"Koizumi, what the hell are you doing here!?"
"Mmm... Saionjiii...?"
After hearing what Kyoko Kirigiri had said earlier, Saionji had come to the bar Koizumi and Mukuro Ikusaba frequented—and the catastrophe sprawled out before her left her utterly speechless.
"Eheheh... wanna have a drink toooo...?"
"Good grief... you drank all of this by yourself?"
Strong liquor bottles were rolling all around Koizumi's feet.
"Hey... one more bottleee..."
"Stop drinking! You're completely plastered right now!"
"Huh? I'm not drunk at aaall... I'm just getting started..."
"Then tell me how many this is. Guess."
"Mm...? Two... no, three?"
"What kind of nonsense is that!? I haven't even held up my fingers yet! This is hopeless. Get up. We're going back to the lodging."
"Nooooo... I promised I'd meet Ikusaba hereee..."
At that, Saionji let out a sigh so deep it felt like the ground might cave in, then started calling Ikusaba.
"Oh, come on... you've gotta be kidding me..."
Hearing the dead, mechanical message, Saionji's face twisted in irritation. Then she immediately started calling the students of Class 77.
"...What?"
Something was off. If it had been one or two people, fine—but every single member of Class 77 was unreachable.
Saionji tilted her head for a moment in bafflement, but when Koizumi started humming to herself, she sighed and switched tactics, calling the students of Class 78 instead.
"S-Saionji? Why are you calling all of a sudden...?"
This time, thankfully, Naegi picked up. For some reason, the area around him was incredibly noisy, but Saionji guessed it was just the reception still in full swing and got straight to the point.
"Naegi, is Ikusaba there?"
"I mean, you're older than me, so you really don't have to call me that... Wait. What did you just say? What's going on with Ikusaba?"
"I mean, Ikusaba is—"
"W-Wait! Kirigiri!! Calm do—"
"So... what about Ikusaba...?"
A burst of commotion erupted over the line, and then Kyoko Kirigiri's voice cut in. Saionji blinked, confused, but kept talking anyway.
"So, Koizumi's totally wasted over here, and she keeps insisting she promised to meet Ikusaba at this place... so if Ikusaba's there, could you tell her not to co—"
"Where are you."
"Huh? At the bar Ikusaba and Koizumi always used to go to..."
"Name."
"It's called □□ Bar, but why do you—"
"...Huh?"
Saionji tilted her head at the abruptly disconnected call. Still, she figured she'd at least managed to ask them to keep Ikusaba from coming here, so her objective had been accomplished. She slipped her phone back into her pocket and turned to Koizumi again.
"Koizumi, Ikusaba's not coming."
"Whaaat... are you taaalking abooout...?"
"No idea, but she's not coming, okay? So let's stop this and go back to the lodging. Yeah?"
"Nooooo... I'm gonna drink mooore..."
And so Koizumi stubbornly insisted on drinking more, while Saionji tried to drag her back to the lodging provided by Future Foundation. The two of them ended up locked in a prolonged, exhausting struggle.
"Haaah... haaah... I'm exhausted, seriously... Two women making this much of a spectacle over one guy who's already getting married... what a disgrace..."
"Waaahhh... I should've told him I liked him back thennn..."
"If you keep being this stubborn, the Remnants of Despair are gonna come snatch you up, you know?"
"Whatever... not scared at aaall... I was an executive myself, so whaaat would they even—"
Boom!!!
"H-Hiiiiiih!?"
"Wh-What was that!?"
Right as their bickering dragged on and on, a thunderous crash exploded through the bar, and the front door flew wide open.
"Target confirmed. Target confirmed."
"Assault unit, entry complete. The target is currently offering no resistance."
"Everybody hands up. Do not move."
"Branch Director, the area is fully secured."
Then dozens of armed intruders in full combat gear stormed in through the open door, and the bar instantly plunged into total chaos.
"I-I didn't dooo anything... p-please don't take me awayyy..."
"N-No way... are they really Despair...? Huh? Wait, that combat uniform... I've definitely seen it before..."
Koizumi collapsed to the floor, trembling violently, while Saionji—startled by the sudden upheaval—began staring in confusion at the intruders' strangely familiar uniforms.
"They look exactly like Future Foundation agents—no, wait, they are Future Foundation agents!?"
"So..."
As Saionji shouted in disbelief, the Future Foundation agents suddenly split apart in perfect formation, lining up on both sides. Someone stepped forward through the gap and, in a voice cold enough to freeze blood, addressed the still-shaking Koizumi.
"...Where is that bitch Ikusaba?"
"...Hic!"
It was Kyoko Kirigiri—completely out of control, having invoked her authority as a Future Foundation Branch Director and used the assault unit to tear through every building around the wedding venue like a woman possessed.
"I-I don't really knooow..."
"I asked where she is."
"D-Don't look at me like thattt..."
"..."
"W-Waaahhhhhh..."
Koizumi's voice turned watery. She started to cry. But Kirigiri kept staring her down with those haunted, merciless eyes until Koizumi finally broke and burst into full sobs.
"...!"
