Does an Apology Even Help!?

"What? You didn't catch up? You lost him? You didn't even know when the person tailing him got taken down? Useless!"

Star-eyed Girl had apparently waited for nothing for more than two hours. When she heard her underlings' report, she immediately flew into a rage.

"Tsk, tsk! She's so young, and instead of learning anything good, she's learning all the bad things. Even forming a gang... Looks like she's doing pretty well for herself, too?" Jiu Ming clicked his tongue softly as he watched Star-eyed Girl, who was holding a drink and clearly in a bad mood. Why had he come back?

He'd come back because he couldn't get any peace and quiet. Damn it, all he'd done was go out! Last night, some bunch of people with guns had chased him for dozens of blocks. He'd taken them down all along the way, but they just wouldn't give up... He had no idea what faction they belonged to.

And now he was being chased again!

And after that, he'd been followed and tailed?

Taking a break from all this might actually be a good idea, right?

So he'd come back.

Looking at the big sister who was throwing a tantrum, and all the lackeys around her who were bowing and scraping with great respect... Jiu Ming scratched his head. Was this some kind of local custom?

He just wondered what kind of expression she'd make when her underlings turned on her.

"..."

Jiu Ming didn't hide the fact that he was staring. After being watched for a while, Star-eyed Girl turned around, a chill running down her spine and the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. She began scolding the lackeys around her. "This is what you meant when you said you lost him?"

Obviously, he'd turned the tables and followed them here!

"What do you want from me... No, I came to settle a score with you." Jiu Ming changed his mind on a sudden impulse. To the astonishment of Star-eyed Girl and her lackeys, he charged straight through the window in a way that made no sense at all.

He didn't break the glass. Instead, he passed through it as if he'd walked through a wall. His white coat pressed against the window, and by the time Star-eyed Girl reacted, all the lackeys around her had already been taken down. Jiu Ming had moved so fast they hadn't even had time to use their abilities.

"...What just happened?"

"Oh, just a little anesthetic. I picked it up at the hospital."

Jiu Ming opened his clenched fist, and a handful of tiny steel needles fell from his hand. The anesthetic he'd gotten from Netherworld Soul Chaser was strong stuff! A tiny amount had been enough to take down all those people.

"You used those weird, mysterious mental attacks on me several times today, then had people follow me...? What are you after?"

"Uh..." Remembering that her ability had been 'reflected' to some extent twice when she'd used it on Jiu Ming, Star-eyed Girl didn't dare make a move just yet. She edged backward, searching for a way out—and preferably a chance to call the police...

If her ability didn't work, then as far as fighting went... she was an exercise-phobic idiot!

This was bad... really bad. Were there no one else around? If there were anyone still standing, she wouldn't be in such a helpless position...

"I just wanted to make friends... Just make friends, that's all, yes!" Star-eyed Girl adjusted her chest and gave him a very friendly smile.

"Is that so?" The warm smile on Jiu Ming's face turned into a sneer. "Are you trying to lower my opinion of your intelligence even further? Don't even think about running! I can easily move at over thirty meters per second. Want to find out for yourself?"

Shokuhou Misaki's mouth twitched. An opponent with superhuman athletic ability wasn't scary to her. She didn't care how strong they were; she could handle any opponent who could fight. But when she ran into someone immune to her ability... It didn't matter how strong they were. Even an ordinary person could take her down!

There were far too many bad examples of what happened when a mage let a warrior get close!

"I was wrong."

With an apologetic expression meek enough to make anyone else's jaw drop, Shokuhou Misaki meekly admitted her mistake. Well, if they'd been on a crowded street, the scene would've been hundreds of people surrounding a scumbag who was taking advantage of a beautiful young girl...

Under her Mental Out ability, if something hadn't happened, it would've happened anyway!

But there was nobody here... Or rather, there was no one still standing except him and her.

"An apology? Not accepted! Just do two things for me." Saying something that made her heart sink, Jiu Ming walked toward her with a strange smile, steadily closing off the space behind her. He was only a step away from saying, Go ahead and scream! Nobody can hear you! Ha.

"What... things?" Her instincts as a woman kicked in. Looking at Jiu Ming's smile, Shokuhou Misaki felt a chill run through her, and at the same time got the feeling that she was in for it today. "Oh, right. Where's the bedroom?"

"That's way too blunt. Do you know who I am?"

"That doesn't matter to me. I came here to settle a score, anyway."

"I already apologized, okay!!" Though she knew retreating was futile, Shokuhou Misaki kept backing away slowly. Was the fifth-ranked Level 5 in Academy City really about to be finished like this?

"If an apology could solve everything... Tsk, tsk. Then I'll apologize in advance for what I'm about to do." Jiu Ming scratched his hair and held out his palm to her. "Your hand-to-hand combat skills... are a little lacking."

