Borrowing the Tiger's Might

Hearing Kujo Ryuko's words, Saotome Yukina almost charged forward on the spot.

When it came to her Senior Youzi, Little Rabbit didn't care whether the people opposite her were from the Investigation Department's Fourth Action Department.

In any case... bullying her Senior Youzi was absolutely unacceptable.

What did "the discarded child of the Soga Family" mean?

It meant the Soga Family was blind.

What Senior Youzi possessed... was a Rule-based Ability, something exceedingly rare in all of human history.

Only the blind people of the Soga Family could mistake Senior Youzi's ability for an ordinary Telekinetic Ability.

Although... before today, Little Rabbit hadn't known what Su Youzi's ability actually was, either.

But bullying her Senior Youzi was still unacceptable.

Not even verbally.

So the Fourth Action Department thought it was impressive?

A considerable portion of the Investigation Department's research funding was sponsored by the Saotome Family, after all.

Don't forget... aside from spraying water, Saotome Yukina's talent was the Power of Money.

Looking at the Little Rabbit in her arms, who had almost gotten worked up, Su Youzi took Saotome Yukina's left hand and gently pinched the web between the girl's thumb and index finger.

Her water-blue eyes widened helplessly. Before Saotome Yukina could put her plan into action, Su Youzi had already pressed her back into her arms.

There were simply too many weaknesses on Little Rabbit that could be exploited.

So many that Su Youzi hardly needed to look for them.

All she had to do was blow on Little Rabbit's ear and murmur a few words. She could feel the softness melting in her arms, along with the constant ding-ding-ding of the favorability increase notifications by her ear.

Saotome Yukina could only shrink pitifully into Su Youzi's embrace and enjoy her senior's warm, gentle arms.

She let Su Youzi pry open her little fist, then squeeze it shut again.

In her senior's arms...

"It's like..."

"Like a child. No... it's practically like being a pet."

But... she didn't dislike it.

Facing Kujo Ryuko, Su Youzi remained remarkably calm.

She didn't actually care about the Soga Family.

In fact... before Soga Toyura's name appeared in the "Operator Compendium," Su Youzi had once wished the Soga Family would forget about her.

She had no attachments in the Soga Family to begin with.

When Kujo Ryuko changed the way she addressed her from Soga Youzi to Su Youzi, Su Youzi even felt a tiny bit of pleasure.

Compared with Soga Youzi, she liked Su Youzi better.

"'Eye of Insight's' target is actually me?" She looked at Kujo Ryuko.

The girl sitting with her legs crossed lightly nodded, her lower leg swinging freely. "—Yes."

Otherwise, she wouldn't have come personally to Private Huiqun Garden Academy.

One of Kujo Ryuko's main purposes in coming to Private Huiqun Garden Academy this time was to bring Su Youzi back to the Fourth Action Department and "protect" her there.

They called it protection.

In reality, there wasn't much difference between that and imprisonment.

However... she glanced at Unohana Chiyo, who seemed to care greatly about Su Youzi.

Plan A might fall through.

That didn't matter.

She had also prepared Plan B.

Su Youzi blinked. Almost at the same time, she understood why Kujo Ryuko had come to Private Huiqun Garden Academy.

If "Eye of Insight's" target was her...

Then, according to Kujo Ryuko's way of thinking, she was the bait, while Kujo Ryuko... was the angler holding the rod.

Su Youzi actually didn't care much whether Kujo Ryuko treated her as bait.

On the contrary—

There was nothing wrong with Kujo Ryuko simply treating her as bait.

After all, although Kujo Ryuko looked like a yandere with sadistic tendencies, she was a genuine Third Sequence Blood Ability User.

The lines on the girl's character illustration read:

"I don't like people—"

"I like dogs."

"Dogs are obedient."

"But people aren't."

The dogs she referred to weren't dogs in the conventional sense, either.

They were the "Blood Hounds" hidden within the shadows.

A derivative of Kujo Ryuko's ability.

With her protection, Su Youzi would actually be quite safe.

As long as she maintained Kujo Ryuko's current favorability.

She glanced at the "Operator Compendium."

In Kujo Ryuko's operator stats, the favorability column currently showed only a pitiful 14 points (First Encounter).

That was probably only slightly better than Yamabuki Nanako's "Unfamiliar."

As long as she maintained her distance from Kujo Ryuko, she would actually be very safe.

What Su Youzi feared most was... the favorability between her and Kujo Ryuko skyrocketing.

Then even the gods would have trouble saving her.

"You want to use me to lure out the people from 'Eye of Insight.'"

"That's right." Kujo Ryuko was quite frank.

"Originally, I wanted to take you directly back to the Fourth Action Department, but..." Kujo Ryuko glanced at Unohana Chiyo, who had suddenly become tense.

"It seems it would be difficult to take someone away from Private Huiqun Garden Academy."

"So I gave up on that idea."

"Then what are you planning to do?" Su Youzi met Kujo Ryuko's gaze. "Have people lie in ambush around me?"

"With such a large-scale deployment by the Fourth Executive Bureau, would the people from 'Eye of Insight' still take the bait?"

"No—" Kujo Ryuko gently swung her lower legs and looked at Su Youzi.

"Only me."

Her voice was clearly soft and delicate, yet when it came from Kujo Ryuko's lips, it was so cold that it seemed to have been stripped of all emotion.

"I investigated."

"You should be living alone in your dormitory now, right?"

"I can stay there temporarily."

"Don't worry..."

"No!!!" Before Su Youzi or Unohana Chiyo could say anything, Saotome Yukina, leaning against Su Youzi's chest, protested.

Her crimson eyes lifted and fixed on Saotome Yukina.

Saotome Yukina immediately glared back with righteous fury.

When it came to her senior... the girl absolutely refused to admit defeat.

"I have no interest in interfering with your life. Even if you want to take that Little Rabbit back and spend the night with her, I don't mind."

Kujo Ryuko frowned.

In Su Youzi's arms, the tips of Saotome Yukina's ears instantly turned an alluring pale pink.

Looking at Kujo Ryuko, Su Youzi thought for a moment.

"Can you beat Soga Toyura?"

"What?" Kujo Ryuko froze.

What did the girl in front of her mean?

Was she threatening her with Soga Toyura?

Or... did she want Kujo Ryuko to help her get revenge on Soga Toyura?

"I can give it a try!" Kujo Ryuko didn't overstate her confidence.

Although Soga Toyura's talent was extraordinary and a once-in-a-century rarity,

the girl's age was still a fact. She was only a Second Sequence Mental Ability User.

Dealing with her shouldn't be a problem.

"I see..." Su Youzi pondered.

Soga Toyura's birthday happened to be coming up soon.

To investigate the matter, Su Youzi planned to return to the Soga Family and take a look.

She had originally intended to find some excuse.

But now... Su Youzi looked at Kujo Ryuko in front of her.

See—

The tiger in "borrowing the fox's authority from the tiger" had arrived.