Chapter 52

3 Pedaling through the school gates on his bike, Minoru headed not for home or the library but for Yonohonmachi Station on the Saikyou line. His encounter with Hazama had left him uncomfortable or maybe even anxious, if he was being honest; he wanted to talk about it with someone who wasn’t a Yoshiki High student, and the only people he could think of were the members of the SFD. Heading west past Cocoon City, the giant shopping mall near the school, Minoru got off his bike at the intersection and headed up the stairs to the overpass that straddled the Takasaki and Keihin-Tohoku lines. Popularly known as the “Omiya Hokosugi Bridge,” it was about ten meters wide and about 180 meters long, with white arches and kousa dogwood trees that made for an enjoyable view while walking across it. This bridge was just about the only way to get from the west side of the railway tracks to Yoshiki High, so Minoru had been crossing it every morning and evening for the better part of the year, but it was still perhaps his favorite part of the trip. Best of all was the view on the way home in the evening, when you could see the Super Arena towering against the backdrop of the twilight sky. Although the building was now tainted in Minoru’s memory by the vicious battle against Biter, he still thought the arena looked beautiful from the bridge. Gazing at the silver spaceship-like building now, Minoru was just approaching the observation area in the middle of the bridge when he suddenly froze. A faint scent on the cold north wind assailed his nostrils. Metallic, animalistic, this smell could only be— “……!” Minoru let go of his bike and jumped back, right at the handrails of the bridge. His bike fell over with a clang; the other passersby all turned toward him at once and gave him a strange look as he stood there in a guarded stance. Slowly, the pedestrians resumed walking. All except one. The figure was standing on the other side of the dogwood tree in the middle of the bridge, leaning against the handrail on the opposite side. A little shorter than Minoru, the person wore a long coat with the hood pulled down low, obscuring any facial features. A Ruby Eye in a hooded coat. Stinger. As the code name flashed across his mind, Minoru quickly inhaled and activated his “shell.” All the noises and the chill of the north wind vanished, replaced only by a deep, distant, rhythmic sound. His body floated barely an inch above the ground, and his view of the world was tinted blue. Although the shell was invisible to others, it was still risky to use his Third Eye ability when so many people were around. But he had no time to hesitate. If one of Stinger’s “spinebugs” entered his body, it would be virtually impossible to get it out on his own. His shell still active, Minoru looked down at the feet of the figure who appeared to be Stinger. As the coat fluttered in the breeze, he could see two slim legs underneath. Even a Ruby probably couldn’t regrow a torn-off leg, so it was probably a prosthetic, but it was impossible to tell just by looking at it. But—if he was appearing before Minoru again a mere three days later, had the objective of his curse really referred to his leg? It seemed pretty obvious that Minoru wouldn’t simply be walking around with it. So what was Stinger doing here…? As Minoru’s thoughts raced, the figure in the coat moved. The Ruby Eye walked straight through the soundless world toward him. Terror and uncertainty sprang to life in equal measure. Stinger’s three abilities—spinebugs, missilebugs, and wireworms—were all long-distance attacks, so there was no reason for him to approach an enemy who wasn’t already unconscious. And there was something else. It was hard to tell through the faint blue filter, but this person’s coat seemed to be a different color from before. Stinger always wore a bloodred coat that was actually an artificial living thing itself, but this person’s coat looked to be a dark gray. Still, Minoru couldn’t let his guard down. If this person kept walking toward him, he would have to prepare to use the only attack that had worked on Stinger—grabbing the opponent with his shell still active and making it “burst.” Minoru steadied his legs, raising his hands ever so slightly. At around the same moment, the person in the coat stopped about two meters away and made a completely unexpected move: raising a hand covered by an extra-thick skiing glove and lowering their hood. “Ah…?!” Minoru