"Well, will you take it off yourself, or should I help you?"
Fujimoto Matsu held the DV camera. Beside him, Maki seemed a bit listless, leaning tiredly against her boyfriend's shoulder, a slender cigarette between her fingers as she puffed out clouds of smoke.
"I... I won't do it!" Yuno Gasai's eyes widened, her voice sounding tough despite her inner fear. "I know people from the organization! You two—"
This sentence only earned a sneer from the man. "Organization? What organization?"
"Matsutani-kai!" Yuno Gasai declared with righteous confidence.
The room fell silent.
Maki sat up abruptly and locked eyes with Fujimoto Matsu for two seconds—
Then, both of them burst into laughter simultaneously.
"You said Matsutani-kai?"
"Matsutani-kai? Hahahahahaha!"
"I say, who do you know? Hahaha!"
"Fujimoto Matsu."
"Hahaha, what are you saying? I am Fujimoto Matsu."
Maki was surprised to find that the girl, who had just been as anxious as a trapped deer, had become abnormally calm after Fujimoto Matsu revealed his identity—
No, 'calm' wasn't the right word for it.
It was a mocking, contemptuous half-smile, as if the timid and weak 'prey' from a moment ago had swapped places. It was like a girl with multiple personalities revealing a different one at this moment.
Maki sat up straight.
At this point, she felt a bit uneasy.
Fujimoto Matsu didn't notice any of this. Holding the DV camera, he leisurely opened an iced beer for himself, letting the girl opposite him put up her final struggle.
Yuno Gasai turned slightly, picked up her notebook again, and blinked. "To get information about you from Tsukisa's mouth, I wasted several weeks."
"However, the result is good after all. Since you are a Contactee of Chaos, Miss Maki must have been dragged into this by you as well, right?"
The atmosphere turned cold.
At the mention of Chaos, Fujimoto Matsu sat up straight, alert. "Who are you?"
He felt something was wrong.
By now, the thick, viscous air had already filled the living room. Fujimoto Matsu noticed that the iced beer in his hand was actually bubbling and boiling.
"Me? Just a humble Private Lover."
Yuno Gasai slowly opened her notebook. "An annoying fly should have the resolve to die like a fly."
Before Yuno Gasai could speak again, Fujimoto Matsu's eyes instantly sharpened. Like a cheetah, he lunged from the sofa, charging straight at Yuno Gasai!
If only he could move.
By now, the air had thickened and condensed into a physical entity.
It was too late.
The two were pinned firmly to the sofa by a massive force; they couldn't even lift a single finger.
This mysterious power brought terror to Maki and despair to Fujimoto Matsu.
He found that this power was constantly burning his skin—he felt like an insect soaked in a concentrated sulfuric acid solution.
The two could only watch helplessly as their 'prey' elegantly picked up a piece of paper, flipped through that simple notebook to check something, and then lightly stroked the place she had just been tattooed.
There, a bright red light shone through her clothes, seeping out like a liquid. A vivid flow of light slid down the girl's elbow and traveled across the floor along her ankles.
It began to move on its own.
First, a blooming flower appeared, its petals stretching out wildly. Then came the stamens and the stem. After that, it began to carve certain characters in the surroundings, which filled the entire room one by one.
As soon as they were written, they scrambled onto the walls, the table, the ceiling, the chandelier, the beer mug, and the cigarette pack.
They covered everything in the room, including Yuno Gasai's exposed skin; her face was covered in blood-like characters.
At the same time, a massive ritual array appeared beneath the feet of the three people.
A silent roar thundered in their ears like surging waves!
A surging order descended!
Maki remembered this diagram, and she remembered this flower and the characters crawling all over the room.
Because that was the work she had just completed twenty minutes ago, finished right on the chest of the 'prey' before her.
Now, they had come to life.
In Fujimoto Matsu's eyes, this pink-haired girl looked insane, perhaps even more insane than his own group leader!
She swayed her arms and began to dance, as if an orchestral symphony he couldn't hear was playing in the room.
The girl's movements were elegant and graceful, yet did not lack precision and standard. She spun around on her tiptoes, humming a certain nursery rhyme.
Then, Fujimoto Matsu's fear intensified.
Because he found that his girlfriend beside him had also begun to hum along with a face full of devotion!
