“So hot… “
Yuki Asahi’s heart sank, his voice tinged with urgency.
“Senpai, do you have any medicine? Did you take any fever reducers?”
Akimoto Miki had tried to come up earlier to force her to take medicine, but was scolded away by Jiang Jian Yue’s morning temper.
“Dining table… by the breakfast…”
Jiang Jian Yue’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s, almost exhausting her last bit of clear consciousness.
She felt like she was about to melt in this heat—-Ehehe…
So many, so many little red dots, I’m going to become a star in the forum…
Jiang Jian Yue was lost in her dream of being a forum star, too distracted to care about Yuki Asahi’s earlier out-of-line touch.
Yuki Asahi immediately got up and rushed to the dining table.
He held the breakfast tray in his hand, then took out the emergency medical kit and thermometer from the nearby cabinet.
He knelt down on one knee again, this time even closer, and carefully slipped his arm behind her neck, trying to lift her gently with the lightest touch.
“Senpai, sit up a bit and eat some breakfast first, okay?”
His arm inevitably brushed her shoulder and back through the thin blanket.
Warm softness passed through the fabric, carrying the dampness of illness, making Yuki Asahi’s face flush as if he’d been slapped several times.
Suppressing the storm in his heart, Yuki Asahi steadily supported her soft body.
Surrounded by the boy’s scent and body heat, that familiar sense of security swept over her again.
Mixed with the fresh smell of body wash, it actually soothed some of Jiang Jian Yue’s inner irritability.
Like a cat seeking warmth, she instinctively leaned closer to the support point, absorbing that tiny sense of comfort and coolness.
Yuki Asahi’s golden pupils shrank sharply, his breath pausing for a moment—as if even his heart had stopped in shock.
Senpai… I’m sorry…
One second? Or three seconds?
Every moment felt endlessly stretched, until he could hear his own heartbeat again… thunderous.
“No… chi…”
Jiang Jian Yue refused the bread pressed to her lips, her words slurred.
Because of that sense of security, Jiang Jian Yue’s mind subconsciously let down all its guard, becoming hazy.
Eat something to fill your stomach first.
“Don’t want it.”
The girl’s voice was softer than ever before, brushing Yuki Asahi’s heart with a numbing sweetness.
“Then just swallow it directly.”
Jiang Jian Yue closed her eyes and obediently opened her mouth a little, allowing a torn piece of bread to be gently placed inside.
“……….”
She no longer had the strength to resist.
After being fed, the pills and water were also swallowed down.
When she lay back on the pillow, her consciousness grew even hazier.
Yuki Asahi’s gaze fell on the white bandage wrapped around her slender neck—last night, Jiang Jian Yue had been too out of it, changed into a new nightgown but forgot to remove the bandage without taking a bath.
Now, the edges of the bandage were soaked with sweat, looking somewhat messy.
Yuki Asahi carefully extended trembling fingers, gently touching the edge of the bandage at the back of her neck.
The skin under his fingertips was hot and delicate, sticky with sweat, making his mind go blank.
Forcing down his inner turmoil, Yuki Asahi used the gentlest movements to slowly untie the knotted bandage.
The bandage unwrapped layer by layer, revealing Jiang Jian Yue’s fair, slender neck.
And the red patterns spreading from the back of her neck—now unusually vivid due to fever and sweat.
They seemed to pulse under her delicate skin like living things, exuding a strange yet fragile beauty.
Yuki Asahi’s gaze was instantly captivated.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen the marks on her neck, but seeing them this close, this clearly, was a first.
Desire.
“Senpai…”
He called out unconsciously.
His fingers brushed aside a few strands of sweat-soaked hair from her forehead, even more tenderly than when unwrapping the bandage.
In her daze, Jiang Jian Yue instinctively let out a soft sigh, as if in response.
“Mm.”
Yuki Asahi looked at her sleeping face up close—the usual coldness and distance completely gone, leaving only vulnerability and dependence.
