Tokyo: After years of stagnation, the heiress of the yakuza arrives.

Standing next to the barbecue stall, Kuroba Shido remained silent for a long time.

Kaoru Amamiya sat opposite him, holding a skewer of grilled meat in her hand. Her expression had gradually changed from "guilty" to "ready to kneel down." She watched Shido Kuroba look down at his phone and unconsciously leaned forward a little, like an old ox or horse ready to have "I was wrong" etched on its face at any moment.

Shido Kuroba remained silent.

He opened his call log, scrolled back a bit, and quickly found the unfamiliar caller that Amamiya Kaoru had mentioned.

time.

date.

Call logs.

Unknown number.

Kuroba Shido stared at the screen, his expression gradually becoming subtle.

Amamiya Kaoru quietly stretched her neck and peeked her head out from behind Kuroba Shido's shoulder, trying to peek at his reaction.

She is ready.

If things go wrong, apologize immediately.

An apology isn't enough; immediately kneel down in a sliding motion.

If sliding on her knees isn't enough, then we'll have to charge her for tonight's barbecue, even though it seems like she was the one who was supposed to treat us.

Kuroba Shido suddenly turned his head.

Amamiya Kaoru froze.

"Little brat."

Kuroba Shido looked at her and said, "Teacher, the way you're doing this makes you look like a pervert who's secretly looking at someone's phone."

Amamiya Kaoru immediately sat up straight, her eyes darting around.

"I don't."

"You have."

"I'm just concerned about the students' mental health."

"You seem to need mental health support right now."

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

She bit her straw, deciding not to bother with this brat for now.

Kuroba Shido lowered his head again, looking at the unfamiliar number.

He thought for a while.

Then, I dialed the number directly.

Amamiya Kaoru's eyes widened instantly.

"Kid, you made it through?"

"Um."

"No, shouldn't you think about it first?"

"I've already thought about it."

"How long have you been thinking about it?"

"Three seconds."

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

Is this what you call thinking about it?

That's what you call having your hands faster than your brain!

A dial tone came from the phone.

beep--

beep--

Meanwhile, at a Japanese restaurant not far away.

Ritsuki Sawamura was sitting at the bar, with a table full of dishes in front of her.

Sashimi, sushi, grilled dishes, miso soup—one after another, each dish so beautifully presented it looked like it had just been copied from a high-end gourmet magazine.

But Ritsuki Sawamura had absolutely no interest in appreciating the food.

She kept her head down, moving her chopsticks very quickly.

eat.

Restore energy.

After recovering my energy, I went outside to see what that hateful old woman looked like.

Then we'll figure out a way to get Shido Kuroba back.

Beside her, the elegant woman rubbed her slightly rounded belly while bravely picking at her food.

"Little pink-haired girl."

"what?"

"Do you think the process of regaining your strength is a little bit strenuous?"

Ritsuki Sawamura sneered.

"That's not called restoring your strength, that's called turning your stomach into a banquet hall."

The elegant woman: "..."

Just then, Ritsuki Sawamura's phone, which was lying next to her, suddenly rang.

The ringtone was abrupt.

In her already unstable mood, it felt like someone was hitting her on the head with chopsticks.

Ritsuki Sawamura frowned, and without even looking at him, hung up the phone.

Snapped.

The call has ended.

"It's annoying."

She lowered her head and continued eating, her tone somber, "Don't disturb me while I'm recovering my energy. After I finish eating, I still need to go and take back Kuroba Shido."

The elegant woman blinked.

"Don't you even look who called?"

Ritsuki Sawamura didn't even look up.

"I won't look."

"What if it's Kuroba Shido?"

Riki Sawamura paused for a moment.

The air was silent for half a second.

Then, she looked up at the elegant woman, her eyes looking at a naive and innocent girl who was daydreaming.

"Auntie"

"Um?"

"Have you been watching too many TV dramas?"

The elegant woman: "?"

"What a coincidence!"

Ritsuki Sawamura sneered, picked up her phone, and pressed the power off button.

"And if Kuroba Shido were to call me, I'd dump this plate of sashimi on your head right now."

The elegant woman fell silent for a moment.

She thought about it.

That seems to be true.

What a coincidence!

Kuroba Shido had just blocked her, but then he called the pink-haired girl again?

This is not reasonable.

That's completely unreasonable.

The elegant woman shook her head and picked up another piece of sushi.

"That's true."

Ritsuki Sawamura tossed her switched-off phone aside and continued to eat voraciously.

"Don't bother me."

"I want to get back to the point where I can pin that old woman to the ground and beat her up."

The elegant woman glanced at her.

"Little pink-haired girl, hitting people is illegal."

