The nearby mermaids had only just vanished from view; no matter how fast they swam, there was no way they could instantly return to where the research vessel lay moored and launch an attack on it.
So there was only one truth—
The mermaids numbered far more than the dozen or so Su Yuzu and the others had just glimpsed. There were more... many more of them.
While they hunted and feasted on the fish schools drawn in by the fishing boat's pillars of light, another force was pressing its assault on the research vessel.
And even... the severed connection here was very likely not caused by that strange Catastrophe Domain belonging to the "Throne."
It was because the research vessel, too, had been shrouded in a Catastrophe Domain.
Su Yuzu closed her eyes.
When it came to sensing the Catastrophe aura, her perception was sharper even than Soga Yura's.
It was only that Su Yuzu wasn't a proper mental-type Esper, and she hadn't wrung any mental-type ability out of Soga Yura or little Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.
So all she could catch was a rough impression—that at the research vessel, a Catastrophe Domain had indeed been unfolded. And more than one; several overlapping Catastrophe Domains.
There didn't seem to be a Fourth Sequence Esper over at the research vessel.
There were only two mental-type researchers, and one of them was merely Second Sequence.
The situation was grim.
Mental-type attacks worked like this: the moment you could be immune to them—or rather, the moment you could resist them—
the enemy's mental-type Esper, the mental-type "Beast," would usually turn into a joke.
Unless... the opponent was a monster like Soga Ishikawa Irube.
A mental-type Esper through and through, yet she preferred to settle things with her fists.
Even the Soga Yura of today—whether she could beat Soga Ishikawa Irube in a sparring match was an open question.
After all... it was terribly hard for Soga Yura to knock Soga Ishikawa Irube down, but for Soga Ishikawa Irube to finish off Soga Yura, it might take only a single punch.
But in a fight to the death, it would be a completely different story.
The power of "Domination" would tear his mental world apart in an instant.
Most of the people at the research vessel were researchers with no strength to speak of.
Researchers like Tsukiyomi Fuya—who usually looked like nothing more than an elegant, demure researcher but was in truth a genuine combat-type teacher—were, after all, a rare few.
The two strongest people on the research vessel were both on the fishing boat right now, tasked with protecting the girls.
The situation over there might well be dire.
"Akiyama-sensei... turn us around and head back." Tsukiyomi Fuya swiftly ordered Akiyama Yo to steer the fishing boat.
She analyzed the situation.
As a vessel built for open-ocean expeditions, the research vessel carried a powerful force field and weapons systems as well.
True, the weapons systems designed to strike sea beasts carried a certain helpless, anti-aircraft-gun-against-mosquitoes futility when turned on the nimble mermaids—but simply holding out for a while should be no real problem.
Right now, their mission was to get back to the research vessel as fast as possible.
Tsukiyomi Fuya looked at Yuzu. "Yuzu... want to fly?"
"Eh?" Su Yuzu froze.
She never dreamed Tsukiyomi Fuya would suddenly toss out such a light, breezy line.
"I do." She didn't know why, but Su Yuzu nodded on reflex all the same.
Then—
Tsukiyomi Fuya's hand came to rest gently on Su Yuzu's shoulder.
The little rabbit's Yuzu-senpai radar had already snapped straight up.
The next second... Su Yuzu was swept up sideways into Tsukiyomi Fuya's arms.
Su Yuzu's instinct was to struggle, but... a rich, cloying floral sweetness came stealing over her.
Su Yuzu thought of the night before.
She had once slept soundly through a whole night wrapped in this rich, gentle body scent; her body had already, without her willing it... accepted the softness of the one who wore this rich floral fragrance.
Su Yuzu only gripped Tsukiyomi Fuya's shoulders.
Tsukiyomi Fuya, a mere researcher, had arms that looked even frailer than Soga Yura's.
And yet... Tsukiyomi Fuya had lifted Yuzu sideways into her arms as if she weighed nothing.
What was more, the woman's contours were lovely and full enough to leave even the little rabbit feeling outdone.
Held like this by Tsukiyomi Fuya, Su Yuzu found she had nowhere to rest her eyes.
Tsukiyomi Fuya still wore the off-shoulder short dress from their first meeting, and to Su Yuzu everything within sight was a white purer and brighter than moonlight.
Like a fairy beneath the moon.
And... so soft.
Even to let her gaze settle on the woman's neck, on the woman's profile, felt almost like sacrilege.
Tsukiyomi-senpai... was she really this forward?
Soga Yura, still tending to Yuzu and prying open the distance between Sakura Mai and Yuzu, stared blankly at Yuzu cradled in Tsukiyomi Fuya-sensei's arms.
[This is...]
"Did I... did I just get my base raided?"
[No—]
[This is flat-out robbery! In broad daylight, no less!]
But of all things, Soga Yura couldn't say a word about it.
After all, Tsukiyomi Fuya-sensei really did just look like she was caring for Yuzu.
Tsukiyomi Fuya tapped the deck lightly with her toes, and the next second she had risen into the air with Yuzu in her arms.
The biting sea wind swirled around them, the two figures dancing lightly, like a pair of twined butterflies beneath the moon, borne away on the wind.
Soga Yura's mouth could only pucker down, bit by bit.
Then... the little rabbit crouched, and just at the right moment gave Soga Yura's shoulder a gentle pat. "Sister Yura..."
"Yuzu-senpai... it's just how it is."
The little rabbit silently tacked on a line to herself: and whose fault was it that... Yuzu-senpai was this alluring?
But it would have been better if the little rabbit had left it unsaid.
Because with that addition, Soga Yura felt more wronged than ever.
[Boo hoo hoo—]
[Yuzu—]
"That's my Yuzu!!!"
"Back then... back then, how could I have been such a fool?"
[She was supposed to be a Yuzu who belonged to me and me alone.]
[...] "Wah!"
Riding the moonlight, Tsukiyomi Fuya soared through the air with Yuzu in her arms.
Flight—
For an Esper, it was no simple feat; for some Espers, their ability was, in fact, precisely "flight."
But Tsukiyomi Fuya had pulled it off—and could even carry another person while doing it.
Su Yuzu could feel it.
The way Tsukiyomi Fuya-senpai flew relied on a method akin to manipulating gravity.
Just as she had lifted the stars up out of her own hand.
Now... she had only lifted herself and Su Yuzu.
Gazing at the vast expanse of sea beneath her, Su Yuzu hugged Tsukiyomi Fuya a little tighter, her cheek resting lightly against the side of Tsukiyomi Fuya's chest.
Tsukiyomi Fuya's pale purple eyes flickered.
Just then, the woman's expression was nowhere near as tranquil as it appeared.
[Yuzu...]
"She smells so sweet."
[So soft.]
[Last night I slept with a peace of mind I hadn't known in a long while.]
[But why... why did I even want to take Yuzu along?]
[Was I trying to fan out my feathers like a peacock in front of a girl...]
[No—]
[I wanted to let Yuzu get an early taste of what a special Esper's battle is like.]
[Yes—]
[That's it. That's exactly it.]
Then—
In the instant Yuzu pressed her little face close, Tsukiyomi Fuya's flight seemed to stall for a beat. "She's leaning in! She's leaning in!"
The girl's breath... seemed to be brushing against a decidedly dangerous spot.
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