The girl’s lips parted slightly as she breathed, her hot breath brushing against his wrist.
The dim room light outlined the girl’s gentle contours.
Yuki Asahi felt as if his body was moving forward on its own, extremely slowly.
The distance between them shrank in the silent air, close enough to count the shadows her eyelashes cast under her eyes, close enough to feel the subtle rhythm of her hot breath.
Time seemed to thicken.
In the dark bedroom, only the sounds of their mingled breathing remained, while the city’s background noise outside felt distant to the ends of the world.
The boy’s handsome, tense face hovered above the girl’s feverish cheeks, forming an extremely ambiguous posture.
Yuki Asahi lowered his eyes, his gaze involuntarily landing on her soft, enticing lips.
A scene flashed through his mind—the moment in Ikeda Kou’s space when Jiang Jian Yue unleashed her acting skills.
If, at that time, he’d been a little braver and moved his head forward just a bit…
Ah! What am I even thinking!
At a life-and-death moment like that, there’s no time for romantic nonsense!
But now?
A trace of pity and almost greedy desire flickered in Yuki Asahi’s lowered eyes.
Senpai, I told you before, right?
I’m a bad kid… taking advantage of someone is exactly what a bad kid would do…
The light between their faces slowly faded, swallowed by the closing distance.
Those patterns seemed to possess a certain magic, making it impossible to look away, stirring an indescribable urge to protect in his heart.
“Senpai…”
He called out unconsciously.
His fingers gently brushed aside a few sweat-soaked strands from her forehead, more softly than before.
In the midst of chaos, Jiang Jian Yue let out a small sigh as if answering.
“Mm.”
Yuki Asahi looked at her sleeping face up close—the cold detachment usually present was nowhere to be found, replaced by unguarded fragility and dependence.
The girl’s lips parted softly, her breath warm against his wrist.
The dim room light outlined her gentle features.
Yuki Asahi felt as if he was leaning forward without control, incredibly slowly.
The space between them narrowed, silent and still, until he could see the shadows of her eyelashes beneath her eyes and feel the faint warmth of her breath.
Time felt sticky and slow.
In the dark room, only the sound of their breathing remained, the distant city’s noise outside so far away it felt like another world.
The boy’s handsome, anxious face hovered above the girl’s flushed one, frozen in a charged, ambiguous pose.
Yuki Asahi lowered his gaze, drawn helplessly to her soft lips.
He remembered the scene from Ikeda Kou’s space when Jiang Jian Yue put on her act.
If only he had been a little braver at that time and moved closer…
What am I thinking?
At a life-or-death moment, there’s no time for these kinds of thoughts!
But now…
A hint of longing and greed flickered in Yuki Asahi’s eyes.
Senpai, I said before, I’m a bad kid…taking advantage of someone is exactly what a bad kid would do…
The space between their faces closed, and the last sliver of light disappeared.
But before the darkness completely consumed them, Yuki Asahi suddenly sat up straight.
What am I doing!
He gave a bitter laugh at himself, rubbing his flushed face.
Suddenly, the sound of the elevator door opening echoed from the entrance.
Yuki Asahi quickly stood up and put some distance between them—being misunderstood would be bad.
He turned his head and saw Koji Hattori, wearing a mask.
“Yuki-kun, aren’t you afraid of getting infected?”
Koji Hattori spoke softly, looking a bit unwell himself—apparently with a cold.
“Dumb tape, Moe Queen.”
Yuki Asahi had thought it was just a normal cold.
The two moved to the balcony.
Koji Hattori leaned against the railing, gazing through the curtain gap at the mound under the blanket, speaking in a muffled tone.
“Missy…seems more serious than us.”
“Eh? Really? Then why don’t you get her a doctor?”
Yuki Asahi asked.
“Missy doesn’t want injections…”
Koji Hattori squinted.
“Even the Head Maid was scolded to tears this morning.”
Eh?
