Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bedroom door was enduring as much as it possibly could.
"Kaito! You bastard! Get out here!"
Gold City's voice echoed with the volatility of a volcano about to erupt.
"I'm warning you, you better explain to me why I smell like that mad scientist!"
Next came the voice of TM Opera O, elegant yet filled with a cold murderous intent.
"Heh, heh, my dear protagonist is simply participating in a small improvised performance; however, it is you who are disturbing the protagonist's rest so early in the morning, what an incompetent supporting character you are"
"Who are you calling a supporting character!?"
"Whoever answers, I suppose"
Kaito covered his ears, feeling as if his head were about to split open.
Beside him, Agnes Tachyon was already fully dressed, carefully tucking the thick and freshly printed "Experiment Report" into a water-and-fire-resistant folder.
She walked toward the door and opened it calmly, adopting the posture of a "host."
"Good morning, Control Groups A and B"
She adjusted her glasses and spoke calmly, with the annoyed tone of a researcher whose thoughts have been interrupted by rowdy children.
"If your disputes have no academic value, please remain silent; you are severely disturbing my organization of vital experimental data"
As she spoke, she deliberately held up the thick folder with its eye-catching title.
Gold City's and TM Opera O's eyes were immediately drawn to the report's title.
Their eyesight was astonishingly good.
[Regarding "Kaito," a unique biologically active polymer, acting as a long-term stable partner...]
"Partner!?"
"..."
The expressions of the two women went through the entire spectrum, from shock to fury and then total eruption, all in a single second.
"What did you do to him, you lunatic!?" Gold City exclaimed first, reaching out to snatch the report.
"Heh, heh, what a distasteful title"
Although TM Opera O was smiling, her gaze was so cold it froze the air, and her target was also that "incriminating evidence."
Agnes Tachyon skillfully dodged and sneered.
"This is a great academic achievement completed jointly by the two of us; how dare you laypeople attempt to interfere?"
The three of them instantly fell into a stalemate, with a surprisingly uniform goal: to seize the report on Kaito's "innocence" and capture the culprit who was still hiding inside pretending to be dead.
Just as Kaito felt he was about to be "dismembered" by the three who were about to rush in, the phone on the nightstand suddenly rang with a heavenly chime.
He fumbled to pick it up and looked at the caller ID: the name that appeared made him feel as if he had seen a savior!
[President Akikawa]
"Stop!"
Kaito felt as if he had received a grand amnesty.
He held up the phone, which was still vibrating, and shouted with all his might.
"The President is calling me! An emergency meeting! Being late means losing the bonus!"
The fighting movements of the three women stopped simultaneously due to this sentence, which was filled with the dread of a corporate agent.
Now was the time!
Kaito took advantage of the split second while they were stunned, slipped through the space between them like an eel and, moving at incredible speed, once again fled from this trouble zone in disgrace.
...
In the Director's office.
Small Yayoi Akikawa was sitting in the large office chair.
She wasn't looking at Kaito; instead, she was reading a report with great interest: it was the electronic backup of Agnes Tachyon's "Experiment Report."
"Mhm... 'Comparative study on the correlation between special male pheromones and the emotional fluctuations and physical functions of high-level Uma Musume in different mental states'... And this one... 'By serving as a long-term stable partner'... Mmm, very insightful, very deep"
Kaito stood in front of the desk, cold sweat running down his back, feeling as if he were being publicly executed.
President Akikawa finally put down the tablet and looked up.
Her deep eyes, which seemed disproportionate to her small stature, looked at Kaito with a significant gaze.
"Well done, Kaito-kun"
"Eh?" Kaito was stunned.
"Gold City, TM Opera O, and even the most difficult Agnes Tachyon, have shown the potential to return to their maximum potential, or even exceed it, under your 'treatment'... or rather, your 'influence'; their mental states are of unprecedented stability and... high energy"
The director spoke with a double meaning.
Changing the subject, her expression turned serious.
"That is why I have decided to entrust you with an even more special and challenging task"
She pulled a very thin file from the drawer and handed it to Kaito.
The file contained only a name and a photograph.
The girl in the photo had beautiful long black hair and delicate doll-like features, but her eyes, which should have been lively, were empty, out of focus, and like stagnant water.
[Manhattan Cafe]
"She is one of the most problematic girls in our Fierce Umas Division"
The director's voice grew deeper.
"She isn't aggressive and won't hurt anyone; the problem is that she doesn't react to any external stimulus"
The director looked at Kaito and added a sentence that sank his heart:
"Based on the data analysis from Agnes Tachyon's report, I had people test it; even your special body scent, which Gold City and TM Opera O find irresistible, is completely ineffective on her"
"She is like a ghost, a beautiful ghost living in her own world; she simply sits there, existing, but appearing already dead"
"Go, Kaito-kun"
President Akikawa stood up, walked toward him, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Make her see this world again"
Taking on this unprecedentedly challenging task, Kaito felt a mountain of pressure.
He arrived at the infirmary, located in the deepest, most secluded, and quietest area of the Fierce Umas Division.
The light there was dimmer than in other places, and the air was permeated with a faint smell of dust.
Through the observation window of the door, he saw that "Ghost."
The girl was sitting quietly by the window, motionless, like a soul-less statue.
It was said that she had been sitting in that posture for three whole months.
The wind could not move a single ripple in her heart.
...
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