couldn’t help exclaiming. And yet, he simply stared at the other person’s face. This probably—no, definitely—wasn’t Stinger. With big, black-framed glasses and hair tied back in two plain pigtails, she appeared to be nothing more than a high school student. But he still couldn’t relax his guard—quite the opposite. The person in front of him might be even more dangerous than Stinger. She was considered the most powerful known Ruby Eye, an executive in the enemy organization “Syndicate”: the Liquidizer. Liquidizer, who sometimes appeared as a meek high school girl and sometimes a glamorous businesswoman, was now staring back at Minoru as her pigtails swayed in the cold breeze. Her fingerless-gloved hands were hanging loosely at her sides, so she didn’t look like she was going to attack, but a powerful opponent like her could probably shift from casual standing to combat mode in less than a second. But at the moment, they were in a stalemate regardless. Liquidizer’s terrifying power, which could turn any solid or semisolid matter—including the human body—into liquid, couldn’t liquefy Minoru’s shell. Liquidizer knew that, too, so why would she show herself to him like this? …A diversion? Was there a Ruby Eye hiding nearby who could break through his shell? Guessing intuitively that a surprise attack was coming, Minoru thought he should run or maybe even jump over the handrail and down onto the tracks. But before he could do either, Liquidizer opened her mouth. She seemed to know he wouldn’t be able to hear her, so instead she moved her lips in slow, exaggerated motions. Minoru wasn’t a particularly good lip reader, but after the second time, he managed to figure out what words she was mouthing. I…want…to…talk. I want to talk. “…Talk?” Minoru stared in shock for a moment, then quickly glanced to his left and right. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the immediate area who was going to ambush him. He looked back at Liquidizer doubtfully. “What could you want to talk about now…?” he murmured. In Minami-Aoyama, Liquidizer had tried to kill all of the SFD members present, himself included. During the Stinger incident in Ooi Futo Park three days ago, they’d been reluctantly fighting on the same team, but that didn’t change anything about their positions. Ruby Eyes killed humans, and Jet Eyes stopped them. The absolute nature of their opposed goals wasn’t something that could be resolved by talking it out. It had taken over a month for Minoru to finally realize this. But now Liquidizer gazed into his face, as if she were seeing right through him, anger and all. Then she moved her mouth again. Please. “……” Minoru gritted his teeth, struggling to regain his composure. There was still a very high probability that this was a trap. But Minoru did have one question he wanted—no, had—to ask Liquidizer, too: How had she known to wait here for him? If the Syndicate knew what school he went to and even where he lived, then he had to put Norie in the SFD’s protection immediately. Making up his mind, Minoru rummaged in the pocket of his Chesterfield coat. Then he produced a set of visible light communication wireless earphones, along with the matching speaker/mic, specially made by the SFD. He put one of the earphones in his right ear, looked around carefully again, then lowered his shell just long enough to place the mic at his feet. A two-centimeter-wide disc attached to a black band, it looked like nothing more than a wristwatch at a glance. Once he’d reactivated his shell, he nudged it with his foot so that it slid across the tile floor. Minoru waited for the woman to pick up the mic with a gloved hand, then spoke. “What’s this about?” The microphone inside the earphone converted his voice into a light signal, then beamed it out through a transparent cylindrical LED. Then the mic Liquidizer held received the signal, converted it back into sound, and played it back. Liquidizer raised an eyebrow for a moment, then held the mic up to her lips. Minoru heard her level voice in his ear, with a slight wet echo. “Could we go somewhere else first, please? We stand out far too much here. Especially with this mic flashing like mad.” The blinking light was inevitable due to the nature of the earphone and mic set, but he couldn’t deny that it drew attention. There would probably be more passersby soon, which would likely include Yoshiki High students, and therefore students who might know Minoru. In