In a certain hidden lab in Tokyo, Ryushi was studying how his body was transforming silently in his isolated jail when suddenly, he felt the air grow still and all sound disappeared from the world around him as Yuki appeared from the ground under him right in front of him.

"Yo Ryushi, you miss me?" Asked Yuki with his every creepy smile and Ryushi couldn't help but stare at the young man in front of him and felt tempted to test his new powers on him but he held himself back since he wasn't sure if the cameras were still working or not.

"What do you want?" asked Ryushi with a faint smile that didn't reach his abyssal dark eyes bringing a frown to Yuki's face as he said "I thought you would be much more intrigued in meeting me and hearing about what happened to the experiment on the moon"

Ryushi had a surprised look on his face as he asked " you went to space? Do you have the data of that experiment?"

Seeing that Ryushi finally started to show some real emotions, Yuki smiled smugly and said "Yup, I went to space, but I destroyed everything Teehee"

Ryushi had a few veins appearing on his forehead yet the faint smile on his face didn't waver at all as he asked "I see… what do you want then?"

'This guy is so careful… he doesn't get arrogant even after all the power he gained just because he can't understand the nature of my power. This patience… It's probably his greatest gift that made him the best assassin' Thought Yuki calmly as he analyzed Ryushi before he said with a smile "Don't you want to get out of this lab?"

Ryushi shook his head and said "I will leave when I make sure the condition of my body is in the right place"

Yuki blinked slightly at him before he said "Don't lie to me Ryushi, if you wanted, you could have left and built your own lab and experimented all you want without the need to hide from these idiots… you are not staying here for the experiment, at least not anymore, right?"

Seeing the cunning look on Yuki's face, Ryushi felt a shiver covering his heart and he barely held himself from ripping him apart as he thought 'He's right, why didn't I leave?'

The image of an innocent woman suddenly flashed through his head but he quickly ignored it and asked "What do you mean?"

Yuki shot him a lewd smile and put his hand around his neck in a bro-like manner and said "dude, it's obvious from miles away and I can even tell from my first visit here, you are only staying here because of that woman right? Ah love is quite the strange emotion"

"Love?" Ryushi tilted his head slightly at Yuki before he smiled slightly, this time truly genuine as he said "I don't think I could ever love, but I admire that woman and her resolve to care for strangers"

"Eh? I didn't know you were a fortune teller" Replied Yuki sarcastically to which Ryushi simply snorted and pushed his hand away from him before he said "Either way, you shouldn't keep bothering me"

Yuki paused slightly as he saw that this seemed to be as much as Ryushi was willing to open up with him despite their old 'friendship' so he let out a sigh and said "Ryushi, you can tell if someone is lying to you or not with a certain level of accuracy right?"

Ryushi stared at Yuki for a long time before he replied "Correct"

Confirming this, Yuki let out a sigh before he said "Then I will tell you the truth, this path you are walking will only lead you into a dead end full of regret and eventually death… and it will all stem from the death of that woman Aguri, and you won't be able to do anything to stop it"

Ryushi's eyes narrowed and he started emitting a terrifying aura as his hair started floating as he arrived instantly in front of Yuki and asked "What do you know?"

'This guy is scary' thought Yuki, although he didn't flinch at all as said "I'm here to change that"

Ryushi stared for a long time at Yuki's eerie green eyes and he could see that he was being truthful with him so he retrieved his aura and asked "sorry about that"

Yuki smiled slightly at him and said "I'm fine, it's good that I was able to catch a glimpse of your true emotions"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Ryushi's mind flashed with countless thoughts, including surprise at how Yuki reacted to his new monstrous form and he couldn't help but wonder 'This kid won't stop surprising me…'

After some hesitation, Ryushi eventually asked "What should I do to keep her safe?"

Yuki returned to his lewd smile and said "See, you are finally opening up" but Ryushi wasn't in a joking mood as he remained unresponsive and Yuki couldn't help but think 'This dick is annoying, should I just let him ruin his own life? Okay that's it, fuck the task'

Just as Yuki finished this thought, a notification appeared in front of him

[System's kind reminder: Failure to complete any of the tasks will result in losing one random skill or ability]

'Fuck you and your reminders' thought Yuki in annoyance before he smiled awkwardly at Ryushi and said "The good news is, if you leave this place, that woman will be safe and sound… I will be destroying this lab but don't worry, she won't be harmed"

Ryushi's eyes flickered eerily as he asked "What's the bad news?"

