It was a rare, relaxed day, and even after running into Shingai Hitomi and Tsukimisato Somehana, Su Yuzu still wanted the girls to spend the weekend nice and easy.
Sakai Miho most of all.
That girl put far too much pressure on herself.
So much so that, night after night, she had no choice but to apply herself, and then apply herself even harder, until she blacked out and could finally sleep.
Granted, Sakai Miho's Talent, [Perfect Execution], let her shrug off every side effect that came with the girl's various bad habits.
And on Sakai Miho, a vice like that carried an allure that was hard to put into words.
Especially when Su Yuzu pictured signaling the girl, someday, to demonstrate exactly how she put herself to sleep.
Crouched at Su Yuzu's feet, the girl trembled all over as she looked up at her.
The performance itself might not be all that enticing on its own. But paired with the sweet, bashful expression of a girl who already placed herself so low, it would make for a rather gorgeous view.
By the time Su Yuzu and the others got back from the amusement park, it was deep into the night.
Leaning against Su Yuzu's shoulder, fingers clamped around the cuff of her T-shirt, Sakai Miho had already curled up and fallen asleep.
It was... her first time ever going to an amusement park.
Her family wasn't so poor that they couldn't scrape together the money for a single trip.
And after Keigunen Private Academy admitted her on merit, waived most of her tuition and awarded her a scholarship, the household's situation had improved a great deal.
But there was never any time.
Sakai Miho believed her Talent simply wasn't good enough. She could only work, and work, and work harder still, just to keep pace with everyone else, just to catch a glimpse of her Senpai's back, just to earn a shred of Lady Fate's mercy.
There was never a spare hour for an amusement park.
The first time Su Yuzu and Sakai Miho met was at the cheapest training ground on the far edge of campus.
Amusement parks... better to leave those to her Little Sister.
Her Little Sister deserved an easy childhood. One that looked nothing like her own.
The Sakai Miho of those days was too guileless, too hungry to become strong, and the "Eye of Insight" shattered her future.
Except that a girl who appeared there like a beam of light pieced that future back together for her, one small fragment at a time.
So today, Sakai Miho truly had fun.
Especially when Yuzu-senpai forced her, in a tone that came close to an order, onto ride after ride after ride. She was genuinely, thoroughly happy.
And in the end...
Under the influence of a single "Advanced Combat Records", Sakai Miho sank into a soft, sultry dream against Su Yuzu's shoulder.
She had almost never slept so peacefully in her life.
Watching Sakai Miho rest on Su Yuzu's shoulder, even Soga Yura, cheeks puffed out with jealousy, held her tongue.
The little rabbit's ahoge swayed on top of her head. Seeing that both spots beside her Senpai were already taken, she ended up settling into the seat behind Su Yuzu.
She bowed her head, pressed her forehead to the seatback, and let her ahoge bob and tap against the top of Su Yuzu's head.
The little rabbit congratulated herself on being a genius after all.
Without dwelling on it too long, Su Yuzu gathered Sakai Miho up in her arms, careful not to jostle her.
As a body-enhancement type Esper, the girl wasn't exactly light.
And thanks to [Perfect Execution], the way she felt to hold... the body beneath those clothes carried no sharply cut muscle lines, yet all that disciplined training left it with a pleasant, yielding springiness.
"Sen... pai?"
The girl in her arms blinked her eyes open, still hazy, and Su Yuzu lowered her head to nuzzle her cheek gently against the girl's.
"Go on and sleep."
"I'll get you back to your dorm."
"Okay..." The hand gripping Su Yuzu's sleeve slowly loosened, and Sakai Miho curled up against her chest.
Contentment.
Because her Senpai, the Light she had always chased, was holding her.
And regret.
Why did it have to be her own dorm?
If she'd been allowed, she would gladly have made herself a bed on the floor of Senpai's room.
Being an Assault Department student as well, Sakai Miho's dorm was one floor below Su Yuzu's.
The girl who shared that room with her was named Asahi Hina.
Su Yuzu had looked into that kouhai's file in detail.
By the Soga clan's assessment, the girl was much like Sakai Miho: born ordinary, but relentless.
Good character, too, and a kind heart.
Probably worth cultivating.
At Keigunen Private Academy, the boys and girls from less privileged backgrounds usually ended up as "prey" for people like Su Yuzu.
The difference was that everyone else courted the ordinary-born children with decent aptitude so they would become assets to their family after graduation.
Whereas what Su Yuzu captured happened to be something else entirely.
She knocked on the door of Sakai Miho's dorm room.
With the help of a girl who looked even daintier than Sakai Miho, delighted and startled and flustered nearly to the point of panic, Su Yuzu carried little Mihou Sakai back into her own room.
After giving the girl a quick wipe-down and changing her into a nightgown, Su Yuzu left.
Inside the room, Asahi Hina stared at the girl bundled in the bedding, who had lifted the covers by the barest sliver and was slowly opening her eyes.
Envy washed over her, and then realization struck!!!
"Oh no!!!"
"Shouldn't I have pretended I wasn't in the room so Yuzu-hime would have taken Little Mihou back with her?!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!!!" A pillow came flying out from under the bedding.
"Senpai and I..."
"And I..." Little Sakai Miho clutched the blanket, the light in her pale green eyes wavering, as though she were already imagining exactly what might have happened if Hina had pretended not to be in the room.
With Senpai's strength, she could probably tell in an instant whether anyone was inside.
In that case... would Senpai still have taken her back?
The answer was yes.
If little Mihou Sakai hadn't had a roommate, Su Yuzu might well have hauled the drowsy girl straight home to serve as a body pillow.
After all, a girl with [Perfect Execution] felt perfect to hold. She put Su Yuzu's actual body pillow to shame in a heartbeat.
Iris authentication complete.
Su Yuzu pushed open the door to her own room.
The room was dark.
Bracing a hand against the wall, she leaned down and kicked off her shoes.
She wanted to call out, "I'm home!"
But the little cat wasn't here anymore.
The room was pitch black, as though not a single mote of light could reach it.
Still, it was fine. What Su Yuzu feared was only absolute darkness, and this wasn't that. The hallway lights were still on, and all she had to do was flip a switch or draw back the curtains.
And then...
Slam!!!
The dorm door behind Su Yuzu swung shut on its own.
In that instant the world dropped into blackness. Within it, the girl's crimson eyes shrank to pinpoints, her body already recoiling on pure instinct.
At that very same moment...
Dark golden vertical pupils slid open in front of her.
"Hello there."
"Su~"
"Yu~"
"zu~"
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