the worst-case scenario, Tomomi Minowa might even pass by and try to say hello. “…All right. But I choose the place.” “Of course.” Liquidizer nodded. Minoru paused for a moment. “Also, you’ll have to carry my bike. It’s difficult to hold on to it while I’m in my shell.” “…Oh, very well.” Liquidizer shrugged, clipped the mic’s band around her left wrist under her mod coat, and picked up Minoru’s bike where it still lay on the floor. “So where are we going?” “………” Despite his strong declaration that he would choose the place, Minoru couldn’t immediately think of anywhere in the heart of the Saitama New Urban Center where nobody else would go. He thought hard for a moment, until he finally came up with a suitable spot. “…This way.” Minoru started walking, and Liquidizer fell in step alongside him, pushing his bike. Minoru started to wonder how they must look to the people around them…but he quickly cut off that line of thinking. This was still a hypertense situation. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by meandering thoughts. Minoru had chosen an outdoor deck behind the Super Arena. The main entrance side was connected to a commerce center called “Keyaki Hiroba,” so it was usually crowded, but there was nothing in back, so few people would bother going there. They went down from the Hokosugi Bridge, parked Minoru’s bike on the sidewalk, and went up the stairs leading to the back of the Super Arena. As he’d expected, the deck here was deserted, with no one else in sight. “I see. An ideal spot for a private conversation, or a date.” Liquidizer smiled as she looked around the greenery on the deck, but Minoru wasn’t about to let her shake him. “If you’re just going to joke around, I’d like you to answer a question for me first.” “…All right.” Liquidizer nodded, and Minoru stared at her intently. “How did you know I was going to be on that bridge?” “Yes, I can see why that would alarm you. But don’t worry. I don’t know any personal information about you whatsoever.” “Then how…?” “The answer is right here.” Liquidizer pointed at the wall of the Super Arena that rose above the south side of the deck. “One month ago, the Ruby Eye ‘Biter’ died right here. Now, I personally had no interest in the man, but the cause of his death was a head injury and severe burns. Specifically, his entire head blew off, and his entire body was doused in gasoline and burned…” “W…wait a minute. Why do you have such detailed information?!” “Sorry, but that’s a question I can’t answer. All I know is that the Syndicate’s intelligence gathering is nothing to sneeze at. At any rate…his cause of death made me think that it was you who defeated the Biter, boy. Even with all its fancy equipment, I doubt the SFD would use explosives or firearms powerful enough to blow off the head of a physical transformation–type Ruby Eye in the middle of the city. So I imagine that Biter tried to bite through your shield with those beloved teeth of his, no? And since he couldn’t do that, trying to force it just destroyed his own head…” Minoru stared in shock; it was as if Liquidizer had been there to witness it herself. He quickly returned to his senses, but it seemed pointless to try to deny it, so he nodded. “…That’s right. He was extremely determined to bite through my protective shell. In the end, he turned the entirety of his head—even his brain—into muscles to try to bite harder…” “What a foolish man…and a pitiable one.” Liquidizer shook her head a little, then looked back at Minoru. “At any rate, I surmised that you must have fought Biter here. And at the time, I believe you were not yet an SFD member. Which means you must have encountered Biter by chance while going about your business. So I simply waited for you to show yourself in the area.” “Wait…that’s it? How long have you been waiting…?” “Oh, less than two days. I couldn’t move for a full day, so I’ve been here since yesterday.” “You couldn’t move…” Minoru was confused for a moment before it dawned on him. Liquidizer had been seriously wounded in the fight against Stinger. Even with her Third Eye parasite, it was impressive that she was already moving again. “…Are you all right now?” he asked without thinking. She smiled wryly and raised her left hand. “This arm is still broken, my kidney is hemorrhaging, and both of my hands are covered in burns and lacerations. But other than that, I’m fine.” “So that’s why you’re wearing those gloves…” “Yes, they’re wrapped