"Hey—" Struggling hard, Yamabuki Nanako lifted her head from Unohana Chiyo's embrace.
Yamabuki Nanako's pale blue eyes were somewhat unfocused.
She had almost been suffocated to death by this woman again.
"What exactly do you want to do!!!" Yamabuki Nanako pawed with her small hands. "That girl is a considerably important subject..."
Without waiting for Yamabuki Nanako to finish, Unohana Chiyo had already pressed Yamabuki Nanako back into her bosom once more.
"Wu wu wu..."
A girl... or at least Yamabuki Nanako, who looked like a girl, used all her strength to struggle out of Unohana Chiyo's embrace again. "Unohana!!!"
She looked angrily at Unohana Chiyo, but was suddenly awed by Unohana Chiyo's calm and sorrowful gaze.
Unohana Chiyo let Yamabuki Nanako sit on her arm, as if holding a small child.
She signaled for Yamabuki Nanako to look at Su Yuzu and Mihou Sakai.
"Did you hear that just now..."
"Yuzu said... she is crying."
Her chest was being torn apart. Su Yuzu felt as if something within her nearly hollow chest wanted to whistle and roar its way out.
A long, long time ago, she seemed to have experienced that sensation of a hollow chest about to be torn to shreds.
Clang, clang—
She could hear the sound of chains vibrating beside her ears.
Su Yuzu suddenly recalled the scene she saw when she broke through to the First Sequence.
A boundless... pitch-black sea.
A world of infinite deathly stillness. She sat naked upon a massive throne of thorns, with brambles growing and spreading around it.
Equally pitch-black chains were tightly wound around the throne.
Now... that monster, or perhaps that living throne, was trying to break free from the chains because of her sorrow and anger, wanting to roar out from her chest.
Su Yuzu could feel it.
That colossal throne of thorns was perhaps the very thing Soga Yura had been trying to stop all along.
And also... the most important piece of the puzzle in her missing memories.
Now—
It was saying to her...
"I'm hungry."
Su Yuzu took a step forward.
Mihou Sakai, who had already fallen into the Edge of Aberration, shrank her shoulders in response.
Yet she dared not... and was unwilling to retreat.
Su Yuzu could feel the monster inside her hollow chest baring its fangs and sharp teeth, roaring in Mihou Sakai's direction, impatient to enjoy this gluttonous feast.
However—
Su Yuzu gently pressed her right hand against her chest.
Her crimson eyes were tranquil, and the young girl spoke in a tone that was almost a command, "Quiet."
It was too noisy.
It would scare Little Mihou Sakai.
The sound of the vibrating chains came to an abrupt halt.
Even the Aberrant girl whimpering and crying before Su Yuzu stopped sobbing.
Su Yuzu looked at the now obedient and quiet Mihou Sakai in front of her, revealing a gentle smile.
The girl, having fallen into Aberration once again, had her school uniform eroded by Catastrophe Crystals, transforming it into a rather provocative black uniform and mini skirt that accentuated her figure.
Aside from the Aberrant black tights that customarily covered the whole body of a First Sequence Aberrant, the Aberrant material spreading onto the girl's face had taken the form of a black mask.
Beneath those dark golden vertical pupils, the girl's eyeshadow was crimson. Amidst the allure... one could seemingly see the tracks of tears flowing down from the corners of her eyes.
Looking at the gentle smile Su Yuzu revealed.
"Ah—"
A very light, whale-song-like sobbing sound.
The young girl lowered her right hand holding the blade, her dark golden vertical pupils staring straight at Su Yuzu.
"Kouhai..."
"Student Sakai... stopped?"
Something was happening that exceeded the imagination of those students and teachers.
After falling into the Edge of Aberration, it was fundamentally impossible for low-level Aberrants to maintain their sanity. Even a Hegemon-class Esper as powerful as Kujou Iruka, the Empress of the Abyss among Aberrants, would undergo a drastic personality change and extend a hand of slaughter towards her former teammates.
But... right now, Mihou Sakai had truly stopped.
Even... those dark golden vertical pupils, when raised to look at Su Yuzu, actually appeared somewhat obedient.
On the periphery of the encirclement, Yamabuki Nanako wanted to shout something else.
But before she could speak, she was warned by Unohana Chiyo, who made a gesture to smother her into her bosom again. Yamabuki Nanako immediately and honestly shut her mouth.
Su Yuzu gazed tenderly at Mihou Sakai, then spread her arms wide.
Someone wanted to shout that it was dangerous, as this was tantamount to completely exposing one's vitals to an Aberrant.
But in the next second... Clang—
The black-purple long blade in the Aberrant girl's hand fell to the ground.
Mihou Sakai obediently shrank her neck and hugged Su Yuzu's waist, allowing Su Yuzu to embrace her shoulders.
"Woo—"
The whimpering cry, like a whale's song, sobbed softly.
Su Yuzu held the girl tight, lowered her head, and planted a light kiss on the girl's neck.
Her crimson eyes reflected the black-purple Catastrophe Crystals; that was the spot where Mihou Sakai had previously drawn the Aberrant weapon from her body.
Crunch—
Standing at the periphery of the encirclement, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's legs suddenly went soft.
She heard a considerably familiar sound.
It was just like... when she had fallen into the Edge of Aberration back then and wanted to launch an attack on Lady Sister Yuzu. The result... was her mental domain being forcibly intruded upon by that pitch-black, colossal throne.
And then, the sound made by the girl on the throne, smiling as she began to eat, biting off the Catastrophe Crystals on her body one bite after another.
Crunch—
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi almost planted face-first.
The young girl's body tensed instinctively, the muscles in her thighs trembling.
Unohana Chiyo, who had just stepped into the edge of the erosion domain, was quick with her eyes and hands, supporting Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi. "What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing..." The girl's voice had turned into the same whimpering tearful tone.
Unohana Chiyo thought Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi had finally let out a breath after fighting for so long earlier and her legs had gone soft.
Crunch crunch crunch—
Every chewing sound made Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi feel as if her consciousness was going to collapse along with it.
She looked at Unohana Chiyo. "Ms. Unohana... did you hear that?"
"What?" Unohana Chiyo paused for a moment, looking toward the center of the erosion domain where Mihou Sakai was held in Su Yuzu's arms. "The crying?"
"Sakai... is probably very scared."
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi confirmed it.
That sound... honestly, probably only she could hear it.
Crunch—
Crunch—
The sounds became faster and more dense.
The young girl who had been obediently embracing Su Yuzu gradually lost her strength, her body weight going limp and hanging onto Su Yuzu.
And the Aberrant material covering the young girl's body also vanished bit by bit, turning into black-purple specks of light.
Su Yuzu gathered the girl into her arms.
[Ding—]
[Development: Level.11 - Hand of Paradox (46%) → Level.13 - Hand of Paradox]
[Ding—]
[Redemption: Mihou Sakai Favorability +5.]
[Mihou Sakai Favorability 59 (Favor) → 80 (Attachment).]
[Obtained Favorability Ascension Reward: Perfect Execution.]
[Ding—]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new achievement: Evil Also Resides In Me.]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new achievement: Fate Scale VIII.]
[Ding—]
[Taming: Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi Obedience +1.]
[Taming: Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi Obedience +1.]
[Taming: Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi Obedience +1.]
[...]
?
Turning her head to look at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, who was practically hanging onto Ms. Unohana Chiyo with hollow eyes, a lot of question marks suddenly popped up above Su Yuzu's head.
What is going on with you again!?
________________________________________
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