Splash, splash.
Inside the bathroom, warm water kept running.
Mashiro Shiina was exhausted, panting as the towel slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor.
"It still won't come off…"
Her skin was raw from scrubbing, yet the blood rain stains clung stubbornly, as if they had fused into her.
A chill sank into her chest.
She lifted her reddened eyes and stared at her blurred reflection in the fogged mirror.
Even through the steam, her figure was impossible to miss.
And neither were the ugly patches of crimson on her hair, her face, and her body.
Worst of all was her face.
Half of it was stained.
Her pretty features looked frightening under the smeared red.
"I'm done for…"
The moment she saw herself, fear crashed over her even harder.
Then, suddenly.
Click.
The bathroom lock sounded.
It opened.
Mashiro's heart jumped into her throat. She clearly remembered locking the door.
Who was it?
She whipped around.
A figure had stepped inside.
"Ah!"
Mashiro screamed.
Natsuki Yuu, already prepared, covered his ears and looked her over.
His eyes lit up, sharply.
So this was what the system meant.
The delicate beauty, the trembling fear, the helplessness in her expression.
It was the kind of sight that could drive a man insane.
Mashiro shrank into the corner, shock and anger mixing on her face. She clutched a small towel to cover herself, barely managing to shield what mattered.
"Y You… who are you?"
Her voice shook.
"Me?"
Natsuki Yuu pointed upward.
"The neighbor upstairs."
Mashiro's mind blanked for a second.
Then her face twisted with panic.
"Monster!"
Natsuki Yuu shrugged.
"If you want to call me that, fine."
He took a step forward.
Mashiro's body jolted.
"D Don't come any closer!"
The bathroom was tiny. There was nowhere to run.
Natsuki Yuu watched her tremble like a startled deer, and the itch in his chest grew sharper.
Steam curled around her, making her look strangely vulnerable, almost unreal.
Her pitiful expression only made it worse.
He slowed his steps on purpose.
Above her head, the dependence value ticked upward.
Four percent. Six. Eight…
Then it stopped at nine.
That was her limit for now.
"Don't come closer! I I'll scream!"
Mashiro cried.
"You can try."
Natsuki Yuu stared at her, amused.
Mashiro was terrified, but she did not dare make another sound. She hugged herself tighter in the corner, shaking.
Natsuki Yuu crouched in front of her.
"You're covered in blood rain. You've been infected."
Before she could react, he continued, calm and cruel.
"This is going to be a problem. Once you're infected, you'll turn into a Blood Corpse in three hours."
He leaned in, voice low, cutting every word into her nerves.
"You know zombies, right? The kind from movies. You'll become that kind of monster. You'll bite people. And your pretty face will be ruined, turned into something dried out and rotten."
Mashiro's breathing turned ragged.
Natsuki Yuu lifted her chin with two fingers, forcing her to face him, and delivered the final blow without mercy.
"And if Tsukino-sensei sees you like that… what do you think her expression will be?"
"No!"
Mashiro screamed.
"Then behave, and accept treatment."
Natsuki Yuu's smile turned sharp.
Mashiro's eyes trembled.
She could not resist.
Not when Tsukino-sensei was involved.
Not when the word "zombie" had been pressed against her throat like a blade.
"Y You can really treat me?"
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
Natsuki Yuu nodded.
"You're still in the first stage. It's not hard to deal with."
He lifted a finger.
"But if you drag this out for an hour, you'll enter the second stage. Then it becomes troublesome."
"How troublesome?"
Mashiro asked, shaking.
Natsuki Yuu answered with deliberate cruelty.
"I'll have to cut away every patch of skin touched by the blood rain."
Mashiro's face went pale.
"I don't want the second stage…"
"Then cooperate while you're still in the first stage. You've got one hour."
He glanced at the time, then added casually.
"Actually, after all this, you probably don't even have that much left."
Mashiro's dependence value jumped, climbing past fifteen percent.
"Please… save me."
In an instant, her hope latched onto him like a lifeline.
Natsuki Yuu sighed, as if burdened by mercy.
"It's not that I don't want to save you."
His eyes were cold.
"It's that you need to cooperate."
"I will. I'll cooperate."
Mashiro's voice was desperate.
Natsuki Yuu judged the moment and pulled out a rope.
"First, so you don't struggle during treatment, I'm going to bind your hands."
Mashiro froze.
A knot of fear tightened in her stomach.
But then she forced herself to extend her hands.
For Tsukino-sensei.
Natsuki Yuu moved quickly, tying her wrists in a few clean motions.
That was the first step.
Then…
"Next, you need to take something."
He stood and placed a hand on her head.
Mashiro's pupils shrank.
She stiffened.
Click.
Natsuki Yuu snapped a photo of her expression from above, looking down at her.
"If you don't cooperate, I'll have no choice but to send this to Tsukino-sensei."
His tone was almost gentle. That made it worse.
"I… I'll do it. I'll be treated."
Mashiro sounded like she had reached the edge of herself and stepped off.
"Good. Then we begin."
Natsuki Yuu acted decisively.
The "treatment" began.
Mashiro's face flushed, her whole body shaking as she tried to endure it.
Time dragged.
When the first stage ended, Natsuki Yuu exhaled slowly.
The dependence value rose to forty percent.
Mashiro coughed, breath unsteady, tears caught in her lashes.
Her voice was weak.
"Is… is it done?"
Natsuki Yuu shook his head.
"That was only the first step."
He checked the time.
"Unfortunately, you ran over. The infection worsened a little."
His voice hardened.
"So now we do the second step. And we do it fast."
Mashiro's dependence value kept rising, pushing past fifty percent.
"What… what do you want me to do?"
"Turn around."
Mashiro obeyed.
"Don't move."
Natsuki Yuu's voice came from behind her.
A moment later, Mashiro cried out, her body trembling as if the pain nearly knocked her unconscious.
That strike landed like a needle driven into an artery.
But the "treatment" response was immediate.
"Hold on," Natsuki Yuu said coldly.
Mashiro clenched her teeth and endured.
One "needle" after another fell like a storm.