"Wipe your sweat first."
Su Yan smiled, took out the pack of tissues he had used during the psychokinesis demonstration earlier, pulled one out, and held it out to Busujima Saeko.
The girl's sweat-soaked strands of hair clung to her face, possessing an indescribable and unique charm.
"I feel like my body has lost its strength. Junior Su Yan, could you help me wipe off the sweat?"
Busujima Saeko felt a lingering attachment to the warmth of Su Yan's embrace from earlier, and her mind suddenly seemed to short-circuit.
Using the near-fall as an excuse, she spoke words to Su Yan that she would normally never let escape her lips.
Halfway through, the reserve and conservatism inherent in her nature began to return, causing her voice to grow smaller and smaller until it was barely audible.
Busujima Saeko lowered her head, not daring to look into Su Yan's eyes. Her youthful face was flushed crimson with embarrassment.
Su Yan saw everything. How could he not guess what was on Busujima Saeko's mind?
Her body had lost its strength?
It was just wiping sweat; how much effort could that possibly take?
Besides, he had only released Nen toward her; he hadn't actually fought her.
How much stamina could that have consumed?
"Sure. Do you need me to hold you as well?"
Su Yan not only accepted Busujima Saeko's suggestion but went a step further, taking the offensive.
Busujima Saeko didn't answer.
It wasn't that she didn't want to answer, but facing Su Yan's advance, her mind had begun to go blank.
Inside, she was screaming, 'Hurry up and agree! You stupid mouth!'
But when the words reached her lips, her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, yet not a single syllable came out.
Just how conservative was Busujima Saeko?
Put it this way: for female characters in the anime world, the usual school uniform skirts are typically 15 to 20 centimeters above the knee.
However, the skirt of the student uniform Busujima Saeko usually wore reached far past her knees.
This was an extremely rare occurrence among all female characters in her world.
Seeing that Busujima Saeko didn't reply, Su Yan thought back to this past year—every time he tried to get close to her, she instinctively took a step back.
Assuming she simply wasn't ready yet, he didn't push it. He picked up the tissue and silently began to wipe the sweat from the girl's face.
There was definitely a small sense of disappointment, but not much.
To him, having done much more intimate things with Marikawa Shizuka countless times, this minor contact seemed very ordinary.
But Busujima Saeko was different; she was still a virgin. An accidental touch like the one from before was one thing, but this was deliberate.
Asking him to help wipe her sweat was likely her absolute limit right now.
Su Yan wasn't in a hurry.
After all, Busujima Saeko had already formed a contract with him. Their future destinies were tied together, and there would be plenty of opportunities to bridge the distance later.
What Su Yan didn't know was that Busujima Saeko was currently kicking herself in regret.
She only needed to give a simple response or even just a slight nod to enjoy that warm embrace.
But why did her body have to be so useless at a time like this?
Just as Busujima Saeko was drowning in remorse, her body acted faster than her brain.
Her body went limp, and she leaned directly toward Su Yan.
By the time she realized what was happening, she was already being held in Su Yan's arms.
"Do you want to rest for a bit?" Su Yan asked.
The girl didn't answer; she just leaned silently against Su Yan's chest, greedily soaking up the warmth emanating from the boy's body.
For some reason, Busujima Saeko suddenly felt a sudden impulse to pour out everything to Su Yan.
Busujima Saeko took a deep, long breath and suddenly said, "Junior Su Yan, did you know? Back in middle school..."
"I know!"
Su Yan interrupted her mid-sentence.
What Busujima Saeko wanted to tell him was nothing more than what had happened during her middle school years.
He had already known about that even before transmigrating.
As for her intense desire for combat, he didn't see it as a problem at all.
Once the zombie crisis broke out soon, there would be plenty of zombies for the girl to satisfy her inner bloodlust.
Moreover, after over a year of getting to know her and combining that with the story he already knew, he understood what kind of person Busujima Saeko was better than anyone.
Busujima Saeko looked confused. "You know?"
"I know!" Su Yan replied firmly.
"You really know?"
Busujima Saeko stared at Su Yan, seemingly trying to confirm whether he was lying through those black eyes.
"Whether it's your past that no one cared about, the desires and confusion hidden in your body, or that deep-seated inferiority and cowardice in your heart... I know it all."
Seeing Busujima Saeko's persistence, Su Yan looked into her eyes and answered seriously, word by word, "There is no one in this world who understands the woman in my arms named Busujima Saeko better than I do!"
Every word from the boy pierced straight into the girl's heart.
A mist gradually rose in Busujima Saeko's eyes as if her soul were trembling.
It was as if a sudden electric current hit her body, traveling from the top of her head all the way down to every corner of her frame.
Inside her leather shoes, her delicate toes wrapped in black cotton socks curled involuntarily.
This was a wondrous feeling she had never experienced before, one that defied description.
It was at least a hundred times more intense than the feeling she got in middle school when she broke that stalker's bones with a white oak sword.
Only at this moment did Busujima Saeko realize that there were things in this world even more pleasurable than venting through reckless combat.
"Su Yan! Even though I am still weak compared to you, I, Busujima Saeko, hereby swear that from now on, I will use my life to protect you... forever!"
Busujima Saeko looked into Su Yan's eyes and spoke with a firm gaze.
After saying this, the usually conservative Busujima Saeko bravely went on the offensive.
The girl's technique was very amateurish, but the emotions contained within were more intense than ever before.
Su Yan did his best to respond to Busujima Saeko's passion.
After a long while, their lips parted.
Busujima Saeko lightly wiped the corner of her mouth, then pushed Su Yan away like a heartless woman who had just finished using him. "That's enough. You should continue teaching me Nen abilities."
Busujima Saeko knew very well that fulfilling her vow to protect Su Yan required strength.
If she indulged too much in the warmth he provided, the girl feared she wouldn't be able to stop herself from sinking into it.
"Alright."
Whether it was because of the kiss just now, Su Yan easily guessed what was on Busujima Saeko's mind.
The two smiled at each other as if an invisible thread were connecting them.
However, neither Su Yan nor Busujima Saeko noticed.
At that moment, the Nen seed within Busujima Saeko—originally formed by the contract—began to grow rapidly in silence.
No one would have expected that upon her first contact with Nen, Busujima Saeko had unknowingly established her own Vow and Restriction.