That night, Kasugano Sora seemed to have suffered a serious blow. After dinner, she gloomily returned to her room without saying a word.
This left Yuki feeling a bit disappointed—she had actually been looking forward to playing some more with Sora.
"You've been coming here every day lately. Is everything okay with your family?"
Kuzeha looked at Yuki and asked in a low voice.
The Suou family—though not as famous as the Yukinoshita conglomerate—was in fact a prestigious household not one bit weaker in influence. Yuki was the true young lady of the family. In both manner and speech, appearance and bearing, she was expected to uphold the strictest standards.
In the family, and at school, Yuki always had to maintain a flawless demeanor befitting a proper young lady. That was the Suou family's way.
Only in front of Kuzeha could she reveal her uninhibited otaku side.
Unbothered, Yuki took a bite of rice. "It's fine. What's the worst they can do, put shackles on me?"
Kuzeha chuckled and patted her head. "Then just stay here for a while. If the Suou family raises any issues, I'll talk to my mother."
Yuki beamed and threw her arms around him. "You're the best, big bro!"
"But..." She stepped back, a playful and ambiguous glint in her eye. "Big bro, don't tell me that after playing gal games, you've finally lost control and want to do things to your real sister—ow."
Smack!
Before she could finish, Kuzeha knocked her on the head with the back of his chopsticks.
Yuki glanced over at Sakura and Kanao sitting across the table, then nodded knowingly.
Leaning closer to Kuzeha's ear, she whispered, "Just wait for my night raid tonight!"
"No night raids!"
Yuki grinned. "So big bro prefers morning then! Makes sense—more energy in the morning... ow!"
...
Night fell.
To Kuzeha's surprise, Yuki didn't sneak into his room that night.
Even Sora remained quiet.
Maybe Yuki had locked her in the room again.
But Kuzeha did receive a message from Yukinoshita Haruno.
An email.
He downloaded the attached file on his computer.
Inside was a document Haruno had compiled—projects the Yukinoshita conglomerate had been involved in over the years that showed signs of supernatural involvement.
There weren't many, but they all shared distinct features.
Almost all were heavily funded ventures, and most ended up in direct conflict with other families or conglomerates.
In cases like that, conflict—even violent clashes—between business giants was hardly unusual.
But according to Haruno's investigation, the Yukinoshita conglomerate would always be forced to halt these projects during such conflicts.
Then, after a while, the projects would resume—and the issues with opposing conglomerates would mysteriously resolve themselves.
"I looked into what our family was doing during those project pauses, and didn't find anything suspicious."
"So I changed my approach and investigated the rival conglomerates instead. That's when I found something shocking!"
"Whenever this kind of situation happened, the rival groups would encounter strange accidents."
"Earthquakes, fires, monster attacks!"
"Especially the latter! After we paused a project, monster disasters would occur near the rival group's key operations—small or large losses that forced them to divert all their attention."
"Which meant they had no energy left to deal with my mother's business maneuvers..."
Haruno sent the message with a conflicted heart.
If it hadn't been for Kuzeha's warning, she wouldn't have realized this for who knows how long.
"Could Mother be controlling monsters?"
The thought crossed Haruno's mind.
But she immediately dismissed it.
Her mother was practically glued to her work 24/7—no time, no means to control monsters.
Yukinoshita's matriarch was an ordinary human.
That much she was sure of.
If not, the whole family wouldn't have been so helpless when it came to Yukino's condition.
So, the most likely explanation matched Kuzeha's theory.
There was an organization acting independently, cleaning up obstacles for the Yukinoshita conglomerate—without the matriarch's control.
"An organization..."
Haruno bit her finger, and suddenly a name surfaced in her memory—something her mother had once mentioned in passing.
"Something like... the House of Evolution?"
...
"The House of Evolution!"
Kuzeha narrowed his eyes the moment he saw Haruno's message.
That name rang a bell.
A mad genius scientist named Dr. Genus had founded that organization.
Though human, he created monsters powerful enough to reach Dragon-level.
And he had been researching how to break human limiters since early on.
Truly a genius figure.
"Could it be the House of Evolution..."
Kuzeha pondered, then messaged Haruno, asking her to dig deeper into Dr. Genus.
Just then, he noticed a flash of silver jumping around outside.
"Is that... Black Yukino?"
Kuzeha blinked in surprise.
After Yukino had gone through Spirit Devouring, the Black Yukino persona shouldn't have been able to seize control of her body so easily.
He saw her on the rooftop, seemingly searching for something. Sensing an opportunity, he activated the full power of Spirit Command: Summon.
Summon!
It allowed him to control anyone who had undergone Spirit Devouring.
Black Yukino's body froze slightly.
Then, as if drawn by some supreme force, she quickly made her way toward Kuzeha.
Swish!
The silver figure leapt through the moonlight and slipped flawlessly through the window, landing in Kuzeha's arms.
"Meow..."
Black Yukino looked up at him and let out a soft, feline cry.
Her small head nestled affectionately against his chest, her delicate nose twitching as she greedily inhaled his scent.
Kuzeha stroked her back, but his brows furrowed slightly.
Something felt... off.
He hadn't used any abilities like Spirit Command or Undying Grip at the moment.
By all logic, Black Yukino, a creature of negative emotion, should have rejected him.
But right now, she was acting like a loyal pet.
And when he brushed her lower back like petting a cat, he noticed a slight, tense shiver.
He turned his head.
Black Yukino had her eyes slightly closed, long lashes trembling.
It wasn't just her in there.
Kuzeha's eyes flickered with realization, and a playful smile curled on his lips.
He scratched her chin and adjusted her sensory perception.
Three seconds later...
Black Yukino's mouth parted involuntarily, revealing beast like but cute little fangs.
"Mm~ meow..."
This meow had a distinct tremble to it.
Her cheeks had turned crimson, and in her golden, vertical-slit eyes, he saw a flicker of girlish shyness.
"A little kitty should know how to make her master feel good."
"Come on, I'll teach you how to play a game..."
He fastened a red spiked collar around her neck, took out a black whip, and a few toys borrowed from Mrs. Izumi—and began teasing Black Yukino with great interest.
At first, she resisted slightly.
But soon, she was fully enjoying herself.
So much so that Kuzeha, caught off guard, even felt a small tongue lick the corner of his lips.
Just then, he got a message from Haruno.
"Black Yukino escaped from the Yukinoshita house again..."
He glanced at the girl in his arms.
She didn't look like she'd escaped—more like she'd deliberately come here.
"I found her. Come pick her up."
Kuzeha removed the toys and gear, patted her head.
"Haruno's coming to get you. We'll play again next time..."
...
The next morning.
Yukinoshita residence.
Still a bit sleepy, Haruno walked up to Yukino.
"Did you dream about anything last night?"
She remembered Yukino saying before that whatever Black Yukino did would always show up in her dreams.
Yukino looked up with a calm expression and shook her head.
"No."
Then she frowned slightly.
"Did I turn into a cat again last night?"
Haruno stared at her for a few seconds, then slowly shook her head.
"It's nothing..."
She figured telling Yukino would only stress her out.
Better to ask Kuzeha directly.
What she didn't see was this—
Just as Yukino turned with her breakfast tray, her skin, pale as white jade, flushed a deep crimson.
She really hadn't dreamed anything last night.
Because she hadn't lost consciousness at all...
Yukino touched her neck.
She could still faintly feel the sensation of being bound.
"Kuzeha-san really is..."
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