Morning.
A gentle, warm ray of sunlight pierced through a gap in the curtains, scattering shimmering, warm golden flecks of light across the girl's room, landing on her face.
Her brows furrowed slightly, and the tips of her pale, slender fingers trembled.
Hazy, beautiful crimson eyes slowly opened.
Su Yuzu blinked.
Clutching the quilt, she slowly sat up.
Her body felt as if it were still lingering in last night's dream, and the girl's expression grew stranger by the moment.
She'd had a rather risqué dream last night.
In the dream, she had bullied a girl so badly... that she ended up looking as pitiful as a cat whose tail had been pinned down.
But—
What Su Yuzu couldn't fathom was... the heroine of the dream wasn't Soga Yura, not the little rabbit, not Ms. Unohana, and not even Yamabuki Nanako or Kujou Katora.
It was... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, the girl who had looked down on her with such arrogance yesterday morning, only to be found late at night, hugging her knees and trembling pitifully in front of her dorm, waiting to apologize.
This was too strange.
Could it be that she had such a wicked habit... of bullying people who annoyed her during the day until they cried in her dreams, and then bullying them until they couldn't even cry anymore?
But... she couldn't recall dreaming about Soga Yura all that often.
Besides.
Su Yuzu hadn't really paid Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi much mind yesterday.
In Su Yuzu's eyes, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi was nothing more than a walking treasure chest monster.
A treasure chest monster with a not-so-great figure, at that.
It's just... the dream felt far too real.
As real as what they call a lucid dream.
Even now, when Su Yuzu held out her hand, she felt as if she could still feel... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's helpless struggles and trembling.
Su Yuzu fell into deep thought.
Then... she realized an even more serious problem.
Her ability had improved.
It wasn't an illusion.
If, before, when she'd twisted the shower gel bottle until it burst in the bathroom, her Hand of Paradox was limited to a single use within a short period, with its range restricted to about one meter around her and an area the size of her palm...
Then now—
Su Yuzu felt she would have no problem using Hand of Paradox consecutively.
The range she could distort also seemed to have grown a little.
To confirm her suspicion, she tilted her head and looked at the curtains.
The girl's crimson eyes lit up.
The next second... Rrrrip—
With a jarring sound of tearing fabric, the curtains, which had rapidly twisted and tangled together, were ripped open. The blinding sunlight made Su Yuzu instinctively raise a hand to shield her eyes, causing the quilt to slip away.
"Oops..."
You really do stupid things right after waking up.
"I broke the curtains... Replacing them will probably cost a fortune."
But it was fine. Su Yuzu, hugging the quilt again, counted on her fingers.
It seemed she had quite a few 'ATMs' now.
At least she wouldn't be as strapped for cash as before.
Worst case, over the next week, she'd just have to treat little rabbit to four strawberry cream crêpes and Kujou Katora to forty spicy chicken wings every day.
She'd earn all the money back in no time.
She could even get some equipment for herself.
But still... hugging the quilt, Su Yuzu stared at the torn curtains.
It wasn't an illusion—
Her ability had definitely improved.
She summoned her game interface.
"Good morning, Senpai~"
"How was your dream last night?"
"Ah... were you thinking of me?"
"In the dream... was I a good girl?"
It was supposed to be a lovely good-morning greeting, but... Su Yuzu couldn't help but feel that the voice of Mihou Sakai, her assistant, was tinged with a pitiful, aggrieved tone.
Isn't this assistant a little too smart?
Actually, she was a champion of pure love.
If she had a choice, Su Yuzu would definitely pick the obedient kouhai over Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.
It's just that dream...
Su Yuzu still didn't understand why Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi had appeared in her dream. And wearing such a lewd, criminally tempting carp-patterned dress and black stockings.
Just like an Aberrant.
Thump, thump—
Her heart skipped a beat.
In the Operator Index, a girl with black, shoulder-length hair raised her crimson eyes and gazed languidly at her.
[Su Yuzu]
[Level 7 - Hand of Paradox User]
[...]
When... did this happen?
Su Yuzu scrolled through the logs.
Then she saw the message about a Second Sequence Aberrant, a "Nightmare Singer," attacking her, and she gradually understood what had happened.
Last night's dream... wasn't just a simple dream.
Although she didn't know what exactly had happened to Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.
But, most likely, after apologizing to her last night, she had fallen and become an Aberrant.
And a nightmare-type Aberrant at that, which was quite rare and troublesome even among Aberrants.
Through her Aberration, her ability had successfully broken through to the Second Sequence, and she had launched an attack on her.
It was just a pity—
—that she was under Soga Yura's protection.
Any mental-type attack with less than half of Soga Yura's psychic power would have no effect on her.
And Soga Yura's power... was not the widely rumored Second Sequence.
But rather... a Level 39 Mind Control User, a prodigy even within the Third Sequence.
The gap between each Sequence was like a leap.
The difference... was far more than double.
In the face of the Dominator's Aegis, even the Aberrated Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi could only be pitifully reduced to a toy.
Su Yuzu only remembered Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi struggling... like a cat.
Her voice, too.
Su Yuzu's fists suddenly clenched tight.
She recalled the dream, the black and purple eye-shaped totem drawn on the lower abdomen of the girl in the black carp-patterned dress, and her expression slowly grew solemn.
Eye of Insight.
In any case.
She had already forgiven Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi last night.
And yet... the Eye of Insight still dared to make a move on Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi. This was something Su Yuzu could not forgive or pardon.
An Aberrant who had stepped into the Second Sequence was completely different from a First Sequence Aberrant like Mihou Sakai.
A Second Sequence Aberrant... could almost be considered 'beyond saving'.
There was no chance of bringing them back.
At least—
—apart from a rule-type ability like the one possessed by the Seat of Evil's lover, Kirishika—
—Erasure.
Su Yuzu didn't know of any way to save her.
The Eye of Insight's target was her.
In other words, one could say that Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi had died because of her, and at her own hands.
Even if... the manner of death was quite risqué.
While Su Yuzu didn't care about Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, she... couldn't be indifferent to a girl dying because of her.
Clenching her jaw.
In her heart, Su Yuzu had already sentenced the Eye of Insight to death.
Waking up and getting ready with a heavy heart, Su Yuzu changed into a dress and pushed open the door.
And then... she froze.
Someone was waiting outside Su Yuzu's room.
It wasn't Kujou Katora.
It was that young female superintendent from the Fourth Action Division from the other day.
The woman stood quietly at her door, as if she had been waiting for her all along.
"Soga..."
"Miss Su." She bowed to Su Yuzu.
"Lady Kujou has gone to handle the Eye of Insight attack from last night. She should be at the hospital now."
"She told me to wait for you here."
"And to follow your arrangements."
"The... hospital...?" Su Yuzu caught the keyword.
"Yes." The woman nodded lightly. "The victim from last night's attack is still being treated at the hospital."
"You..."
"You could say you know her."
"Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi?" Su Yuzu replied instinctively.
"Yes." The woman nodded in surprise.
"What's going on?"
Su Yuzu also froze in surprise.
Wasn't an Esper who had been turned into a Second Sequence Aberrant supposed to be beyond saving?
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