Ritsuki Sawamura bit into her sushi, her eyes filled with a melancholy.

"Hey old lady, didn't you just say you were going to solo kill Kuroba Shido offline?"

The elegant woman: "..."

She lowered her head and ate her food.

That concludes this topic.

Outside the shop, there's a barbecue stall.

Kuroba Shido raised an eyebrow slightly as he listened to the busy tone on his phone.

The call was hung up.

He was looking at the screen, and before he could say anything, his phone quickly popped up a new notification.

Unable to connect.

Hit again.

Shut down.

Shido Kuroba fell silent.

Amamiya Kaoru sat beside him, looking at his profile guiltily.

"Little brat."

"Um?"

"That girl... seems angry?"

Kuroba Shido glanced at her.

Amamiya Kaoru immediately raised the skewers in her hand, as if she were holding up some kind of temporary get-out-of-jail-free card.

"I'm just making reasonable inferences based on the responses over the phone; they might not be accurate!"

Shido Kuroba remained silent.

He looked down at the unfamiliar number, then at the number from which he had received a text message earlier that day.

They are not the same.

But the timing was too coincidental.

It's so coincidental that it's almost hard to admit it.

If this is the same thing, what does that mean?

This suggests that the girl did indeed know him, and that it's very likely that because Amamiya Kaoru answered the phone, a very dangerous misunderstanding arose.

If it's not the same thing, what does that mean?

This means he encountered at least two groups of inexplicable strangers today.

Kuroba Shido thought about it seriously.

Both possibilities are terrible.

The latter is even worse.

He put his phone away and picked up the skewers again.

"never mind."

Amamiya Kaoru was taken aback.

"never mind?"

"Um."

Kuroba Shido took a bite of the grilled meat, his tone perfectly calm, "It was probably just a typo."

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

She looked at Kuroba Shido.

Kuroba Shido continued eating.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Amamiya Kaoru was silent for two seconds before she couldn't help but complain.

"Little brat."

"Um?"

"No matter how you look at it, she's angry, isn't she?"

Kuroba Shido swallowed the kebab and looked at her.

"teacher."

"what?"

"What is the most important thing in life?"

Kaoru Amamiya answered cautiously.

"healthy?"

"wrong."

"money?"

"We're getting closer."

"What is that?"

Kuroba Shido was completely serious.

"It's better not to create trouble for yourself."

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

Kuroba Shido lowered his head and continued eating, his expression serene.

"Since she hung up the phone and turned it off, it means it's not a good time to communicate."

"Since it's not the right time to communicate, continuing to call will only make things worse."

"Since things are going to get worse, the best solution is for me not to fight."

Amamiya Kaoru listened, stunned.

She actually thought it made some sense.

But she quickly realized what was happening.

"Kid, isn't that just running away?"

Kuroba Shido nodded.

"right."

Amamiya Kaoru: "???"

Kuroba Shido's expression was serious.

"Teacher, running away is shameful, but it's very useful."

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

She was speechless for a moment.

Meanwhile, in a Japanese restaurant not far away, Ritsuki Sawamura was still eating her rice with her head down, completely unaware that the phone she had just hung up and turned off was being called by the very person she wanted to get back right now.

Even the elegant lady didn't know.

She was even seriously considering whether to order another serving of grilled eel later.

Under the cover of night, the two sides were only a short distance apart.

Smoke from the barbecue stall slowly drifted up.

The Japanese restaurant was brightly and quietly lit.

Kuroba Shido put his phone back in his pocket and bent down to break off a piece of grilled corn that wasn't spicy for Daikoku.

"eat."

Big Black hugged the corn.

Looking at the man and the rat, and then at the brightly lit Japanese restaurant not far away, Amamiya Kaoru suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

I don't know why.

She had a feeling that some big trouble was nearby...

"Teacher, stop thinking about it. Go and bake two more chicken skins for me, the kind that are a little charred..." Kuroba Shido said in a bossy manner, interrupting Amamiya Kaoru's thoughts.

Amamiya Kaoru: "???"

"Why should I help you? Go grill it yourself if you want to eat!"

"Okay, fine. What if I hadn't gone to the bathroom and received this call? What if I had come back earlier when I went to the bathroom? What if I had checked my phone carefully when I got back? What if..."

Shido Kuroba begins chanting a magic spell, indicating that he will absolutely not "pressure or blame" Kaoru Amamiya, absolutely not!

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

Damn it, my conscience is killing me!!!

"Okay, chicken skin, right? I'll grill it for you..."

"Oh, right, roast two more for Big Black, less chili..."

"Squeak—" Big Black nodded.

Amamiya Kaoru: "???"