Taming SSR And UR RANK Superwomen-Chapter 74 — Lucía’s Gift

Inori Himiko’s apartment was exactly the kind of space that wastes nothing because it can’t afford to.

A single room that served as everything. The bed occupied the center with a practicality that wasn’t a choice, but a necessity.

On one side, a small desk with books stacked in no particular order. On the other, a shelf that mixed folded clothes with personal items, with no clear separation between categories.

The kitchen was a corner with two burners and a sink. The window faced the street and had the curtains drawn. Thomas was sitting on the bed with Inori’s personal diary open on his knees.

He wasn’t reading it quickly. He was reading it with the attention of someone looking for something specific without knowing exactly what it was, turning the pages slowly, lingering on some paragraphs more than others.

The front door opened.

Selene entered.

She was wearing her Neko cosplay, with black ears over her hair and the tail moving with her steps. She closed the door behind her and walked toward Thomas.

"Apparently Inori stands out quite a bit in the building. They know her." A pause. "They’ll be coming up in a few minutes."

Thomas closed the diary.

He set it on the bed calmly and looked toward the floor, where Lucía was sitting with her back against the side of the bed, hugging her knees with her eyes fixed on the wall across from her.

"It’s time to use Lucía’s gift."

Lucía didn’t look up immediately.

"That’s fine." Her voice was calm. "I already have my lie planned."

She let out a slow breath. Then she turned her head toward Thomas without standing, with an expression that was serious without being hostile.

"How long will I have to stay here? I have things to do at home."

"Only until Inori accepts the contract." Thomas looked at her. "I’ll make sure it doesn’t take more than a day."

Lucía looked at him steadily.

"And if it takes more than one?"

"Then you’ll stay as long as necessary."

Lucía held his gaze for a moment. Then she looked back at the wall.

Selene watched the scene in silence from where she stood, her hands together in front of her and the cosplay ears completely still.

Ashley passed through the wall with the natural ease of someone opening a door and materialized in the center of the apartment, slowing her movement until she stopped.

"They’re coming." She looked at all of them. "Three officers and one witness."

Lucía exhaled through her nose.

She stood up from the floor with a slow movement, brushed off her clothes with her hands, and walked toward the front door. She stopped in front of it and waited with her arms at her sides, looking at the wood as if she were calculating something.

Selene moved closer to Thomas and lowered her voice.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"I won’t know until I see it." He glanced at her briefly. "It’s an experiment. To test the limits of Lucía’s gift."

Selene looked at him.

"You put her in front of the door without making sure it would go well."

Thomas smiled at her.

"I already have a plan B. You can relax."

Selene didn’t look completely convinced, but she didn’t say anything else.

The doorbell rang.

Lucía waited. One. Two. Three seconds. Four. Five. Ten. The kind of pause someone makes when they live there and have no reason to hurry.

Then she opened the door.

The three officers were in the hallway with a witness behind them, a middle-aged woman with the kind of expression of someone who had been waiting for a chance to say what she knew.

The officer in front began to speak about Inori, about the fight outside the building, about the damage on the street.

Lucía listened with the expression of someone who had already had this conversation before and found it tiring but not surprising.

"Yes, yes." She interrupted the officer with a tone that mixed fatigue with resignation. "They’re my best friends. They always like to draw attention. They’re very immature."

The officer frowned slightly.

Lucía didn’t give him space to process.

"Just tell me already how much the fine will be for the mess." She let out a breath with the weariness of someone calculating an expense she already knew was coming. "So I can start preparing."

The officer explained the situation in more detail. The damage to the sidewalk. The witnesses. The nature of the conflict.

Lucía nodded with the patience of someone hearing something that confirmed what she already knew.

"It’s normal for those two." Her tone didn’t change. "They’ll come back later and I’ll scold them again for everything. Like always."

"Is Miss Himiko alright?" the officer asked.

"Yes." Without hesitation. "She’s my childhood friend. There’s no one inside the apartment right now."

The officer looked at her for a moment.

"Would you mind if we take a look?"

Lucía stepped aside with a gesture that was the visual definition of disinterest.

"Go ahead. Just don’t break anything or steal anything."

On the bed, Thomas felt Ashley tense beside him. She lowered her head slowly and pulled up the hood of her clothing, letting the fabric fall over her face. Selene didn’t move, but her hands tightened over her knees.

Thomas didn’t change posture.

The officers entered.

Their eyes scanned the apartment with the method of someone searching for something without knowing exactly what form it would take when they found it. They looked at the desk. The shelf. The kitchen. The window.

Their gazes passed over the bed.

Over Thomas sitting on it with the closed diary on his knees.

Over Selene beside him with the cosplay ears and tail still.

Over Ashley with the hood covering her face.

And they moved on.

Lucía walked in behind them, leaning against the wall, and said:

"You see? There’s no one."

"Why are you in Miss Himiko’s apartment?"

"We trust each other a lot, don’t get any ideas. I don’t like women!"

"That’s not what I meant, miss, I apologize," he replied calmly while writing in his notebook.

The officers spread out through the apartment. Lucía followed them with her eyes, her expression slightly furrowed, and then asked:

"What are you writing so much?"

"Don’t worry, I’m just recording your statement."

Lucía looked at Thomas. He shook his head with indifference.

"There’s no one," commented the officer who came out of the bathroom.

"Check under the bed too."

"Didn’t you hear there’s no one?" Lucía said angrily.

"Calm down, it’s just to verify everything. There’s no need to get upset."

As the officer approached the bed, the three of them tensed, then lifted their legs onto the edge of the mattress. The officer knelt, lifted the sheet, and pointed his flashlight into the darkness under the bed.

"Empty."

He stood back up and walked toward his companions.

Lucía closed the door when the officers finished going down the stairs.

She stayed in front of it for a moment with her hand still on the knob, listening to the sound of footsteps fading down the hallway until they disappeared.

Then she turned around.

Thomas was already standing, slipping Inori’s diary inside his jacket with a calm movement. Selene gathered her things in silence. Ashley pulled back her hood and looked toward the window with an expression that didn’t say anything in particular.

Lucía looked at all of them.

"And me?"

Thomas looked at her.

"You stay."

Lucía processed that for a second.

"Here." It wasn’t exactly a question. "Alone. In the apartment of a woman who was kidnapped."

"Yes."

"So that if they come back, there’s someone to answer." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Exactly."

Lucía looked around the apartment. The small bed. The two-burner kitchen. The window with the curtains drawn. She looked at everything with the expression of someone taking inventory of her situation and not liking the result.

"And if I have questions about what to say if they come back?"

"Improvise." Thomas walked toward the door. "You did it well before."

"That was luck."

"It was your gift."

Lucía opened her mouth.

Thomas looked at her directly, unhurried, not harsh but leaving no room for negotiation.

"Just obey."

Lucía closed her mouth.

She held his gaze for a moment longer, with the expression of someone who had three additional arguments prepared and had just decided that none of them would be of any use.

She exhaled.

"Can I use the food?"

"Yes."

"And the internet?"

"Whatever you need."

Lucía nodded slowly, with the silent resignation of someone who had accepted a situation without stopping to consider that it was completely unreasonable.

Thomas opened the door and left first. Selene followed him with short steps, casting one last glance toward Lucía before crossing the threshold. Ashley passed without looking at her.

The door closed.

Lucía was left alone in Inori Himiko’s apartment at two in the morning, with the silence of the building settling around her and the kitchen light as her only company.

She looked at the bed.

She looked at the kitchen.

She looked at the ceiling.

"I can’t believe my life," she muttered to no one.

Then she walked toward the kitchen to see what was in the fridge.