"Then the Shokuhou Faction will be awaiting Dr. Nang—ah, Dr. Kurokami's visit to Tokiwadai for guidance."
In front of the apartment door, a girl with lavish purple princess curls bowed gracefully. The familiar Tokiwadai Middle School uniform framed her refined posture. Kurokami Gen remembered her name—Junko Hokaze.
The trusted aide of Misaki Shokuhou. There was no real need for someone at her level to run errands in person.
Gen lowered his gaze to the invitation in his hand—the one bearing the seal of the so-called Queen.
So the earlier treatment had caught that woman's attention? If not for her intervention back then, I wouldn't have broken into Level 5 so smoothly.
"I personally look forward to witnessing Dr. Kurokami's martial arts. If there's ever a chance to spar, I'd love that. I saw how you subdued that violent criminal at the hospital."
When Hokaze lifted her head, her eyes sparkled with starry admiration.
A telltale sign of being under Mental Out. But Gen knew their relationship wasn't merely one of puppet and master.
"For your 'congenital analgesia,' Mental Out has a solution too☆~"
Hokaze suddenly blinked and shifted into a playful tone—clearly Shokuhou speaking through her.
You still remember that promise?
Projecting control across such distance… it was practically a psychic beacon from Red Alert. As expected of Academy City's strongest mental esper.
I can do it now, too.
Gen suppressed the urge to hijack the Tokiwadai heiress on the spot.
With sufficient calculation superiority, he could theoretically unravel her Mental Out algorithm and seize control in reverse. But that would almost certainly alert the Queen herself.
Not worth it.
"Running all the way to the hospital and delivering this in person—thank you, Hokaze."
He politely saw off the Tokiwadai young lady and closed the door.
From inside, Tsukuyomi Komoe leaned in curiously as he opened the letter.
"I've heard of them," Komoe said. "Tokiwadai's largest faction revolves around little Shokuhou. It's practically a microcosm of Japanese politics. Aristocratic girls' schools are so complicated."
To a regular high school teacher like her, schools were supposed to be simple and pure.
"If they're all daughters of powerful families, factional conflict inherited from their parents isn't surprising. You call her… 'little Shokuhou'?" Gen asked, surprised.
"Yup."
So they knew each other.
Gen mentally opened a certain blonde-exclusive folder in his memory archive and located the relevant file.
Interesting. Shokuhou and Mitsuari had once been taken in by Komoe-sensei after wandering the streets during a self-destructive period.
Feeding stray "kittens," huh?
"July 16th," Komoe murmured. "That's tomorrow. Are you going?"
"Mm. I'd like another meeting with Mental Out. She already knows I live with you. That's an unstable variable."
His eyes flickered coldly.
Even he wouldn't dare 'darken' Komoe. No one would be allowed to touch her mind.
"By the way, why you specifically? Tokiwadai's standards are outrageous. I heard even their school doctor needs a doctorate—and must be female." Komoe narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You didn't pick a fight with Shokuhou, did you, delinquent?"
"It's because my medical skills are exceptional."
Komoe burst out laughing.
She couldn't refute that.
The story of the Chinese intern bravely subduing a criminal had spread through the hospital. Rumor had it the Shokuhou faction even sent a commendation banner, though Tokiwadai's name couldn't be publicly associated.
"Ah! I'm going to be late for work! Why did my biological clock suddenly fail me—"
The pink-haired petite teacher scrambled to change clothes. After oversleeping from a hangover, she hadn't been woken by her usual internal "alarm."
"You're still half-asleep," Gen said. "The semester's over. Finals just ended. Only physical exams remain."
"Oh! Right!"
Her bunny pajamas were halfway off when she relaxed in relief.
Summer vacation was about to begin. That's why the trio of single women had drunk themselves senseless the night before.
"I need to recalibrate the time… but we don't have a clock…"
And so Komoe began searching the apartment for her phone.
Ding—
The broken doorbell cut out abruptly.
"That's probably the newspaper. We don't subscribe—and no TV either! No NHK collectors, please!" Komoe shouted without turning around.
The practiced tone was almost painful.
To avoid aggressive salespeople, the door had even been reinforced.
"Could be the milk," Gen added. "I just subscribed for a month. Musashi Fresh Milk. You're still growing, after all."
Living together, he knew her love of milk all too well.
"Thank you—"
She smiled brightly—then froze.
"I am not an elementary schooler!"
At that moment, Gen opened the door.
And saw… a cow?
Black hair, high forehead, and an impressively endowed figure. The girl wore a certain high school's summer uniform. She'd been hesitating outside after hearing strange noises inside, unsure whether to knock.
"Um… is Tsukuyomi-sensei here?"
Calling her by surname rather than nickname—earnest to a fault.
When the door swung open, Seiri Fukiyose saw an unfamiliar black-haired young man.
Behind him, in the cramped room, Komoe tripped over her pajama bottoms pooled around her knees and fell flat.
"Ow!"
She turned blankly—only to meet her student's horrified stare.
Her raised hips felt an ominous draft.
Worse still, her cohabitation with a male student was about to be exposed.
"Sensei, I'm calling the police!"
There was no time.
As the girl turned to flee, red avian sigils flared in Gen's eyes—the same way the Queen controlled Hokaze.
