The black car of the Special Affairs Division drove slowly down the road.
The person who had come to pick them up was an unfamiliar Special Affairs Division officer. She was supposedly directly subordinate to the Five Person Council, and in a certain sense, her status was even higher than Nanjō Emi's.
Both of them sat in the back seat. Shizuma Mafuyu sat rigidly upright with her hands on her knees. Whenever the car stopped, she would look out the window, faint regret surfacing in her heart from time to time. She looked both nervous and uneasy.
"Want one?"
A slender cigarette was held out in front of Shizuma Mafuyu, its tobacco scent mixed with a refreshing mint fragrance.
"Don't let appearances fool you." Nanjō Emi exhaled a cloud of smoke, her face perfectly calm. "I'm actually pretty nervous too. After all, we're about to meet the legendary bigwigs."
After hesitating for a moment, Shizuma Mafuyu accepted the cigarette and quietly thanked her.
Nanjō Emi leaned over and lit it for her.
As the tobacco slowly burned, Shizuma Mafuyu stared uneasily at the cigarette in her hand.
She remembered that back in middle school, only delinquents who had no hope of continuing their education would smoke. Their teachers had often warned model students like her not to imitate them.
I've become a delinquent girl too...
Or is this what they call growing up?
Shizuma Mafuyu clenched her fist and put the cigarette in her mouth, taking a fierce drag as if she were trying to prove something.
"Cough! Cough, cough, cough!"
But she immediately began coughing violently, even choking tears out of her eyes.
Nanjō Emi burst out laughing. "Who smokes like that?"
"Here, watch closely."
Nanjō Emi then demonstrated for her. Shizuma Mafuyu carefully took a small drag, imitating