Kirigiri, still glaring icily at Koizumi, suddenly noticed a sound coming from the ring on her finger. She barked a quick order to the nearby Future Foundation agents, then immediately sprinted outside.
"We'll accompany you."
"H-Hic... it was that look... because of that look, I..."
Most of the agents rushed after her, and the few who remained dragged the drunken, weeping Koizumi out with them.
"...What the hell is even happening?"
Left behind alone in the wrecked, devastated bar, Saionji could only stare blankly after them before muttering in a voice thick with disbelief.
.
.
.
.
.
"Kyyyy... I love yooou..."
As Ikusaba started moving toward me, I shouted in a panic.
"W-Wait!! Ikusaba!!"
"Mmm?? Whyyy...?"
At my cry, Ikusaba looked at me through half-lidded eyes and asked.
"What do you mean, why!? What do you think you're doing right now!?"
"You're asking because you don't knooow?"
Ikusaba whispered to me again, languid and feverish.
"I'm about to make a huge mistakeee..."
"..."
She'd completely lost it. I started thrashing with everything I had, trying to get off the bed, but my body had been tied down too tightly. It was useless—just a frantic, futile struggle.
"I love youuu... I love you so much... really, insanely, overwhelmingly love yooou..."
"O-Okay, I get it, so just calm down first—"
"I can't caaalm down... do you know how long I've been holding myself back...?"
"Listen... you do know I got married today, right?"
"I don't caaare... I don't know anything about thaaat..."
This was bad. Ikusaba was so soaked in alcohol that reason itself had stopped functioning.
Any kind of counseling or persuasion required one basic condition: the other person had to be capable of conversation. And judging by her current state, there was no chance of a rational discussion.
"Theeen..."
"...!"
Suddenly, Ikusaba started taking off her clothes. If I didn't stop her somehow, right now, it felt like we were about to cross a point of no return.
"I-Ikusaba... then... I have one request..."
"A reqquest? Whaaat is it? Tell meee... I'll do anything..."
"Before that... how about taking a shower first...?"
"M-Mm...?"
At my words, Ikusaba froze. Then a shocked expression spread across her face.
"D-Do I... smell...?"
"No, no, that's not it... it's just, you know, washing up before doing it is standard practice, right?"
"I-Is it...?"
I'd already started lying, so I decided to commit to it all the way and desperately spun the rest on the spot.
"Yeah. Before a man and a woman get intimate, they wash first. That way all the impure energy gets cleansed away, and they can share pure energy with each other. You didn't know that?"
"How would I knowww... if I've never done thaaat before..."
"...Ah."
Ikusaba said it in such a pitiful voice that I instinctively fell silent, my expression turning solemn. She stared at me blankly for a moment, then suddenly broke into a loose, happy smile and got up from the bed.
"Theeen... I'll go wash up... hehe..."
"W-Wait, before you go, untie me—"
"Hehe... share pure energy... hehehe..."
Ikusaba ignored me completely, headed into the bathroom, and started showering while humming to herself.
'Hurry, Kyoko... at this rate I'm seriously going to get stolen away...'
Trembling as I watched her, I carefully touched the ring on my finger—the one flashing as it sent a signal somewhere—and prayed with all my might for Kirigiri to arrive before this spiraled into absolute disaster.
.
.
.
.
.
"Umm... I'm all washed nooow..."
"O-Okay, fine, but put some clothes on first!!!"
"Why... would I put clothes ooon?"
This was very, very bad. Ikusaba was walking toward me completely naked. I blanked out for a second, then shouted in a panic.
"I-I mean... when people do that, the other person is supposed to take your clothes off for you!!"
"...Reaaally...?"
Ikusaba nodded with an expression that suggested she found my logic oddly convincing, then started putting her clothes back on piece by piece.
"Okay then... take them off for meee..."
"Uh... uhh..."
Once she was fully dressed again, Ikusaba climbed on top of me and spoke in a shy voice.
Thanks to that, the sanity I'd barely been clinging to this whole time was finally being driven to its absolute limit. I took a deep breath, somehow forced my mind back under control, and spoke slowly.
"Uh... come to think of it... I haven't washed yet either...?"
"..."
"Haha, well... can't be helped then... I'll go wash up real quick, so could you untie me for a second...?"
The moment I got into the bathroom, I planned to lock the door and buy time any way I could. But when I said that, Ikusaba blushed and answered in an even more bashful voice.
"No... it's ooookay..."
"H-Huh? But—"
"Your impure energy... I'll suck it all out for yooou..."
"Mmph...!"
The instant she finished saying it, Ikusaba lunged at me and forced her tongue into my mouth.
"Mmph! Ngh—mmph! Mmph!!"
"Stay stiiill... there's nowhere for you to ruuun... hehe..."
For a long while, Ikusaba licked up every last trace of the fluid pooled in my mouth. Then, wearing a deeply satisfied expression, she finally pulled her lips away from my face and whispered:
"Even your impure energy... tastes good... Kyyy..."
"S-Stop..."
"Stop...? We've already gone way too far for thaaat..."
After saying that, Ikusaba lowered her head again—and this time, she started pushing her own fluid into my mouth.