up tight in bandages underneath, I’m afraid. It was quite an embarrassing failure, to be frank.” “No, his powers are just particularly awful.” Realizing as he spoke that it seemed like he was comforting her, he covered it up with a loud clearing of his throat. In any case, if her explanation was true, Liquidizer really didn’t know Minoru’s name, school, or address, at least not yet. The buttons on his uniform with the Yoshiki High School symbol were all covered by his scarf and coat, and the uniform itself was perfectly generic, so she probably wouldn’t be able to figure out which school he went to based on this information alone. “…All right. That explains how you found me. So…what did you want to talk about, exactly?” “Finally, we can cut to the chase.” Liquidizer held her left hand closer to her mouth, speaking softly into the mic on her wrist. Each time her pale-pink lips moved, the light inside the mic flashed dizzyingly. “It’s about Trancer, of course. I want information on him.” “………” The truth was, Minoru had suspected as much from the moment she’d mouthed I want to talk. In the battle at Ooi Futo Park, when Trancer was about to be killed by Stinger, Liquidizer had pleaded to Minoru—her enemy—to save him. Lying injured on the ground, she spoke to Minoru with desperation written all over her: I have something I want to protect, too. When Minoru agreed to her request, she cut the wireworms that bound Minoru, then appeared to collapse. But once the battle was over, she was nowhere to be seen. That was the night of January 3, so if her explanation was true, she’d slept all through the fourth, then kept watch over Hokosugi Bridge from yesterday until now. All this just to contact Minoru and find out what had happened to Trancer—no, there was probably more to it than that. “Is information really all you want?” Minoru asked stiffly. Liquidizer blinked for a moment, then gave a thin smile. “Yes, I suppose there’d be no point if the information wasn’t useful… I want to rescue Trancer from the SFD—no, the so-called 3E Committee. Before they kill him.” Her expression and tone were steady, but Minoru could see determination deep in her eyes. The will to accomplish her goals no matter what. Forgetting that his protective shell was active, Minoru instinctively took a step back. But he managed to stop there, responding, “They won’t kill him…I don’t think. When the SFD captures Ruby Eyes, they remove the Third Eye, erase any related memories, and release them. You know that, too, don’t you?” “Yes, I suppose they do in some cases. But it’s not a hundred percent guarantee…and even if they do release him, the result is ultimately the same, don’t you think?” “What do you mean…?” Minoru’s brow furrowed. Liquidizer took a step closer, pressing her gloved right hand to her chest as she spoke. “A Third Eye consumes the wounds of its host’s heart and grants them supernatural powers. If the host dies, the Third Eye bursts out and goes back to wherever it came from…presumably somewhere in space. But if it’s surgically removed, the ‘exodus’ still occurs, but the host doesn’t die. You Jet Eyes seem to believe that it’s the only way to save a Ruby Eye…but is that really true, I wonder?” “But there’s no other way, is there?” “Do you really think so? Stealing away the wounds of the heart that were, in a way, keeping a person alive, then leaving them with nothing but an empty hole, to live their lives in a haze without even the awareness to grieve…can you truly call that living, boy?” “………” Minoru bit his lip, unable to respond immediately. Living in a haze with an empty hole in their heart. That was exactly how Minoru had lived until recently. No, maybe that hadn’t even changed now that he was a Jet Eye, deep down. He carried an empty hole where his mother, father, and sister had been, living his life hunched over so that he wouldn’t remain in anyone’s memories. So could you truly call that living? “……But…” Minoru pressed his left hand to the center of his chest, as if mirroring Liquidizer’s movement. “But they still have to go on living. Or are you saying that they would be better off dead? Do you really think that instead of removing their Third Eyes and their memories, the SFD should just kill every Ruby Eye without exception?” “I would rather you kill them, personally.” Liquidizer spoke without hesitation, lowering her hand. “That said, I don’t know how Trancer feels…so perhaps I’m just being selfish. But