It seemed that an unspeakable awkwardness had settled over the dining table.
Murata Ryusuke rose to his feet, straightened his cuffs, and stepped out of the private booth.
He halted, and in a reserved tone asked the receptionist: "Where's the restroom?"
The receptionist leaned against the doorframe, seemingly rather unwilling to even look him in the eye: "There's a public toilet nearby—turn right out the door, three hundred meters down."
"...There isn't one inside the restaurant?"
"There is." The receptionist nodded. "But Chef Kalpas's restroom isn't lent out to outsiders."
He added one more line—"Especially not to outsiders."
The corner of Ryusuke's mouth twitched.
He said nothing, turned, and walked off.
The sound of his leather shoes treading on the wooden floor of the corridor faded into the distance, the rhythm steady, but at least two beats faster than when he'd come in.
As the booth door closed, the cramped, dimly lit space was left with only two people—Su Yu and Himeko.
The oppressive tension in the air, originally strung taut by the clash of classes, instantly dissipated, replaced by something fermenting beneath the warm-toned spotlights—a tipsy haze belonging to mature alcohol and hormones.
Himeko leaned back against her chair and picked up the stemmed glass before her.
On its rim there lingered a smear of deep crimson lip print.
She set the glass down and propped her chin in one hand. Those eyes, which usually carried a hint of muddleheadedness, were now fixed on Su Yu across from her, swimming with a watery glimmer.
"To make the old man eat humble pie like that..." Himeko let out a soft laugh. "My dear little brother, you really are the very first."
As this half-teasing, half-admiring remark left her lips, Su Yu suddenly felt something brush lightly against his calf beneath the tablecloth.
Su Yu's body stiffened for half a second.
He lowered his gaze. Though the heavy tablecloth let him see nothing, the sensation traveling up his leg was extraordinarily distinct.
Himeko's stocking-clad toes were resting on his calf, the tips hooking faintly, tracing an unhurried, leisurely circle.
Through the thin fabric, Su Yu could even feel the faint, warm body heat radiating from the arch of her foot, wrapped above the shoe tip in ultra-sheer stockings.
Under the cover of the tablecloth, she had long since liberated her legs from their prim, pressed-together posture.
Her right leg lifted slightly at the knee, probing forward.
The wine-red bodycon skirt curled up dramatically with the motion, bunching at the root of her thigh.
That pair of legs, tightly sheathed in black ultra-sheer stockings, took on an extremely alluring, fleshy sheen in the dim light.
"So, how about it?" Himeko leaned forward slightly, the patch of snow-white skin at her chest flickering in and out of view at her neckline.
Provocation hung plainly at the corners of her eyes and brows.
"Why not consider... turning this little act with your big sister into the real thing?"
She paused, the tip of her toe lightly tracing a circle against the side of Su Yu's knee.
"Anyway, you're not spoken for right now, are you?"
Su Yu's throat bobbed once.
Faced with such a blunt invitation from a woman with a smoking-hot figure, radiating mature feminine charm from head to toe, it would be impossible to claim he had no physical reaction at all.
But reason told him this cup of wine was by no means an easy one to drink.
"Sister Himeko, stop teasing me."
Su Yu reached under the table and pressed down on that still-misbehaving ankle, the touch through the stockings smooth and warm.
"If I actually said yes to you, and that cat of mine at home found out, she'd claw my whole face to shreds for sure."
Himeko laughed even more openly.
She didn't pull back the foot Su Yu had pressed down; instead she borrowed the leverage, her calf rubbing lightly twice against his palm.
"Didn't you say yourself that there's nothing between you and your Little Junior Sister?" She tilted her head, her voice laced with laughter. "Or could it be that your junior sister keeps you on a tight leash?"
The temperature beneath the table seemed to be climbing sharply.
Su Yu felt that the bit of ankle gripped in his hand was like a scalding hot potato—he couldn't quite let go, yet couldn't quite hold on either.
This woman—a little alcohol and she showed her true colors completely.
If he stayed any longer, his good name might really not survive the night.
"Sister Himeko." Su Yu released his grip and dragged his chair back two centimeters, his expression grave. "If you keep this up, I really am going to consider calling the police. Does this count as—"
"Count as what?"
"A workplace injury."
Himeko burst out with a "pfft" of laughter.
Su Yu was calculating that another thirty seconds in here and this older single lady might really upgrade from "borrowing a little brother for a bit" to "taking him into outright custody"—
It was right at that moment that a buzz sounded in Su Yu's ear.
Bronie's voice came through the comms device, shattering the ambiguous atmosphere of the booth.
"BOSS, the Tiger Claw Gang has a large number of men massing toward your position. They're moving fast."
"How many?"
