At that moment, Hoshino noticed something else was wrong.
The posters on the wall had been carefully torn down. The photo she'd taken with her beloved senior was gone from the bedside table. Her marine life encyclopedia was missing too, along with several other small trinkets.
Who would have both the motive and the means to do this?
Only someone who had a key to her home.
"Intruder."
Murmuring under her breath, Hoshino lay down on the bed.
It felt a little different, unfamiliar somehow, but exhaustion soon dragged her into sleep. She didn't wake again until the alarm clock jolted her at around three or four in the morning.
Still tired, but she had to move.
She picked out a spare school uniform from the closet, changed, and rubbed her eyes as she went downstairs in a daze to wash up.
After freshening up and finishing the leftover bento, she put on a clean pair of sneakers, slung her folded shield across her shoulder, and stood at the entryway. Her eyes slowly swept across the small home.
Come to think of it, she spent her days at school and her nights on patrol. Coming home was really just to sleep. There weren't many memories here worth holding on to.
Her head lowered slightly; her lips curved in a faint smile, though her gaze softened with melancholy.
"Goodbye... forever."
Hoshino opened the door and stepped out without looking back.
Because...
This was the path Takanashi Hoshino had chosen, and she would see it through.
She repeated those words silently in her heart as she walked down one street after another. Roads that had once been familiar now felt foreign, as though stretched endlessly longer than before. Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime, she arrived at that building.
The front doors were wide open. No lights inside. In the dim gray light of dawn, the place looked cold and ominous.
But for Hoshino, ever since she made her decision, there was nothing left to fear.
The pink-haired girl drew a deep breath, tightened the strap of her shield, and stepped into the building.
The elevator slowed, rising to the very top. After a moment of faint weightlessness, the doors slid open.
At the end of the corridor sat the figure who had once offered her a deal, the mysterious being known as the "Man in Black." He waited in silence on an office chair.
He wore a pristine black suit. His skin was pitch black, marred with cracks that glowed faintly from within, white light leaking through.
He had no facial features. Only on his right eye and where a mouth should be were there hollows, one shaped like an eye socket, the other like a twisted grin. His skull was fractured, from which black smoke drifted upward.
This was the being Hoshino had named Black Suit.
"Black Suit," she said coldly, "let's talk business."
"Oh? So you've finally made up your mind?"
A rich, magnetic male voice echoed from that hollowed grin. "In that case, let's make it official... sign the contract."
"Hold on," Hoshino said sharply. "Not so fast."
"What is it?"
Her eyes locked on him. "I'll agree to withdraw from Abydos and join the Kaiser Corporation. But I want to change the terms."
The Black Suit tilted his head slightly, intrigued. "I'm listening."
Hoshino closed her eyes.
"Schale's Sensei. They're one of your partners, aren't they?"
The Black Suit chuckled, sounding genuinely surprised.
"What makes you say that? Hasn't that Sensei always been helping you students?"
Silence hung in the air.
"...Whatever the truth is," Hoshino's voice rose, trembling, "it doesn't matter anymore! You, your people, and even Sensei... every one of you—"
Her fists clenched tight, her whole body shaking.
The once gentle, cute girl now glared with twisted fury, shouting from the depths of her chest,
"Stay away from my juniors! All of you, stay the hell away from them!!!"
"...So that's your condition?"
"That's right! None of you are allowed to come near Abydos again! You're not to lay a hand on my school! Black Suit, if you agree to that, I'll sign your contract right now. From this moment on, all of my power will belong to you! That's a fair deal, isn't it?"
"Hoho... what an amusing offer."
A flash of white light flickered within his cracks. "Very well. We'll make the contract on those terms. I'll draft it now."
He picked up a pen and began to write on a contract sheet.
Hoshino kept her eyes on every word, ready for any deceit.
But nothing unusual happened.
The Black Suit wrote quickly, finishing in just a few minutes. He signed, stamped it, and handed it over for her review.
As Hoshino carefully read through every line, he stared at her, a faint, mocking smile curling through his voice.
"May I ask a simple question?"
"Ask."
Her reply was curt. She clearly didn't want to engage any more than necessary with the one who had cornered her and her academy.
"Horus... no, Takanashi Hoshino."
His tone shifted. Strange, amused, filled with a kind of cruel surprise. "You actually...
Gave up your gun?"
Rip~
The contract tore cleanly in half.
Expressionless, Hoshino crumpled the pages into a ball.
"Your handwriting's terrible. Write another."
"Heh... hehehe... There's no rush," he said with a dry laugh. "But humor me, where is your gun now?"
Her voice turned to ice. "And why should that matter to you?"
"Just curiosity."
When he didn't immediately start writing again, Hoshino drew several deep breaths, forcing her anger down.
"I threw it away. That's all. Satisfied?"
"Hahaha, sure. Let's go with that."
Still laughing, he picked up the pen again and wrote out an identical contract.
This time, Hoshino signed her name.
And with that, the contract was sealed.
"...That's everything, then?"
"...Yes. Everything's in order." The Black Suit nodded approvingly at the signed document. "Now that your name is written here, all your rights as a student have been transferred to me."
Hoshino gazed at him, weariness heavy in her voice. "Then you'll keep your word, won't you? The Kaiser Corporation, and Sensei... you'll make sure they stay away from Abydos forever."
"Of course," he replied smoothly, though there was something sly beneath the tone. "A contract is a contract, after all. I'll see to it that the Kaiser Corporation, and Schale's Sensei, vanish completely from Abydos High School."
She couldn't be bothered to care what hidden meaning lingered in his words. It didn't matter anymore.
Her eyes lowered, her expression complex...
This way...
Everyone could be happy, right?
That was enough.
Hoshino exhaled softly, her thoughts drifting like mist, and at last, a gentle, tranquil smile appeared on her lips.