Realising this detail, Haruno finally understood.
The most skilled hunters often appear as prey.
She'd thought she'd taken advantage of drunkenness to conquer Ye Xing.
But the truth was completely the opposite.
After drinking so much alcohol, being able to undo her bra clasp single-handedly in an instant—could he really be an ordinary person?
Unless Ye Xing had nothing better to do, and bought a bra to practice one-handed removal at home every day.
Surely no one would be that idle...
Haruno recalled Ye Xing's occasional shocking remarks and his unpredictable personality.
Well... it was hard to say.
Haruno turned on the shower, and the warm water cascaded over her curvaceous figure, drawing a sigh of relief from her.
She was exhausted—utterly exhausted.
After last night's vigorous activities, her body felt weak and boneless.
A strange thought suddenly surfaced in Haruno's mind, one she couldn't even comprehend herself, making her so embarrassed she wished she could vanish into the ground.
Ye Xing...
Was he satisfied?
Well, she certainly was.
No—more than satisfied.
Haruno had no prior experience like this, so she wasn't sure if her performance had matched Ye Xing's level.
A truly exhilarating battle required both sides to be evenly matched to enjoy it fully.
Right now, Haruno's feelings aligned perfectly with that classic line:
'I'm sorry, Lord Ye Xing...'
'I couldn't make you go all out.'
"Last night, I..."
Remembering how she had wrapped her arms around Ye Xing's neck and whispered shameless words into his ear, Haruno covered her face with both hands.
"Just how many embarrassing things did I say...?"
After finishing her shower, Haruno realised she had overlooked something.
She'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes.
What now?
Walk out naked with Ye Xing still in the room and rummage through the wardrobe?
Absolutely not. That would be too humiliating.
Pursing her lips, Haruno finally made up her mind and cracked the bathroom door open slightly, calling out cautiously.
"Ye Xing?"
"What is it?"
"Um... could you grab me some clothes? They're in the suitcase—just the casual outfit on top."
"No problem."
When Ye Xing handed the clothes over, Haruno reached out with her slender, fair hand, taking them through the gap while only revealing half her face, blushing like a child caught misbehaving.
"Uh... by the way, have you showered yet?"
Ye Xing smirked meaningfully.
"What? Inviting me to join you?"
Haruno tucked a damp lock of black hair behind her ear and suddenly came to a realisation.
If he wasn't afraid, why should she be?
Who was taking advantage of whom? That remained to be seen.
With that thought, she flashed a graceful smile, covering her lips as she giggled.
"Well, do you want to come in?"
Faced with such an offer, Ye Xing naturally didn't act like some bashful, blushing protagonist from a Japanese romance.
His choice could be summed up in one sentence:
When charging forward, hesitation is not an option.
Soon, Haruno paid the price for her reckless provocation.
For the first time in her life, she spent such a long time sitting on the marble countertop of the sink.
And for the first time, she learned that kneeling on the tiled floor for too long would leave red marks on her knees.
...
"No... not inside anymore."
"Then where?"
"Anywhere but inside."
"Fine."
...
Five minutes later.
Haruno unwrapped the hotel toothbrush, rinsed her mouth, and brushed her teeth carefully. Looking at her dishevelled hair in the mirror again, her face was full of exhaustion.
She'd learned her lesson this time.
If she kept provoking him...
She'd probably be... dead.
...
By the time Haruno finished washing up and walked out of the hotel with Ye Xing, it was nearly ten in the morning.
She took out her phone and saw a missed call from her mother.
Glancing at Ye Xing beside her, she hesitated before finally slipping the phone back into her pocket.
It wouldn't hurt to return the call later.
"I'm a bit hungry."
After a whole night's work, Haruno was absolutely famished.
Spotting a snack shop by the roadside, she took Ye Xing's arm with a bright smile.
"Come on, my treat."
The two stepped through the door and saw only one table of customers inside the shop.
After all, this wasn't peak dining hours.
A brown-haired boy in a white shirt sat with his back to the entrance, his face obscured.
Opposite him was a cute-looking girl who still appeared to be in middle school.
Puffing her cheeks, the girl was poking at a soup dumpling in her bowl with her chopsticks, muttering under her breath as if venting her frustration.
"Dad's so annoying. We finally came to Kyoto as a family to explore together, but he hasn't been back since yesterday morning. Always saying he's busy with work, hmph."
"Sayu, you should try to understand Father's difficulties."
The boy's voice was gentle, carrying a soothing charm that made one relax unconsciously.
"You know his work is special. It's not just us and Mum who need him."
"Hmph."
The girl clearly wasn't convinced, sticking out her tongue.
"Brother, you're always making excuses for him. No wonder—you're his proud son, and he's the father you idolise. Mum and I don't matter at all."
"Alright, enough complaining."
The boy reached out and patted the girl's head, amusement in his voice.
"To make it up to you, didn't I treat you to a nice meal out of my own pocket? Once Father's work is done, he'll make time for us. We still have a few days left in Kyoto."
"Hmph, who wants to wait for him?"
Though she said this, her mood had clearly improved as she began eating the food in front of her.