Yuki Asahi found it hard to imagine Jiang Jian Yue as the type to throw a tantrum about not wanting a shot.
“Missy can be pretty stubborn at times. When she decides something, we can’t go against her… She’s just a high school student after all.”
The corners of Koji Hattori’s eyes crinkled, his masked face clearly smiling, as he muttered softly.
“I wish Princess Yue would scold me too…”
Huh?
Yuki Asahi shot him a strange look.
Ding-dong—
Koji Hattori took out his phone and glanced at a message, muttering.
“Ah…after a Parasite is infected, Runaway Energy gets suppressed to a negative value, and superpowers temporarily vanish…Majika?!”
Looking at the message from Morita Aoya, Koji Hattori skeptically used the ring on his hand to cut his skin—but the blood dripped out without forming a blood blade.
“Hiss.”
“Uh…I’ll get you a bandage?”
Yuki Asahi hurried back inside, grabbed a bandage from the medical kit, and returned to the balcony.
“Thanks!”
Koji Hattori thanked him casually, though doubt still clouded his eyes.
“Yuki-kun, if I remember right, Missy’s Runaway Energy was already negative, wasn’t it?”
Koji Hattori was that security company employee with a Runaway Energy value of 3000. He’d also been present during Tsuruoka Jun’s test.
“If someone gets infected with the virus…what happens?”
It was a tricky question. Yuki Asahi couldn’t come up with an answer.
But for something like this, wouldn’t it be better to just ask Mr. Taguchi?
Yuki Asahi called Takashi Taguchi. Coughing echoed from the other end—it seemed he’d also caught it.
“What…the heiress of the Jiang family? Got it, we’ll bring the equipment to check right away!”
…………..
Beside Jiang Jian Yue’s bed, a Curtain Cluster version Detection Device for Runaway Energy had already been assembled.
Compared to GPRI’s touchpad mobile phone and the Light Extinguishers’ wasteland-style button machines, the Curtain Cluster didn’t have portable technology—it was a PC paired with various medical-like instruments.
The locked GPRI Personal Terminals still hadn’t been successfully reverse engineered…
GPRI researchers who developed the Personal Terminal were generations ahead in anti-reverse engineering technology.
Xin’s hands tapped commands on the keyboard, the device emitting a low hum.
“Hmm… Runaway Energy is…”
Xin’s eyes widened at the numbers flickering on the screen.
“Negative ten thousand? How is that possible? Is the machine broken?”
Xin hit the keyboard to start a self-diagnosis.
The displayed number jumped to negative eleven thousand—and kept dropping.
Takashi Taguchi, masked, asked with a trace of doubt.
“What does that mean?”
Xin shook his head.
“Devourer G’s negative is fixed at minus one. Infected subjects also stabilize at minus one… Miss Jiang Jian… I’ve never seen a case like this before.”
He rubbed his nose, muttering.
“Only Parasite patients have shown severe symptoms. Normal people just get mild cases…and she’s clearly not a Parasite.”
He glanced at the Heart Worm stability display on the screen, which read ‘Heart Worm not detected,’ giving him a headache.
Just what is this person?
Judging by appearances, not even a half-Tunjiti…
Could it be something higher…
Impossible.
That form is extremely rare, and negative Runaway Energy shouldn’t even exist in those cases.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Suddenly, Jiang Jian Yue on the bed coughed violently, struggling to open her eyes, and saw the group of people gathered around her bed.
She silently pulled the blanket up to her chin with her fingertips.
“Get out.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s voice was hoarse.
Koji Hattori, leaning against the cabinet, hurried to shoo everyone away.
Takashi Taguchi and another GPRI staff member quickly packed up the equipment.
Xin stared blankly at Jiang Jian Yue, then suddenly stepped forward, bending down to look at the girl’s neck.
Suddenly, his vision went dark, and he felt his head being pushed up.
Yuki Asahi stared at him with open hostility.
“Haha…I was just curious…”