"At least three vehicles, fifteen to twenty people, currently flanking around several of the alleys near the restaurant—"
Before Bronie's warning could even finish, a clamor suddenly erupted outside the heavy black walnut door of the booth.
It was the ear-splitting screech of tires grinding violently against asphalt, accompanied by a dull crashing sound and a few crude curses.
Right after, Murata Ryusuke let out a shrill, terrified scream.
"What are you doing?! Let go of me! Do you know who I am—"
The voice cut off abruptly, as if someone had forcibly clamped a hand over his mouth.
Su Yu sprang up half a second faster than Himeko.
He shoved open the booth door and rushed into the corridor, Himeko following behind, the sound of her high heels striking the floor so frantic it had lost all rhythm.
Outside the restaurant door.
Ryusuke's driver was slumped on the curb, both hands clutching his forehead, blood seeping out between his fingers and trickling down the back of his hand.
The rear door of the black business van hung open, the interior empty.
Himeko stood frozen on the steps, watching the van vanish into the distance, her mind a complete blank.
"Boss." Bronie's voice sounded again through the comms. "Those Tiger Claw Gang guys have already scattered and pulled out, dodging the surveillance on the main roads—how's the situation on your end? Are you all right?"
Su Yu reached out and gently patted the shoulder of the still-trembling Himeko beside him.
"I'm fine."
Su Yu answered into the comms device in a low voice.
"But I think I have a pretty good idea who that poor wretch they were targeting is."
This sudden turn of events struck like a heavy hammer, slamming hard into the back of Himeko's skull.
A second ago, she had still been in the booth, riding the tipsy buzz of alcohol, teasing the young man beside her with her toes, scheming over how to fully claim this hidden, promising prospect.
A second later, that father of hers—autocratic, old-fashioned, forever provoking her temper—had, right under her very eyes, been stuffed into a car by a band of desperados as though they were dragging off a dead dog.
"Dad..."
Himeko's pupils contracted violently, her lips drained of color.
Her knees gave out, and her whole body pitched forward uncontrollably.
A powerful arm wrapped steadily around her waist, stopping her from an intimate encounter with the rough stone steps.
Su Yu half-cradled the limp, ceaselessly trembling Himeko in his arms.
The receptionist came charging out from behind, and at the sight of the blood all over the ground and the collapsed driver, his face changed.
"This old fellow couldn't keep his mouth shut—no telling how many people he's offended—"
Halfway through his sentence, a foot kicked him in the backside.
It was Kalpas.
No one knew when he'd come out from the back kitchen; his apron still bore the splotches of caramel that had splashed onto it while he'd been making dessert earlier.
"Call the police!" Kalpas roared, his voice so loud the stray cats in the alley bolted.
"Snatching someone right outside my kitchen door—these bastards are sick of living!"
Clutching his backside, the receptionist fumbled to dig out his phone.
Su Yu paid no mind to Kalpas's irritability.
With one hand he gently patted Himeko's back, trying to soothe her rapid, near-hyperventilating breaths, while raising the other to press against the miniature comms device hidden in his ear canal.
"Bronie, can you pinpoint the location of those cars?"
From the other end of the earpiece came the crisp pop of a bubble of gum bursting.
"Shhh—"
Right after came a whistle thick with mockery.
"Oho, what kind of orthodox hot-blooded shounen-manga development is this? Single-handedly rescuing a kidnapped father-in-law from the clutches of a gang?"
"BOSS, this plot arrangement of yours earns you serious bonus points. If that white-haired idiot found out, she'd probably be so moved she'd tearfully hand you a whole stack of 'good guy' cards."
"Cut the nonsense, get to business."
"Okay, okay." Bronie's keystrokes grew denser. "From the moment those Tiger Claw Gang guys started gathering, this Hack Bunny's stealth drone has been stuck to the top of their heads like a piece of gum."
"Just now, when that lead van fishtailed, my micro-tracker successfully planted a kiss on its rear bumper."
"Right now, that unlucky old man's GPS coordinates are lying obediently on my screen, with a margin of error of no more than one meter."
Bronie paused, the mockery in her tone reining in a little.
"But... seriously, BOSS. Do you really have to go wade into this muddy water?"
"Wouldn't it be just perfect to leave it to the cops? Wasn't that old guy looking down on you pretty hard a moment ago?"
"Letting him suffer a bit in the gang's hands, knocking down his arrogance—for your future standing in the family, it'd be all benefit and no harm."
Su Yu fell silent.
He lowered his head and looked at Himeko in his arms, crying like a pear blossom drenched in rain.
That face of hers, usually done up in exquisite makeup, was now a complete mess, washed apart by tears.
Su Yu looked at her for two seconds.