I certainly don’t want Trancer to die, and I don’t want him to become an empty shell, either. I want to rescue him from captivity while he’s still himself. So of course I need information for that.” Her eyes glittered behind her black-framed glasses as Minoru stared back at her intently. “Do you really think I would help you after you told me that?” he croaked. “Well, I’m not asking you to do it for free, of course.” Liquidizer’s tone wavered for a moment, then she held up a finger on her gloved right hand. “I can give you a few pieces of information in exchange. For one thing…the Ruby Eye in the red coat—I call him X—the one who got away three days ago? I know where he is.” “Huh?” Although he’d just informed her that he wouldn’t help, Minoru couldn’t help leaning forward. “You… You know where Stinger is?!” “I see; so that’s X’s code name? I’ll go ahead and use that, then. Unfortunately, I don’t know his exact location, but I can at least point you in the right direction.” “…What do you mean?” “You remember at the safe house in Minami-Aoyama, where I trapped you and your little friend in some concrete?” “……Yes.” Minoru grimaced as he remembered. His “little friend” was Suu Komura, code name the Refractor. She’d been severely injured trying to free Minoru from the concrete and was still in the hospital in Hiroo. Fortunately, she’d awoken from her coma and was gradually recovering, but it would be another day or two before she was discharged. This just reminded Minoru afresh that Liquidizer was an enemy and not to be trusted. He kept this in mind as he listened to the rest of her words. “I left the safe house after I set that trap, but I preserved the concrete to make sure it wouldn’t liquefy until a certain amount of pressure was put on it. Although I can’t tell from a distance whether it’s actually liquefied or not…” Suddenly, he remembered Suu’s voice in his ear. Right after they were trapped in the concrete, Suu guessed that Liquidizer had “either set up a delayed activation of her ability or some sort of trigger that activated it.” The latter was correct, then. It was a terrifying power, but what did it have to do with where Stinger had gone? As if sensing Minoru’s doubt, the woman waved a hand. “What’s important here isn’t the preservation part itself. It’s the fact that my senses remain connected to the last thing I liquefied.” At that, he finally realized what she was getting at. “Ah…you liquefied Stinger’s coat back then… No, wait a minute, though. If it’s only the last thing you liquefied, didn’t you liquefy the wireworms around me after the coat?” “You have a remarkable memory. But do you remember which hand I liquefied the coat and the wires with?” “No, I can’t say I do.” “This isn’t part of the deal, but I’ll throw it in as a freebie. My liquefaction power works slightly differently in my left and right hands. I use my right hand for delayed activation and other sneaky techniques, so I used that on Stinger, while I cut the wires with my left hand. So I was able to continue sensing Stinger’s coat.” “…I see. Incidentally, what does the left hand do?” “Sorry, that information is sold separately.” Liquidizer’s lips quirked, but she quickly regained her composure. Then she pointed south, in the direction of Tokyo, as she continued. “Anyway, that explanation went on for a bit. But do you understand how I can tell you where Stinger is now, boy?” “Yes, I think so. If you know the general direction, then you can narrow down his exact whereabouts by using triangulation.” “Exactly. As long as he hasn’t gotten rid of that coat, that is…but I doubt he would do that.” Minoru nodded in agreement. The rubberlike red coat Stinger wore was no ordinary piece of clothing. It was essentially “living armor,” made of countless artificial life-forms called “wireworms” joined together. Liquidizer’s right hand had liquefied the coat, but it immediately turned into countless worms and fused back together. The coat could probably deflect a bullet with ease and hold up to high heat or extreme cold as well. By all accounts, these abilities seemed to go beyond the scope of any other Third Eye powers, but that also meant that surely Stinger wouldn’t just throw away such a powerful coat. It was probably safe to assume Stinger really was in whatever direction Liquidizer sensed. “And Stinger isn’t moving at all?” Minoru asked. Liquidizer nodded, although her brow was furrowed. “Not for the past two days. Even