"Ah..."
Fujino Asagami came back to herself from her daze.
She looked around in confusion.
Her mind had not fully cleared yet, and she still did not understand what had just happened.
Then she suddenly felt something sticky on her hands and the soles of her shoes, an especially nauseating sensation. She looked down.
"Huh?"
Her entire body was covered in blood, and a pool of it had formed beneath her feet.
Ah... now she remembered.
Fujino touched her blood-soaked body and lowered her eyes.
I just killed someone.
The five men who had hit on her tonight had just been killed by Fujino Asagami.
It happened in a single thought.
Like some grotesque performance, the human body followed the movement of the girl's eyes, then came apart in pieces.
"How could this happen...!"
Fujino Asagami dropped to her knees and covered her face.
I killed someone.
But I never meant to kill them!
I only wanted to teach them a lesson and make them shut up...
"I didn't know..."
The girl murmured to herself. That's right, I really didn't know...
She had never imagined that human beings could be so fragile, or that they could die so easily.
I only wanted to teach them a lesson, but I killed them.
This was an accident. I was just too unlucky.
What's going to happen to me now? Will the police take me away?
My life is over... No, before that...
Fujino Asagami's eyes widened. If Shirou-kun finds out I killed someone, he'll definitely hate me!
More than the possibility of being arrested for murder, the girl could not bear the thought of someone learning about her crime.
After her biological father died, Fujino's mother took her daughter and remarried into the Asagami family, to a man who had originally belonged to a branch family of the Asakami clan.
Asagami was a real estate giant that had risen to prominence in recent decades. The bridge built over Mifune City was a project of Asagami Construction.
The reason such a man had married her mother was because he wanted the Asakami family's old land.
After Fujino went to live with the Asagami family, she had always been treated like air. No matter how hard she tried, she could never earn her father's approval.
Until recently, when she finally met the only man who cared about her.
Loving Shirou, wanting to become his woman, wanting to bear his children... That had now become Fujino's dream.
I finally got close to Shirou-kun. I won't let something like this ruin our relationship!!
But what should I do? How can I hide my crime?
I can't... I'm terrible at lying. They'll find out...
I can't do anything... Without Shirou, I can't do anything...
It isn't fair... It isn't fair at all...
Shiki Ryougi killed six people... even one more than I did. So why was she able to escape punishment?
Why is she always the lucky one? Why is she always the happy one?
"What should I do? What am I supposed to do?"
The girl braced herself against the wall, gasping for breath.
Just then, footsteps rang out in the alley at three in the morning.
Fujino looked up in shock.
A tall man with a stern expression was walking toward her.
"Fujino Asagami."
For the first time in her life, the girl felt fear so intense that it seemed to freeze her entire body.
"Are you in trouble? Do you need my help?"
The word "trouble" bound Fujino's mind like a magic trick.
I can't let this go on.
I'll lose that child forever... I don't want Shirou-kun to hate me. I don't want Shirou-kun to know I'm a filthy woman who's killed people.
Fujino looked at the man with pleading eyes.
Though it was summer, he wore a heavy coat.
Not only the coat, but the clothes beneath it as well, everything was black.
Looking at that cloak-like coat and the man's severe gaze, Fujino somehow thought of a monk in a temple.
"Do you want me to help you hide what happened tonight?"
Fujino nodded desperately.
"Understood. I'll take care of everything."
The man spoke in a voice that seemed "still," and for an instant, Fujino wondered if he was a walking corpse or a robot.
She gathered her courage and asked him a question.
"Who are you?"
The man showed no interest in answering.
"A Magus. Souren Araya."
That calm voice, like the words of a god, echoed heavily through the alley.
...
The abandoned office, fourth floor.
"Hasn't Fujino been away from the office for quite a while lately?"
Touko Aozaki sat on the bed under a thin blanket, sipping the coffee Shirou had made for her as she asked.
"Fujino isn't an employee of 'Garan no Dou.'"
Shirou frowned as he said it. Fujino had her own life too.
