After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Italy, Millefiore Headquarters

The modern skyscrapers clustered together, with the tallest one being the first to reflect the morning sunlight. On the top floor’s lounge area, a man in a snow-white three-piece suit walked out of a room, carrying a pure white uniform. Because his hair was so close in color to his clothes, the purple crown-shaped tattoo under his left eye was particularly striking.

“Lord Byakuran! Emergency!”

From down the hall, a long-haired woman with dark skin and pink hair rushed over, clutching a file. “A report from Japan has come in. Our second batch of fifty Sturao Mosca units, secretly transported to Tokyo, suffered a devastating blow half an hour ago, and not a single video of the attack was sent back to the technical department—”

“Based on our intelligence analysis, we suspect the Vongola family launched a preemptive strike against us. Should we convene an emergency combat meeting for the Black Spell and White Spell units?”

The woman’s precise report made the man’s lips curve into a smile. After her urgent words, his eyes narrowed into crescents, and his voice, in sharp contrast, was light and relaxed.

“A Vongola preemptive strike?”

“Hahaha, that’s impossible. That timid Tsuna-kun went to the lengths of completely destroying the Vongola Rings just to avoid this war… He should be tearing his hair out right now over the non-Tri-ni-sette ray torture his tutor is enduring. How would he have time to run off to Japan?”

“Then—” the pink-haired woman hesitantly continued.

“Never mind. The time has come.” Byakuran smiled faintly at her. “I’ve played with them for so long, and Tsuna-kun hasn’t given me any surprises. To punish him, let’s first reclaim the pacifiers held by the Arcobaleno.”

The woman answered expressionlessly, “Yes. I will immediately relay your command to the Black Spell and White Spell units.”

…

Eastern Block 2, Tokyo, Japan

Jin Chaoyan patted her newly recovered white clutch. The once pristine exterior was now stained with dirt from being lost during the kidnapping, a sight that infuriated her. But the moment she took out her cushion compact and looked in the mirror, she forgot all about the bag.

Her reflection was messier than she’d ever seen. Her lipstick was smudged and her makeup was running, not to mention the streak of dried blood on the side of her face beneath her right eye, all paired with her completely disheveled hair.

Agh!

Jin Chaoyan mentally strangled a scream as she looked at the madwoman in the mirror, thinking back to the moment she had looked into Hibari Kyoya’s eyes after the mist had cleared. He must have seen it! He definitely saw all of it!

“Ch-Chaoyan-jiejie…” Hemeizi, who had been clinging to her, saw the man who had descended like a god being surrounded by a bunch of black and white-clad enemies. She instinctively ripped off all the tape on her mouth and looked hesitantly at the woman who was wiping her face with a makeup remover wipe.

Hearing her voice, Jin Chaoyan glanced back and saw the tonfas in Hibari Kyoya’s hands alight with purple Flames. She then turned her attention back to the mirror, meticulously wiping away the last bit of dirt from her face with the cushion puff as she casually reassured her companion, “Don’t be afraid. They’re one of us.”

Hemeizi knew they weren’t enemies, and her gaze couldn’t help but linger on the man’s strikingly handsome features. But then she saw him strike a casual blow with his right hand, sending an enemy flying into a tree so large it would take two people to hug it. Her lovesick expression gradually froze.

“CRACK!”

The ring on Hibari Kyoya’s middle finger shattered under the strain of his excessive Flame output, breaking right in front of the surrounding Millefiore soldiers.

“His ring broke! Don’t be afraid, everyone!” They had initially been intimidated by this god of slaughter’s combat power, but their spirits were immediately reinvigorated at the sight of his broken ring.

The black-haired man “Tsk’d” in a foul mood. “Although I don’t need Flames to deal with you herbivores…” He put away his tonfas, reached into his suit pocket, paused for a moment, and then took out a men’s ring with a purple gem, sliding it onto his right middle finger.

“But I’m in a bad mood right now. Come at me, all of you.”

Hemeizi then saw that he hit people even harder. His weapons were now alight with purple Flames, and in the blink of an eye, he sent everyone who had surrounded him flying.

Aside from the mess and the unconscious enemies on the ground, the surrounding atmosphere was as quiet as before.

Suddenly, Hemeizi caught a glimpse of the woman next to her putting away her lipstick and hurrying toward the only figure left standing in the center of the battlefield, with a hint of urgency in her expression.

Hibari Kyoya sensed her presence and turned to face her. As she came to a stop in front of him, she kept staring at the still-burning ring on his hand. After a long moment, she asked with concern, “My 150 million yen gemstone that I just won at auction—is it okay?!”

