How long had night already been here?
One look at the time gave the answer.
"Does dinner really take this long?"
Shizuka Marikawa murmured in confusion as she climbed her way over as well. They'd been "eating" for hours by now. Wouldn't the food be ice-cold?
No, wait—he did eat a lot. But even so, it wasn't like Saeko had been slaving over the stove the whole time.
"Of course it doesn't take that long."
The reply came from Shizuka's closest friend—the real owner of the Hummer: a sharp, capable woman with bronze-toned skin and purple hair.
Her name was Rika Minami, a sniper and squad leader in the Prefectural Police Special Assault Team (S.A.T.), First Unit.
She'd been brought over earlier that afternoon as well, guided by "Mr. Kain."
In fact, they'd made contact yesterday. It was just that Rika still needed time to prep her side before moving.
"Then what are they doing in there?" Shizuka asked, blinking.
"What are they doing? Go in and you'll find out," Rika said, her tone faintly amused.
Shizuka—sweet, scatterbrained Shizuka—was still as clueless as an innocent girl who'd never grown up. She genuinely couldn't imagine what was happening inside.
Under normal circumstances, Rika wouldn't have come up here with Shizuka at all. They would definitely be interrupting, and it would absolutely irritate the people inside.
Correction: not "might." It would definitely irritate them.
But they'd just received an urgent message. There was an emergency, and they needed to borrow his help.
"Mm-hm. We'll see when we get there," Shizuka said brightly, smiling like nothing in the world could worry her.
Then—
"I'm exhausted…"
How many floors had they climbed already? Shizuka's legs were so weak she felt like she couldn't even hold herself up.
Seriously. This was a high-end apartment building. There were plenty of empty units on the lower floors. Why pick such a high floor for a "candlelit dinner"?
With the elevator dead, climbing the stairs was torture.
It had to be because they didn't want to be disturbed. Realizing that, Shizuka started sulking silently.
"Two more floors," Rika said. "We're almost there."
"Huh? That close? Thank goodness…"
"Yeah."
Rika let out a quiet sigh to herself.
Which meant Shizuka was about to get hit—hard.
As her best friend, how could Rika not see it? Shizuka had developed a subtle, complicated crush on "Mr. Kain."
In the blink of an eye, they reached the door.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rika also glanced toward the stairwell in the opposite direction.
A bunch of people were hiding there—sneaking up after them.
Rika knocked.
Tap, tap.
In the silence, it sounded loud enough to echo, even overpowering the faint, suggestive sounds leaking from inside.
The knocking seemed to make those sounds pause for a split second—only for a split second.
"Mr. Kain," Rika called through the door. "Could we speak for a moment? There's an emergency. We need to trouble you."
After that, she said nothing more.
She waited.
Click.
The door opened.
A young man—only a few years younger than Rika—stepped into view.
The moment his clearly displeased gaze landed on her, Rika felt every hair on her body stand on end. It was like being stared down by death itself.
That look had weight.
It pinned her in place, pressing down so hard her body felt like it might collapse.
Only now, at this distance, did she fully realize how terrifying he really was.
"What is it?"
"There's a cargo ship loaded with chemicals," Rika said quickly. "A corpse outbreak on board caused chaos, and a fire started. The storage tanks are being baked from the outside. If we can't cool them down, there's a high chance of a massive explosion. The entire Pacific Rim could be contaminated."
"Coordinates."
Rika reported the location they'd confirmed.
He didn't hesitate. He turned and left immediately.
"Um… be careful, Mr. Kain," Shizuka added, voice full of sincere concern.
And just like that, his figure vanished from their sight.
Shizuka looked at the still-open door—and saw Saeko.
"Sensei, you look exhausted," Saeko said, smiling gently. "The stairs wore you out, didn't they? Come in and sit for a bit. Rest."
"Okay," Shizuka said without hesitation.
She walked right in, ready to flop onto a chair and massage her numb legs.
Once she stepped inside and the candlelight hit her clearly, her eyes widened.
With no electricity, the room had only been lit by candles, so from the doorway she hadn't seen much.
But up close…
Saeko looked like she was wearing only an apron.
And it was wrinkled.
No—there were also stockings. They were a little torn in places.
Shizuka wandered forward, passing the dining area, and saw the aftermath of the "dinner." Plates covered the table—everything eaten clean.
The living room was mostly bare, but there was a sofa. Perfect. She could lie down and pound her thighs back to life.
Also—she was thirsty.
Spotting a teapot on the table, Shizuka grabbed it without thinking and, with absolutely no elegance at all, tilted the spout straight to her lips and chugged.
There was definitely liquid inside. She could feel it.
"Wait—"
Saeko's voice cut off.
Too late.
She'd tried to stop Shizuka because what was inside looked almost identical to Earth Elixir at a glance—but it wasn't Earth Elixir.
It was something Saeko had extracted—something special—and poured in there, planning to use it to set a certain… mood.
Instead, the moment Shizuka came in and got thirsty, she'd treated it like ordinary tea and helped herself.
Saeko wasn't exactly embarrassed—well, she was, a little—but she'd more or less been openly declaring her intentions all evening anyway.
Still… shouldn't someone notice something was off the moment it touched their tongue?
Saeko stared, half stunned, watching Shizuka's throat bob as she swallowed.
Beside Shizuka, Rika had come in as well. After a beat of confusion, she seemed to realize it wasn't Earth Elixir either—and she froze, looking equally stunned.
Rika looked like she knew exactly what it was.
"Mm? Something feels weird," Shizuka finally said, frowning in delayed realization.
"What's weird? I'm thirsty too. Let me have some."
A girl with twin-tails stepped forward, snatched the teapot from Shizuka's hands, and tipped it back.
Saeko's mind went blank all over again.
From the angle she'd entered, it seemed Saya hadn't been able to see clearly what it was either. In the candlelight, that was understandable.
Then a gust of wind swept in, blowing out the candles.
The wind came from the still-open door.
Saeko hadn't closed it because she'd noticed Saya and the others arriving.
"What is this? Is it drinkable?" Saya said after taking a sip, sounding unsettled.
"Is it not drinkable?" Mikoto Kiba asked, equally confused.
"It is," Saeko said, suddenly answering with a mischievous calm. "And it's extremely rare. Mikoto, you should try it too. Just don't be greedy and finish it all. Save some for the others."
With Saeko saying that, Mikoto took the teapot from Saya without hesitation.
"Mm… this feels weird."
"Want some?" Mikoto offered, passing it to Rei Miyamoto.
Rei drank as well.
After one sip—whether because she didn't like it, or because there wasn't much left—she handed it to the next person.
That was Yuko Sagiri.
Saeko had heard of Yuko's family. She came from a well-known kendo lineage too.
Yuko took a sip, and from her expression, Saeko could tell she'd recognized it.
That wasn't surprising. On paper, Yuko was also a doctor—unlike Shizuka, who was, in a sense, still closer to a trainee. Yuko was a real physician, and a renowned surgeon at Mochizuki Hospital.
"Rika, have some too," Saeko said.
"No thanks," Rika replied immediately.
"Don't be polite. This is even rarer than Earth Elixir."
"I'm not being polite."
And it was obvious Yuko wasn't going to let Rika escape clean.
If everyone else was going to suffer, how could Rika stay "untouched" and walk away unscathed?
(End of Chapter)
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