It wasn't a particularly spacious hospital room.
In the room, a girl curled up in her blankets, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
The girl's small hands sank deep into the bedding, gripping it for dear life.
Standing before her, her imposing father's eyes were filled with guilt, apology, and pity.
"Fath..."
"Father..." The red-eyed girl looked at the messy hospital gown by her bed and choked out, "I want to transfer schools."
Her fingertips, already buried deep in the blankets, dug in even further.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi hugged the bedding tightly, as if wanting to bury her head in it as well.
She wanted to escape—
She didn't want... or rather, she didn't dare to see that demon again.
Just thinking of those beautiful crimson eyes and the girl's glistening, upturned lips was enough to make Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi involuntarily recall everything from her dream.
The innocent girl had held her, wearing a smile so pure and harmless, yet one that made her feel, from the bottom of her heart... shame and humiliation. "Time to eat."
That's what the girl had piously said to her food.
That sweet smile would probably be liked by many people.
If only... the food wasn't oneself.
Her whole body trembled. She curled up uncontrollably, her knuckles white and aching from how hard she was clenching the bedding.
Soga Ishikawa Irube looked at his cowering daughter.
His expression suddenly turned helpless.
The man carefully sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, but even so... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi felt the entire bed frame sink.
It was a good thing this was the school hospital of Keigunen Private Academy.
The academy had its fair share of overweight metal-transformation type students, so the quality of the hospital beds was more than adequate; it didn't collapse on the spot.
Although he was a proper mental-type Esper, Soga Ishikawa Irube looked more like a muscle-bound, body-enhancement type.
His crimson eyes, tinged with a hint of orange just like Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's, watched his daughter huddled in the blankets, tear-streaked and looking like she had been crying her heart out. The man's expression softened bit by bit.
He reached out a hand, carefully touching Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's head.
His hands were too calloused.
He could barely feel the tender softness of the girl's cute face, which made Soga Ishikawa Irube slightly regretful.
However... more worrisome than his regret was the fear that he might be too rough and hurt his daughter.
That's why he was so careful, touching Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi as if she were a fragile treasure.
Her sobs stopped, and Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi looked at her father with teary eyes.
Because of her own arrogance and insolence, it felt like it had been a long time since she had been this close with her father.
"If you want to transfer, then transfer." Although he didn't know what had happened between his daughter and Miss Yuzu.
But... no matter what, as a father, he always had to protect his daughter as much as possible.
When he had first heard that Little Kiyomi had provoked Miss Yuzu... Soga Ishikawa Irube had even been prepared to kneel before Lady Yura, to kneel before Soga Retsu.
He didn't ask for any more reasons.
There was no need.
Soga Ishikawa Irube said softly, "Have you thought about where you want to transfer to?"
"Do you want to leave Guanzheng District?"
"Or... do you want to leave the Tokyo metropolitan area?"
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi bit her lip.
To be honest... she regretted the words the moment they left her mouth.
Although she hated, hated, hated Su Yuzu with every fiber of her being, but... but... she was the young lady of the Ishikawa family of the Soga clan.
People of the Ishikawa family cannot flee from battle.
Yes... that's definitely it.
It's definitely not because... the chain of the collar around her neck was now in her opponent's hands.
It's not because she was a little... just a little, a tiny little bit, afraid of what would happen if she ran away and was caught again.
Her crimson eyes lost their focus.
Besides... the girl bit her lip, conflicted.
Actually, from Su Yuzu's perspective, wasn't she the villain?
Like a simple-minded villainess from a novel.
After taunting her opponent, she was effortlessly taught a lesson, then fell into depravity and degenerated into an Aberrant.
An Aberrant...
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi suddenly remembered something.
In history... of all the Espers who fell and became Second Sequence Aberrants.
There was only one who successfully returned from the Abyss.
That was the 'Seat of Evil,' who, even after returning, constantly radiated a dense aberrant aura.
For no reason at all... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi suddenly recalled the dream, and the giant, pitch-black throne that had forcefully, without giving her any room to rest... squeezed its way into her mental domain.
If Su Yuzu hadn't eaten the Aberrant Crystal from her body...
...could she have returned from the Abyss?
The answer had already surfaced in Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's heart.
Although the process was humiliating... dark and lightless... the result had given her the chance to once again be curled up in the palm of her father's hand.
She slowly shook her head. "Forget it."
Soga Ishikawa Irube looked at the girl, who seemed to be sulking, and gently shook his head.
He didn't understand the hearts of girls.
This kind of thing... he'd wait for his wife to return and let her handle it.
-
-
-
In front of the training hall, the girl stood before Su Yuzu, timidly maintaining a deep bow.
'I owe Su Yuzu my life.'
'But... the humiliation she brought upon me, I will definitely work hard to make her pay...'
An alluring scent, one that Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi was so familiar with it felt etched into her very spirit—a sweet and sour fragrance—wafted into her nostrils.
She looked at the straight legs of the girl before her, and her body began to tremble.
Her grand ambitions and motivational speech weren't even finished before the little boat named Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi was completely crushed.
But—
This was the feeling.
The girl's knees knocked together, and she clenched her delicate fists tightly.
Ever since returning from the Abyss, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi felt that her chest was hollow.
Like a hollow doll.
No matter how she tried to fill that heart, it was always in vain.
But late at night, staring blankly at the ceiling, the girl... suddenly thought of Su Yuzu's demonic smile.
Despondent and lost, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi had ultimately decided to follow Saotome Yukina and wait for Su Yuzu.
Su Yuzu listened with a smile to the notification pinging in her ear that 'Combat Records' had been received.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi was different from Kujou Katora.
Su Yuzu's attitude toward this girl was also a little bit 'meaner.'
Beside them, the sky-blue ahoge on Saotome Yukina's forehead was as straight and sharp as a drawn sword.
This despicable woman!!!
What is she doing looking for Yuzu-senpai again?
And... and calling her Lady Sister.
Did Yuzu-senpai even allow her to call her that!
Just a mere branch family, damn it, damn it, damn it!
The little rabbit hugged Su Yuzu's arm tightly, almost embedding it into her own chest.
"Kiyomi?" Su Yuzu flashed a rather wicked smile. "What is this all about?"
"Ngh..." The beautiful eyes refocused.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi slowly straightened up and looked at Su Yuzu.
"Please..."
"Please, Lady Sister Yuzu..."
"...teach me mixed martial arts."
Saotome Yukina stood there stunned, her aqua-blue eyes meeting Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's.
Even though she was a complete mess in front of Su Yuzu.
When looking at Saotome Yukina, the girl's crimson eyes were still filled with arrogance.
'Just a mere healer—'
The sword-like ahoge stood straight up, and the little rabbit's cheeks puffed out.
'What's wrong with being a healer... Get your head over here, and I'll give you a BUFF!!!'
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