"I'll remember you... Damn it! Don't you dare give me a chance to get back at you... Aah!!"

"Hey, hey, why are you screaming? It's just a little precaution."

"..." Shokuhou Misaki stared fixedly at her chest. One of his hands was now resting on her ample chest—no, it was as if his hand had somehow gone right through her chest. The scene was impossibly strange, and she felt a deathly threat that left her breathless...

He could actually do something like that. Could he crush her heart!?

As she looked at Jiu Ming's smile, that thought kept rising in her mind, pressing down on her nerves. How could anyone have such an abnormal ability? She'd never heard of anything like it!

"No, please don't! I'll do anything you want..."

"Okay!" Jiu Ming promptly stopped the move that was and wasn't taking advantage of her, clapped his hands, and watched the Blonde Girl get up from the floor. "Your name?"

"Shokuhou Misaki." Shokuhou Misaki hurriedly answered as she held down her short skirt, though who knew what she was thinking.

"Yeah, that's not important. There are just two things." Jiu Ming raised two fingers. "Last night, we had nothing to do with each other. I advise you not to get any ideas. It'd be easy to leave a little precaution by your heart."

Jiu Ming rubbed his fingers together. "Agreed?"

Shokuhou Misaki immediately nodded. Nothing to do with each other?

As if! You're making things too easy for yourself. You dared to treat me like this... We've got plenty of time. There'll be lots of chances to deal with you slowly!

And that nonsense you're using to fool a child—do you think that'll make me believe you? Who are you kidding?

It was clear that the girl was very shrewd. She'd seen right through Jiu Ming's final threat and realized he was just teasing her.

"First thing: judging by your uniform, you go to Tokiwadai, right? Do you know someone named Misaka Mikoto?"

"Huh?"

Seeing Shokuhou Misaki's expression, Jiu Ming nodded. So she knew her. Great. "Find her, then have her go to Netherworld Soul Chaser's place and meet someone. You don't need to know who. That Frog-faced Doctor will know. Then help me find someone named Accelerator..."

"Huh!?" Shokuhou Misaki looked even more astonished. She knew both of them: Academy City's first- and third-ranked Level 5s. And the third-ranked, Misaka Mikoto, was an opponent she'd only recently made for herself at Tokiwadai... What could she do? They were both Level 5s, and they went to the same school.

But why was he looking for Accelerator?

"You know him too? Even better. Then I don't need to explain much. Have your lackeys find him, and don't let him notice. Then tell me where he's been going, especially if anything seems suspicious... Oh, and do this before you look for Misaka Mikoto. Don't send her there until I tell you to."

"Any objections?"

"None..." Of course I have objections! How dare you talk to me like you're giving orders! You're dead! You're so dead! Just wait until I figure out why you can resist my ability. Then I'll turn you into a gay man! Aaaaaah!!

The girl ground her teeth, silently hurling all kinds of vicious curses at him.

Smack...

"Ow, that hurt!"

Clutching the forehead he'd flicked, Shokuhou Misaki couldn't help crying out. "Why did you hit me?"

"Huh? Weird. Why did I suddenly hit you?" Jiu Ming wore a very puzzled 'expression.' "Oh, right. I'm a ghost... Well, a person with slightly heightened sensitivity to emotions. It was an unconscious reaction. That's all."

Jiu Ming's words startled her a little. Was he a Mental System ability user too? No, that couldn't be right. How could a Mental System ability user have such obviously superhuman athletic ability?

Damn it! I'll put up with this humiliation for now, Queen's orders! Just wait for the endless payback I've got in store for you! If I don't make you kneel and lick my feet, then I'm not the strongest Mental System ability user in Academy City!!!

"Is this your house? I'll rest here for a bit, then. Get everything done before tonight. I'm counting on you." Jiu Ming sat down on the sofa beside them without a trace of courtesy. Shokuhou Misaki's eye twitched again. Did he even have any weight? The sofa hadn't sunk in at all when he sat down.

Come to think of it, his body also seemed faintly transparent. If you looked carefully, you could see the sofa he was supposed to be blocking right through him.

"Your name! I won't do anything for someone who won't even tell me his name!" Shokuhou Misaki spoke through gritted teeth. When had she ever spoken to anyone in that tone...? Could she really curse him and ruin her own ladylike image?

There was no one else here, anyway.

"Oh? Call me Jiu Ming."

"Your identity?" Huh? Apart from the threat earlier, he was surprisingly easy to talk to?

"Mysterious Merchant."

"..." Was this... some kind of chuuni act? Or was he brushing her off?

"You're not human?" Shokuhou Misaki asked uncertainly this time.

"Tsk. You sure ask a lot of questions. That's right. I'm a ghost."