Chapter 170: Are Little Chunan’s Fingers Really That Sensitive?

3:17 a.m.

When Yuki Asahi unlocked the door to Room 2103 with his key, he almost instinctively held his breath.

The apartment was deathly silent.

Only the entrance’s sensor light flicked on with a “click,” casting a cold glow that revealed the exhaustion on his face.

He thought Jiang Jian Yue should have been asleep by now.

But when he changed into slippers and rounded the partition wall at the entrance, his steps came to an abrupt halt.

The living room lights were off, but the Main Bedroom door was open.

The computer desk had been dragged to the Main Bedroom doorway, and the newly bought desk lamp was the only source of light, its dim glow barely outlining the room’s shape.

Jiang Jian Yue sat on the cheap computer chair, wrapped in a down comforter, unmoving, like a statue frozen in shadow.

The computer screen in front of her was dark.

She wasn’t working, nor playing, but simply… waiting.

Yuki Asahi opened his mouth slightly.

He had felt uneasy all night—after being “appointed” by Director He Tian at Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu, he’d been pulled into an emergency analysis meeting.

By the time he finally got away, the last train had already left.

He could have stayed at the Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu temporary dorm, but for some reason, he had walked all the way from Chiyoda back to Toshima, just to return to this empty “home.”

He didn’t know what he was expecting, or what he was afraid of.

“Yue…?”

He called out tentatively.

His voice sounded especially abrupt in the silent apartment.

The computer chair rotated with a faint “creak.”

Jiang Jian Yue suddenly sat upright and turned around.

The lamp’s light shone from her side, casting half her face in light and half in shadow.

She wore no makeup, her pale face heavy with fatigue, and those blood-red eyes seemed to be scrutinizing him—or perhaps looking past him at something else.

“Tch.”

Meiguan’s voice sounded.

“Back at three in the morning, reeking of sweat, coffee, and… oh? A cheap hit of adrenaline.”

“You little pet—were you out fighting? Or doing something dirty and physical?”

“Shut up.”

Jiang Jian Yue responded coldly in her mind, her gaze still fixed on Yuki Asahi.

“Something came up at Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu, meetings ran late, missed the train.”

Yuki Asahi explained simply why he’d returned so late.

Though after saying it, he felt it was unnecessary.

“Um…”

He looked away, gaze falling on the computer desk—the gift was still there.

“Happy birthday… though it’s already the next day.”

Jiang Jian Yue said nothing, picking up the necklace.

The cold metal felt icy against her fingertips.

Then she turned, back to him, pulling her chair a bit closer and tilting her head, lifting her ashen-gray hair to reveal the back of her neck, veined with red.

It was a silent invitation.

Yuki Asahi took both ends of the necklace from her, swallowing hard.

Cold metal, his equally cold fingertips, both touched her warm skin.

Jiang Jian Yue shuddered slightly.

“Tsk tsk tsk, can’t take it already? Are a virgin boy’s fingers that electrifying? Your body’s more honest than your mouth, woman.”

Jiang Jian Yue’s cheeks flushed hot.

“Click.”

On the second try, Yuki Asahi finally fastened the small clasp.

He let go, and the tiny Sun pendant fell quietly between her collarbones, hiding beneath the down comforter.

“Thank you.”

Jiang Jian Yue let down her hair, turning back around, her voice soft.

“N-no need to thank me! As long as you like it!”

Yuki Asahi waved his hands hurriedly.

“Mm.”

Jiang Jian Yue replied.

Her blood-red pupils seemed a little softer in the lamplight than before.

She gazed at Yuki Asahi’s face, filled with exhaustion and tension.

“Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu—”

She paused, searching for words.

“Is what they asked you to do… dangerous?”

“No! No!”

Yuki Asahi shook his head immediately.

“It’s about GSAC, they want me to join training.”

He selectively omitted the “captain” part.

“Training?”

“Yeah, like… fighting, tactics, stuff like that…”

“I see.”

Jiang Jian Yue nodded, not looking surprised.

She was silent for a moment.

Just as Yuki Asahi thought the topic had ended, she spoke again, her voice flat but serious.

“Yuki, listen.”

“I don’t care what you do at Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu… or what you’ll have to face in the future.”

“If you… run into trouble you can’t solve, or anything that makes you… uncomfortable…”

She looked straight into the boy’s golden eyes.

“You can… come to me.”

“…Don’t make… stupid decisions alone.”

Yuki Asahi’s heart trembled slightly.

She didn’t ask what he’d done so late, didn’t question why he didn’t reply, or complain that he’d kept her waiting.

She just told him—if you’re in trouble, come to me.

So cool.

…Okay.

He nodded firmly.

“Mm.”

Jiang Jian Yue seemed satisfied.

She yawned, exhaustion finally overtaking her.

“Go sleep.”

She waved her hand, as if shooing away a small animal.

“Then you…”

“I’m… sleeping too.”

Jiang Jian Yue turned off the desk lamp, clicked the mouse on the black computer screen (from Yuki Asahi’s perspective), then pushed the chair back to its original place.