"Ngh... mmph... mmf..."
"...Mmm..."
She held my face and kept forcing it in for what felt like forever. When I finally couldn't keep it in my mouth anymore and swallowed, she lifted her head again and whispered:
"How is it... my pure energy... K...?"
"Hah... haaah..."
"Your fluid came inside me and mixed... my fluid went inside you and mixed... our fluids have become part of each other's very composition..."
"Y-Yeah... ?"
"Thinking about it like that... makes me feel so good..."
Ikusaba wore an ecstatic expression as she took my hand and pressed it against her underwear, then whispered:
"Then... if we do 'that'... how good will it feeeel?"
"I-Ikusaba!"
"I wonder..."
Using my hand, Ikusaba started pulling down her underwear as she cried out:
"...I need to find out for myself right nooow!!"
"Aaaah! Don't! Stop! You can't!!"
I was resisting her iron grip with every ounce of strength I had left, desperately trying to stop her from pulling it down, when—
"Open the door!! Future Foundation!!"
"Branch Director, is it true the Vice Branch Director's kidnapper is inside this hotel room!?"
"Surrender peacefully! You're already surrounded! I repeat—"
"Move."
"B-Branch Director... that's—!"
Baaang!!!
Kirigiri blasted the door apart with a shotgun and stormed into the room.
"...Send the repair bill to Future Foundation."
Kirigiri tossed that line to the trembling staff member nearby, then strode toward us with measured, merciless steps.
"You thieving bitch. Move right now, or I'll blow your head off."
At those words, Ikusaba ground her teeth so hard it sounded painful and screamed back.
"You're the thief!!! You stole K completely and then had the nerve to propose a truce!!! You kept me from even going into the Neo World Program!!! And while you were in there, you stole K's first time tooooo!!!"
"...What?"
"Don't pretend you don't knowww!!! If you hadn't pulled something that underhanded...!!"
"...I think you're under a serious misunderstanding."
Kirigiri curled the corner of her mouth upward in a cold, razor-thin smile.
"That wasn't his first time."
"K was...! I was...! Fair and square... what?"
"We'd already done it long before that. The two of us."
"...W-What are you..."
Ikusaba turned to stare at me, her face frozen in utter disbelief.
"I-Is that true? Is it really true...?"
"..."
When I turned my head away with an embarrassed expression, Ikusaba's face went hollow.
"Then... that bet we made during the truce agreement... from the very beginning..."
"Truce? That's a strange way to put it."
Kirigiri declared it with chilling finality.
"You'd already lost from that moment on, you little homewrecker."
"...Y-You... cunning... bitch... ugh..."
Hearing that, Ikusaba looked like the blood had rushed straight to the top of her skull. She staggered, clutched the back of her neck, and collapsed.
"K-Kyoko... thank you so much for coming to save me—"
"K, you were saying some very bold things earlier."
"U-Uh...?"
"Before intimacy, people wash and share pure energy... and undress each other...?"
Only then did I remember that using the ring's emergency function automatically transmitted the surrounding audio. I hurriedly started trying to explain myself to Kirigiri, whose expression had gone glacial.
"T-That was... I was just trying to stall for time..."
"So then, was Ikusaba's pure energy delicious?"
"..."
After staring at me in silence for a long, suffocating moment, Kirigiri turned to one of the nearby Future Foundation agents and asked:
"When does our marriage leave officially begin?"
"T-Tomorrow, after you complete a simple handover procedure—"
"Forget that. I'll be using it starting this very moment. It was one month, correct?"
"...Yes?"
Kirigiri, still looking at me, slowly lifted the corner of her mouth.
"We're leaving for our honeymoon right now. To Korea."
"B-But... the procedures—"
"K, prepare yourself. For one month..."
Ignoring the agent's urgent protest, Kirigiri walked up to me. Then, wearing a dangerously alluring expression, she leaned in and whispered:
"I'm going to overwrite every part of your composition with me all over again."
"...Gulp."
"Well then, shall we go? Woof-woof?"
"...Yesss."
After untying me from the bed, Kirigiri took me with her and walked straight out through the corridor of Future Foundation agents.
"...S-Seniors, what exactly is this situation supposed to be...?"
Watching the scene in a daze, the rookie Future Foundation agent L—newly assigned as Kirigiri's personal secretary—asked the other agents in a flustered voice.
"Just another day. Accept it."
"Honestly, this time wasn't so bad. We only had illegal firearm use and property damage."
"Haaah... how many times has it been now that we've had to carry out an unconscious Ikusaba?"
The other agents muttered with the weary calm of people long since acclimated to madness and began cleaning up the aftermath.
"W-What on earth even was that...?"
"...So, you're the girl K was talking about?"
As L stared at the scene in utter disbelief, someone approached and spoke to her from the side.
"...Huh?"
"Yeah. I don't know whose sweet talk lured you into joining..."
It was Sato—Koizumi's friend, who had just finished desperately defending her and barely managed to stop her from being hauled off to headquarters. With the expression of someone who had attained bleak enlightenment, she spoke to L.
"...Welcome to the goddamn Future Foundation."
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