Finding out the location of the "Ability Crystal" from Therestina would be like pulling teeth; it was more important to her than her own life, as she delusionally believed she could use it to achieve Level 6 or absolute power.
Therefore, extracting information from a twisted obsessive like Therestina Kihara Lifeline required a psychological professional.
"Help? I never expected that Takahashi-san, the great Multi-Skill user, would ask a fragile, ordinary middle school student like me for help. How rare~" A playful, honey-sweet voice came from the phone.
Just hearing that voice, Yuuya could vividly imagine the adorable, mischievous expression Shokuhou Misaki was making as she twirled her television remote control.
"Although I have multiple abilities, I don't have any telepathy; that's my blind spot," Yuuya admitted. Internally, he wondered when the System's Treasure Chests would finally drop a psychological superpower so he could know exactly what girls were thinking when he flirted with them.
"So you want to use my Mental Out, huh? I won't even consider it if you're planning something nefarious~" Shokuhou said, feigning suspicion.
"Just how bad is my reputation with you? I've saved countless people, you know. In ancient times, I would be a legendary hero recorded in the history books," Yuuya's lips twitched. It seemed Shokuhou already had a terrible preconceived notion about a kind, righteous, and handsome guy like him.
Well, that was probably the result of letting her freely read his "memories."
"You saved the Misaka Sisters, so you can barely be considered a hero. But you also want to build a shameless harem or something. Boys are really unbearable," Shokuhou retorted.
She scoffed, though the truth was that almost every guy whose mind she read was filled with shallow, ugly lust. Among a thousand guys, there might not be even one "fool" like Yuuya who would not hesitate to risk his life to save clones who had nothing to do with him.
"Okay, what is it? But I'm not helping for free~ I don't want you to owe me a favor, nor do I want to owe anyone else, so let's make it an equal exchange," her playful voice chimed.
Yuuya covered his forehead with one hand and teased her. "Little Bee, we've known each other for at least half a year, right? You're clearly willing to help me, but you always throw up these little walls like 'Let's make a deal' or 'I don't want you to owe me' just to cover up your shyness. Oh my, you sound exactly like a classic tsundere princess. It makes me just want to hug you."
"U-Uh... are you an idiot?! Who's a tsundere?!" Shokuhou's genuinely flustered voice squeaked through the speaker. "Anyway, that's how it is! What's wrong with you?! You were the one who asked me for help! And you're still teasing me like this! Hmph!"
Yuuya's lips curled up into a smirk. He could easily picture Shokuhou blushing furiously as she gripped her phone.
"Okay, okay, it's my fault~ Don't be angry. Please help me out, and I'll owe you a big favor."
"Seriously, I can't do anything with you. Getting involved with you has really been my bad luck," Shokuhou grumbled affectionately.
"Do you want me to come pick you up?" Yuuya offered.
"No way! Are you trying to sneak into a middle school girls' dorm?! You pervert! I absolutely won't let you into the School Garden. If you come in here, it'll be like a big bad wolf running into a flock of defenseless sheep! We'd all be in danger!"
"Hey, that's going a bit too far," Yuuya muttered. How come he had never fully realized how sharp Shokuhou's tongue could be?
Oh, right... she spent half her free time mercilessly teasing Misaka Mikoto.
"I'll send you the coordinates. I was just a little worried about you walking around this late," Yuuya said with a shrug, his good intentions met with suspicion.
Sigh, being a good person is so hard. Maybe it really is better to just play the villain.
After the call disconnected, Yuuya used his Spatial Movement to instantly teleport to the coordinates Kinuhata Saiai had sent him.
He arrived in a brightly lit underground parking garage. Since ITEM's last armored RV had been destroyed in a previous battle, the Board of Directors had provided them with a brand new one. A high-end, heavily modified RV was basically the standard mobile base for ITEM.
However, this RV now belonged to the "Harmony" division. Aleister had also provided them with an official physical headquarters, though that base was located far away in District 13.
As Yuuya approached, the RV's electronic door slid open. He stepped inside and was greeted by the sight of seven girls lounging around, eating hamburgers and fries, drinking juice, and watching TV. They showed absolutely no signs of having just completed a high-stakes kidnapping mission.
Trussed up in the corner of the lounge was a woman with long magenta hair and glasses, dressed in a sharp business suit. Her mouth was heavily taped shut, and she was bound hand and foot with reinforced zip-ties. Although she was objectively quite pretty, her eyes were filled with a twisted, venomous malice. She made angry, muffled whimpering sounds when she saw Yuuya.
Therestina Kihara Lifeline.
The seven girls quickly made room for Yuuya on the main sofa. He sat down, spreading his arms and crossing his legs, casually draping one arm over Yakumaru Itsuki's shoulder and the other over Takitsubo Rikou's, thoroughly enjoying his new status as a Dark Side tyrant.
Itsuki forced a perfectly cute smile and politely handed him her cup of juice, while internally complaining, 'Ugh, pretending to be a subservient pet is so tiring.' Takitsubo, who had been sitting upright and looking characteristically drowsy, blushed slightly with embarrassment at the sudden proximity.
Kinuhata Saiai and the others pretended not to notice his blatant flirting. Kinuhata pointed a french fry at Therestina and said, "Captain, do you think this is super her?"
"That's her, all right," Yuuya nodded. "How did you manage to catch her so quickly? She doesn't look like she's been in a fight at all." He looked curiously at the Scavenger trio.
"This was super easy!" Naru suddenly got excited, bouncing up from her seat in a carefree manner. She misjudged the height of the RV ceiling, and with a loud thud, she bumped her head hard against the roof. She squatted back down, tears welling up in her eyes as she clutched her skull. "Owie! That hurts!"
"Idiot! Who told you to suddenly jump up in a confined space?!" Iisu Rita scolded her.
"Here's what happened, Captain," Rita explained proudly, turning to Yuuya. "We had formulated a meticulous tactical plan: Naru, Itsuki, and I would infiltrate the MAR facility to locate her, while Mugino launched a devastating feint attack to draw out their main forces. But unexpectedly, just as we finished finalizing the plan outside their base... we saw the target casually walking out of a nearby convenience store buying tricolor candies. So, Itsuki just hit her with a nerve-numbing gas capsule, and we tied her up."
"Mmph! MMMMPH!"
After Rita finished recounting the humiliatingly anti-climactic capture, Therestina thrashed against her bindings, her eyes glaring murderously at the Scavenger leader.
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