During summer break, she probably went to elegant classical music concerts with the young ladies from Reien... probably.
Touko patted her pockets. "Shirou, where are my cigarettes?"
"I confiscated them. Patients need to rest properly."
Just moments ago, Shirou had accomplished a new feat unprecedented in history, and one that would likely never be repeated.
"Taking care of the feverish Aozaki sisters."
A few days earlier, Touko Aozaki had lost her battle against a severe cold and been forced to stay in bed for five straight days.
Fujino had not come to the office in the past few days, and Shiki refused to look after the sick Touko. She had even left behind the vicious line, "Why don't you just keep burning up until your brain melts?"
Just like her younger sister, Touko refused to see a doctor and simply spent all day sleeping at the office.
Her dignity as a Magus would not allow her to accept treatment from modern medicine.
In the end, Shirou had no choice but to take care of her.
Touko, who had been running a fever of thirty-eight degrees and sleeping like the dead, had finally woken up from hunger just now.
Her vivid, flame-red hair was not tied back in a ponytail, but spilled loosely over her shoulders, adding a trace of languid sensuality to her usual capable office-lady style.
The white shirt she wore was slightly disheveled, with the top three buttons undone, revealing an alluring glimpse beneath.
As soon as she woke, Touko took the initiative to make small talk with Shirou, probably to help clear her muddled head.
"I've been in bed for almost a week. I can't keep putting off all the work that's piled up."
"Wait, you're not fully recovered yet. You should be resting. Take your medicine and lie back down."
"Oh my. Is Shirou worried about me?"
Touko gave him a faintly teasing smile.
Touko was usually so forceful that it was easy to forget she was an exceptional beauty, but after falling ill, she seemed to give off the allure of a mature woman instead.
"Of course I am..." Shirou said. "If Touko-nee-san died, all the work I put in before would be for nothing, wouldn't it?"
"So you're not thinking about Aoko's feelings. You simply don't want me to die... hehe."
The Puppet Master gave the boy a flirtatious look. "Hearing you say that makes me so happy, Shirou♡
Why don't you break up with Aoko and Alice and become mine instead? I promise I'll treat you well."
As she spoke, Touko laid her hand over the back of his.
"..."
Shirou's body went rigid.
The instant his eyes met Touko Aozaki's, he found himself unable to move. At the same time, a sudden thirst rose in his throat.
"..."
His throat grew drier and drier, and something restless began stirring inside him.
His gaze drifted without meaning to toward Touko Aozaki's upper body, her clothes disheveled from sleep.
Her white shirt was stretched into a soft, voluptuous shape by her ample chest, the curve of it standing in sharp contrast to her slender waist.
Shirou had wondered before whether Touko-nee-san might actually have a better figure than Aoko...
If her younger sister felt that good to hold, then holding the older sister would surely be...
"Don't use your Mystic Eyes on me, Touko-nee-san," Shirou said coldly.
A bewitching gleam rippled through the Puppet Master's eyes.
Within Touko's Mystic Eyes, thousands of Mystic Eyes formed a kaleidoscopic structure, and Mana amplified several hundredfold slipped easily into Shirou's thoughts.
However...
Touko smiled. "Oh my, if you dislike it, why not just break free? You're much stronger than I am, aren't you, Shirou?"
"You know perfectly well I won't do that."
The effect Touko Aozaki had activated with her Mystic Eyes was not "Binding," but "Seduction."
In terms of performance, it was far weaker, so Shirou could have forced his way out with his own Mana.
But if he did that, Touko would be injured by the Mana backlash. At worst, her eyeballs might even be shattered.
"How kind of you, Shirou. Even after I do this to you, you still don't want to hurt me... hehe. You've become such a fine man."
"I do feel a little bad for Aoko and Alice, but since you're not resisting, I'm going to take advantage of you, all right?"
As she spoke, Touko leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Shirou's.
Their noses and lips were now only a few centimeters apart.
As their breaths mingled, Touko Aozaki's slender hand closed around Shirou's wrist.
