...
Over half an hour later.
This "rhythm training" session finally ended.
Seika curled up in Seiji's embrace like a languid cat drained of all strength, unwilling to move even a single finger.
Seiji looked at her flushed face, that enchantingly soft expression, and smiled with satisfaction.
This soft, pliable mode of Seika could only emerge after thoroughly penetrating her hard exterior.
Once it appeared, she became both tender and clingy.
At such times, no matter how much he teased her, she wouldn't resist, only weakly pleading coquettishly, saying things like "no more," "too many times," "this is too embarrassing," "don't be so lewd"... and such phrases.
Yet she would never truly refuse Seiji.
...
...
A few days later, the new STARRY's opening performance achieved unprecedented success.
That evening, PA-san found Seika backstage.
"Wonderful stage design, Seika!" PA-san praised sincerely. "Tonight's performance was perfect, like a dream! Though..."
She tilted her head, scrutinizing Seika carefully. "I feel like something about you has changed. That cold aura you had seems to have melted considerably. Your whole presence is... hmm... more 'womanly' now?"
Seika's cheeks instantly flushed with an unnatural blush.
Seeing her display that shy, lovestruck maiden expression, PA-san's mind flashed with sudden realization.
She opened her mouth wide in shock, her tone like she'd seen a ghost: "No way, he conquered you that quickly?"
"Where did my stubborn, aloof Ijichi Seika who never bowed her head go?"
"Where are you hiding her?"
Seika didn't answer, only turned her head away in embarrassed fury. But her ears, red enough to drip blood, already explained everything.
PA-san was completely speechless.
Turning around, she pulled out her phone and texted Seiji.
[Amazing, Seiji! You got Seika under control so fast!]
Shortly after.
Seiji replied.
[How long did it take to get you? I do have quite a long... advantage!]
"Tch!"
PA-san saw the reply and spat, her face reddening.
...
...
The new STARRY's opening performance achieved tremendous success, and Ijichi Seika's career reached new heights.
Of course, behind this glory lay the price—her daily life gradually sinking as Seiji's private possession.
She enjoyed the sense of accomplishment from career success while growing accustomed to having her body occupied by him, even feeling a trace of emptiness and anticipation when he didn't "summon" her for extended periods.
Seika knew she was sinking hopelessly deeper.
And Seiji also sensed her submission.
A crisp system notification sound rang out perfectly timed in his mind.
[Congratulations, Host. Achievement unlocked—'Complete Submission of the Proud One.']
[Based on the Host's current conquest stage and deepened possession of target 'Ijichi Seika,' Stage Two System Reward has been distributed.]
[Reward Contents: [A Military-Grade Safe House].]
[Note: This reward includes not only the safe house itself but also perfect usage experience for its internal facilities, weapons, and tools, as well as expert-level experience packages for 'Military Reconnaissance,' 'Targeted Elimination,' and 'Trace Removal.']
A playful smile flashed in Seiji's eyes.
"A military-grade safe house? Plus 'experience packages'?"
"System, your rewards are becoming increasingly 'thoughtful.'"
Seiji mused as he closed his eyes and began receiving the reward.
Various military techniques, experiences, skills, weapon knowledge, and more suddenly flooded into his brain.
...
...
Two days later, in the president's office at Genesis Entertainment.
Legal Department Director Sakaguchi Ken was reporting to Seiji with a grave expression.
"President, the situation is rather troublesome."
He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said in a deep voice, "Recently, some suspicious individuals have appeared near our company building and around several core executives' homes. We investigated—they're private investigators from an agency called 'Kuroda Detective Agency.'"
Seiji understood immediately.
These were commercial hyenas drawn by the enormous profits from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, sniffing blood in the water.
"They're very professional, and skilled at skirting boundaries."
Disgust and helplessness showed on Sakaguchi Ken's face. "All their actions skirt the legal edge. Just surveillance, photography—they never approach, never conduct any substantive harassment. We reported to the police, but they said they can't do anything."
"Most disgusting of all, they've been trying to bribe our internal cleaning staff to obtain trade secrets."
"Though we discovered it in time, this feeling of flies buzzing around is insufferable. Several executives have stated their normal lives are seriously affected."
