"She's right here..."
The instant Sakura Renxin's voice fell, every muscle in every girl's body went taut.
Su Yuzu, Soga Yura, and Sakura Mai all shifted into a state of alert.
Sakura Renxin might look like someone who couldn't be taken seriously under any circumstances — but she was, without question, a genuine Fifth Sequence Esper.
And one with «Hanami» at that — an ability of exceptionally devious character.
To put it simply, Sakura Renxin's ability was not merely healing.
Illusions. Reconnaissance. She could even coax cherry blossoms into blooming — a little, anyway.
The name «Hanami» came from the time Sakura Renxin, wanting to celebrate Tennoji Jurei's birthday, had forced every early-blooming and late-blooming cherry tree across an entire mountainside to burst into full flower on that single day.
All of it just to make that bottled-up, tight-lipped fool show a flash of surprise — a glimmer of delight. And then to leap onto her back and urge that same fool to catch her by the thighs.
Two people watching flowers bloom and fall together, watching clouds roll beneath the moon.
Sounds rather romantic, doesn't it.
It would have been — if Sakura Renxin hadn't forgotten the young Sakura Mai she'd left behind at the dojo.
But the grown-up Sakura Mai, the more she thought about it, felt that something was decidedly off.
What "forgotten."
This woman had probably just not wanted her, the spare wheel, ruining their little world for two.
At any rate——
Even Soga Yura, whose confidence in her own mental power was absolute, found herself scanning anxiously in every direction after Sakura Renxin declared that the Aberrant was right there among them.
The woman's beautiful eyes lifted lazily.
"Not inside our courtyard, though~"
"Just next door."
Moist fingertips traced patterns across the bluestone, and only then did Su Yuzu realize that the woman's teasing gestures weren't truly flirtatious — not in any conventional sense.
Rather, like some form of magic, flowers bloomed across the bluestone at the edge of the hot spring pool.
The blossoming cherry flowers sketched the shape of the mountainside as Sakura Renxin explained the layout to the girls.
The architecture of «Tsukimisato» was arranged like ripples spreading outward from a single drop.
The closer a courtyard sat to the heart of «Tsukimisato», the more prestigious it was.
These inner courtyards were typically reserved for the leaders of the major factions within the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Even when those figures didn't come to patronize the establishment, the courtyards would never be offered to ordinary guests.
Much like the courtyard where the girls currently sat.
This one was the estate that «Tsukimisato» provided to the Sakura family.
In truth, the Soga clan had an estate here in «Tsukimisato» as well.
Only... the one who made long-term use of that estate was not anyone from the main Soga family.
All these estates sat close together.
Which was precisely why Sakura Renxin had said the Aberrant was right beside them.
"That one belongs to «Epiphany Manufacture»."
"But... isn't this supposed to be «Epiphany Manufacture»'s trade fair?" Sakura Mai frowned slightly, struggling to understand why «Epiphany Manufacture» would need to go through «Tsukimisato» to buy their own goods.
Sakura Renxin couldn't help shooting her own daughter a sidelong look. "«Epiphany Manufacture» is not a unified front."
"In fact... some of their laboratories can be said to be in complete opposition to one another."
"Some of their laboratories might be entirely your enemy——"
"But..." the woman's eyes lifted, alluringly, to rest on Su Yuzu, the corner of her mouth curving upward as though hinting at something, "some of their laboratories could become a powerful force at your back."
The wariness inside Soga Yura sharpened further.
"Based on the intelligence available to us, that Aberrant is affiliated with the «Eye of Insight» and has a rather deep cooperative relationship with «Epiphany Manufacture»."
"Isn't that right~"
"Rats like the «Eye of Insight», who belong in the sewers, have no business setting foot in «Tsukimisato»."
"There's only one way they could be staying here." Sakura Renxin tilted her head toward the courtyard wall.
The woman's languid gaze seemed to pass straight through solid stone.
Su Yuzu watched the circles the woman's fingertips traced. "So then..."
"What about the space in the middle?"
She looked at the open ground left vacant at the center of the cluster of buildings sketched out by the cherry blossoms.
Sakura Renxin suddenly broke into a smile.
"Why, that's where the «Trade Fair» is held~"
"How convenient——"
"There's a «Trade Fair» happening there tomorrow, which is exactly why there are so many people around."
Sakura Renxin turned a look of heartfelt anguish onto Sakura Mai. "Does Mai know why?"
"Mama removed those 'wayward girl' placards because she didn't want those strange and unsavory guests to mistreat them, you know."
"Even if it only saves them for a single day, it gives their wounded hearts a moment of peace, a quiet harbor."
Crack——
Sakura Mai simply cracked her knuckles, expression blank.
And Su Yuzu... stared fixedly at that open ground. "That place... is it used only for the «Trade Fair»?"
"Of course not." Sakura Renxin explained to the girl. "Sometimes it's used for performances as well."
"«Tsukimisato» is a place of pleasure and entertainment, after all."
"On the night of each full moon, the song and dance performances here are truly breathtaking."
"Of course——"
"Sometimes there are also certain... special performances."
"Such as..." Her expression shifted suddenly, taking on something like grief-stricken compassion. "...beast-fighting. Does Yuzu know why every single one of those girls seems to possess First Sequence or above power?"
She looked at Su Yuzu. Su Yuzu felt a sudden chill crawl across her skin.
"Because when the need arises... they are the caged beasts set against each other."
"If they're lucky, it's human versus human."
"Some depraved types enjoy watching girls fight each other — pale skin, long limbs, every breath making lines tremble across their bodies."
"Drenched in sweat, how delightfully endearing."
"But if they're unlucky..." Sakura Renxin turned a look of sorrowful compassion toward the courtyard wall beyond.
In this world... beautiful things were not limited to girls alone.
"Aberrants," Su Yuzu said, instantly understanding what Sakura Renxin was trying to convey.
"Mm-hm~"
But... the thing that made it even harder for Su Yuzu to breathe was something else entirely.
She stared at the fighting arena sketched out by the flower-branches curling around Sakura Renxin's fingertips.
She suddenly had a feeling.
A subtle, nagging feeling.
Compared to videos on the internet, a live arena was obviously far more thrilling — far more captivating to those who craved a spectacle.
«Tsukimisato» was an arena.
A massive arena... accessible only to a certain portion of this world's people — a portion that carried considerable weight.
And at this very moment... the beast had already taken its place.
The storm aimed directly at Su Yuzu was already howling into approach.
'Mountain'... was it waiting for her here?
Sakura Renxin was so supremely confident — her ability was something even Soga Retsu couldn't see through.
And yet Su Yuzu still felt... that Aberrant had already seen through everything, and was right here, waiting.
The storm was coming.
—
In a room whose style was entirely unlike the Sakura family estate — sleek, modern — a woman gazed at the furious little cat before her and folded her hands across her chest in a gesture of prayer.
[Let the Eye of Insight——]
[Push fate forward.]
Fate told her: here, tomorrow, when the moon is full.
A pitch-black Throne would stand upon this earth.
All the world should remember Its name.
——Su Yuzu.
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