My name is Su Yuzu.
17 years old.
A second-year student at Keigunen Private Academy.
Unmarried.
I made a bet with Kujou Katora.
The bet was whether the girl who was caught up in the Aberrant incident—
Mihou Sakai—could successfully be promoted to the First Sequence.
And the stakes... were that the loser would have to get on all fours in front of the winner and act like a little dog.
Admittedly—
While it's true that a First Sequence Aberrant does have a chance to have their Aberration reversed and return to being a normal human girl.
But... much like denatured protein, the warping of an Esper's abilities due to 'Aberration' is irreversible.
To put it simply, after 'Aberration,' an Esper's powers will forever be capped at the level they were before the transformation.
Her growth has been permanently locked.
Her future is already set.
Dim and without light.
This is a consensus written in the textbooks of every Esper academy.
But... is it really impossible for a consensus to be broken?
Not entirely.
Legend has it... that the Seventh Sequence Esper on the thousand-year battlefield, the 'Seat of Evil,' once underwent 'Aberration'.
It was his lover who erased his 'Aberration,' allowing him to start over.
Since a previous rule-type Esper was able to help someone who had undergone 'Aberration' break through their shackles.
Then as the seventh known rule-type Esper, Su Yuzu could of course—
Not.
The 'Hand of Paradox' doesn't seem to have that kind of function.
However—
Su Yuzu looked at her resource column.
That 'First Sequence Promotion Emblem' was shining brightly.
[First Sequence Promotion Emblem: A material for promotion to the First Sequence. Using this emblem for promotion guarantees success.]
Since 'Combat Records' could allow Su Yuzu, whose abilities were once locked at Level 0, to break through to Level 1.
Then Su Yuzu had every reason to believe.
The 'First Sequence Promotion Emblem' could help Mihou Sakai break through to the First Sequence.
As for whether such a powerful emblem would be a waste...
Recalling the information she had gathered on Mihou Sakai.
A compassionate smile graced Su Yuzu's lips. Absolutely... absolutely not.
She looked at Kujou Katora with confidence.
"This is a sure win!"
Su Yuzu understood Kujou Katora's personality.
Although Kujou Katora's personality was twisted, at her core... she was a proud girl.
She would definitely honor a bet she made.
"I don't like people, I like dogs"... Kujou Katora even treats those around her like dogs she can command. For her to get on all fours in front of me to honor the bet, one can only imagine the humiliation she would feel inside!
Su Yuzu was confident.
After this move.
Kujou Katora's favorability toward her would surely plummet to freezing.
The fact that she wouldn't just whip out a blood-soaked saw and hack me to pieces would be a testament to her pride and restraint as a girl.
After this, the relationship between her and Kujou Katora would become that of strangers, hostile and irreconcilable.
Compared to being liked and constantly thought of by the yandere sadist Kujou Katora.
Su Yuzu much preferred it if the two of them just stayed out of each other's lives.
It would be better if Kujou Katora kept a wide berth whenever she saw her.
"It's in the bag!"
Her right hand clasped Kujou Katora's cold, temperature-less right hand. Su Yuzu's eyes were filled with the certainty of victory, brimming with confidence.
As for... the thoughts in Kujou Katora's mind, they were even simpler.
The image of such a beautiful girl learning to act like a puppy, letting out soft 'woof woof woof' sounds in front of her—she found that quite interesting.
Her favorability might even go up by +1.
As for... losing?
How could she possibly lose?
Could a boiled egg come back to life and hatch a chick?
What a joke.
She squeezed the girl's hand, a flicker of amusement rising in her crimson eyes. Under the sunlight, the girl's almost crystalline lips curled slightly.
Nearby, Unohana Chiyo watched, burning with anxiety.
But thankfully... she could only be glad.
The punishment Kujou Katora had proposed wasn't for the girl to chop off a hand or some other insane thing.
Soon—
Su Yuzu and the others arrived at the inpatient ward.
The smell of disinfectant permeating the air immediately weighed down Su Yuzu's mood.
Passing through the spotlessly clean glass doors.
Su Yuzu and the others saw Mihou Sakai lying in the hospital bed.
The girl's small face was just as youthfully beautiful as when Su Yuzu had first looked down at her, but... her pretty, light green eyes were now hollow, as if devoid of a soul.
Su Yuzu felt a pang of sympathy.
From Ms. Unohana, she had learned about the heavy burden this girl carried.
Mihou Sakai was born into an ordinary family in the Guanzheng District.
Her family wasn't wealthy, and she had a younger sister who was a non-Esper.
Her parents' salary, after covering the family's expenses, was only enough for either Mihou Sakai or her sister to attend school.
Training an Esper is expensive.
Mihou Sakai had even already made her choice: she would give up.
She would let her sister study.
And then—
Hope arrived.
As an outstanding student, she was accepted into Keigunen Private Academy.
The academy's subsidy was enough for her to live frugally, and she could even send a little money back home.
But... as quickly as hope had come, it collapsed.
Clenching her fists.
Mihou Sakai didn't even know how she was supposed to go on living.
Hearing the sound of the glass door opening, the girl's vacant gaze turned toward the doorway.
The moment she saw Su Yuzu, Mihou Sakai flinched, shrinking back slightly.
She still remembered Su Yuzu.
But... it wasn't the kind of resentment common in melodramas—
Resenting Su Yuzu for taking everything from her, or something like that.
Mihou Sakai knew that she had almost killed the girl with the beautiful red eyes.
It was that girl who had saved her from her Aberration.
The emotion brewing inside Mihou Sakai's heart was guilt.
She had no right to blame anyone else.
The girl was very kind.
And she was always accustomed to seeing herself as lowly.
Raising an eyebrow, Kujou Katora stood at the entrance to the room.
Since it was a bet, of course there was a time limit.
The time Kujou Katora and Su Yuzu had agreed upon was before she left Keigunen Private Academy—that is, whether Mihou Sakai could break through to the First Sequence within a month.
Kujou Katora wasn't in a hurry.
She was a hunter.
A hunter should have patience.
Besides... forget giving Su Yuzu a month.
What if she gave her a year?
Could a boiled egg really run away?
What was so interesting about simply acting like a little dog?
With just a single word from her.
Countless people would come with their tongues out, eager to be her dog.
What Kujou Katora liked... was the process of watching a proud and noble girl slowly, humiliatingly lower her head before her.
Now that was interesting.
Kujou Katora glanced at Su Yuzu with a teasing expression that said, "Please, begin your performance."
A smile bloomed on Su Yuzu's lips.
The girl's smile was like a spring breeze, causing Mihou Sakai, lying in the hospital bed, to clutch the bedsheets even tighter with her small hands.
Why... is she still smiling?
Doesn't she hate me?
I... I almost killed her.
Su Yuzu walked forward, sat down beside Mihou Sakai's bed, and gently took the girl's small hand in hers.
Unlike the little rabbit's impossibly soft hands.
Despite her youthful and delicate appearance, Mihou Sakai's palms were dry, cracked, and rough—a testament to her life.
Su Yuzu's fingertips traced the calluses in the girl's palm.
A tingling, ticklish sensation spread from her palm...
Looking into those eyes as gentle as water, feeling the girl's soft, childlike hand... so utterly different from her own.
Mihou Sakai panicked and tried to pull her hand back.
[Ding—]
[Recruitable Operator detected.]
[Recruit?]
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