May 30th, Tuesday.

At 6:00 AM sharp, the alarm on the bedside phone rang. Aozawa slid his hand across the screen to stop it, then flipped off the covers to glance at Inoue Orihime, who had shrunk to the size of a figurine. She lay there naked. Her form hadn't reverted to a pen, indicating the Power of Enlightening hadn't faded. Before falling asleep last night, he'd specifically transformed a pen into this shape. He wanted to see if the items he transformed had a time limit. It seemed maintaining it overnight was no problem. He wanted to keep it going, to see when Inoue Orihime's perspective would disappear from his mind, in order to judge the duration of the effect on transformed items. Even if Chitose accidentally discovered it, it wouldn't matter; he had already ordered Inoue Orihime not to speak and to just close her eyes if seen. Anyone who saw her would just think she was a very realistic figurine. At most, Chitose would be surprised by how realistic the figurine was, perhaps even noticing its body warmth.

Aozawa got up, took off his pajamas, and put on his black school uniform.

He stepped out of his room. "Good morning, Chitose."

"Mm." Morimoto Chiyoda replied with an enchanting hum. She was still engaged in complex yoga poses, demonstrating her flexibility.

Breakfast was already set on the kitchen counter.

Aozawa went to the washroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

...

After breakfast, Aozawa left home first. Morimoto Chiyoda still needed to tidy up the dishes and change out of her yoga outfit. Wearing that outside was almost the same as wearing nothing. She changed into a light yellow printed tank top with matching loose, light yellow sports pants. Instead of letting her long black hair hang loose as usual, she decided to tie it into a single ponytail, leaving only a long lock of hair framing each side of her face.

Morimoto Chiyoda locked the door and headed to Shinjuku Okubo. When she arrived at Hisamatsu Apartments, there was no bright sunshine; light rain was forecast for the day. But the sky was exceptionally gloomy, looking like it was holding back a heavy downpour.

Morimoto Chiyoda climbed the stairs to the second floor and stood before room 201, pressing the doorbell.

DING DONG. After a soft chime, the door opened. Okayama Buji looked exhausted, his eyes bloodshot from what was clearly an all-nighter.

"Did something big happen last night?" Morimoto Chiyoda asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

Okayama Buji smiled bitterly. "It wasn't just big; it was pandemonium. All twenty-three members of the Honmura group died in their office. The incident is tied to a case involving child trafficking, with accounts implicating as many as a thousand people. Among them are several notable political and business figures. Mayers, Hawkeye, and the assassination squad, Hidden Wolf, were all wiped out. Moreover, according to the autopsy report, Mayers seemed to have awakened a superpower during the crisis. However, just like Kojiro, the awakening failed. Sumitomo Taisei, the de facto controller of Sumitomo Group, shot himself at his seaside villa in Italy—though it's not quite right to call it suicide. Based on the conversation records from the time, Dio kept suggesting he should die."

Hearing Okayama Buji's rapid-fire account, Morimoto Chiyoda realized what a massive event had occurred while she was resting. "Dio made Sumitomo Taisei die over the phone? Is that superpower a form of suggestion? Or is it directly issuing commands to others?"

"I have no idea! I just really can't figure out why!" Emily, on the sofa, replied irritably. She had too much on her mind last night, with many things to arrange, which kept her awake. Even consuming sugar couldn't alleviate her inner anxiety and fatigue. She stood up. "Go through these materials on the table thoroughly and figure out what to do. I need to sleep; I can't hold on any longer! Staying up late is a woman's worst enemy!"

Staying up all night just playing games or watching videos—things that don't require much brainpower—isn't usually that exhausting. But for someone like Emily, who had been intensely thinking through issues all night, it was truly detrimental to her health. She knew it wasn't good for her, but when she got busy, such concerns were easily forgotten.

"Okay." Morimoto Chiyoda didn't say much, seeing Emily's expression, which was more volatile than if she were on her period. Refusing the task now would likely make Emily fly off the handle. Besides, she was very curious about what had happened last night. She picked up the documents from the table and began to look through them.

The table held Mayers's autopsy report, detailing the time and cause of death. There were similar documents for Hawkeye and Hidden Wolf, as well as testimony from Yuzuki Suzuko. Reports detailed the Honmura group members' times of death, the crime scene, Yuzuki Suzuko's request to cremate Mayers, and so on.

Dense data sprawled across the pages. Morimoto Chiyoda was patient. She didn't try to analyze anything yet, simply reading through the tedious details first. Only after finishing all this cumbersome information could she begin to speculate about what had happened and see if she could gain further understanding of Dio's ability.

