She had no idea who that girl really was.
In fact... Sakura Koishin couldn't even be certain the girl was still human.
She had a human body, human features.
She had human eyes, pitch black, not the Dark golden vertical pupils of an Aberrant.
But last time, at "Tsukimisato," the first time Sakura Koishin and Kirishika had met each other's gaze—
for one instant, she felt as though she were staring straight into the Abyss.
After leaving "Tsukimisato," Sakura Koishin had gone looking for information on that girl.
Unfortunately... apart from learning that she had shown up during the last Aberrant attack event, and had been hauled off to the [Investigation Bureau] police station together with Little Yuzu, there was practically nothing.
A moment ago, in front of Su Yuzu, Sakura Koishin had been all puffed up and full of swagger. Now a chill ran down her spine.
She looked at Kirishika, crouched on the ground, face tilted up toward Su Yuzu.
And at the girl crouching beside Kirishika, who looked almost exactly like her, only a little younger, wearing a matching black dress: the Seat of Evil.
The moment both girls turned their eyes on Sakura Koishin, she felt her whole body go wrong at once.
She dimly recalled being dragged along by the girl in front of her... soaking all night in a pond of cold water while she lectured her from the Cambrian to the Silurian, talking until her mouth ran dry and still not daring to stop.
That night... Sakura Koishin had gained profound feelings about the origin of life.
She even turned on instinct, ready to bolt.
Sakura Koishin had never been the stubborn, charge-headfirst type.
As a seductive bottom, when it came to backing down she was a professional. [Afterward, that is.]
The girl standing in front of her was simply a Demon King.
Su Yuzu blinked.
She had taken in every bit of the Interaction between Sakura Koishin and Kirishika.
The girl looked thoughtful.
Big sister Sakura—no, Auntie Sakura's reaction seemed awfully familiar.
Exactly like a pitiful Saintess whose weak spot had been seized, the moment she laid eyes on those Twisted holy crowns that bristled like caltrops.
Su Yuzu perked right back up.
But—!!!
The most critical matter right now... Su Yuzu watched Kirishika slap her thigh and stand up. "Eury... pterid?"
Su Yuzu's small face darkened, as if she too had recalled some rather unpleasant memories.
After all... that "Ten-Pull Search Voucher" was something she had gotten from a mission reward, earned by risking her life.
When she opened the Recruit, a rainbow shooting star had already appeared. Her consciousness spread outward in an instant, passing through an ocean that should have been shrouded in mist, racing straight for the far side of the sea.
Su Yuzu had been through the gacha pull process many times now, and every single time her consciousness seemed to become a top-tier mental-type Esper.
The world turned into dark-colored blocks.
All terrain lost its inherent color. It unfolded before her as pure spatial structure.
Her consciousness would weave through that dark landscape until it reached the place where the rainbow halo waited, meeting her six-star Operator for the first time.
And then... the character art froze into place.
Her mature teacher, pushing open a window and gazing up at the sky.
The childlike researcher standing at a crossroads, backpack on like a grade-schooler, chin lifted toward the heavens.
And her... flat-chested Sister, looking down over the whole city from a balcony.
Every time, it went like that.
But—
every previous Recruit had stayed, more or less, within the bounds of the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Su Yuzu's gacha had never once sent her consciousness traveling that far.
She had been brimming with anticipation.
Given a distance like that, she already knew it couldn't possibly be Tsukiyomi Fuya-senpai.
Even so, Su Yuzu had let herself hope... what kind of six-star Operator was waiting for her out there?
That far away...
Maybe a blonde twin-tailed tsundere girl, who would form a "Loser Dogs" bond with Soga Yura.
Or maybe a ballerina in the Grand Theater, pretty face set in cold composure, rising onto her toes to dance.
Or maybe a big-chested Aberrant Sister deep on the seabed, gazing up at the human world with cold, lonely Dark golden vertical pupils, a scornful smile on her lips.
Su Yuzu had hoped for a great many things.
But... never once had it occurred to her that her six-star Operator would turn out to be a piece of seafood that looked like it had just been dredged out of the ocean, slapping a soft, fleshy tail against the reef with a wet flap-flap, complete with a set of very strange walking legs.
Ingredients can show up in the search pool now!?
Was there no justice left in the world?
Back when the kodachi appeared in the search pool, Su Yuzu had already put up with quite a lot.
And now... groceries were showing up in the search pool too.
Such a big — in every sense — older girl, and all at once she'd turned into a piece of seafood flicking seawater around with a flap-flap.
Su Yuzu could not accept it.
If Su Yuzu ever found out which little cutie had made her lose the roll and get stuck with this piece of seafood, forcing her to sign that shameful contract with Tsukiyomi-senpai—
Su Yuzu would absolutely make her understand the meaning of pa! ra! dise! on! earth!
If it had given her so much as one "Holy Relic," fine, she'd have let it slide.
But... a eury-what?
She wasn't a paleontologist. What was she supposed to do with a prehistoric creature?
In the end, Su Yuzu's only hope was that among the girls she'd meet in the future, there might happen to be one who loved digging into paleontology.
Then she could use this flap-flapping sea scorpion to win a girl's heart.
She knew that whatever bizarre thing came out of the search pool, it would end up useful eventually.
But... Su Yuzu had never in a thousand years imagined—
that the word "eurypterid" would come out of Kirishika's mouth.
Like a trigger word had been tripped, the look Su Yuzu turned on Kirishika became extremely dangerous.
The newly awakened "Seat of Evil" stared at that terrifying Demon King and ducked behind Kirishika on reflex.
Kirishika, whose senses were linked with the "Seat of Evil," flinched by instinct too. "Wh... what is it?"
She hadn't been afraid of Yuzu before.
But right now... all of a sudden, she was a little scared.
"Earlier!!!"
"This big sister grabbed my hand and said, 'Do you know... the origin of life?'" Kirishika pointed at Sakura Koishin, trying to offload part of the pressure coming off Su Yuzu.
The instant Kirishika finished speaking, everyone present turned a distinctly odd look on Sakura Koishin.
A woman with a wife of her own, and she was still out here fishing for little girls.
"I— I was talking about the actual, legitimate origin of life!" Sakura Koishin saw the disgusted look Sakura Mai was giving her and hurried to explain.
If Mai went home and tattled to Tourei... she'd be unable to get out of bed again.
Of course—
Ahem, ahem, ahem!!!
From being beaten.
Su Yuzu stared at Kirishika.
Kirishika glared at Sakura Koishin.
Sakura Koishin looked back at Su Yuzu.
The food chain... closed loop.
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