The instant she touched him, Shirou realized he had lost control of his right hand.
As if guided by invisible strings, his hand lifted on its own and undid four buttons.
The rounded fruit, half-wrapped in red lace, sprang out from beneath the white shirt.
Shirou: "..."
Touko Aozaki truly was the strongest Puppet Master in the world. Although she had stolen control of Shirou's right hand, she had left his senses intact, and even sharpened his sense of touch.
"How does it compare to Aoko? As expected, the older sister is superior, isn't she?"
"I'm going to get angry, Touko-nee-san."
Touko Aozaki paid him no mind and spoke in a languid voice.
"Hmm♡... You're more skilled than I expected. You must have shown girls plenty of affection before, haven't you?"
"Huh? You're the one controlling my hand!" Shirou snapped.
"No, I'm not controlling your consciousness. I'm simply letting your right hand read past records... what you might call mechanical memory, or the body's memory."
Touko Aozaki gave him a teasing smile. "Did you do this to Aoko too?"
"Don't be ridiculous..."
Just then, a voice came from the doorway of the agency office.
"!?"
Shirou moved only his eyes and saw Shiki Ryougi pushing the door open.
"..."
In the awkward silence, the three of them stared at one another.
Shiki looked at Shirou's hand, which was slipped beneath the red lace.
"Looks like I interrupted something."
"Yes," Touko said, clearly displeased. "Go home, Shiki."
"No!" Shirou shouted. "Save me, Shiki!"
...
...
After regaining his freedom, Shirou moved away from Touko and sat down on the other side of the room.
The Aozaki sisters became so carnivorous and aggressive when they caught colds. He had experienced it firsthand before, yet he still hadn't learned his lesson this time. He had been far too careless...
Shirou rolled his eyes. "What was that work you mentioned?"
"Hm?"
"You said you had work to do, didn't you? Touko-nee-san, your fever's making you delirious. Leave the work to me and stay in bed."
"..."
Touko sighed. It was not as if she had done that because of the fever...
Her desire to have him, the feeling that she would pay any price and do anything for it, was real.
"Forget it."
As Touko Aozaki removed her glasses, the temperature in the room shifted abruptly.
"Ah, fine. I understand. This is the sort of thing that would be better for you to handle anyway."
The lazy, sensual air surrounding Touko vanished. In its place appeared the cold Grand Magus.
"I went out last week, didn't I? While I was out, I heard something rather strange from a police detective I know. Shirou, have you heard of Ogawa Apartments in Kayamihama?"
"It's about thirty minutes from here by train, in a small town that developed because no one wanted to waste land in the city center. There's a very old apartment building there. Apparently, something strange happened in that building."
One night, a female office worker in her twenties was attacked on the street.
The wounded woman, bleeding heavily, fled into the nearby Ogawa Apartments and called for help.
She shouted in the hallway for about ten minutes, but no one noticed her. An hour later, she died from blood loss.
Touko noticed Shirou's expression grow grave.
For him, this must have been a very sad story.
As a "Magus," Shirou had not cast aside his compassion as easily as Magi did.
"Is there something strange about that, Touko-nee-san...? In this day and age, it isn't that unusual for people to be cold to one another."
"No. No matter how cold people are, if they hear someone calling for help, they would at least call the police."
Touko said, "Apparently, the victim's cries for help were loud enough to be heard even in the apartment building next door.
The people in the neighboring building thought that with someone shouting that loudly, the residents of that apartment would help her soon enough, so they didn't pay it much attention.
But every resident of Ogawa Apartments said the same thing. None of them heard any cries for help.
That alone would not be especially strange, but it seems another odd incident happened in that apartment building before..."
"I understand. Shiki and I will go take a look at that apartment building."
"Why do I have to go too?"
Shiki protested, but she seemed fairly interested.
Shirou had noticed that, which was why he said he would take Shiki along.
Even if he did not bring her, she would probably sneak over there on her own later.
Touko nodded. "Hmm... With your 'eyes,' Shirou, you should be able to spot anything unusual right away."