Experiment

"Mrs. Sato, do you think saying your legs got better after a good night's sleep is scientific? Is that supposed to convince us?"

The interrogation room.

The questioning had been going on for some time.

It was clear that Sato Tomomi was under a great deal of pressure.

She clutched at the hem of her clothes, curled her toes, sweated profusely, and let her eyes dart around uneasily.

She had never received any training in resisting interrogation. Faced with the officers' relentless questioning and coordinated pressure, she was completely unable to defend herself.

If she lied about even one thing, the officers would inevitably find a flaw as they tested and verified her story, then focus their full attention on that point and press her hard.

Sato Tomomi was so anxious she stammered, and it seemed she was about to burst into tears. Just as she was nearing her breaking point and wondering whether she should simply reveal the truth about the Holy Infant Society, Noguchi Yuji received a message behind the one-way glass.

"Chief, a lawyer claims he was hired by a friend of Sato Tomomi's and is demanding to be allowed into the interrogation."

"Who's the client?"

"Okamoto Ritsuichi. He's a friend from Sato Tomomi's social circle."

"Verify the connection, then assign someone to keep an eye on him."

"Understood. What about the lawyer?"

"Make him wait." Noguchi Yuji shook his head. Sato Tomomi was clearly close to breaking. Why would he let a lawyer in to give her courage?

Although Sato Tomomi did have the right to request one.

Before long, someone else came in—and this time, it was a senior official.

He looked displeased as he said, "That lawyer complained to the minister, claiming we were detaining her illegally. The minister sent me to ask how the interrogation is going. If possible, at least let the lawyer meet with her."

Noguchi Yuji frowned as he watched Sato Tomomi sitting in the interrogation room with her lips pressed tight. In the end, he relented. After all, Sato Tomomi was only a criminal's family member, and they couldn't detain her without solid evidence that she was an accomplice. Technically, they hadn't detained her yet, but he was wary of a lawyer who might nitpick and make trouble.

"Five minutes. He gets five minutes, and they can talk here."

"He says he only needs one minute."

"...Fine. Kuraki, start the timer as soon as he comes in. Have Yamaguchi and the others come out first."

Not long after the senior official left, a sturdy man in a suit walked into the interrogation room. He glanced at the one-way glass, his face expressionless.

But when Mrs. Sato saw him, she couldn't hide her shock. It seemed she was about to blurt something out, but the lawyer pressed down on her shoulder, silencing her.

The lawyer leaned close to her ear and whispered something.

Sato Tomomi went from stunned to covering her mouth, tears clouding her eyes. A second later, they slipped down her cheeks.

The lawyer was done speaking well before a minute had passed. He looked toward the one-way glass again, gave a stiff smile, then turned and left the interrogation room.

A sense of foreboding rose in Noguchi Yuji's heart, along with the anxiety that things were gradually slipping out of his control.

"Have someone follow that lawyer and wait for my next orders. Look into his firm, too. He doesn't seem like a real lawyer."

Of course he didn't. He was merely the Ninth Guardian, under Shiraishi Wataru's control. Even the complaint had been arranged through Nakai Hayato, who had gotten the minister's private phone number. The legal grounds for the complaint had come from an online consultation with a lawyer.

That was why Sato Tomomi had looked so surprised to see him.

This poor couple had both become Shiraishi Wataru's experimental subjects. For the sake of gathering data on symbiosis, they would give up everything.

After guiding the Ninth Guardian out of the police station, he headed into the darkness.

The night before.

When Sato Gafeng got home, he found an extravagant spread of food on the dining table, far more than on any other day.

"Is there some special occasion today? Didn't we just celebrate our wedding anniversary?" Sato Gafeng called with a smile toward the kitchen.

Sato Tomomi beamed as she brought out the last dish and set it on the table with practiced ease. Then she hugged her husband.

"My illness is gone, Gafeng. We can have a child now!"

Sato Gafeng stared at her blankly, clearly unable to process what she had said.

So his wife told him everything that had happened at the church that day, then showed him that her legs were completely fine.

Looking at the strange pill in his palm, then at the hopeful look in his wife's eyes, he still had some doubts, but he swallowed it anyway.

"So I've finally found another person compatible with [Super Strength]." Shiraishi Wataru didn't grant him the symbiotic ability right away. Instead, he chose to lie low. He had an idea and planned to run an experiment first thing the next morning.

"What happened? Did it not work because you don't believe in the Holy Infant?" Sato Tomomi looked around, but nothing seemed to have happened. It was completely different from what she and the others had experienced after taking the pill.

"All right, all right. No matter what, I'm just happy your legs are better. Let's eat before the food gets cold." Sato Gafeng hadn't witnessed what had happened back then, and he hadn't expected much to begin with, so he wasn't disappointed. Instead, he tried to comfort his wife.

"I... I'll ask the head of the society later. Maybe he'll know." Sato Tomomi didn't give up. She believed the pill worked; perhaps there was some other reason it hadn't taken effect.

Looking at how much younger his wife seemed, Sato Gafeng felt a warmth stir within him. After they'd eaten, they got the kitchen floor wet.

The next day, when Sato Tomomi saw that he still hadn't changed, she felt a little disappointed and decided to ask the head of the society at the next gathering.

Meanwhile, Sato Gafeng took the subway to work as usual.

Only then did Shiraishi Wataru grant the symbiote an ability—[Super Strength].

He wanted to see whether the power of Super Strength would be affected without Steel Body.

Sato Gafeng's body shuddered. His face flushed, his heart pounded wildly, and an inexplicable power quickly spread through him. It felt as if he could snap the pretty, slender neck of the office lady beside him with the slightest effort.

He tried to calm himself, but it was no use. It was like someone with restless legs syndrome trying to keep their legs completely still.

He couldn't hold back the urge to use this strength, either.

As he struggled to suppress it, the man in front of him stepped on his shoe. It didn't hurt, but it was like pouring oil on a fire. His rising anger kept spreading and growing.

"Excuse me, you stepped on me." With great effort, he managed to force out the faintest smile and gently tapped the man in front of him.

He had long been conditioned to apologize first when someone wronged him, but saying it today left him feeling so sick inside he could hardly stand it. He wanted to throw up.

The man glanced back, saw an ordinary office worker, then turned away. He did shift his heel forward a little.

Sato Gafeng had seen the tattoo that ran from the man's neck to his cheek when he turned around. A classic Yakuza. You didn't provoke people like that. The fact that he'd moved his foot without stepping on him again was already generous.

He looked at the shoes his wife had carefully cleaned for him before he left home. They were now covered in grime. Then he looked at the man, his breathing growing heavier and heavier. The last time he'd felt anything like this was when he'd just started working and his boss slapped him in the face with the proposal he'd stayed up all night preparing. It had been the humiliation of being insulted and trampled on.

He reached out and tapped the Yakuza's shoulder again. Forcing an awkward smile, he said something he'd never dared to say before.

"Aren't you going to apologize?"