a Third Eye user couldn’t recover that quickly from losing a leg.” “Then we…” We should attack as soon as possible, Minoru almost started to say, but he fell silent partway through. Obviously, it would be foolish to give Stinger time to recover, but it wasn’t Minoru’s place to make that decision himself. “…All right.” Shaking off his reluctance to work with an old enemy, Minoru continued. “I’ll tell the SFD about your proposal and get their decision. How can I contact you to—?” “Don’t.” “Huh?” Minoru blinked as Liquidizer fixed an intense gaze on him. “Don’t contact the SFD, boy. There’s no way they—or rather, their ‘boss’—would ever agree to work with me…especially when my goal is rescuing Trancer.” “But…,” Minoru protested. “I hate to say this, but Stinger defeated Trancer without a scratch. It’s obvious which one is more dangerous. Surely they’d at least consider…” “If it were just up to the SFD, perhaps. Your commander is almost disturbingly rational. But the 3E Committee is different. All they care about is how their side can benefit the most from the Third Eye incident. They would never agree to release Trancer now that they’ve captured him, of that you can be certain. If anything, I imagine they’d pretend to agree and attempt to capture me, too.” “I’m sure that’s not…” But then Minoru stopped. Olivier had said something similar in his room just the day before. Since those bastards are always in some stupid power struggle, the Professor gets burdened with stuff that shouldn’t be her problem in the first place. Minoru fell silent, and Liquidizer spoke up in a strained voice. “It’s all well and good to trust your SFD comrades…but you mustn’t trust the 3E Committee. They won’t let someone with power like yours stay as simple field personnel forever. Eventually, I’m sure they’ll try to find a more convenient use for you…perhaps even something that has nothing to do with Ruby Eyes.” Minoru found that he couldn’t muster an answer. The memory of entering the reactor at the Tokyo Bay Nuclear Power Plant, which produced a massive ten sieverts of radiation per hour, was still fresh in his mind. Chief Himi and Professor Riri Isa had both protested against Minoru being dispatched there, but in the end, they were overruled. So how could he say for sure that they wouldn’t agree to Liquidizer’s terms only to capture her as well? “…But…I can’t do anything about it on my own,” he managed to mumble. “All I know is the building where Trancer is being held.” At that, Liquidizer raised her right hand again, this time holding up two fingers. “That brings us to the second piece of information. In fact, you could say that this is the main point.” “Wh… You mean it’s even more important than Stinger’s location?” “I do.” Liquidizer nodded, then appeared to hesitate for a moment before she spoke again… “‘Stargazer.’” That single word was all she said. When Minoru didn’t react, she murmured, “Ah, so you don’t know.” Then she paused a moment. “Repeat that word to Divider and…let’s see, Accelerator, and no one else. Tell them I want to make a deal.” “Huh? Just those two…?” Minoru thought of Olivier’s and Yumiko’s faces. Out of all the SFD members, they seemed to hold the most resentment against Ruby Eyes, so they didn’t necessarily seem like the right choice for conspirators in a secret deal with one of them… But as if she knew what he was thinking, Liquidizer continued, “Don’t worry. I chose those two for a reason. They won’t be able to ignore my proposal. I want you to tell them you met with me, as soon as you can…but don’t use your phone or e-mail. It’s possible the 3E Committee is monitoring both.” “Th-that’s ridiculous. Of course they’re not…” “You need to open your eyes, boy. Ever since you joined the SFD…no, ever since you were infected by a Third Eye parasite, you’ve been living in a world where common sense and convention no longer apply. The 3E Committee’s business department is gathering every single piece of data they can find on you Jet Eyes. From your favorite foods, to your test grades, to the manga you read, and even the type of girls you’ve dated, they’re analyzing all of it to find the most effective way to domesticate you. If it doesn’t seem like they’re meddling that much to you, then it’s only because they’ve decided to make it seem that way.” “……” Liquidizer’s words seemed so outlandish and paranoid, and so much like a friendly word of warning, that Minoru couldn’t simply nod in deference. “…Then