He thought of another person.
The Murata Himeko of another world.
Her father had also been named Murata Ryusuke.
That Ryusuke had died very early.
Himeko had rarely brought it up afterward—she didn't even know the truth of her own father's death.
But that thorn had stayed lodged there, lodged for many years, until she herself also—
"If the one standing here today were Kiana..." Su Yu's voice was very soft, as if answering Bronie, and as if speaking to himself, "seeing a scene like this, she absolutely would not stand by and do nothing either."
He could not let the Himeko of this world repeat the tragedy of that world all over again.
One tragedy was enough.
The comms device went quiet for two seconds, then came a nasal-toned "tch."
"The GPS signal's been pushed to your phone, updating in real time—big hero, good luck."
Su Yu stood up and helped Himeko over to a nearby chair, settling her down.
A female receptionist ran over, and he handed Himeko off to her.
Then Su Yu turned around and looked at Kalpas.
"Brother Kalpas." Su Yu looked at the man radiating an aura of fury from head to toe. "Lend me your motorcycle."
Kalpas sized Su Yu up and down, as though looking at a madman.
"You little brat..." Kalpas's voice squeezed out from between his teeth. "You think that's like going to the street corner to buy cabbage? That's the Tiger Claw Gang! A pack of desperados who kill without batting an eye! You're charging in there all by yourself—you tired of living?!"
"I know what I'm doing." Su Yu met Kalpas's gaze, his eyes calm. "Trust me this once, Brother Kalpas."
Kalpas said nothing.
Under the dim yellow light before the booth door, the muscles beneath his mask twitched violently.
The next second.
Without any warning at all, Kalpas abruptly twisted his waist and drove his hips forward; his thick arm carried a terrifying, air-tearing howl of wind, a heavy, powerful straight punch smashing right at Su Yu's face!
This punch held nothing back.
Had it been the Su Yu of two months ago, who could only hammer at a keyboard, this single punch would have been enough to shatter his bones on the spot and leave him spending the rest of his life lying in the ICU.
And yet, Su Yu did not dodge.
Not even the look in his eyes changed in the slightest.
Su Yu sidestepped half a pace, raised his left hand, splayed his five fingers, and steadily caught Kalpas's fist.
Palm and fist collided, giving off a muffled thud.
Su Yu's feet had not shifted so much as half an inch.
Kalpas's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints.
He could feel that Su Yu's palm was like a bottomless quagmire, dissolving every ounce of force in his fist clean away in an instant.
That extremely exquisite force-channeling technique and terrifying physical caliber were absolutely not something an ordinary person could possess.
This kid... when had he turned into such a monster?!
After a brief moment of astonishment, the corner of Kalpas's mouth beneath the mask abruptly split into an extremely ferocious arc.
"You've got guts."
He yanked his fist back, then with a reverse motion pulled from the pocket of his work pants a key with a metal skull pendant dangling from it, and hurled it forcefully toward Su Yu.
"Backyard—don't go scratching up my ride!"
Su Yu caught the key steadily, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Thanks, Brother Kalpas."
"Su Yu!"
Su Yu clenched the key in his palm and turned to leave.
Himeko tugged at the hem of his clothes.
She'd risen from the chair at some unknown moment, her eyes still red, lashes wet and stuck together, her voice as hoarse as sandpaper.
"What are you going to do?"
He turned his hand to grasp Himeko's in return, and gave it a gentle pat.
"Leave it to me, don't worry." Su Yu looked into her eyes. "I promise, I'll bring that annoying old man of yours back to you, safe and sound."
With that, Su Yu let go of her hand, turned, and strode toward the backyard of "Kindling."
In less than half a minute.
"VROOOM—!!!"
A savage roar of an engine, like an enraged steel behemoth, instantly tore through the dull night sky of Arc City.
An ink-black heavy modified motorcycle shot out like a streak of black lightning from the iron gate of the backyard.
Its thick exhaust pipe spat out a faint blue tail of flame, the rear wheel grinding madly against the asphalt, dragging out a pungent trail of white smoke.
Su Yu wore an all-black helmet, his body crouched low over the fuel tank.
The motorcycle surged onto the main road.
The engine's roar rebounded between the buildings, growing farther and farther, thinner and thinner.
At last it melted into the never-ceasing flow of traffic of Arc City after nightfall.
Himeko stood where she was, her hand still held in the posture of having gripped his clothes a moment before.
Kalpas walked over to her side, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze behind the mask chasing that vanishing taillight.
"This boyfriend of yours—"
Kalpas got out half a sentence, then stopped.
He looked down at the hand he'd used to catch the punch, fingers curling closed, then splaying open again.
"Not bad."
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