「Brilliant High School, Class 2-C.」

In a classroom seat near the window, second from the back row, Phoenix Academy Maggie was restless, feeling agitated again. She knew she shouldn't have told Aozawa things that weren't meant for the world to know. But keeping such a huge piece of gossip to herself, unable to share it with friends, was torment. Little Sayuri and Makoto weren't suited to hear such bloody details. Hojo Tetsuji would be suitable, but he had no interest in such things. That guy was completely absorbed in his manga. That left Phoenix Academy Maggie with no choice but to suppress the restlessness in her heart and wait for Aozawa to arrive. She decided not to stare at the door like before. Instead, she'd pretend to look down at a book, to avoid seeing Aozawa and Ayatsuki Ayaka walk in together. And she definitely didn't want to see that smug little expression on Ayatsuki Ayaka's face.

Despite her irritation, Phoenix Academy Maggie had no way to stop it. After all, she and Aozawa were just friends, not a couple. That meant she had no right to declare to the other girls that Aozawa was her man.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Phoenix Academy Maggie turned, naturally pressing her chest against the desk as she folded her arms. "Good morning, Aozawa."

"Good morning, Maggie." Aozawa replied, taking his seat. "You look like you're bursting to share a secret. What's up?"

"You get me! There was a big incident last night. Lots of deaths in Shinjuku." Phoenix Academy Maggie lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Guess how many people died?"

"I'm not a fortune-teller. How would I know?" Aozawa replied with a smile.

Phoenix Academy Maggie spoke in a somewhat wheedling tone, "Go on, guess."

Unable to resist her coaxing, Aozawa thought for a moment. "Over a hundred?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Phoenix Academy Maggie's eyes. "Why do you say over a hundred?"

"Didn't you say a lot died?"

"Over a hundred is too many." Phoenix Academy Maggie retorted. "If that many had truly died, even the media would struggle to keep it under wraps. Don't underestimate how fast things spread on TikTok. It was just forty-three people, plus Sumitomo Taisei who died in Italy, making it forty-four in total!"

"Huh, that's indeed not a few."

"Your expression doesn't look very shocked." Phoenix Academy Maggie's eyes carried a hint of suspicion. Her eagerness to share this with Aozawa was partly a way to probe him. She suspected Aozawa might be Dio. Although she'd verbally dismissed the idea and wasn't constantly dwelling on it, completely trusting him was, of course, impossible. She still harbored a sliver of doubt. This was a common trait among girls. It's like how girls might say they don't care about something at all, but then bring up the most trivial detail years later. Phoenix Academy Maggie's suspicion was like that. Sometimes it faded, only to resurface when she felt like testing him again.

"Maggie, I didn't know them. What kind of sad expression do you expect me to make?" Aozawa rolled his eyes.

After thinking it over, Phoenix Academy Maggie realized he had a point. When she'd heard this news from Miwa Kazuki, she hadn't felt any particular sadness either. She continued, "Still, I have to give Dio kudos. The people who died this time were scum who deserved it, mostly Yakuza members, especially from the Honmura group, who were trading children to certain people with... special proclivities. The police arrested quite a few people, but some of the real masterminds who should have been caught still evaded legal punishment, their names disappearing from the lists. It's so damn frustrating!" Phoenix Academy Maggie cursed angrily. In her view, the Honmura group deserved their fate for orchestrating the trade. The buyers should have been punished severely, not some punished while others got away scot-free. "What a rotten country!"

"Maggie, your family's a big conglomerate too, right?"

"The Phoenix Academy family is different. My mother hasn't done anything heinous."

"Is that so?" Aozawa sounded skeptical. But he decided not to probe further. Interpersonal relationships were unavoidable in society; it wasn't like he could just go and kill Maggie's mother.

Phoenix Academy Maggie glared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," Aozawa said. "I, of course, believe that a mother who could raise such a principled young lady like you must be a good person herself."

"You better believe it," Phoenix Academy Maggie muttered, then her expression turned excited as she asked, "Do you know how Sumitomo Taisei died?"

"No idea."

"It was all because of a phone call! Dio has the ability to command people with his voice, and it was he who ordered Sumitomo Taisei to commit suicide. Now, people from the six major conglomerates are reportedly so scared they don't dare answer their phones. They're having all important matters relayed by text through intermediaries, fearing that the voice at the end of the line might be Dio's." At this point, Phoenix Academy Maggie chuckled, tapping his arm. "Just imagine it: those bigwigs who dominate the country's business world, jumping out of their skin every time a phone rings. Isn't that hilarious?"

"Yeah, it's quite amusing!" Aozawa's flat response made Phoenix Academy Maggie pout slightly. She pinched his arm gently. "You don't sound excited at all."

Aozawa shrugged. "Even if you put it that way, I don't really get their status or how important they are. Are they any different from ordinary people?"

Phoenix Academy Maggie arched her brow. "Of course, there's a difference! Sumitomo Taisei's death is like a major earthquake rocking the country. Everyone's trying to find out the exact reasons behind it. We can't keep the CIA in the dark about the truth regarding Dio anymore. Things are going to get a lot more complicated."