Haruno paid no attention to them, instead studying the menu on the wall with interest as she placed their order.
But Ye Xing's gaze flickered imperceptibly upon hearing the name "Sayu."
"Order's done. Let's sit."
Haruno linked arms with Ye Xing and took a seat at the table directly to the right of the siblings.
Only a narrow aisle less than two metres wide separated the brown-haired boy from Ye Xing.
Neither of their gazes strayed.
Only the girl named Sayu, after noticing Ye Xing and Haruno sitting down, blushed slightly and leaned closer to her brother, whispering in a hushed voice.
"Brother, look—what a striking couple."
The brown-haired boy chuckled.
"Don't gossip about others behind their backs. Didn't you want to go to the restroom? Hurry up."
"Oh, right, I forgot."
Once the girl had left, Ye Xing glanced at Haruno, who was biting her lip and stealing glances at her phone with a hesitant expression. He chuckled softly.
"Your mother's call? The food hasn't arrived yet—go take it. Might as well update her on the terms we agreed on."
Hearing this, Haruno nodded with a smile.
"Alright, I'll step out to make a quick call. Be right back."
At the doorway, she added,
"Don't sneak any bites while I'm gone. I remember exactly what we ordered."
"Sure."
Once Haruno had also left, only Ye Xing and the brown-haired boy remained in the shop.
From the kitchen came the faint clinking of dishes.
The atmosphere abruptly grew inexplicably tense, like a drawn bowstring, a buzzing sound ringing in one's ears.
In stark contrast to this tense atmosphere was the complete silence.
The brown-haired boy didn't turn his head, still gazing at the meal before him as he spoke softly.
"Release your resentment, Emperor Sutoku."
As the boy's words fell, a golden-bodied monster with black, sinister light glowing in its eyes and wings on its back—resembling the legendary great tengu—instantly appeared.
Its sharp claws swiftly reached for Ye Xing's face.
Facing this sudden attack, Ye Xing merely placed his teacup gently on the table and uttered two calm words.
"Come out."
As his voice faded, the enormous pale ghost hand reappeared, immediately clutching the tengu-like yokai in its palm.
Yet unlike ordinary evil spirits or monsters, the tengu-like yokai had already driven its sharp claws into the ghost hand's index and middle fingers, resisting with brute strength to prevent the ghost hand from fully closing its grasp.
For four or five seconds, neither side gained ground.
The brown-haired boy's lips curled into a faint smile as he called softly.
"Return."
With his words, the tengu yokai instantly vanished.
Ye Xing similarly recalled the pale ghost hand.
Both turned sideways simultaneously, their gazes meeting for the first time since Ye Xing had entered the shop.
The brown-haired boy was strikingly handsome, even beautiful in appearance.
Even seated, it was clear he was tall, only slightly shorter than Ye Xing.
Though his face wore an amiable, disarming smile, his eyes held the confidence of one who had everything under control.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is—"
Before he could finish, Ye Xing returned a faint smile.
"Light Yagami."
Hearing his name spoken directly, Light Yagami's smile remained unchanged, though his wariness heightened slightly as he asked with a chuckle.
"And your name is?"
"Mitsuha Miyamizu."
"Eh?"
Hearing this distinctly feminine name, Light Yagami couldn't help but pause. Realising his reaction was impolite, he forced an awkward laugh.
"That... um... has a rather elegant quality to it."
Ye Xing remained blunt as ever.
"Look, if you've got nothing to say, no need to force a compliment. It's awkward."
Light Yagami's smile gradually stiffened.
He truly hadn't expected that after coming to Kyoto, he'd encounter a boy who felt like his counterpart in such a coincidental manner within this very shop.
Light Yagami's initial attack had merely been to test whether the other was a psychic.
Of course, at this point, he wasn't yet the life-disregarding Kira.
Had his assumption been wrong, the attack would simply have passed harmlessly through an ordinary person unless Emperor Sutoku chose to manifest.
Light Yagami had assumed someone with abilities matching his own would be arrogant, aloof, perhaps even taciturn and unapproachable.
Yet within their very first exchange, he'd been completely thrown off.
Still, Light Yagami didn't underestimate Ye Xing sitting across from him.
Regardless, the other's power was equal to his own...
No, judging by the fact that the other party had just summoned Soul Materialisation without invoking the true name of the soul...
This black-haired, black-eyed boy, who appeared to be the same age as himself, was actually more skilled in the use of Soul Materialisation than he was.
Meanwhile, Ye Xing remained in his usual careless and languid demeanour, though inwardly he had relaxed.
Good, good.
He wasn't afraid of Light Yagami being capable.
What he feared was the guy having abilities but not using them, hiding his cards here.
Now that you've shown your Soul Materialisation, buddy, I can rest easy.
Emperor Sutoku was the foremost of Japan's Four Great Vengeful Spirits.
From their earlier clash, the power of Light Yagami's Soul Materialisation lived up to that name.
Ye Xing roughly estimated.
Emperor Sutoku's combat strength was probably about equal to Miko Yotsuya's Hyakume and Rio Futaba's Bone Woman combined, multiplied by 0.8—just barely enough to hold its own against the pale ghost hand.