Her body no longer seemed to be controlled by that pressure. She stood up with ease and leaped along with Yuno Gasai.
She nimbly kicked off her slippers and danced barefoot, like a fire spirit dancing on the crater of a volcano.
The two danced to their hearts' content, showcasing bizarre and solemn dance moves with abandon.
Suddenly, a chill crawled across his skin. Looking at everything before him, Fujimoto Matsu's fear suddenly receded like a tide.
What was he waiting for?
Why wasn't he singing along?
Such beautiful singing and dancing, yet it was incomplete.
They lacked a tenor, a true warrior!
They lacked a lone hero to sing gallantly for them as they tread upon the flames!
Looking around, who else was qualified for this position?
Only himself!
Fujimoto Matsu, in this sacred moment, only you are fit for the task.
Open your mouth! Open your mouth!
Sing out your heart, all your organs and blood. Let them mix together and sing a song that will shake the World!
Fujimoto Matsu sat up straight with excitement, opened his arms, and resolutely joined this symphony.
His voice was rough and powerful. His intense masculinity deepened the slender, soft sense of the bizarre, allowing this march to proceed even more solemnly!
He sang, and his girlfriend danced—a perfect coordination.
Yuno Gasai seemed to appreciate their state very much, lightly clapping for them. This action further intensified the excitement in their hearts.
Dance! Dance with all your might! Dance with your entire life!
If your feet break, use your calves to dance the hesitant cross-steps;
If your calves turn to bloody mush, use your thighs to slide into an elegant lock-step turn;
If your thighs are eaten away, twist your waist, wave your hands, hold your head high, and make a perfect final bow!
Sing! You, sing with all your might too!
If your gastric juice runs dry, spit out your stomach and sing with your intestines;
If your intestines are eaten away, crush your organs and sing the high notes mixed with your heart!
Teeth clattering on the floor become the rhythm, and eyeballs are the emphasis!
Each fingernail pulled out and stuffed into the respiratory tract becomes a short, sighing staccato tune.
Yuno Gasai opened her notebook. The two segments of pre-ritual information on it had gradually begun to fade.
[Reluctance (Pre-ritual I):]
[When your 'Deep Love' is sensed by order, 'Reluctance' is triggered—without your lover noticing, take their blood and pierce it into your skin via a ritual. From then on, your bloodlines shall never be parted.]
[—You love him, yet you must hurt him.]
[When the blade carves through your lover's skin, what kind of reason will you find for yourself?]
Emmm... order is still too young. Yuno has plenty of ways.
[Sincerity (Pre-ritual II):]
[Find it! Catch it! Destroy it!]
[Offer a creature infected by Chaos to the Eternal order. In doing so, He will grant initial trust and salvation to you, who already have one foot in Chaos.]
[If it weren't for considering **, and preparing **, you would never have gained the favor of order.]
The two large blocks of text slowly faded like diluted ink. When they reached a point where they were visible but not quite clear, Yuno Gasai suddenly clutched her chest.
—Countless solemn and incomprehensible voices came from her chest:
Like a strictly demanding mother trying her best to hide her tenderness, she lightly stroked her wound with her fingertips—that invisible tattoo turned into a bright red pattern, appearing on Yuno Gasai's chest.
Densely packed small characters surrounded it. In the center of the valley, a black poisonous flower stained with fresh blood bloomed.
"Just the first step is this troublesome. When will I ever become a Ritualist..."
Yuno Gasai sighed, lowered her hand, and looked up at the man and woman who were about to take their final bow.
Fujimoto Matsu had already sung until his strength was exhausted. He spat out some broken organs but still roared with all his might. Then, his mouth began to burn, the fire traveling all the way down his esophagus. His entire being turned into a torch!
He trembled with excitement, shouting at his girlfriend with all his strength:
"Come, Maki!"
"Face order together with me!"
He affectionately embraced Maki, who was still dancing with lingering fervor. Then, the two laughed heartily, twisting into a candle wick woven of flesh and blood within the flames!
However, once the candle wick burned out, there was no longer a reason for it to exist.
The flames turned from vigorous to failing, gradually dying out. The two also dissipated along with the fading fire, their bones and flesh all turning to ash.
A few seconds later, everything receded, and the room was clean.
As if it were a brand-new house.
It truly was a splendid performance.
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