Yuki didn't hide the truth from him and directly said "There's a 1% chance that the dark matter generated in your body will go out of control if you remain alive after more than a year since the start of the experiment, this is the result of the experiment on the moon"

"So, I'm going to die anyway to preserve the safety of this world, right?" Asked Ryushi calmly as if he wasn't talking about his life and death which brought a genuinely annoyed look to Yuki's face before he punched Ryushi in the head, although the latter dodged it with unbelievable speed…

"What did you punch me for?" Asked Ryushi but Yuki simply snorted and replied "Just felt like it" then he turned to Ryushi and said "I won't let you die, so don't worry… I have a way to save you if your dark matter ever goes out of control but first, we need to stay in contact"

Ryushi seemed genuinely surprised as he asked "How do you plan to do that? Even I don't have a way to solve this problem…"

Yuki shot him a sarcastic look before he said "Yea, what a humble man, just accept this link first"

"What link?" asked Ryushi seriously as he finally felt that Yuki's words had a deeper meaning when he said that they should stay in contact and before he knew it, he felt a weird energy entering his head and his vision shifted to an unknown realm…

….

Meanwhile, in Yuki's new house, Chrestia began her duties and she soon understood what kind of trouble she landed herself in as Mashiro didn't give her any rest. At first, she had plenty of patience, but she was starting to lose her mind as Mashiro kept chipping at it slowly like a hard-working miner…

"Suzuno, dress me" "Sure, Mashiro-chan"

"Suzuno, hungry" "Sure, Mashiro-chan"

"Suzuno, thirsty" "Sure, Mashiro-chan"

"Suzuno, brush" "hmm? You want to brush your teeth?"

Chrestia was going to bring the toothbrush to Mashiro and yell at her for not being capable of even doing such a basic task but Mashiro shook her head so Chrestia tried to calm herself down and asked "You want to brush your hair? It looks fine though"

But Mashiro shook her head again and simply kept staring at her with her iconic dull look so she asked again helplessly "What do you need a brush for then?"

"Draw" Replied Mashiro while tilting her head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and Suzuno who was gnashing her teeth to the point that she almost broke them couldn't help but ask "Why didn't you say so from the start?"

Mashiro put a finger on her chin as if she was thinking hard about something before she replied "Yuki understands"

'Are you calling me dumb?' Suzuno felt like she was going crazy and she wanted to rip her hair off, and this was only the morning of the first day… ' I haven't even dealt with those demons yet I'm already being defeated by this little demoness…'

Letting out a resigned sigh, Suzuno brought her a brush and went to do the house chores… more like she ran away from Mashiro as fast as possible to take a breather, but not long after, Mashiro started calling her again

"Suzuno Suzuno" said Mashiro while holding the hem of Suzuno's dress and Suzuno couldn't help but ask awkwardly "Do you need anything Mashiro?"

'How in the hell was Emilia taking care of this girl on her own? She truly deserves to be a hero' wondered Suzuno as she heard Mashiro say "Follow" before she started leading her back to her room so she followed reluctantly while thinking 'I wonder how she's going to drive me crazy this time'

However, once they got to Mashiro's room, Mashiro calmly walked forward and showed Suzuno the painting she was working on, and the moment she laid her eyes on it, that famous assassin instantly froze as she asked "this is… me?"

Mashiro nodded silently while staring at Suzuno and the latter couldn't help but say "It's so beautiful, but why am I laughing in this painting?"

Mashiro paused slightly before she said "Suzuno appears sad when she's with me, so I tried to cheer you up by showing you how beautiful you look when you are happy"

Hearing this, Suzuno felt her whole world breaking apart as she stared at the girl she was complaining about all the time and a huge sense of shame mixed with happiness overwhelmed her heart as she thought 'I understand now why Emilia could take care of this girl for such a long time and why that guy Yuki is allowing her to live with him despite them being unrelated… This girl is a little treasure'

Then, with a genuine smile, Suzuno held Mashiro's hand and said "Thank you, I love it" which brought a slight smile to Mashiro's face… and this is how Suzuno made her first friend in this house of strange people… All the while Yurei watched all of this silently as he sipped on his drink and he couldn't help but wonder again

'Was I supposed to witness all of this or what? Well, It's Mashiro's fault for inviting me to watch her draw and then forgetting about me' thought Yurei with a sigh as he took his leave, all the while Suzuno and Mashiro didn't have any idea that he was there…'