it "Qualified" and let him go.
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz…
No sooner had Arai left than Su Tang's phone rang.
"Hello." He put the phone to his ear and immediately heard a bright "Teacher."
There was no one else in this world who called him that—besides that girl.
A smile touched the corner of his lips. "Reze, huh. Haven't seen you in a few days—how are things?"
"Mm, mm. That's good. Me? I've been doing great lately too."
"Oh, the tutoring thing. Sorry—there was a mission the last few days, I got busy. But I'm free now; if you have time…"
"Tonight? Works for me. I'll send you my address—call me before you—eh? Outside? At a school? Uh, that's fine too. Then let's set a time."
"Mm, all right. Bye."
Hanging up, Su Tang's expression turned a bit odd.
It was normal for Reze to press him about tutoring, but she seemed unwilling to come to his place—wanting to have the first lesson at a school.
Fine. The girl had never gone to school; maybe she wanted to experience the feeling of studying in a classroom.
Thinking of Reze's background, Su Tang sighed with pity.
Right—he'd said when they parted last time that he'd give her a proper bouquet.
He'd stop by a flower shop after getting his things together.
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