As if in response to her words, a tiny crack appeared in the center of the purple gem a moment later. Jin Chaoyan’s expression stiffened, and her eyes clearly screamed: My heart is bleeding.

Hibari Kyoya raised an eyebrow, thinking about the amount of money this woman had spent in such a short time. He let a faint smile touch his lips and said, “Jin Chaoyan.”

He then added, “The lipstick you just put on is crooked.”

…

The Aftermath

Not far away, Kusakabe Tetsuya had just landed the helicopter and happened to catch their conversation. He suddenly froze in his tracks. What kind of couple is this?! It’s fine if they don’t have a touching reunion and cry tears of joy, but they don’t have to hurt each other, do they?!

After the misty illusion was broken, the police cars that had responded to the distress call finally found a way in. Seeing that both kidnapped women were safe, the police officers breathed a sigh of relief and offered to take them home.

“Chaoyan-jiejie…”

In the short time they had spent together, Hemeizi had developed a strange psychological dependency on her, and now that she was being rescued, she subconsciously looked at Jin Chaoyan.

The woman, who had been meticulously checking her makeup in the shadows for a while, glanced at the direction Hibari Kyoya was walking in and then at Kusakabe, who was dealing with the police. After a moment of thought, she told Hemeizi to wait and hurried to chase after the retreating figure.

The distance was only a little over ten meters, and Jin Chaoyan hadn’t even thought of how to address him. So, she simply walked up and gave his sleeve a light tug.

“Um, thank you for coming to save me.”

As the man turned to face her, she looked at his beautiful yet sharp phoenix eyes and said from the bottom of her heart.

“Hm?”

Hibari Kyoya wasn’t sure what she meant, but he glanced at her and replied unhurriedly, “If you really want to thank me, tell me what was going on with your eyes just now.”

Jin Chaoyan immediately let go of his sleeve and feigned ignorance. “What? What’s wrong with my eyes?”

“…”

Seeing her half-hearted, perfunctory acting, Hibari Kyoya chuckled, turned, and walked away, no longer paying attention to her.

Feeling that she had successfully escaped, the woman breathed a sigh of relief and was about to go back to the police car, but as she turned, she nearly tripped. She looked down and saw that her heel was stuck in a drain grate.

The last time, she had had a bad experience wearing high heels while shopping in Ginza, so this time she had specifically chosen low heels. But she never expected to fall into the same trap twice!

“Wait!”

She cried out to the man walking away.

Hibari Kyoya, thinking she had changed her mind, turned back in surprise. But he only saw her standing in place, her face flushed red, unable to say a word. She didn’t look like she was about to tell the truth at all.

After a moment of silence between them, Jin Chaoyan felt his patience was about to run out. She parted her lips, gritted her back teeth, and squeaked out a soft plea.

“C-can you help me? My shoe is stuck again.”

The man stood still.

She looked like she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself on the spot, knowing what he wanted to hear but choosing instead to put aside her shame and take a path she was not good at.

“Please, these shoes are a limited edition…”

“If you give me a hand, our family will save 600,000 yen…”

Seeing the growing amusement in his eyes, as if he were watching a play, Jin Chaoyan nearly ground her back teeth to powder. The “Anata” she had been about to say died on her tongue. Her expression became blank. She decided to go all in, thinking it was just another pair of shoes to ruin!

The person who had been struggling for a while gave up on her original plan and decided to go back to the police car in her bare feet. But because she pulled too hard, she swayed and almost lost her balance.

Good thing she grabbed onto…

Huh?

Jin Chaoyan blinked, seeing the distance between them suddenly close. She looked down at her hand resting in his palm, and then at her heel, and realized that her struggle had actually worked! She had saved herself!

The man looked down at her and said slowly, “600,000 yen. It’s definitely worth saving—”

His voice stopped halfway.

Jin Chaoyan had originally intended to leave immediately and forget everything that had just happened, but as her palm rested in his, she realized that despite his pretty wrist and finger lines, he had a thin callus in the web between his thumb and index finger and on his palm from holding weapons for a long time.

The strange sensation made her first rub her palm against his. Out of curiosity, she then used her fingertips to scratch his palm.

Huh.

“What are you doing?” a query came from above, its emotion unreadable.

“I—” The woman looked up and met Hibari Kyoya’s half-amused, half-smiling expression. She looked at her own actions and fell silent. After a moment, the anger from being laughed at for so long welled up inside her, giving her a strange desire to win. She feigned nonchalance and said defiantly:

“With our relationship, it’s not illegal to touch, is it?”

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