"Move over, Yuki! You're going to burn the rice," Hana barked, shoving him aside as they began preparing a simple meal for Luna.
"I was doing fine! It's called 'charred flavor'!" Yuki argued as he helped her chop vegetables. The tiny kitchen was filled with steam and the sound of bickering—a warm, domestic noise that seemed to make Luna feel safe. She was sitting at the small table, watching them with wide, curious eyes.
Suddenly, a sharp, rhythmic knock sounded at the door. Before Yuki could even wipe his hands, the door swung open.
Seri stood in the doorway, her expensive silk blazer and perfectly groomed hair looking completely out of place in the cramped, dusty hallway. She looked at Yuki, then her eyes locked onto Hana, who was currently holding a wooden spoon and standing very close to Yuki in the small space.
"Kyorin-san?" Yuki blinked, holding a half-peeled carrot.
Seri's eyes flickered from the apron-clad Hana to the messy kitchen, then to the small, bruised girl sitting at the table. A surge of protectiveness hit her, but it was immediately overtaken by a sharp, stinging sensation in her chest she hadn't felt before.
"I was worried you were dying," Seri said, her voice dropping into a dangerously sweet tone. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Hana. "I didn't realize you were so busy playing 'happy family' with an ordinary person."
Hana didn't back down. She raised her wooden spoon like a sword. "He was busy being useful, 'Princess.' Something tells me you don't know much about that."
The air in the room instantly turned electric. Yuki stood between them, realizing that facing Renjiro is easier than this.
Seri's green eyes flickered with genuine anger. "And who, exactly, are you to speak to a Kyorin with such insolence? Is this why he skips school? To play house with the landlady's niece?"
Apparently Seri had run a background check on everyone that lives close to Yuki, so she knew exactly who Hana was.
"He's skipping school to protect someone you don't even know exists, you spoiled Royal!" Hana shot back, her "Normal" status forgotten in a surge of pure, protective rage.
The air crackled. Yuki, still holding the half-peeled carrot, felt like an invisible force field was about to shatter between them.
Yuki gently placed a finger on Seri's forehead and looked her straight in eyes. Seri immediately began to calm herself, her face turned a bit red. "Calm down Kyorin-san, no need to shout or get angry. I like you a lot more when you're calm."
Seri blushed uncontrollably, she turned her face away and then spoke in a small voice. "Okay, I'll be calm."
Yuki turned and faced Hana. "And you. control that temper of yours, Kyorin-san is a friend and she's a good person."
"Well, she was the one who started it." Hana murmured.
"Kyorin-san, join us. We'll talk while we eat." Yuki said before returning to the kitchen to chop the vegetables, Hana followed him.
The four of them sat around the low table in the cramped apartment. Seri sat with her back perfectly straight, her emerald-green hair shimmering under the dim kitchen light like polished ivy.
"Open up, Kinatarou-kun," Seri said, holding a piece of glazed carrot toward him. "A body needs proper nourishment to sustain the ki, even one as... unique as yours."
Hana watched the display with a flat, unimpressed stare. She didn't launch a counter-attack or try to pull Yuki away. She simply sighed, leaning her cheek on her hand. "She's like a persistent mosquito, isn't she? Just ignore her Kinatarou-kun, or she'll never stop."
Yuki ignored the carrot and gently pushed Seri's hand back. "I'm fine, Kyorin-san. We have a situation on our hands."
He looked toward Luna, who was eating slowly, her movements robotic. Seri's playful demeanor vanished as her gaze followed his. She noticed the way Luna's collar shifted, revealing the edge of the black-and-white mark on her skin.
"That tag," Seri whispered, her appetite vanishing. "I've seen those schematics in my father's files. It's an 'Asset Identifier' from the Crimson Hawks. Kinatarou-kun, they only use those for high-risk biological experiments. Why does a child have one?"
"Because she isn't a child to them," Yuki said, his voice dropping an octave. "She's a harvest. Kira, tell her what we know." Yuki instructed the black box positioned on the table.
"The subject possesses the Null-Factor gene," Kira's synthesized voice explained. "The Crimson Hawks have been illegally extracting her blood to develop 'Anti-Kizo' weaponry. According to my data-leak analysis, her existence has been scrubbed from every public Vanguard registry. She is a 'Ghost Asset'."
Seri's face went pale. The Kyorin family were titans of the Vanguard industry, but they prided themselves on the "Hero" code. This was human trafficking under the guise of research.
Meanwhile Hana was probably the most confused human right now. Not only did she understand just a tiny bit, but the black box also added weight to her brain. Only now did she realise there was an AI among them.
"If the Crimson Hawks are hiding her," Seri said, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and fury, "it means Captain Takagi is involved. Yuki, he's an Archon. He's faster than any sensor. If he finds out you have her..."
Yep an Archon, the second strongest level in the Gamma part.
"He already knows she's gone," Yuki interrupted. "He'll be looking for her. Not because he cares about her, but because he can't lose his 'property'."
Seri looked at Luna, then back at Yuki. The flirting was gone. The "Royal" mask was gone. In its place was a girl realizing that the world she lived in was built on a dark foundation.
"If we keep her here," Seri said, "we are all targets. Not just Yuki. All of us."
She reached out, and for a moment, a small, vibrant green sprout bloomed from the tip of her finger. She touched Luna's bruised arm, and the sprout withered, transferring a faint, warm glow into the girl's skin. The dark purple of the bruise faded slightly.
Yuki's and Hana's eyes widened in shock. This was the first time Yuki had seen Seri use her kizo, she could heal injuries.
"What the heck was that?" Yuki's hands hit the table with a sharp crack, startling even the stoic Luna. "You're a healer!"
Seri regained her composure, though a small, proud smile played on her lips. "My Kizo allows me to manipulate plants and maximize their natural essence. I can pull the life-force from a sprout to mend cellular tiss...."
Before she could finish, Yuki was around the table. He didn't hesitate, grabbing her hand with a frantic sort of curiosity.
"Look," he muttered, showing her a shallow nick on his thumb from the kitchen knife. "It's still stinging. If you can maximize the essence, do it here."
As he traced the line of her palm, Seri's 'Royal' composure shattered. Her face flushed a deep, sunset red, and for the first time, her green eyes weren't sharp—they were wide and completely overwhelmed. "Kinatarou-kun... you're being very... direct."