After hearing the report, Seiji's expression remained calm.
He simply said three words: "I understand."
Since they were enemies, he'd kill them in one strike—better to strike once decisively than suffer a hundred attacks.
I understand?
That's it? No countermeasures?
"President..." Sakaguchi Ken seemed surprised but didn't ask further, bowing as he left.
...
At the same time, in a corner of the spacious café across from Genesis Entertainment headquarters.
A man wearing a baseball cap held a professional camera with a telephoto lens, constantly clicking the shutter at Genesis Company's floor-to-ceiling windows, a contemptuous smile at the corners of his mouth.
"Some kid who wrote a few bestsellers actually thinks he's somebody? The business world isn't something you can navigate on talent alone." He smugly dialed a phone call. "Hello, Kuroda-san? Don't worry, that Fujiwara brat is a complete greenhorn—hasn't noticed anything unusual at all. Three days tops, I guarantee I'll deliver a 'gift' to your satisfaction."
Hanging up, the man whistled smugly, completely unaware that he himself was the "gift" about to be placed on the altar.
In the office, Seiji slowly walked to that massive floor-to-ceiling window.
In an instant, his view of the world changed.
Air flow velocity, light refraction, building structures, crowd movement patterns...
Everything constructed an abstract three-dimensional battlefield in his mind.
That cold knowledge and experience about shooting, stealth, about how to make a person "reasonably evaporate" from the world—things that once existed only in movies and novels—now fused into his limbs like instinct.
He seemed to transform in an instant into a top-tier assassin with extensive battlefield experience.
His gaze easily penetrated hundreds of meters of distance, locking onto that "hunter" in the café who thought he was well hidden.
A playful smile emerged at his lips.
Seiji used no physical weapon, merely using his will to lightly pull that virtual trigger.
[Authorization confirmed.]
['Fortress' No. 1 Safe House, space-based kinetic weapon system activated.]
[Target locked.]
[Fire.]
In the café, the man wearing the baseball cap was about to shift to a more comfortable position.
Suddenly, he felt something like an invisible mosquito lightly bite the back of his head—not painful, even a bit itchy.
He instinctively reached back to scratch, but his hand stopped mid-air.
His pupils began dilating and losing focus uncontrollably, the smug expression on his face freezing instantly.
The next second, his entire body collapsed onto the table.
His head knocked over the coffee cup on the table, which fell to the floor with a crisp "crack."
Surrounding customers were startled by this sudden incident, casting shocked glances his way. But what they saw was merely a man who had "fallen asleep" on the table.
No one noticed that on the back of his head, hidden beneath thick hair, appeared a red dot smaller and less noticeable than a pinpoint.
Nor did anyone know that a projectile smaller by hundreds of times than a grain of rice, made from special alloys that would automatically dissolve upon entering the human body, fired from a space-based weapon tens of thousands of meters high, had precisely destroyed his entire brainstem.
The next day.
Sakaguchi Ken rushed into Seiji's office wearing a ghostly expression.
"P-President!" His voice trembled slightly from excitement and shock. "They're gone! Those flies! Those detectives who kept watching us—today, not a single one can be seen! Moreover, I received news that their ringleader died suddenly yesterday afternoon in the café across from us! Police determined it was sudden cardiac arrest!"
"Is that so?" Seiji looked up, his face maintaining that calm, unruffled expression. "Not particularly surprising, is it?"
"But... but this is too much of a coincidence, isn't it?!"
"There are plenty of coincidences in this world." Seiji smiled. "Alright, this matter ends here. There won't be any more annoying flies in the future."
Watching Seiji's inscrutable expression, Sakaguchi Ken's heart surged with enormous waves.
He wasn't a fool—he knew there were no such coincidences in this world!
That detective's death and those surveillants' collective disappearance were absolutely connected to this excessively young president before him!
But... how did he accomplish it?!
The means to make someone die "reasonably" in public view, and to make a group of people evaporate overnight without anyone knowing—this was the terrifying power belonging to the underworld!
Enormous awe and fear welled up in Sakaguchi Ken's heart.
...
...
At the same time, in the headquarters building of Dentsu Advertising, Vice President Okuda Kosuke was furiously glaring at everything on his desk that could make contact.
