Akira woke up in the morning with Mia still curled against him, breathing softly and evenly. Three toe-curling orgasms in one night must have pushed her to her physical limit, and she's still recharging.

The early morning light filtered through the curtains, painting the room in shades of grey.

He'd managed maybe two hours of actual sleep, but the Iron Glucose Recovery kept him feeling sharp, energised even. No grogginess, no exhaustion… just pure, focused alertness.

His mind was already made up about the basketball team. He'd go to practice, thank Coach for the opportunity, and politely decline.

The spotlight was already too bright, and adding official team commitments, plus more females, while he's still balancing out his current, would only complicate things further.

"Are you sure about that, darling?" Ai asked. "Joining the team offers significant route opportunities."

"I'm sure. I got what I needed from that game. With the SPIU out there, I might need to hold the brakes first and see how things go before making more bold moves."

Mia stirred, her eyes fluttering open. When she saw him watching her, a sleepy smile spread across her face.

"Morning," she murmured, stretching. "You're up early."

"I need to do some workouts before heading to school," he said.

"First official one since making the team." Her smile widened. "My boyfriend, the basketball star. I'm so proud of you."

Akira raised a mental eyebrow at the word 'boyfriend'. "Did I ask her out when I wasn't looking? Or am I missing something?"

But he kept a neutral expression and kissed her forehead, carefully extracting himself from her grip. "Go back to sleep. It's still early."

"Okay," she yawned. "See you at school."

—

Akira arrived at the gym fifteen minutes before practice was scheduled to start, intending to tell Coach that he won't be joining the team.

His mind was still coming to terms with Mia claiming him as her boyfriend.

"You don't have to think too much about it. I mean, we both know she's that possessive, so she's just branding what you two have." Ai said.

The moment Akira walked in, he noticed something was off.

The basketball team was clustered in small groups, whispering urgently. When they saw him, several conversations stopped abruptly.

Kenji stood at the centre of the largest group, his voice carrying across the gym despite his attempt at discretion. "Nobody gets that good that fast. It's impossible. He's obviously cheating somehow."

Akira's enhanced Perception picked up every word and every meaningful glance in his direction. His jaw tightened, but he kept his expression neutral.

Coach walked in with a whistle around his neck and a clipboard in hand. "Alright, everyone! Let's get…"

"Coach!" Kenji's hand shot up immediately. "Before we start, I need to address something important."

Coach's eyes narrowed. "What is it, Kenji?"

Kenji stepped forward, pulling out his phone. "I want to formally request that Kanzaki be tested for performance-enhancing drugs before joining the team. His sudden improvement is unnatural and completely unfair to those of us who've been training for years."

The gym went absolutely silent.

All eyes turned to Akira, who stood perfectly still near the entrance with a stoic expression.

Several teammates shifted uncomfortably, but a few nodded in agreement with Kenji. The seed of doubt had been planted.

Coach's expression darkened considerably. "That's a very serious accusation, Takahara. You'd better have a damn good reason for making it."

"I do, Coach." Kenji pulled up videos on his phone and projected them onto the gym's display screen. "Look at these plays. I've analysed them frame by frame."

The screen showed footage from their one-on-one game, slowed down to quarter speed.

"Watch his reaction time here," Kenji narrated, pointing at the screen. "He moves before I even finish my crossover. That's not skill, Coach. That's chemically enhanced reflexes. No human reacts that fast naturally."

He pulled up another clip. "And here… look at his acceleration. Zero to full speed in three steps. Professional athletes take five or six."

More murmurs rippled through the team. Even some of Akira's potential defenders looked uncertain now.

"Clever bastard," Ai commented. "He's using your own superiority as evidence against you."

"What do I do?"

"Silver Tongue. Stay calm, appear reasonable. Make him look paranoid."

Akira stepped forward, his voice carrying clearly across the gym. The Silver Tongue skill activated, adding a layer of persuasive charm to his words.

"I understand Kenji's frustration," he said calmly, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Losing publicly is hard, especially when you've built your reputation on being the best. If a drug test will put this accusation to rest and help him accept the results, I'm happy to take one."