“Good night, Yue.”

“…Mm.”

Yuki Asahi helped her close the Main Bedroom door.

In the darkness, Jiang Jian Yue touched the pendant, still cool to the touch.

“Hmph, decent taste.”

Meiguan’s voice echoed faintly.

“At least the craftsmanship on this pendant isn’t bad.”

“All right, get to sleep. That mountain of work tomorrow won’t disappear on its own.”

Jiang Jian Yue ignored her teasing, took off her clothes, and fell into a deep sleep, overwhelmed by fatigue.

She slept less than five hours.

At exactly eight in the morning, the harsh sound of her phone alarm rang out.

She snapped her eyes open, climbed out of bed, mechanically walked to the bathroom to wash up, and got dressed.

When she emerged from the Main Bedroom with a face that screamed “keep away,” Yuki Asahi had already made breakfast—simple fried eggs and toast.

“Good morning, Yue.”

“…Morning.”

They finished the nearly wordless breakfast in silence.

“I’m heading out.”

Jiang Jian Yue put down her plate, picked up the coat hanging on her chair.

“I-I’m going too. Training at Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu starts today.”

“Mm.”

At the entrance, they changed shoes, then walked out of Room 2103 together.

Downstairs, one went left, the other right, merging into the cold rush of the morning crowd.

After that, the days seemed to hit fast-forward.

Jiang Jian Yue and Yuki Asahi entered a subtle “cohabitation” state.

They lived under the same roof, yet were each busy on completely different battlefields.

Room 2103 became their transfer station and safe harbor in this bustling city.

Jiang Jian Yue’s life was completely taken over by the four letters “GSAC.”

Every morning at eight, she appeared punctually at her Jiang Jian Apartment “workstation,” not returning to Room 2103 until late at night, exhausted.

The European Union’s resistance was ultimately resolved through a kind of “compromise,” thanks to mediation by DRG headquarters and Morita Ao.

The European Union officially still resisted, but “tacitly allowed” ability users from each country to participate in their own name.

It was a relatively satisfactory ending.

Hopefully, nothing else would go wrong.

Additional sponsor clauses, global broadcasting rights, immigration arrangements for national teams… every item was a headache—if Nine-Tails Seiji could handle them all, she couldn’t afford to look useless!

“Daughter, you look like a corpse pumped full of caffeine.”

Meiguan’s sarcasm became her only “background noise” at work.

“But I like you this way… angry, irritable, yet forced to work hard.”

“This look—bearing humiliation for some dumb goal—is way more interesting than your usual dead-fish face.”

Jiang Jian Yue couldn’t be bothered to argue.

She just wanted to tear the “First Mascot Merchandise Pre-sale Plan” file in front of her to shreds.

Who brought this trivial crap up to the fifth floor? I’ll send them to scrub toilets!

When the New Year’s bell rang, the lights in Room 2103 were off.

Jiang Jian Yue was in the Jiang Jian Apartment conference room, eating New Year’s Eve dinner with a group of Homecoming Faction elites while watching real-time data from the Northern America Qualifier.

Yuki Asahi was at the Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu Ability User Training Base, huddled around a hot pot with exhausted “prospective teammates,” watching the Red and White Song Battle.

At the stroke of midnight, both picked up their phones at almost the same moment.

“Happy New Year.”

—From Yue.

“A new year has begun. Congratulations.”

—From Yuki Asahi.

After exchanging messages, there was no further conversation.

They were both too busy—so busy there was no time to feel the festive mood, or to think about that subtle sense of “missing” something.

The short winter break passed in a blur of suffocating busyness.

Tokyo’s snow melted and froze again.

The cold wind remained biting.

In late January, the Third Semester arrived as scheduled.

The school grounds, untouched for so long, carried the crispness of a winter morning.

Yuki Asahi, carrying his backpack, walked alone toward the Entrance Gate.

At the gate, he stopped.

Jiang Jian Yue had just arrived as well, coming from another direction at her usual unhurried pace—she hadn’t even gone home the night before.

She swore she wouldn’t work overtime, yet ended up doing it herself.

She looked the same as always, bandages around her neck, pale as if she hadn’t slept, her blood-red eyes filled with indifference toward the world.

Their eyes met in the air.

Yuki Asahi opened his mouth, about to greet her.

“Yuki-kun! Jiang-senpai!”

A lively voice cut in at the worst possible moment.

Kaori Onishi jogged over with her backpack, face bright with the joy of reunion.

“Good morning! How was your New Year… New Year’s break?”

Her words froze as she saw the almost indifferent expressions on their faces.

She felt… something had changed.

“Good morning, Onishi-san.”

Yuki Asahi spoke first.

He didn’t stop, just nodded to her and walked past.

Jiang Jian Yue didn’t even lift her eyelids, walking straight by Kaori.

“Eh…”

Kaori’s smile stiffened, and she stood there in a daze.

“What’s going on?”