"Useless! All useless! Why can't any of them be reached?! Did they all die?!"
Just then, his personal phone rang. An unknown number.
He hesitated, then pressed the answer button.
From the other end came a voice processed through electronic distortion.
"Kuroda-san."
"My patience is limited."
"This is the first time, and the last warning."
"If there's a next time..."
"You and your family will disappear from this world 'reasonably,' just like those 'flies' you sent out."
Kuroda Kosuke's face paled, cold sweat soaking his back.
He hurriedly questioned into the phone: "Who are you? Fujiwara Seiji?"
Beep—beep—beep—
The busy tone answered him.
Kuroda Kosuke set down the phone, his expression uncertain, but thinking of his sent operatives—dead and disappeared—waves of palpitations surged through his chest, making it hard to breathe.
...
...
The third day.
Sakaguchi Ken entered the office again, but this time, his posture was more humble and respectful than ever before.
"President, Dentsu's Vice President Kuroda just made contact, hoping to 'negotiate peace' with you. Furthermore, he stated his willingness to transfer exclusively to Genesis all of Dentsu's advertising agency business in the animation merchandise sector for the next three quarters at thirty percent below market price..."
This was the defeated party's "tribute," the "blood money" paid under fear.
"Have him negotiate with the marketing department." Seiji waved his hand as if handling an insignificant matter.
"Yes!" The legal department director respectfully withdrew, his awe reaching its peak.
Having dealt with these annoying flies, Seiji's mood remained completely unmoved. He simply redirected his gaze to the materials on "Kessoku Band."
Kessoku Band was a two-person band combination, consisting of Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo.
Kita and Gotoh Hitori were still in their third year of middle school at this time, so they hadn't yet entered the live house or joined the band.
Thus, a temporary two-person band had been formed.
"Nijika..."
Seiji's finger gently traced across the profile picture of that energetic girl with the yellow side ponytail.
Ijichi Nijika.
Having conquered the older sister, naturally the younger sister couldn't be left behind.
"Pity the crisis at Hoshizora has already been resolved..."
Seiji felt somewhat regretful, gently shaking his head.
"With Nijika, I'll have to see if there's an opportunity later."
The feast of conquering sisters would have to remain a fantasy for now.
...
...
Ijichi Nijika had been very anxious lately.
This anxiety had even affected her drumming.
"Bang! Bang! Smack—"
In the practice room, Nijika's drumstick came in too early.
The abrupt sound was like a stone thrown into an otherwise calm lake, disrupting the ensemble.
Yamada Ryo's fingers paused, stopping her playing as she looked toward Nijika.
"Nijika," her voice maintained that lazy drawl, but her eyes sharpened. "Your condition is off... your mind is disturbed."
Nijika's body stiffened.
She lowered her head, not daring to meet Yamada Ryo's eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything, only apologizing quietly: "Sorry, Ryo, I got distracted. Let's try again."
She hadn't lied.
She really had been distracted just now.
Her thoughts drifted back to that night three months ago.
At that time, she'd accidentally overheard a conversation between her sister and PA-san, content that echoed like a nightmare in her mind to this day.
"Seika, you can't keep shouldering everything alone like this!" PA-san's voice held an urgency and worry she'd never heard before. "The regulations can't be changed! Those people are capable of anything! If you don't find a solution, STARRY really will be finished!"
"...What solution could I possibly have?" Her sister's voice was hoarse and exhausted. "I've already run out of options..."
"There must be a way! Let's think again..."
"There isn't!" Her sister's voice suddenly rose sharply, carrying a rather-break-than-bend stubbornness. "There are no more options left!"
After that night, Nijika's world seemed to turn gray.
However, what made her even more anxious and confused was the series of "strange events" that followed.
Two weeks ago, a construction truck marked "XX Construction" stopped in front of STARRY.
Several men wearing hard hats held blueprints, pointing and gesturing at the shop entrance.
"Who are you?"
"What are you doing?"
Nijika rushed out to confront them.
They couldn't be bothered with a high school student, continuing to talk among themselves about things like "this is the final notice" and "following procedures."
In that moment, Nijika felt her heart might stop beating.