Another weekend.
Inside the familiar cold drink shop near Chiba Academy, Li Mu and Kiana sat across from each other.
Kiana looked much the same as she had days ago. A short blue jacket over a tight black top. Her waist-length white hair was tied into a high ponytail, with a single stubborn ahoge sticking up defiantly.
She leaned forward on the table, resting her cheek in one hand.
A straw hung loosely between her lips as she absentmindedly sipped her drink.
She sighed now and then.
Seeing the way her entire posture screamed "something's on my mind," Li Mu barely held back a laugh and asked with mock seriousness:
"So, good brother. How are things going with Mei lately?"
Kiana's hand twitched. She nearly knocked over her drink.
Whatever she thought of made her face go pale, a chill running through her.
"Mei's been practicing cooking lately," Kiana said bitterly. "She keeps inviting me over for meals. I can feel her enthusiasm, but… I really can't take it anymore."
Li Mu's gaze drifted awkwardly.
He felt a twinge of guilt. After all, Mei's enthusiasm was entirely his fault.
It was him who had convinced her, under the excuse of bonding with classmates, to invite Kiana over.
I mean, if he had to suffer, how could his good brother be spared? Joys and pains should be shared.
Then another thought surfaced.
He endured Mei's cooking for thirty crystals a day. To save hundreds of millions across East Asia. To save humanity.
Morally speaking, he was standing on solid ground.
And besides, good things should always be shared with good brothers.
With that, his guilt evaporated, replaced by righteous resolve.
Kiana, unaware of any of this, drooped visibly at the thought of Mei's cooking. Even her ahoge sagged.
Still, she tried to comfort herself.
"I've noticed that Mei's food doesn't knock me out as easily anymore. That means she's improving, right? Maybe it'll actually taste good soon…"
That's because your body has developed resistance.
Li Mu swallowed the thought.
"So," Kiana said, squinting at him, "you didn't drag me out here just to talk about Mei's cooking, did you?"
"Of course not."
She hesitated, choosing her words.
"I've been having some strange dreams lately…"
"Dreams?"
"Yeah. Messy ones. Some feel unsettling. Others feel strangely warm."
"I see things that feel like laboratories. Towers buried in snow. Honkai beasts covering the land."
"Then there are school-like scenes. Giant warships tearing through the sky. People whose faces I can't remember."
As she spoke, Li Mu's expression grew increasingly strange.
"You know something, don't you?" Kiana asked suspiciously.
Li Mu nodded.
"They're fragments from your Stigmata. Memories from someone similar to you… fifty thousand years in the future."
"The version of me who embraced the Cocoon?"
He nodded again.
Kiana frowned.
"These memories won't mess me up, right? Like… cause mental issues?"
Li Mu thought for a moment.
"Probably not."
"Probably?"
"I can say it's harmless. Anything beyond that, I don't know."
Watching Kiana leave, Li Mu sank into thought.
He had not expected memory bleed-through after installing her Stigmata. He never experienced anything like this himself.
He did not know the reason yet.
In theory, system-issued Stigmata should have no side effects.
But then again, this was the same system that messed up time itself.
His pocket buzzed.
He answered the call.
A woman appeared on-screen, wearing a top hat and a gear-adorned outfit.
"Professor V," Li Mu said casually. "When did you arrive?"
Vill-V. One of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of MOTH. And his good brother through one meal of friendship.
"I've got bad news," she said calmly.
"Ryoma's been taken."
"…"
"Professor V… did you mess this one up?"
Vill-V looked briefly embarrassed. Then her demeanor flipped, wild and confident.
"Relax. He's not lost. I planted a tracker."
The screen shifted, showing Ryoma's recent movements. The plane. The pachinko parlor. Losing everything. Being knocked out by a masked pink-haired woman.
"Want me to grab him back?" Vill-V grinned maliciously. "I've got some fun toys to test."
Li Mu shook his head.
If she went all out, Nagazora City might disappear.
"Since Ryoma's back in the city, I'll handle it."
"How?"
Li Mu smiled.
"Simple. I'm using the dox weapon."
Even with a mask, he had recognized Sakura instantly.
He already knew everything about her. Preferences. Savings. Stats. Relationships.
He made the call.
Ring.
"Who is this?" a woman's voice answered.
"Is this Miss Sakura of Poison Cocoon, whose younger sister is hospitalized at Saint Louis International Hospital, Building B, Room 212?"
Silence.
"Who are you?!" Sakura's voice cracked.
Li Mu's grin twisted, pure villain energy.
"Heh heh heh."
"Miss Sakura, your sister is in my hands."
"If you don't want her hurt… you know what to do."
…
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