A complicated look flashed through Haruno Yukinoshita's eyes.
It was a mixture of curiosity, desire, hesitation, and caution.
She looked at Genichi, at that still-calm face and those deep eyes, while countless thoughts surged through her mind.
She had just witnessed this boy's power with her own eyes.
The hand that had gripped the vengeful spirit by the throat, the teleportation, those mysterious and eerie shadows. All of it had shattered her understanding of the world.
Had she never learned of it, that would have been one thing. But now that she knew, she naturally did not want to simply let it pass her by.
"Can I obtain the same kind of power you have?"
Her voice was soft, but it carried an expectation she could not fully hide.
Genichi looked at her, his eyes as calm as still water.
"If you want power, you have to pay a price. Are you prepared to pay it?"
Haruno's heart tightened slightly.
A price.
She had known it would not be that simple.
"What price?"
Her voice remained calm, but her eyes sharpened.
Genichi was silent for a moment. Then he slowly spoke.
"Everything."
"Everything?"
"Your body. Your soul. Everything you are will belong to me."
He said it lightly, but the words struck Haruno's heart like a heavy hammer.
Her expression stiffened slightly.
Her body, her soul, everything?
Did that not mean...
"So, Genichi, are you confessing to me?"
She spoke in a joking tone, trying to ease the sudden heaviness in the air.
But Genichi did not smile.
He only looked at her quietly. There was not the slightest ripple in his eyes.
"No. I mean that literally."
His voice remained calm.
"If you want power, you have to give up everything. Your life and death will be under my control. If I want you to die, you will die."
Haruno's smile froze.
She looked at Genichi. Those eyes were still clear and deep, yet in this moment, they seemed a little unfamiliar to her.
It was not a confession.
It was truly the price.
Her life and death would be controlled by another person.
If he wished it, she would die.
Haruno fell silent.
She finally understood that Genichi was not joking, nor was he testing her.
He meant every word.
That power was not a gift that could be handed out casually. It was a contract that required the most precious things to be exchanged.
She lowered her head and looked at her hands.
These hands controlled part of the Yukinoshita family's business empire and stirred up storms in the commercial world.
These hands had signed countless contracts and earned the family an immeasurable amount of wealth.
These hands had also stroked little Yukino's hair late at night, comforting that stubborn younger sister.
If she handed these hands over, if she handed everything over to someone else...
Could she accept that?
Haruno raised her head and looked at Genichi.
The boy was still sitting there, quietly waiting for her answer.
He did not urge her. He did not tempt her. He merely stated the facts calmly.
And that calm made her realize it even more clearly.
He was not making a deal.
He was giving her a choice.
The choice was in her own hands.
"Can't you... make an exception?"
She asked softly, her voice carrying a hint of pleading she herself did not notice.
Genichi shook his head.
"No. Power has a price."
He paused, and his tone softened slightly.
"Of course, considering the help you gave me before, I can have one of my shadows protect you closely and do a few things for you, as long as they aren't too troublesome."
Haruno's eyes brightened slightly.
But very quickly, that light dimmed.
Because she understood very clearly that the moment she agreed to that proposal, the bond between her and Genichi would end there.
Their relationship would change from sponsor and sponsored child into protected and protector. It would never return to what it had once been.
She would owe him a favor forever.
And he would forever see her as a weak person who needed protection.
That was not what she wanted.
Haruno took a deep breath and forced her thoughts to calm down.
She was Haruno Yukinoshita.
The woman who planned and maneuvered in the business world.
The strong one who could stay rational no matter what situation she faced.
She could not make a decision she would regret just because of a momentary desire.
"Then give your Haruno-nee some time to think it over. How does that sound?"
She raised her head, looked at Genichi, and revealed a smile.
That smile was still bright, but there was a trace of seriousness in her eyes now.
Genichi looked at her and nodded.
"Of course."
Haruno stood up and straightened her slightly disheveled clothes.
"Then take me back to the construction site."
Genichi raised an eyebrow.
"Back to the construction site?"
"Mm."
Haruno nodded, her eyes turning sharp. "I need to take the surveillance footage, then go home and have a proper discussion with Mother."
Surveillance footage.
Everything that had happened at the construction site tonight had been recorded by the cameras.
The bodies of the bodyguards. The appearance of that vengeful spirit. Genichi's arrival.
Haruno did not dare imagine what kind of uproar those things would cause if they spread.
So they had to be destroyed.
As for going home to discuss it with her mother...
The Yukinoshita family had not developed to its current position through luck alone.
Her mother, Mrs. Yukinoshita, was a woman even more shrewd and decisive than she was.
For a decision this important, Haruno needed to seek her mother's opinion.
Genichi looked at her, and a trace of appreciation flashed through his eyes.
This woman really was not simple.
After brushing against death like that, she could still keep such a clear head and think about cleaning up the aftermath.
"Fine."
He stood up and walked to Haruno's side.
"This time, I'll be gentler."
Haruno paused for a moment, then smiled.
That smile carried a trace of gratitude, and a trace of expectation.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Genichi reached out and took her hand.
This time, he did not use that crude teleportation method. Instead, he used a much gentler spell.
A soft light wrapped around them, and the surrounding scenery began to shift slowly.
There was no longer that dizzying, warped sensation. Instead, it felt like a calm flow, almost like a dream.
Haruno only felt her vision blur, and then she was standing at the construction site again.
The moonlight was still cold. The night wind was still slightly chilly.
But the bodies, the bloodstains, and that vengeful spirit were all gone.
Only a few shadows remained, silently cleaning up the last traces.
Haruno looked at all of it, and a complicated feeling rose in her heart.
This was power.
This was what she longed to obtain.
But the price of obtaining it was giving up everything.
She took a deep breath and walked toward the surveillance room.
The monitoring equipment was still running, red indicator lights blinking on and off.
She operated the system with practiced ease, deleted all of tonight's footage, then removed the hard drives and placed them in her pocket.
After finishing all of that, she turned and looked at Genichi.
The boy was still standing there, quietly waiting for her.
Moonlight fell across him, draping him in a layer of silver light.
"Genichi-kun."
"Mm?"
"Thank you."
Genichi looked at her, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
"No need to thank me."
Haruno smiled, then turned and walked toward the outside of the construction site.
After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and looked back at him.
"Genichi-kun."
"Mm?"
"No matter what choice I make in the end, you'll still be the Genichi-kun I know, right?"
Genichi was silent for a moment. Then he nodded.
"Right."
Haruno smiled.
That smile carried relief, reassurance, and an emotion that was hard to describe.
"Then that's enough."
She turned and disappeared into the night.
Genichi stood where he was, watching the direction she had gone, silent for a long time.
(End of Chapter)
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