Chapter 51 — Operation Date Begins!
Sitting on the bus, Zen'in Maki clenched her teeth.
"I'd never lose to some first-year!"
She remembered saying those exact words back then—her furious expression now almost identical to the one she'd worn at the time.
But the whole thing had been a trap.
The guy sitting beside her now—Ren—did indeed possess extraordinary physical talent.
What Mai had not mentioned was that his physical ability vastly surpassed her own.
And more importantly—
Physical prowess wasn't the only thing he had.
How could she possibly win?
He was a monster who had nearly sliced a Special Grade curse in half with a single strike.
Maki was certain that even Mai herself wouldn't be able to beat him.
"Beat him first, then challenge me."
What a joke.
That had been nothing but a lie from the beginning—a hook designed to lure her in.
And she had swallowed it whole.
Sure enough, the very next day after Ren woke up in the hospital, Mai came looking for her.
"Remember our agreement, sister?" she said with a sweet smile.
"We never actually finished our match!" Maki shot back stubbornly.
But the confidence behind her words was thin.
She still vividly remembered being pushed to the brink—panting, barely able to stand—while that guy kept asking why she refused to fight with her full strength.
The cruel irony?
The one who hadn't been fighting seriously… was him.
If he had used the same level of power he displayed against the Special Grade curse, she would've been knocked down the moment the fight began.
"You're not about to tell me you think you could beat him, are you?" Mai asked lightly, unimpressed by Maki's resistance.
Then she shrugged.
"A bet's a bet, sister. You should honor it."
Looking at the girl whose face had turned bright red, Mai curled her lips into a confident smile.
"And besides," she added casually, "I heard that when you two appeared… he was carrying you."
"What kind of situation leads to that, I wonder?" she continued teasingly.
"Was it because you two were already hitting it off? Or maybe you defeated him and ordered him to carry you? Or perhaps… you couldn't resist at all and had no choice but to let him—"
"You—!"
Seeing Mai's words getting more and more outrageous, Maki stamped her foot in frustration.
"Shut up! Fine—I'll accept!"
"Just say your condition!"
"A date."
"What?! A date?!"
"That's right. A date."
---
And that was the condition Zen'in Mai set.
Maki had to go on a date with Ren.
As for when, where, and how the date would happen—Mai would decide everything.
That was how this hot spring trip came to exist.
When Maki first heard the condition, she almost thought she had misheard.
She couldn't figure out what her sister was plotting.
But a bet was a bet. She had lost.
And since she had lost, she had no choice but to accept.
She's probably just trying to disgust me on purpose, Maki thought irritably, recalling Panda and the others laughing when Ren had mistakenly believed she was incredibly strong.
Up ahead, a voice mixed with static rang out.
The tour guide, holding a loudspeaker, began checking tickets and counting passengers.
Maki snapped out of her memories and tightened her grip on the travel ticket in her hand.
Behind the tour bus, beneath the shade of thick trees, a tiny camera lens flashed with a faint glint.
---
At the same time, in the departure hall of Tokyo International Airport, Zen'in Mai glanced at the live feed from the hidden camera on her phone.
On the screen, Maki hesitated, looked around nervously, lowered the brim of her baseball cap—
…but eventually boarded the tour bus.
Mai slowly licked the corner of her lips and smiled with anticipation.
"Good. That's perfect, sister."
"If things go like this… we'll be able to stay together forever."
"Become a family again."
"Forever… and ever… never separated again."
---
Several hours later, Ren and Maki arrived in Echigo-Yuzawa.
Not long after getting off the bus, their group followed the tour guide into an old street district.
Blending into the crowd of strangers, Ren wandered around happily—looking at small trinkets, local snacks, and handcrafted souvenirs.
He browsed from stall to stall, completely enjoying himself.
Meanwhile, he and Maki kept a careful distance from each other.
Ever since boarding the bus, an awkward atmosphere had lingered between them.
They had barely exchanged a word.
Ren still felt guilty about the misunderstanding that had embarrassed her during the exchange event.
And Maki clearly had no intention of starting a conversation either.
But since they were already here—and since he was the one who had caused the misunderstanding—Ren decided he should break the silence.
He bought two candied hawthorn skewers.
One went into his own mouth.
The other he held out to her.
"Want one?" he asked vaguely, his words slightly muffled as he chewed.
Maki turned and looked at him, somewhat surprised.
"…Th-thank you."
After a short pause, she took the skewer and quietly started eating it.
And so—
The two of them stood there, each sucking on their own candied hawthorn.
The awkward atmosphere remained completely unchanged.
---
The awkwardness reached its peak when they boarded the cable car.
Now there were no noisy elderly tourists around to mask the silence.
The two sat opposite each other in the cramped cabin.
Aside from the faint rustling sound of the cable sliding above their heads, there was complete silence.
The quiet was deafening.
Ren opened his mouth, wanting to say something to lighten the mood.
Apologize?
He had already done that.
Not apologize?
But judging by her expression, she still hadn't fully gotten over the previous incident.
In the end, Ren couldn't think of anything to say.
So he simply closed his mouth, turned his head aside, and looked out the window.
The two of them, strangely in sync, each turned their heads in opposite directions—
Staring out through different windows, carefully avoiding each other's gaze.
It was midsummer.
Outside the cable car, the sky was a flawless blue, stretching endlessly across the horizon.
Below them, the forest spread like a vast green ocean.
Sunlight reflected off the leaves, forming a breathtaking view.
At first, it really was beautiful.
But scenery alone couldn't hold attention forever.
Before long, Ren started to feel bored.
And he suddenly remembered something Mai had mentioned:
This cable line was the longest ropeway in Japan—
5.5 kilometers long, taking about 25 minutes to ride.
Oh no.
How am I supposed to survive the remaining ten minutes like this?
Just as Ren fidgeted restlessly like a fish out of water—
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A thunderous crash erupted from the top of the cable car.
The next instant—
He felt gravity vanish.
The entire cabin—
No, the entire cable car—
Was plunging downward at terrifying speed.
"Ah!" Maki cried out instinctively, leaping up from her seat.
But the moment she stood, the cabin lost its balance.
The whole car began spinning.
Ren's body lurched forward uncontrollably, crashing toward her.
At that critical moment, Ren's eyes sharpened.
Cursed energy surged through his body, gathering near his shoulder blades.
"Void Path No. 3 — Void Wings!"
Two streaks of glowing blue light burst from his back.
Ren shot forward and grabbed Maki in his arms.