Geass.
Fortunately, Komoe had found her antique phone.
Beep.
She pressed it to her head, sighing.
"Biological clock recalibrated… If only my phone could erase memories…"
Being seen like that by a student—social death didn't even begin to describe it.
"So that's how you adjust it? Did you learn that from your 'little Shokuhou'?" Gen shook his head lightly. "Relax. I copied that woman's Mental Out."
Only then did Komoe notice Fukiyose's eyes—light gone, replaced with red birds.
"She's standing completely still…"
Gen smiled easily. "I'll just delete this segment of memory."
Only after surpassing Level 5 calculation output could Mental Out reveal its true depth. It wasn't merely about hypnotizing someone to self-harm. His Geass was omnipotent within the domain of cognition.
He'd long wanted to test it.
Memory deletion. Will alteration. Effortless.
Shokuhou's fine-control limit hovered around fourteen individuals simultaneously. His own likely exceeded twenty.
As for simple command directives—three-digit numbers of people.
And that was without runaway states or auxiliary devices.
More than Geass…
It felt like the strongest illusion technique imaginable.
"Don't use H abilities on my students!" Komoe protested, hands clasped apologetically. "But… I'm sorry, Fukiyose-chan!"
Fukiyose was one of Komoe's capable students, here to submit the compiled list for summer remedial classes. As an honors student, she wasn't included.
Komoe taught struggling students for free during summer break.
"Put the documents down."
Gen's gaze flicked to a familiar name on the list—
Kamijou Touma.
Tomorrow's physical exam marked the true start of the Railgun timeline. He'd confirmed the temporal coordinates a month ago after reading Uiharu's memories.
Time to test his prime-state power.
"So if I just let Komoe look, that's fine, right?"
He brushed a hand near his eye, momentarily feeling like cosplaying Lelouch. If he activated his modified disguise ability, he could even reshape his features into perfect anime proportions.
When a gentleman truly masters control over hearts…
"Lift your skirt. Leave your dignity behind."
"Yes, my lord."
The black-haired girl responded mechanically in fluent, lightly accented English.
The so-called "Iron Wall Woman" collapsed instantly.
She began lifting her skirt—
"Stop!"
Komoe intercepted just in time.
"Using abilities like that on girls is disgraceful! Sensei is really angry!"
Her cheeks puffed adorably.
"Was that dream this morning because of—"
"What dream?"
"Nothing!"
Under her admonishment, the red birds faded from Gen's eyes.
Having someone gentle by your side—someone who kept you from losing yourself in power.
Fukiyose blinked, regaining awareness, unaware of what had transpired.
Gen offered kindly, "You've been experiencing shoulder stiffness lately, haven't you? Trouble lifting things? Might want to see a hospital."
A purely professional observation.
Thanks to the influence of Heaven Canceller, diagnostic reflex had become second nature.
"Eh? Tsukuyomi-sensei… and this boy is…?"
"Ah! He's transferring into our class next semester! Keep it secret!"
Komoe hurriedly ushered her student out before disaster could repeat itself.
After closing the door, she exhaled deeply.
"I have no intention of enrolling in some random high school," Gen muttered. After surviving China's gaokao hell once, he had no desire to repeat it.
"Absolutely not! Academy City's curriculum is far harder than outside. Even our school isn't easy. You're going to take university exams, right? I'll tutor you!"
An older-sister type teacher. No escaping it.
Gen steadied himself.
"What you teach is too easy."
"Hey! Even a transfer from China can't talk big like that! My students aren't idiots—this is national pride!"
"I'll take a test, then."
Five minutes later, Komoe stared at multiple completed exam sheets.
Perfect scores.
All subjects.
The most infuriating part? He'd solved them telekinetically, barely lifting a pen—faster than she could grade.
"No using powers to cheat!"
Of course he'd copied answers from Fukiyose's brain—and combined them with his newly enhanced super-brain.
Exam cheating. Conquering beauties.
From the beginning, Kurokami Gen had been an unrestrained hedonist.
Recovering memories of transmigration and plotlines had simply restored his true self—free from illness, unburdened.
"I won the bet."
Komoe hugged the papers, looking deflated.
For a multi-ability user with Recovery, conventional study had long lost meaning.
Only acquisition remained.
"Don't worry. I'll never misuse my power on those around me."
He ruffled her pink hair.
Excellent texture.
Komoe blushed faintly.
"So that dream really was…"
Her true wish.
Gen mused: Does the anime-style head pat really have taming effects?
Meanwhile, downstairs, Fukiyose stood dazed.
"I feel like I forgot something…"
A gust of wind blew.
She instinctively pressed her skirt down—and flushed crimson.
Something was missing.
Did I forget to put them on in a hurry?!
Standing like that before sensei and that boy—how indecent!
Upstairs, Gen touched his eyes thoughtfully.
"By the way, my Clairvoyance has reached Level 4. The advanced classification should be called 'Second Sight.'"
A simple undershirt no longer obstructed him.
True farsight.
Even the veteran Judgment member Uiharu would have to concede.
Perhaps it was just perception bias—but Academy City's female population seemed oddly polarized.
He'd encountered numerous "overwhelming" figures… and then Komoe, utterly flat.
A tragic wealth gap.
In bust size.