Shigure Kira tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
Sensing her movement, Maria gently extended an arm and pulled her into her embrace, patting her back as if soothing a child.
"Go to sleep. Don't think too much," Maria said softly, her fingers lightly stroking Shigure Kira's ice-blue hair.
Shigure Kira closed her eyes. The faint scent surrounding Maria drifted into her nose—a mixture of Honkai energy and a subtle fragrance that inexplicably made her feel at ease.
At this moment, Maria reminded her of Lady Cecilia from the past—so gentle, so reassuring.
Wrapped in Maria's warm embrace, the tension in Shigure Kira's body gradually eased.
A faint smile curved her lips unconsciously, as if all her troubles had been shut out beyond this warmth.
An unprecedented sense of relaxation washed over her. Her breathing slowly grew long and even, and at last, she sank completely into a sweet slumber.
On the other side.
Kiana stood at Susannah's door, hugging a pink rabbit plushie.
She wore a black nightgown printed with cute little white cat patterns.
"Susannah, can I sleep with you?" Kiana shook the plushie in her hands, her big eyes filled with anticipation.
"Ah!?" Susannah stared at the girl in front of her, her cheeks flushing uncontrollably.
Is Kiana planning to do something to me...? The thought had barely surfaced when she hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no, it's better to sleep alone!"
Kiana's shoulders drooped slightly as she muttered, "I just feel like sleeping alone is kind of lonely."
Susannah's heart suddenly tightened.
Lonely?
But why choose me of all people? We've only known each other for a few days... These questions circled in her mind. Watching Kiana's dejected figure as she turned to leave, Susannah impulsively called out, "Wait!"
Kiana turned around, her eyes sparkling. "What is it? Something else?"
Susannah took a deep breath and gathered her courage. "Um... Miss Kiana, do you like me?" The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them and wished she could disappear into a crack in the floor.
"Mm, I do." Kiana answered crisply, as naturally as if she were commenting on the weather.
Susannah's face instantly turned scarlet, even the tips of her ears dyed red. "M-Miss Kiana, sleeping together isn't impossible, but we can't do anything else."
"Do what?" Kiana tilted her head, blinking innocently.
Her clear gaze suddenly made Susannah feel that her own thoughts were ridiculous. The other girl probably just wanted company.
"N-nothing!" Susannah hurriedly looked away. "Let's sleep together."
We're both girls. Nothing should happen... right!
The next day.
When Maria saw Kiana and Susannah sitting together, she immediately understood who Kiana had spent the night with.
Still, there was nothing she could really say about it.
She had no right to interfere in Kiana's private life.
In truth, the two of them didn't have any particular relationship.
During this time together, Maria had felt that Kiana treated her own people warmly and kindly, and even took care of her.
Inside the laboratory.
As a government assassin, Nana Hiiragi had been locked up ever since arriving here, waiting to become a test subject and be placed on the operating table.
Unlike the others, who were crammed several to a room, she was confined alone in a separate chamber.
Through the specially reinforced bulletproof glass, she could clearly see those people in white lab coats—most likely members of this laboratory—being taken away by that purple-haired, large-breasted woman for experiments.
Having been observing all this time, Nana Hiiragi was searching for a chance to escape.
At the same time, she desperately wanted to clarify one thing.
Were her parents truly killed by superpowered individuals, or were they silenced by the military because they had tried to expose the truth about superpowered individuals and were tortured to death for it?
In the past, she wouldn't have believed a single word spoken by superpowered individuals. But now, she was nothing more than a lamb waiting for slaughter, with no value left to deceive or exploit.
Which meant the latter was most likely the truth.
I can't die here!
Nana Hiiragi possessed outstanding powers of observation and deduction. She could tell that these superpowered individuals—who seemed to have traveled from the future to the present—far surpassed ordinary humans in every aspect, and lacked the flaws and weaknesses of contemporary superpowered individuals.
Aside from those with enhanced physiques, most present-day superpowered individuals were no different from ordinary people once their abilities were gone.
But Shigure Kira and the others were different.
Beyond their superpowers, they also wielded other forms of strength—and it didn't look like just one kind.
If she wanted to get out, conventional methods would likely be useless.
She had to find another way.
Lowering her head to glance at her own body, Nana Hiiragi had originally thought this tactic wouldn't work on women—but that person...