Cooperate with the Investigation Bureau for a full physical examination?
Honestly, given the current situation, the Investigation Bureau's request didn't seem unreasonable.
She really should cooperate and let them run a full examination on her.
By any ordinary reckoning, Su Yuzu had nothing to worry about.
She had already undergone countless examinations exactly like it, in the hospital and the laboratories of Keigunen Private Academy.
Every time Su Yuzu broke through to a new level of power, or came back from a major battle, Director Saionji Sagara would hope - not demand, only hope - that she submit to a full examination.
And Su Yuzu had never minded.
Including... after her very first awakening.
In fact, across every one of those examinations over the years, Yamabuki Nanako had never detected a single abnormality in Su Yuzu.
The girl's power was climbing by leaps and bounds, and yet - and yet - in Yamabuki Nanako's own words, Su Yuzu's foundation was so unshakably solid that it was as though she were simply reclaiming strength that had always belonged to her.
That was it -
Reclaiming.
Yamabuki Nanako could only string it together with the series of miracles that kept unfolding around Su Yuzu, and dryly declare the whole impossible situation a miracle worked by Lady Fate.
One full examination would be enough to clear Su Yuzu of one of the two accusations -
The accusation that she already stood at the Edge of Aberration, that she might plunge into the Abyss at any moment and become a second Kujou Iruka.
Because -
They couldn't detect it.
They never could.
Su Yuzu's "Throne" was like a switch.
The switch sat right there in her chest.
But only when Su Yuzu pressed it herself would the "Evil Karma Throne" - the thing that seemed ready to gnaw the world down to nothing, the thing reborn out of death, returned from hell itself - reveal the shape that was truly hers.
Before that moment, there was simply no abnormality to be found anywhere in the girl.
It was right there, and yet it hid better than the Sword of Erasure lodged in Sakura Mai's heart.
Su Yuzu should have accepted.
Whether to wash the suspicion off herself, or simply out of consideration for the young superintendent, Su Yuzu should have accepted.
But looking at the young superintendent standing before her, that look of real difficulty on her face, Su Yuzu gave a gentle shake of her head.
"Sister Jingjing -"
"I think you understand."
"This accusation is nowhere near as simple as whether or not I've 'betrayed' humanity."
"This is a game -"
"A game played between Tsukimisato Somehana, the radical faction of the 'Epiphany Manufacture' organization standing behind her, and me. The Soga clan."
"So where would this examination take place?"
"A laboratory owned by 'Epiphany Manufacture'?"
"And if it is... would it be a lab under the radical faction, part of Tsukimisato Somehana's power base? Or one under the Guardian faction, something like the 'outpost'?"
"Or a hospital in the Soga clan's hands?"
"Or some other institution that looks neutral, but is caught just as deep in the whirlpool of this game?"
"I -" The young superintendent froze where she stood.
The poise of the girl in front of her, that unruffled calm, suddenly felt like something she had never seen before.
As though the girl standing there wasn't Su Yuzu, a student still in high school.
But the Eldest Young Lady of the Soga clan, the one who stood in the clan's spotlight with every eye upon her - Soga Yura.
"We'll take the Investigation Bureau's suggestion under consideration."
"But where exactly the examination happens will have to be decided by both sides together."
And then -
The composure on Su Yuzu's face melted into something warm and approachable, and she smiled at the young superintendent. "I'm really grateful you came all this way with me, Sister Jingjing."
"Want some crepes?"
-
On the way back to Keigunen Private Academy.
Su Yuzu and Kujou Katora walked along the commercial street.
Kujou Katora had already stripped the gloves from both hands.
Her black bodystocking now looked like some rather risque pair of black stocking sleeves, and Su Yuzu had her pinky hooked lightly through hers.
It was nothing more than a pinky, and yet it felt as if every vital point Kujou Katora possessed had been caught in the girl's grip.
The woman's walk even looked faintly wrong.
Even under the cover of dusk, the vivid, faint flush on her face drew the eye so hard it was impossible to look away.
Only she and Kujou Katora were left in Su Yuzu's party now.
After a great deal of visible struggle, the young superintendent had politely declined Su Yuzu's crepes - but she hoped, once the accusations were behind them, that she might still get the chance to be treated to one.
Which, in so many words, meant she hoped Su Yuzu would come through this safe and sound.
As for Miss Hayabusa -
With Saint Michael's Holy Radiance gone.
The Investigation Bureau's Fourth Action Division had been very busy lately.
And ever since Lady Kujou decided she wanted to spend all her time glued to Miss Yuzu's side, the pile of matters Hayabusa had to handle had only grown taller.
So after impressing upon Lady Kujou that she could stay overnight at Keigunen Private Academy for one night, at the absolute, absolute, absolute most, Miss Hayabusa had taken her leave.
And now -
For now, at least, only Kujou Katora remained at Su Yuzu's side.
"What do you feel like eating, Raptor?"
"How about some spicy chicken wings?"
"And popcorn~"
"I booked a pair of tickets for the late-night movie tonight."
"It's not a horror film - it's a comedy that's been getting good word of mouth. I wonder if you'll like it, Raptor."
Her knees knocked together. Kujou Katora's gaze wavered, and she had no idea how she was supposed to answer.
The twisted way the woman held herself made it look as though Su Yuzu had done something to her.
When all Su Yuzu had actually done was test out how that one-click outfit change function worked.
"Yuzu..."
"Whatever Miss Yuzu decides is fine."
With her pinky held by Miss Yuzu, she inched her feet forward, one small step at a time, toward the movie theater.
It was dusk.
But it was also exactly when classes let out at Keigunen Private Academy.
The streets were... so full of people.
And the crowd around the barbecue stalls was thicker still.
The noise crashing against Kujou Katora's ears was nothing short of deafening.
Only Miss Yuzu's voice - Master Yuzu's soft voice - cut through that deafening din, as clear and as pleasant to the ear as a command.
So many people... so many people...
And inside the movie theater... there would probably be even more.
Kujou Katora felt like her entire self was on the verge of crumbling apart.
And right then - beep, beep, beep, beep -
Su Yuzu's phone rang.
Su Yuzu caught Kujou Katora's hand and passed her the freshly grilled spicy chicken wings; that had been Kujou Katora's purple Favorability Gift. Though... with Kujou Katora's Favorability now charging straight for the 200 cap, it hardly mattered what she was given anymore.
Su Yuzu suspected that if she simply produced the iron thorned whip, Kujou Katora's Favorability would tick up several more points on the spot.
The caller ID read Soga Yura.
"Sister?"
"Yuzu... I found it." On the other end of the line, Soga Yura came straight to the point.
"That K-142 Laboratory Tsukimisato Somehana used to be in charge of."
"I found it."
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