Just cooperate

Hugo had completely forgotten his lofty status as chief therapist.

He lowered his head and ate every last bit of cake, as though carrying out a precision task that demanded one hundred percent of his concentration.

Ririko kept her hand by his mouth, withdrawing it when she felt he had had enough.

When he began looking up at her face with eyes that said he did not want to stop, she scooped up another dollop of cream.

She reached toward Hugo and gently smeared it on the corner of his mouth.

Hugo did not pull away. He even raised his chin a little, as though helping her apply it.

Ririko leaned in and gave it a quick, light lick.

Hugo's breathing lost all rhythm at that moment.

He reached out and grabbed her, trying to pull her closer, only to abruptly lose his balance and collapse onto the floor.

Ririko watched him lie there, clutching his arm, his gaze unfocused.

It seemed he had received more than one injection of sedative.

Ririko rose from the chair, stepped barefoot onto the floor, and lightly nudged his body with her toes.

"How useless," she said.

Hugo's eyes slowly closed.

Ririko sat back down, picked up the silver fork, and shoved a large bite of cake into her mouth.

The cream and sponge mingled in her mouth, just sweet enough and rich with milky flavor.

She calmly finished the entire cake and felt thoroughly satisfied, even though that lunatic was currently sprawled on the floor.

Ririko wiped her hands and went into the bathroom.

Hot water poured from the showerhead, and she enjoyed a lovely shower under its warmth.

Finally, she took as many nutritional supplements as she could from the refrigerator and stuffed them into her pajama pockets.

The next morning.

No one came to deliver breakfast.

Ririko fished a bottle of nutritional supplement out from under the bedding, unscrewed the cap, and took a small sip.

It was not as delicious as cake, but at least she would not starve now.

Herman stood before the little window in the ward door and frowned.

She saw Ririko leaning against the headboard, playing with a Clown Doll.

Her hair fell over her shoulders, far too glossy for someone who had spent any length of time in Arkham.

Her face showed none of the pallor of malnutrition or the puffiness of exhaustion. On the contrary, she was even more strikingly beautiful than when she had first been brought in.

This was impossible.

Without food or skincare products, her beauty should have dwindled, steadily worn down by hunger and malnutrition.

Yet Ririko was growing more beautiful by the day.

The female guard on shift behind Herman leaned closer. "Maybe we should bring her meals after all. Going two days without feeding her doesn't seem quite in line with regulations."

Herman did not turn around.

"She's doing perfectly fine. What's your hurry?"

The guard hesitated for a few seconds, but finally could not hold back and leaned a little closer again.

"Ma'am, there's something... you might not know..."

Herman turned her head.

"The special guards came and took her away in the middle of the night yesterday."

Herman's pupils abruptly contracted.

"Where did they take her?"

The guard shook her head.

"I don't know. They don't have to go through us, and there isn't even a record. They brought her back later that night."

Herman stood in the dim corridor. The special guards answered directly to Hugo Strange. They did not need to go through the warden, taking their orders straight from the Chief Physician himself.

Hugo had used the special guards to take Ririko from her room in the middle of the night... and now she was back in her room, positively radiant.

Herman felt as though a small lump of lead had sunk into her stomach.

Hugo Strange, the man who never let anything slip in front of anyone.

In all the years she had known him, she had never seen him spare any patient a second glance.

He had secretly taken that woman away in the middle of the night.

He had told her to "watch this woman twenty-four hours a day," yet he had taken her away at night while Herman was off duty, and even given her special treatment...

Could his coldness be merely an act for people of her standing, while behind their backs he...

Just what was this woman capable of?

She had been in Arkham for less than a month, yet she had already made Hugo break his own rules for her.

And not just Hugo!

Even the insufferably arrogant Harley Quinn had volunteered to help arrange daily necessities for Ririko.

Herman felt as though she were standing in the very center of a maze, surrounded by walls, with footsteps sounding behind every one of them, yet not a single person in sight.

In the early hours of the morning.

The shift change came and went, but Herman did not leave.

She sat in a swivel chair in the surveillance room, staring at the feed showing the door to Ririko's room.

Two seventeen.

The surveillance feed suddenly went black.

Someone with a higher level of clearance had switched it off.

She hurried to that corridor and saw two masked special guards in black uniforms coming out of the room, one carrying Ririko.

A black cloth covered Ririko's eyes, and her hair hung loose. Her arms were draped languidly around the special guard, and she looked completely at ease.

The guard even adjusted his hold to make her more comfortable.

The three figures disappeared around the corner...

Ririko sat in the familiar chair and deftly reached up to untie the black cloth covering her eyes.

The room was still dimly lit. Even the air retained a faint, sweet scent of cream, as though the room's owner had deliberately preserved it until now.

Hugo sat opposite her.

He did not look well. Behind his brown-tinted sunglasses, his face was paler than yesterday, and fine beads of sweat covered his temples.

[Current Infatuation Value: 45/100]

He cared quite a lot about her now.

She smiled. "Did you enjoy yesterday's cake?"

Hugo's body stiffened.

He remembered licking her hand, then losing consciousness when she licked the cream from the corner of his mouth.

The taste of that cream still lingered in his mind.

He silently lowered his head and picked up the silver-gray ring-shaped device beside him.

Ririko saw that his hand was trembling slightly.

He was using every ounce of willpower to suppress a certain craving in his body, a desire that threatened to make him lose control. He needed a sedative.

Ririko reached out and held his wrist down.

Hugo raised his head to look at her.

His glasses had slipped down a little. Without the lenses concealing them, his eyes revealed a hint of unease, along with a faint anticipation.

She rose from her chair, crossed the few steps between them, and lightly settled beside him.

Hugo's breath caught for an instant.

Almost immediately, he reached out and wrapped a hand around her waist.

Ririko felt the heat of his palm, hotter than during any of their previous contact.

She lowered her head slightly and whispered against his ear.

"I have an experiment I'd like to try, too."

Her breath brushed his earlobe, and his shoulders gave a sudden twitch, as though he had been shocked.

Hugo's hand tightened a little against her waist.

"What experiment?" His voice was hoarse.

Ririko threaded her fingers into his hair and gently tightened them, keeping him from turning his head away.

"You can't let the sedative affect you during what happens next."

Hugo's Adam's apple bobbed sharply.

His hand slid from her waist to her back, his entire palm pressed along her spine as it traveled from her shoulder blades down to the small of her back.

He turned his face toward her, his nose almost touching hers.

"What exactly are you talking about?"

His voice was so low it seemed to rise from underground, carrying the last desperate struggle of his reason.

She pushed him back against the chair.

"Just cooperate," she said.