The reasonableness of his response caught several people off guard. He wasn't defensive or angry… just calmly cooperative.

Coach studied Akira for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Fine. I'll speak with the school administration, and we'll schedule a comprehensive screening for later this week. Blood work, urine test, the full panel."

He turned to Kenji. "But I want you to know, Takahara, if these accusations turn out to be baseless, we're going to have a very different conversation about your future on this team. Understood?"

Kenji's jaw tightened. "Understood, Coach. But they won't be baseless."

"Until the results come back, Kanzaki, you're on probation," Coach continued. "No official practices, no team activities. We'll contact you when the test is scheduled."

[SYSTEM ALERT: COMPLICATION DETECTED]

[NEW MISSION: CLEAR YOUR NAME]

[REWARD: Varies based on resolution method]

Akira nodded. "Understood, Coach. Thank you for handling this professionally."

He turned and walked out of the gym, feeling dozens of eyes boring into his back.

—

By lunchtime, word had spread through the entire school like wildfire. Akira heard fragments of conversation everywhere he went:

"Did you hear? Kanzaki's being tested for steroids!"

"I knew it! Nobody changes that much in a few weeks."

"That's bullshit. Kenji's just salty he got destroyed."

"But the videos though... his reaction time was insane."

"Maybe he's just naturally gifted?"

"Or maybe he's cheating."

The student body was divided, and Akira found himself at the centre of a controversy he hadn't asked for.

Mia, on hearing the rumour, was furious.

During lunch period, she cornered Kenji in the hallway.

"You're pathetic!" she shouted, not caring who heard. "You can't handle losing like a man, so you make up lies to save your fragile ego!"

Kenji smirked, clearly enjoying getting under her skin. "We'll see who's lying when the results come back, Mia. When he fails that test, maybe you'll finally see what a fraud your boyfriend really is."

"He's not going to fail because there's nothing to find!"

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

Akira gently pulled Mia away before the confrontation could escalate further. "It's not worth it. Let him talk."

"But he's…"

"I know. It's fine. The test will prove everything."

After school, Rina approached him near the lockers, looking serious. "Akira, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be completely honest with me."

"Okay."

"You're not actually on anything, right?" Her voice was quiet and concerned. "Because if you are, you need to tell me now so we can figure something out before the test."

Aoi appeared beside them, having overheard. "There are methods," she said carefully. "Ways to... mask certain substances if you have advance notice. I've heard about them from... research."

Akira looked between them, seeing genuine concern in both their faces.

"I'm clean," he said firmly. "I'm not on steroids, not on any performance enhancers. Nothing."

Rina studied his face for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay. I believe you."

"Me too," Aoi added softly.

[RINA LOYALTY +5]

[AOI LOYALTY +5]

But internally, Akira wasn't as confident as he appeared.

"Ai, will the essence show up in the test?"

"Unlikely, darling. The demonic essence has altered your hormones and cellular structure, but it's not a conventional substance. Human testing equipment isn't designed to detect supernatural modifications."

"Unlikely isn't impossible."

"True. There's a small chance that anomalous readings could flag something unusual. But they'd have no frame of reference for what they're seeing."

That evening, after everyone had gone to their rooms, Akira pulled Ayaka aside in the living room.

"I need to talk to you. Privately."

She raised an eyebrow but followed him to the small balcony, closing the door behind them.

"What's wrong?"

"The drug test," Akira said bluntly. "Will the demonic essence show up in my bloodwork?"

Ayaka's expression turned serious, all traces of her usual playfulness vanishing.

"Possibly," she admitted after a moment. "Your blood chemistry has been fundamentally altered by the essence you've absorbed and your exposure to the Gates. Your cellular structure, hormone levels, even your bone density… all of it has changed."

"Will standard tests catch it?"

"Standard tests? Probably not. They're looking for specific banned substances, and demonic essence doesn't fall into any of their categories." She paused, her crimson eyes meeting his. "But if they're using specialised equipment, if they do a full spectral analysis of your blood..."

"Then what?"

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