Observing Sakura Yamauchi's sudden lapse into despondency, Rin Kuga simply shook his head. He slid his hands into his trouser pockets, the fabric tightening over his lean frame as he turned his gaze toward the horizon. A heavy, weary sigh escaped his lips, manifesting as a faint mist in the cool air.
"Whether you seek salvation or succumb to this rot is entirely your choice," Rin said, his voice dropping into a low, resonant drone. "I am merely presenting you with an exit from a fate that has already been written."
To the King of Time, eradicating the Bugster virus festering within her cells was a triviality, a mere flick of the wrist. His desire to intervene stemmed not from a hero's duty, but from a lingering sense of pity inherited from a previous life—a memory of a girl whose light was extinguished far too soon. He wished to rewrite her tragedy, yet he would not force his grace upon her. Sovereignty, after all, required the consent of the subject.
Sakura remained still for a moment, the weight of his words hanging between them. Then, with a suddenness that defied the gravity of her condition, she shook her head and beamed. A brilliant, almost blinding smile split her face, her cherry-tinted lips curling upward in a challenge.
"Tell you what," she chirped, her tone bouncing with a renewed, frenetic energy. "Spend the day on a date with me first. If I enjoy myself, I'll consider letting you play doctor."
Before Rin could even muster a cold refusal, her hand shot out. Her fingers clamped around his forearm with surprising strength, and she began to haul him toward the bustling main street.
Rin stared down at his captured arm, his brow twitching in irritation. The sheer audacity of the girl was staggering. He looked up at her retreating back, his voice tinged with a dry, kingly exasperation.
"Why is it that when I offer to save your life, it ends up feeling like I'm the one begging for the privilege?"
Sakura didn't look back. She navigated the crowds with the grace of a gazelle, her spirit apparently unburdened by the digital parasite eating at her heart. Her logic was a chaotic swirl, an unpredictable storm that even a master of causality struggled to track. To drag a boy she had only just met on a date was the height of absurdity, yet she marched onward, undeterred.
The interior of the high-end yakiniku restaurant was a symphony of sensory indulgence. Thick, savory smoke swirled toward the ceiling fans, and the air was heavy with the scent of rendered fat and sweet soy glaze.
"Aaah—!"
Sakura popped a glistening piece of grilled beef into her mouth, her eyes fluttering shut in sheer ecstasy. "Mmm! Delicious!"
After a moment of pure culinary bliss, she shifted her focus back to the boy sitting across from her. Rin Kuga sat perfectly upright, his expression a mask of frigid indifference. He looked less like a teenager at a dinner and more like a monarch presiding over a tedious court hearing. His lack of enthusiasm was beginning to grate on her nerves.
She brandished her chopsticks at him like a rapier, pointing them directly at his nose. "Honestly, Kuga-san, I'm not exactly hard on the eyes, am I? You have a beautiful high school girl practically begging for your attention on a date, and you're still wearing that 'end-of-the-world' face. It's a little insulting!"
Sakura was well-aware of her own charm. She had spent years politely declining the advances of half the boys in her grade. Yet here was Rin, seemingly immune to her radiance, treating her company like a chore he was obligated to finish.
Rin let out a short, huffing laugh—a rare crack in his regal facade. He reached out, his chopsticks moving with surgical precision to snatch a piece of beef from the sizzling iron plate. The meat hissed and popped, fat rendering into the fire. He chewed slowly, savoring the flavor before swallowing.
"Nurturing that petty resentment will only accelerate the synchronization," he noted calmly, his eyes meeting hers with a piercing clarity. "Your condition feeds on those jagged, negative fluctuations in your heart."
He paused, the golden light of the table's heating element reflecting in his dark pupils.
"If you truly have no desire to die, then cease this nonsense. Let me act as your 'Attending Physician' and purge the rot from your soul."
The term Attending Physician hung in the air, vibrating with a weight that Sakura hadn't expected. The casual authority in his voice, the way he claimed responsibility for her life as if it were his birthright, sent a sudden, warm flush to her cheeks. Her heart, usually a source of quiet dread, gave a frantic, fluttery throb that had nothing to do with the virus.