Watching the strangely familiar smile spread across Kujou Iruka's face.
It looked exactly like the one she herself wore when she bullied Lyudmila.
Su Yuzu was more and more convinced that karma always came back around. Heaven spared no one.
The sins she'd committed back when she tormented Lyudmila… today, the time had finally come to pay them back.
"Wait a second!!!"
"Hold on!!!"
"Sister Iruka…" Su Yuzu still wanted to struggle.
But Kujou Iruka didn't give her the chance.
She grabbed Su Yuzu by the back of her collar and hoisted her up, the way one lifts a kitten by the scruff of its neck.
Her toes could still touch the ground, after all.
Yet Su Yuzu felt as though she'd been hauled ten thousand meters into the sky by the scruff of her neck.
Dimly, she could already see how it would end: so thoroughly bullied that she wouldn't be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
"I can try this!"
"I can still give it a shot!"
Su Yuzu actually had one last Ten-Pull Search Voucher left.
It was the mission reward she'd received for fighting the Fate Trifler.
But this was nothing like her earlier encounters with Sakura Mai or Senior Tsukiyomi Fuya.
As the final Boss of the first chapter of Dark Dawn in the game—
Kujou Iruka, who existed as an Aberrant, as the Empress of the Abyss, had never once appeared in the Recruit pool.
Naturally, Su Yuzu hadn't triggered any limited-time banner for Kujou Iruka either.
Handing over the voucher now would most likely come up completely empty. She'd get a pile of random junk weapons, or some luckless passerby.
It might not even be a weapon.
And if she Recruited something like a little rabbit's toy, only for Kujou Iruka to use it on her… Su Yuzu felt as if she could already see tomorrow's sunset.
But she couldn't just give up without a fight.
She was about to be carried off like a plush toy. If she didn't at least try to resist, what was she, a masochist like Kujou Katora?
"What if…"
"What if it triggers a contract with Sister Iruka?"
"I can please you, Sister Iruka!!!"
Su Yuzu felt herself fly up, and in the next instant she'd been scooped into Kujou Iruka's arms.
Kujou Iruka was strong.
She held Su Yuzu as if she meant to knead her right into her own body.
The row of buttons on her military uniform pressed against Su Yuzu's face.
A faint, subtle fragrance washed over her, ready to burst in her nose at any moment.
"A contract… with me~~~?" Her voice lilted upward as Kujou Iruka held Su Yuzu tight in her arms.
She could feel the girl's heart pounding faster and faster.
She listened to the girl's flustered, hurried breathing.
And she savored the sweetness blooming on the Aberrant's taste buds, born of Su Yuzu's rare panic.
"There's no need for that."
She could clearly sense it: the instant her words fell, a fresh flavor of fear and alarm blossomed in Su Yuzu's heart.
Like a bud just opening.
Tender and pleasant.
It delighted her so much.
"This is nice enough as it is."
Su Yuzu was close to tears.
All she could do was watch as Kujou Iruka carried her into the broken walls and rubble… into the only house still standing.
Thud—
Su Yuzu was tossed straight onto the tatami.
With her eyes brimming with tears, the girl looked almost fragile.
She could only watch helplessly as Kujou Iruka spread the wings at her waist like a demon from an anime about to bully the protagonist.
In an instant—
she returned to her true form… the posture of one seated high upon the Aberrant Throne.
A single over-the-knee stocking on one leg.
And armor plates so scant they were nearly a bikini.
Before Su Yuzu could even feast her eyes, the door that stood for hope began to creak slowly shut.
The light of hope faded little by little.
The whole room seemed about to be swallowed by complete darkness. All that remained was the nearly searing gaze of Kujou Iruka's Dark golden vertical pupils.
Thump, thump—
The moment the glow vanished, the hand clutching the hem of Su Yuzu's maid skirt tightened on instinct.
A cold sweat beaded at her neck, and even her breathing seemed to catch.
She already knew why she was afraid of the dark.
She already understood that what she feared was the boundless darkness, the bottom of the Abyss she had given herself over to.
And yet… Su Yuzu still couldn't help being afraid of it.
Afraid of that suffocating darkness, where not a single glimmer could break through.
Clearly—
as Su Yuzu's senior, The Abyss of Eternal Smiles standing upon the earth.
No darkness came closer to the Abyss than the domain of deepest darkness Kujou Iruka had created.
Su Yuzu, who had only been panicked a moment ago, suddenly went stiff as a puppet.
She even forgot how to breathe.
Clack—
Clack—
To Su Yuzu, the sound of Kujou Iruka's high heels striking the floor was like the bewitching tread of a soul-snatching demon in a domain of darkness.
Her throat trembled on instinct, as if a whimper were about to be squeezed out of it.
Kujou Iruka looked down at Su Yuzu, curled up before her.
Her Dark golden vertical pupils blinked in the dark.
A girl who was a Throne, the ruler chosen by the Abyss.
And yet she had a heart that was afraid of the dark.
It was ridiculous, but also a little adorable.
So adorable it made her all the more impatient to ravage her and listen to her sob and whimper.
Unlike Tsukiyomi Fuya, who would light a whole sky of stars for Su Yuzu,
Kujou Iruka was clearly much more of a demon.
I can't see—
I can't see anything at all—
Su Yuzu opened her eyes wide, listening to Kujou Iruka's footsteps.
She could feel that Kujou Iruka was already within arm's reach. If she stretched out her hand, she might even grab her ankle.
But in the darkness Kujou Iruka had created, she couldn't see a thing.
Su Yuzu reached out.
She didn't care anymore if it angered Kujou Iruka. Besides, what was there left to be afraid of?
But the thing Su Yuzu feared most happened. She reached out and caught nothing at all.
Trembling, she barely propped herself up on the floor and groped blindly in the dark, but the darkness before her seemed like an endless void.
Su Yuzu even had the illusion that she would fall through it.
The girl's teeth were clenched tight.
Right then, an arm as cool as a snake's slid up from behind and curled over Su Yuzu's shoulder.
"Eek!!!" Su Yuzu nearly leapt up on the spot as if spring-loaded, but Kujou Iruka held her firmly in her arms.
"Haaah…"
A shiver-inducing breath brushed past her ear.
"Afraid of the dark…"
"little cat (Zero)."
____
________________________________________
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 10 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