how do you know I’m not being followed right now? Should you really be showing your face to me like this?” He’d intended it to be sarcastic, but Liquidizer gave a wry yet sinister smile and whispered her response. “If someone had been following you, I would have erased them before I spoke to you.” “……” Minoru was forced into silence again. In Liquidizer’s case, the word erased wasn’t just a metaphor. She could turn an entire human being into a puddle of protein soup and simply let them wash away in a gutter. Minoru’s spine ran cold again, but he tried to hide his fear by putting on a facade of bravery. “…I doubt even the 3E Committee could gather much information on me. I don’t read a lot of manga, and I’ve never once dated a girl.” “Oh my, is that true?” Liquidizer’s deadpan response made Minoru realize he could have omitted that part, but it was too late to take it back now. “So what if it is?” “Nothing, I just found it surprising… At any rate, I’ve said everything I came to say. Whether you tell Divider and Accelerator as I requested or spill everything to your superiors is up to you, but remember that I’m not someone to be trifled with.” Minoru stared at Liquidizer’s smug face. She was an enemy, of that there was no doubt. Just a week ago, she’d tried to kill Minoru, and he’d tried to do the same to her. Even so, the look in her eyes behind those black-framed glasses seemed unlike those of any Ruby Eye he’d fought before. Unable to stand the direct eye contact any longer, Minoru turned his head away before he responded. “…I’ll talk to Divider and Accelerator first. But if they say I should report it, then I’ll abide by their wishes.” “That’s good enough for me. Thank you.” Liquidizer smiled, produced a small phone from a pocket on her mod coat, and held it out to Minoru. “Use this phone, and only this phone, to contact me. My number is loaded onto it. Generally, short texts are ideal over phone calls.” “Ah…r-right.” Minoru nodded, then made a mistake bigger than any he’d made since this conversation started…no, perhaps the biggest in all his time as a Jet Eye. He reached out to accept the phone, then realized it would slide right out of his hands because of his frictionless protective shell, and so he instinctively deactivated the shell. His vision went back to normal, and the cold north wind and the sounds of the New Urban Center pressed in on him again. The phone slid from Liquidizer’s hand into his. Only when he felt its cool, hard surface did he finally realize what he’d done. Just then, Liquidizer quickly moved forward, bringing her face near Minoru’s chest. The faint scent of shampoo from her braids sent a below-freezing shiver through his body at once. She’s going to kill me— As fear overwhelmed him, he nevertheless scrambled frantically to reactivate the barrier. But then Liquidizer pulled away just as smoothly as she’d approached, looked at the frozen Minoru, and said something completely unexpected. “It’s faint, but…you have an interesting smell, boy.” “…Huh…?” Unsure how to react, Minoru simply blinked. It was sheer luck that she hadn’t killed him, and he would thoroughly berate himself for his carelessness later, but for now he was simply flummoxed. “S-smell…? But I showered this morning, and I didn’t have gym class today…” “I didn’t mean it like that.” As he gaped at her, Liquidizer took another step back. Her face was expressionless, but a calm whisper reached him on the cold wind. “…I’ll be waiting to hear from you. Until next time.” With that, the beautiful Ruby Eye turned abruptly and headed toward the stairs. As he watched her leave, Minoru had a thought. Should I try to tail her? But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he realized he’d be caught right away. He doubted that Olivier and Yumiko would agree to work with Liquidizer, but since he didn’t know what “Stargazer” meant, he couldn’t just reject the deal without talking to them first. Putting the small phone away in his uniform pocket, Minoru raised the sleeve of his shirt and gave a light sniff. As he’d thought, he didn’t smell sweaty at all. “…What did she mean, ‘interesting smell’…?” Grumbling to himself, Minoru started walking. He stopped in front of the stairs and thoroughly scanned the sidewalk below, but Liquidizer was nowhere to be seen. It was then that he finally realized she’d taken the visible light communication mic with her, but by then there was nothing he could do about it.