Su Yuzu, who had just been asking Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, Mihou Sakai, and the others what flavors they liked, stood on her tiptoes and turned around.
Then... she saw Soga Yura, carrying bags big and small, being marched out of the mall by a girl in a white trench coat holding her arm.
Su Yuzu's voice stuck in her throat.
She remembered that girl in the white trench coat.
That was Soga Yura's roommate at Imperial Capital University.
When she had gone to great lengths to find out the news and prepared to pick up Soga Yura at the gate of Imperial Capital University during the holiday... it was she who, when Soga Yura turned and walked away, first revealed an apologetic expression to her, then flusteredly chased after Soga Yura.
Two pairs of crimson eyes met.
The air on the commercial street seemed to go quiet in an instant.
Beside Su Yuzu, Kujou Katora narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at that dangerous individual opposite them.
According to her previous investigation into the Soga clan.
The relationship between Soga Yura and Su Yuzu was supposed to be very, very poor.
Or rather... it was Soga Yura unilaterally 'detesting' Su Yuzu, detesting this 'good-for-nothing sister' who inherited the blood of the Soga clan in vain but had absolutely no talent for mental-type abilities.
But... last night—
Kujou Katora had faintly sensed an anomaly in this.
An anomaly in Soga Yura's attitude toward Su Yuzu.
Especially... after the Hound of Blood and Hayabusa told her about the scene where, after she carried Su Yuzu out of the underground drainage system, Soga Yura was mumbling something unknown there, biting her trench coat and stomping her feet.
Kujou Katora felt that... the relationship between Soga Yura and Su Yuzu might not be as simple as it appeared on the surface.
As for Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi and Unohana Chiyo, they were surprised respectively by the appearance of the main Soga family's eldest young lady, and... why the Acting Director, who slacked off all year round in the academy, would appear here.
Unohana Chiyo associated this with the scene where Su Yuzu had pointed to Miss Sakura's office earlier and asked her what that place was for.
Looking again at the girl with exquisite features extremely similar to Yuzu's, being held by Miss Sakura and looking like her struggles were futile...
Unohana Chiyo also smelled something unusual.
"Yuzu... had already discovered something earlier?"
Mihou Sakai, clutching Yuzu's cuff, had much simpler thoughts.
The girl's light green eyes darted back and forth between Soga Yura and Su Yuzu. "Two... Yuzu-senpais?"
Then... the girl's gaze slowly landed on Soga Yura's chest.
The girl wearing a sleeveless dress had a loose, short knitted cardigan draped over it, her shoulders half-exposed.
Even though the chest of the dress was embellished with a large amount of lace to decorate and conceal, it couldn't hide... the fact that the other party was as flat as a steel plate.
The girl's expression of sudden realization, as if she had suddenly found a bonus point while playing spot the difference, instantly dealt tons of critical damage to Soga Yura.
If Yuzu weren't here today... she would have directly chosen "Mind Control" to make that girl forget, forget, forget everything.
The crimson eyes met.
Whoosh—
It was as if an hourglass had flipped in those crimson eyes.
Sakura Mai suddenly realized that the expression of the girl beside her had suddenly turned from sunny to cloudy again.
She turned into a look that was strange to her, but incredibly familiar to Su Yuzu... cold as a flower on a high peak, her gaze full of loathing.
"This guy... never ends, does she?"
Sakura Mai felt the tendrils of cold air radiating from Soga Yura.
"Let go—" The girl's voice invaded her mental domain completely unreasonably.
Sakura Mai let go of the arm holding Soga Yura.
Is this... "Domination"?
Carrying the huge negative factor of 'physical weakness', Soga Yura was able to become the second rising star since the founding of Imperial Capital University, following Kujou Iruka; naturally, her ability couldn't be as simple as just "Mind Control".
For a pure mental-type Esper, targeting her would be too simple.
But... Sakura Mai, who knew Soga Yura 'inside and out', knew that Soga Yura, who was ostensibly only Second Sequence but had actually broken through to become a Third Sequence Esper even earlier than herself.
Possessed an "Inherent Ability" completely on par with "Mind Control" itself.
"Domination".
Simply put... it was an ability with a manifestation similar to the "rule-type ability" of the sixth recorded rule-type ability user, Saint Michael—"Word of Command".
"Domination" not only strengthened Soga Yura's "Mind Control" ability, allowing Soga Yura to use language to bypass other Espers' defenses in a short time, but also allowed Soga Yura's "Mind Control" to affect inanimate objects.
Although... the consumption for "Dominating" inanimate objects was even greater than "Dominating" living beings.
But it compensated for the shortcomings of Mind Control Users to a certain extent.
"This guy..."
"Dominated my 'Sword of Will'?"
Sakura Mai was forced to stand still in place, looking at Soga Yura's expression beside her, cold as a glacier, and felt that things had suddenly taken a turn for the worse.
Su Yuzu looked at Soga Yura.
Her mood suddenly became very complex.
Honestly... even the softest heart, after being hurt time and again, would slowly become hard.
When that cake fell... on their birthday last year.
Su Yuzu had already felt that... her heart had completely died.
However... every time she saw Soga Yura again, the dead rotten wood seemed to sprout new buds.
Only to be snipped away again by Soga Yura's coldness and alienation.
If... if Soga Yura really hated her, that would be one thing.
But the "99 (Doting)" favorability Soga Yura held toward her in the "Operator Index" told Su Yuzu otherwise.
It wasn't like that.
This guy... was doing it on purpose.
Su Yuzu looked at the pretty face of Soga Yura, who had been playfully chatting and laughing with Sakura Mai just a moment ago, turn from sunny to cloudy the instant she saw her, and suddenly gave a sorrowful laugh in her heart.
She suddenly felt... she had had enough.
From the moment that cake smashed onto the ground, she had had enough.
Revealing a brilliant smile.
A brilliant smile so strange that even Mihou Sakai and Unohana Chiyo found it unfamiliar, Su Yuzu walked step by step toward Soga Yura.
She curtsied elegantly.
"Sister—"
Although the girl was smiling so brilliantly, a trace of struggle and panic suddenly surfaced in the depths of Soga Yura's eyes.
"And this elder sister."
"Ah... Aha..." Sakura Mai laughed awkwardly.
For some reason... she suddenly felt the girl before her was very dangerous.
The atmosphere was so stiff it made her feel suffocated.
Sakura Mai hurriedly tried to break this deadlock between the sisters, "Your sister heard you were injured..."
But... before her voice could fall, she was interrupted by Su Yuzu.
"If Sister has nothing else, then I will take my leave first."
"My friends are still waiting for me." Su Yuzu placed heavy emphasis on the word 'friends'.
"How..."
Soga Yura stood there dazed.
"Yu..."
"Yuzu?"
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