The tender green strip of cloth split in two and fell to the ground.
The girl knelt on the ground, clutching her chest in astonishment. Her beautiful crimson eyes were filled with confusion.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi couldn't understand what had happened at all.
Why?
Why had her ability been completely ineffective against Su Youzi?
Even... when she activated Area-wide Mental Interference, she felt as though a tank had come barreling straight toward her.
Area-wide Mental Interference was forcibly smashed apart.
Next came the cool sensation of her clothes being sliced open, followed by the stabbing pain spreading from her chest.
The blade's chill turned into searing pain moments later, and a thin line of blood burned across the most sensitive skin on the girl's chest.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi could only bow her head submissively before Su Youzi, clutching her chest with both hands to hold together her slashed-open uniform as she curled up and knelt humbly in front of Su Youzi.
Su Youzi looked at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's lowered head and slowly sheathed her blade. "Thank you for the guidance, Sister Kiyomi."
Clang—
The slow sound of the girl's blade being sheathed sounded so grating to Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.
"Miss Kiyomi..." Several of Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's lackeys came running over on their hands and knees.
One of them had a cheek scraped by the scabbard Su Youzi had thrown. When she reached Su Youzi's side, she instinctively bent at the waist.
"Get lost!!!" Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi waved her hand furiously, and then... her chest suddenly felt cold and painful.
The girl immediately hunched over again, clutching her shoulders with both hands.
"Mi... Miss Kiyomi, let me heal you."
"Miss Kiyomi, please bear with it for now and wear my uniform."
"..."
By then, some of the girls in the training hall had eyes that were practically sparkling like stars.
"Su Youzi Senpai... is so cool."
Indeed, the girl holding the katana—
Her smooth black hair had been casually cut short, while her small face and the Soga Main Family's signature gorgeous crimson eyes both had exceedingly elegant contours.
The girl standing there—
Her body radiated a charm that had nothing to do with gender.
The girls weren't the only ones staring blankly. Little Rabbit was too.
Saotome Yukina's watery blue eyes were filled with longing.
Su Youzi could only hold her scabbard and lightly tap the dazed Little Rabbit on the forehead with the end of the handle.
Saotome Yukina seemed to come back to her senses only then.
The girl covered her forehead in pain. Before Su Youzi could step forward to comfort her, Saotome Yukina acted like a child asking an adult for candy.
"I want to learn that!"
"I want to learn that!!!"
Thud—
Kujo Ryuko, holding a bamboo staff in one hand, tapped Saotome Yukina on the other side of the forehead.
"Get your basics down first."
"Besides, you're a Healing Type Ability User."
"On the battlefield, your only task is to stay alive."
"And then heal more people."
"I don't want to heal more people. I only want to heal Senpai." Little Rabbit muttered, "Besides..."
She waved the bamboo staff she had practiced with. "As long as I kill all the enemies, I'll be safe."
Thud—
Su Youzi tapped Little Rabbit on the other side of the forehead again.
What is she, an apprentice assassin?
What kind of Healing Type self-defense method is 'kill all the enemies first and then you'll be safe'?
Saotome Yukina pitifully clutched her forehead.
Her watery blue eyes were brimming with tears.
But... the moment Little Rabbit saw the seriousness in Su Youzi's eyes, she immediately wilted.
Saotome Yukina wasn't the kind of Young Lady who was unreasonable.
She knew... Senpai and that wicked woman were right.
She couldn't even walk properly yet, and she was already thinking about running.
"I was only joking..."
Before Saotome Yukina could finish mumbling, she caught the fresh fragrance drifting close.
"Youzi... Senpai..."
The girl nervously looked at the Senpai who had already approached within arm's reach.
The sweet-and-tart, refreshing scent wafting from Senpai's body, like citrus that had just been peeled open, kept seeping into Little Rabbit's nose.
Trying her best to remain calm, Saotome Yukina could only stand there stiffly as Senpai brushed aside her hair.
"Does it hurt..." came the murmured voice.
"Whimper—" A whimper squeezed from the girl's throat, like a small animal that had been bullied.
Kujo Ryuko stood quietly to the side.
She was thinking about the question that many people in the training hall were pondering.
How exactly had Su Youzi broken through Area-wide Mental Interference?
Wearing a somewhat ill-fitting uniform, her brows knitted into an ugly frown, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi fled the training hall.
The girl's footsteps pounded against the ground one step at a time.
Whenever a cold wind slipped into her collar, her expression grew three shades darker.
Behind her, the girls were silent with fear.
Even an idiot could tell that Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi was in a terrible mood.
Their Young Lady was like a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark.
No one wanted to provoke her.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it..."
"How could this happen?"
Even now, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi still couldn't figure out how Su Youzi had broken through her Area-wide Mental Interference.
Cheating!
She must have cheated!
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi could only think that way.
That woman from the Third Sequence must have secretly done something.
Otherwise... how could Su Youzi, who wasn't even in the First Sequence and was merely an ordinary Telekinetic Ability User, have broken through her Area-wide Mental Interference?
She didn't even feel like attending her afternoon classes anymore.
Thud—
When she returned to the dormitory, the girl slammed the door shut.
She needed to take a bath to wash away the bad luck, and... get a new set of clothes and underwear.
Just then, beep beep beep beep—
Her phone rang.
"What!" Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi answered irritably.
The caller ID on the phone read... "Father."
A pale blue screen unfolded, showing a man suppressing his anger as he braced both hands against a desk.
"Ishikawa Kiyomi!!!"
The man's furious appearance made Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's whole body tremble. "Fa..."
"Father..."
"Did I not tell you? Don't provoke anyone from the Main Family unless necessary."
"I... I only..." Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi immediately panicked.
Her first thought was: Who told Father?
"Your wings have grown, have they?"
"You think you're something now, do you?"
"You entered the First Sequence at fifteen and thought you were amazing, didn't you?" The man watched the panicked girl on the screen, suppressing the fury filling his chest.
"Now!"
"Immediately!"
"Right now."
"Go apologize to Miss Youzi."
"But..." Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi wanted to protest tearfully. Clearly, she was the one who had been bullied in the end.
"Don't make me say it a second time."
"Yes!!!" The girl hurriedly lowered her head. Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi clenched her fists tightly and bit down hard on her lower lip.
Buzz—
The screen cut off directly.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!" The girl slammed her fist onto the table.
Meanwhile—
The man, whose entire body seemed drenched in cold sweat, slowly turned around.
He looked at the crimson screen in front of him.
On the screen, the girl sitting upright had an icy expression.
"Young... Young Lady..."
"Kiyomi is still immature."
"..."
"Don't let me hear that a second time."
"Ishikawa Irube."
"Next month is her... my birthday. I don't want everyone to be unhappy at a time like this..."
"Understand?"
Before you continue