"I'll text you at noon," he replied smoothly.
"I'll block your number!" she shot back, retreating further into the carriage to hide from the platform.
The automated departure chime echoed over the speakers. The doors began to slide shut. Through the narrowing gap, he watched her refuse to look directly at him, arms crossed tightly like a shield. But just before the doors sealed, he caught the faint, undeniable trace of a smile pulling at the corner of her lips.
The train hissed, vibrating as it slid away. He stood in the rush of displaced air, watching the silver cars accelerate until the tunnel swallowed them.
The station noise rushed back in, filling the empty space. His smile faded. Turning his back to the tracks, his expression shifted into a cold, focused calm as he joined the heavy flow of the crowd heading for the exit.
Stepping out of the heavy shadows of Shinagawa Station, the morning sun hit his face. He kept his expression perfectly neutral, navigating the sea of business suits and school uniforms.
With Mai safely out of the city and Maki already isolated in Hokkaido, the board was as clear as it was going to get. Now, it was just about preparing his arsenal.
As he walked, a translucent, glowing blue panel snapped into existence in his vision, hovering effortlessly in the air a few feet ahead. Unseen by the hundreds of people brushing past, the interface opened his newly expanded System Point Exchange.
He mentally selected his newest acquisition: [Innate Technique: Construction].
The menu expanded, revealing the upgrade tree. Right at the top, glowing in premium gold text, was the primary option.
[CORE TECHNIQUE EVOLUTION]
Description: ?
Cost: 250,000 System Points.
A dry scoff escaped him. He shook his head, staring blankly at the floating golden zeros.
"Just a quarter of a million," he muttered. "Let me just check my pockets for some spare change. Or better yet, go find another Special Grade volcano to throw myself into."
He swiped the massive price tag away. Scrolling down, a secondary option caught his eye: [Operational Efficiency].
Tapping it brought up a five-tier star rating.
[EFFICIENCY RATING: CONSTRUCTION]
Current Status: [★☆☆☆☆]
(1-Star: Critical Energy Bleed)
The breakdown was brutal. Mai's baseline technique was a massive gas-guzzler. It burned through a ridiculous amount of cursed energy just to pull a single bullet from thin air. It worked, but it was completely unoptimized.
Fixing it, though, was straightforward. Hitting 5-Star Efficiency [★★★★★] would cut the energy cost by 80%. It would fundamentally turn an exhausting one-shot parlor trick into a sustainable, rapid-fire weapon. Since his new inventory capped his stored energy at 50,000 units, making every drop count was exactly what he needed.
But the pricing was steep.
[UPGRADE COSTS: EFFICIENCY]
Upgrade to 2-Star [★★☆☆☆]: 10,000 Points
Upgrade to 3-Star [★★★☆☆]: 20,000 Points
Upgrade to 4-Star [★★★★☆]: 40,000 Points
Upgrade to 5-Star [★★★★★]: 80,000 Points
Turning onto a quieter side street, he did the math in his head. The cost doubled with every tier. Maxing it out from the bottom meant dropping a total of 150,000 points.
He swiped a hand through the empty air, shattering the blue interface into harmless pixels. There was no point agonizing over currency he didn't have. One hundred and fifty thousand points was a luxury. For now, the technique would just have to sit untouched in his back pocket.
The walk to the station dissolved into a blur of concrete and exhaust fumes. Within minutes, he grabbed a ticket for the local line, leaving the chaotic crush of Shibuya behind on the platform.
Leaning against the cool glass of the train window, he let the rhythmic clatter of the tracks wash over him. Tokyo sped by in flashes of gray under an overcast sky. Deep in his chest, the slow, steady siphon of his cursed energy hummed. It didn't hurt, but the hollow, phantom sensation of the ... was impossible to ignore.
By the time the train doors slid open on the city's outskirts, the afternoon sun was already dipping low.
The hike up the winding, forested stone steps to the campus was usually a chore. Today, it was just a quiet stretch to clear his head. Dry autumn leaves scraped across the completely empty cobblestone courtyard.
He pushed open the heavy metal doors of the underground clinic. The sharp scent of antiseptic immediately hit him, cut perfectly by the rich aroma of dark roast coffee.
Shoko Ieiri slouched at her stainless-steel desk, a lit cigarette pinched loosely between her fingers. In the corner, the high-end espresso machine he had bribed her with weeks ago hummed quietly.
She didn't even look up from her autopsy report when the door clicked shut. "If you broke another bone, you're fixing it yourself."
"Nothing broken," he said, pulling up a rolling stool and taking a seat across from her. "Just killing time."
Taking a slow drag from her cigarette, Shoko finally looked up. The dark shadows under her eyes looked heavier than usual. "You look like you haven't slept in a week. Don't tell me Satoru actually gave you homework."
"Can't a guy just come down here to hang out?" He leaned back on the stool, a faint smile breaking through the exhaustion.
She blew a thin stream of gray smoke toward the ceiling. "Most normal teenagers prefer arcades or coffee shops. Not an active underground morgue. But sure, make yourself at home. The corpses don't talk much anyway."
The hum of the espresso machine filled the quiet space. Dropping the smile, the room settled into a comfortable, grounded silence.
Tapping her ash into a small glass tray, she murmured, "Seriously, though. If I could fake my own death and bypass the higher-ups, I'd be on a one-way flight to Okinawa by tomorrow morning. Just me, a private beach, and an endless supply of high-grade Awamori."
A quiet chuckle escaped him. Resting his elbows on his knees, he tilted his head. "Okinawa, huh? Not really your usual dark-and-brooding aesthetic. I figured you'd prefer a cabin in the mountains. Less sun, more isolation."