The soft laughter and conversations in the corridor grew closer, and the messy scene of the desk drawer being rummaged through was clearly reflected in Wakaba Mutsumi's eyes—a few old sketchbooks were askew, and next to the scattered stationery lay Sakiko's beloved childhood hairpin.
The girl looked helplessly at Fuuki, her light green long hair seeming to carry a hint of panic.
Fuuki, however, remained calm.
Even if he were caught red-handed by Sakiko and branded as a "pervert who sneaks into a girl's room to rummage through her belongings," it was not an unbearable burden for him. In the grand scheme of things, this slight sacrifice of personal reputation was insignificant.
But... the band. The band project, centered around Sakiko, had just begun. Necessary trust and harmonious relationships—these lubricants were still needed.
'Tsk, why isn't White Snake's ability to stop time, rewind time, or accelerate time?' Fuuki grumbled emotionlessly in his mind.
'It's such a hassle to deal with the scene at crucial moments.'
A silent anger from White Snake emanated from the depths of his consciousness.
"Fuuki..." Mutsumi's voice was so soft it seemed it would be carried away by the wind.
"Saki is going to find out..."
"What should we do..." Her slender fingers clutched at the hem of her clothes, her gaze flitting frantically between the messy drawer and the closed door, like a fawn caught in a trap.
Although Fuuki had done all of this, Mutsumi, as his friend, was more worried than he was.
"Don't be afraid, Mutsumi," Fuuki's voice was low and steady, carrying a strange calming power.
"I told you, you came at just the right time."
Just as Mutsumi knelt down, fumbling to stuff the scattered items back into the drawer, Fuuki made a move that she had not anticipated at all.
His hand, with gentle force, lightly pressed on Mutsumi's soft head.
"?!" Mutsumi's body suddenly stiffened.
The next moment, a cold and powerful will, like an invisible key, precisely probed into the deepest part of Wakaba Mutsumi's spiritual world. Its target was the stand disc, which had always been suppressed by her other personality, Mortis, like a dormant volcano!
Buzz—!
An invisible current instantly coursed through Wakaba Mutsumi's entire body. Her amber pupils suddenly dilated, and deep within her eyes, fragmented azure electric arcs seemed to flash past.
Immediately after, centered around her, the air in the entire room suddenly rippled with a visible, pure, and translucent azure glow. This light was not dazzling, but it carried a fierce sense of energy, instantly filling the entire space!
"Since the 'Snake' can't do it, then let the 'Lightning' make its appearance."
============
Wakaba Mutsumi's spiritual world, a deep and dim psychic theater.
Center stage, a complete mess.
The girl Mortis, wearing a dusty indigo dress, lay sprawled on the ground in a large 'X' shape, panting heavily, her symbolic beret askew on her head.
On the huge television screen wall surrounding the stage, a "thrilling tokusatsu blockbuster" was playing on a loop:
In the footage, the valiant Miss Mortis (in a close-up shot, her face even had a few symbolic "battle damage makeup" streaks) was engaged in a prolonged "century-long battle" with a monstrous creature—Ride the Lighting—whose body was wreathed in violent azure electricity, its form grotesque and twisted!
The monster roared, electricity flashing everywhere! Mortis dodged and weaved, finally unleashing a "Justice Flying Kick" from above (slow-motion replay three times), and with a shout of "Mortis Hundred-Strike Kick," successfully knocked the beast to the ground, unable to rise again!
"Hoo... hoo... I'm so tired..."
Mortis on the actual stage wiped away non-existent sweat, proudly lifting her chin at the "victory screen" on the wall.
"Heh heh, it's me after all! One hundred more of these little monsters that only know how to generate electricity wouldn't be able to defeat me, Mortis-sama!"
Her gaze fell into the shadows below the stage—where there was a small mountain piled up with various old dolls. At the peak of the mountain, a large disc printed with Ride the Lighting's ferocious head was quietly inserted there, like a medal of victory.
Mortis stood with her hands on her hips, complaining angrily towards the disc, and also towards a certain absent individual:
"That hateful Togawa Fuuki! Such ill intentions! How could he force such a dangerous thing on Mutsumi-chan! If Mutsumi-chan hadn't cried so much while clinging to my leg (this is a non-existent memory), softening my heart, I wouldn't have helped you heal your hand! Truly ungrateful!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became, her small face puffed up like a steamed bun.
"And! Recently, this guy has always been trying to coax Mutsumi-chan into using this power! Hmph, he clearly has no good intentions! Mutsumi-chan is so innocent and kind, how could she control such a violent power? She'll definitely suffer a backlash! It's too dangerous!"
Saying this, she patted her chest, a look of "heavy responsibility" on her face.
"This dangerous power shall be safeguarded by the great, wise, and reliable Mortis-sama! Mutsumi-chan's safety will be protected by me!"
After speaking, she even gave a victory gesture towards the disc on the doll mountain, which she considered cool but was actually full of chuunibyou, her face beaming with the proud smile of a Pokémon trainer who had successfully captured a Pokémon.
However, the curve of her lips hadn't fully bloomed yet—
Sizzle—!!!
At the peak of the doll mountain, the large Ride the Lighting disc suddenly trembled violently without warning, and dazzling azure electric light, like a raging dragon breaking free from its cage, burst forth from the disc surface!
"Eh?!" Mortis's triumphant smile instantly froze on her face, her eyes wide open.
Before her brain could process this sudden situation, the violent current instantly condensed. The blue electric monster, which she was supposed to have "beaten to its knees, unable to rise again," actually emerged unscathed from the bursting electric light!
Its massive body, crackling with electric arcs, resembled a superhero making a flashy entrance in a movie... or rather, a supervillain? With an incredibly cool posture, it landed with a mighty "boom" on the stage floor in front of Mortis! Shards of rock flew!
Ride the Lighting, grandly resurrected!
And it looked fiercer, stronger, and more electrically charged than in the "movie"!
It lowered its head, its "eyes", entirely composed of pulsating electric arcs, firmly locked onto the tiny indigo figure before it.
"Aieeeeeeeee—!!!"
A sky-piercing scream, mixed with extreme terror and disbelief, echoed throughout the entire psychic space.
Mortis was scared out of her wits, her previous image as a "justice warrior" completely gone. She scrambled to her feet, rolling and crawling, and turned to flee.
"This isn't scientific! The script wasn't written like this, ahhh!"
As she ran for her life, she let out incoherent wails, her elegant skirt tripping her up.
"Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck, bad luck! Togawa Fuuki! I'm not done with you—!"
Mimicking kung fu movies she had seen in her memory, she let out a powerless shout and began to stage a grand escape on the empty psychic stage.
Behind her, Ride the Lighting let out a deafening roar, electricity surging, and began its pursuit. Every movement made the stage tremble.
However, just as Mortis was scurrying away, covering her head, believing the end of the world had come—
The monster's pursuit suddenly paused. It seemed to have received a higher priority command.
The violent electricity around its body instantly became docile and orderly. It didn't even glance at the disheveled Mortis fleeing. Its massive body suddenly transformed into a highly condensed azure electric light, and with a "whoosh," as if sucked into an invisible passage, it instantly vanished from the center of the stage.
Mortis, who was running head down, suddenly stopped: "...?"
She cautiously stopped, still shaken, and looked back to find nothing behind her.
"Eh? It ran away?"
She blinked blankly, a sense of exhaustion after surviving a disaster and immense confusion simultaneously flooding her heart.
"W-what was that... You scared me to death..." Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground again. This time, she was truly out of strength, left with a head full of questions and a burning rage to settle accounts with Fuuki.
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