Ye Xing wasn't intimidated by this.
The pale ghost hand was just one of his abilities.
There was also the pitch-black ghost hand, The End of Eight Million.
And his most reserved, yet most frequently used trump card.
As Kyoto's top exorcist, of course.
Earlier, when Ye Xing introduced himself as Mitsuha Miyamizu, it wasn't just for the meme.
He wanted to see whether Light Yagami's appearance here today was a coincidence or had been planned for a long time.
The conclusion?
He hadn't figured it out yet.
Truly befitting a man who aspired to become the god of a new world—his micro-expressions were impeccably controlled. Even if there were some tells, Ye Xing had to consider whether Light Yagami was using masterful acting to mislead him in reverse.
Straight logic, reverse logic, and reverse-reverse logic—an endless cycle of overthinking.
While Ye Xing was sizing up Light Yagami, the latter was doing the same to him.
Light Yagami had many questions in his mind.
Was this person before him the mysterious figure from the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten incident?
If so, what was his objective?
If not, was there some connection between him and that mysterious figure?
Were those Gates appearing in Kyoto—invisible to ordinary people—created by him?
How much did he know about Soul Materialisation?
And most importantly, what Light Yagami feared the most:
Ye Xing had called out his name directly. Had he already gathered intelligence on him beforehand?
After obtaining Soul Materialisation, Light Yagami believed he had left no loose ends, that his plans were flawless.
Did the other party possess some kind of intelligence-gathering ability?
Even if beaten to death, Light Yagami would never know.
He had meticulously planned his trip from Tokyo to Kyoto under the perfectly reasonable pretext of visiting his father.
Yet days earlier, a white-haired old woman had already spoiled everything with her tarot cards.
The Godmother Granny had done a great service.
Of course, this was also Ye Xing's cheat as a transmigrator.
For anyone else, the vague clues from the Justice, Judgement, and Death tarot cards would never have led them to Light Yagami.
"Hey, Light."
Ye Xing stood up, walked over, and sat down beside Light Yagami, slinging an arm over his shoulder with an overly familiar air.
"So, what exactly did you come to Kyoto for this time—and why test me?"
Light Yagami had never encountered someone as enigmatic as Ye Xing before, feeling somewhat unsettled. He could only force an awkward smile and say:
"Mitsuha-san, I don't mean anything by this, but there's one thing I'd like to confirm first."
Light stared directly into Ye Xing's eyes, enunciating each word clearly.
"Is it true what they say online? That you were the Masked Knight who killed all the armed kidnappers in the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten incident?"
At this moment, Ye Xing felt as if a branching dialogue option had appeared before him.
There was even a reminder in brackets:
[Ding! Please choose carefully, this option will determine Light Yagami's future relationship development.]
Light's father, Soichiro Yagami, was the Director of Criminal Investigations at the Metropolitan Police Department.
Although during the Onimaru Kunitsuna incident, Soichiro had made wise choices that provided assistance to Ye Xing.
Truth be told, their relationship wasn't like Batman and Commissioner Gordon.
At least, not yet.
Any normal person, considering this connection, would never reveal the truth to Light.
But for Ye Xing, this was practically a free point.
"Indeed, it was this emperor's doing."
Hearing this abstract self-reference, Light looked torn between laughter and exasperation.
But immediately after, he smiled and extended his right hand.
"In that case, nothing else matters. Both of us are comrades striving to change this increasingly corrupt world."
Ye Xing returned the smile and shook Light's hand.
At this moment, he could finally be certain.
The person sitting before him was the Light Yagami who wanted to punish evil.
Not the Kira who sought to become the god of a new world, who had broken his own principles and been deluded by his supporters' cheers.
Change this increasingly corrupt world?
That wasn't Ye Xing's goal - he'd just happened to act that way.
Although this was their first meeting, Light felt that Mitsuha Miyamizu, the youth in question, was the only person in the world who could truly understand him.
He deemed the other worthy of trust.
After all, the fact that Ye Xing knew his name meant he'd already investigated him beforehand.
Light guessed that the investigation hadn't been about him personally, but rather his father, Soichiro Yagami, Director of Criminal Investigations at the Kyoto Metropolitan Police Department.
Knowing this connection, why would any sane person pretend to be someone the police viewed as a criminal?
It made no logical sense.
The only explanation was that Ye Xing was telling the truth.
In Light's eyes, the decisions Ye Xing made during the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten incident weren't crimes at all.
They were just like his own - justice meting out punishment to evil.
After awakening his Soul Materialisation ability, Light had killed people.
Quite a few, in fact.
All of them were criminals in Tokyo.
Those who couldn't be tried due to insufficient evidence.
Those who committed crimes in the city's dark corners.
In Light's view, the primary purpose of Soul Materialisation wasn't to fight the evil spirits in Tokyo that barely affected human lives.
It was to deliver a silent, traceless judgement.
Only those who deserved punishment would see, in their final moments, that justice, though unrecognised by the world, was his alone, the justice he firmly believed in.
The foremost of the Four Great Onryō, Emperor Sutoku.