#pyralisa

In the room echoed the sounds of the ticking clock.

It was almost 9 pm.

Light bulbs that had been hung all over the otherwise bare ceiling created a perfect, not-too-bright atmosphere in the living area.

In the kitchen stood Kido who had been deftly washing 6 people’s sets of dinnerware for the last few minutes. A mountain of dinnerware was neatly stacked in the cupboard.

On the sofa opposite of the one I was sitting on, Konoha, who had just finished his meal, was having a fight with his eyelids. Drowsily, like he was about to fall asleep, he said “no, no” and continued the battle to keep his eyes open.

"Nnyaaaa…… Can’t eat anymore……… Ah, can’t eat anymurr………"

Meanwhile on my left, my pathetic sister was happily slobbering while still deep in her sleep.

…………. Wait a second. What the heck are we doing? Are all the others that childish, or is it that Kido looks remarkably like a “mother”?

Seriously, I don’t know why, but this totally felt like a sleepover at some friend’s house.

That morning I even frowned and said to myself “Who are these Mekakushi Dan people? So suspicious”, but after only a day I was already on good terms with them.

Even someone like me, someone who hadn’t talked to anyone for such a long time, could get along with them easily. These people were friendly to that extent.

  "She’s eating even in her dreams, wow, that’s Little Sister to you…… But speaking of it, she fell asleep immediately after the meal, what is the meaning of this, Master?"

"Just ignore her. I think she’s turning into some sort of cow, don’t you?"

Maybe because she was pretty tired, Momo fell asleep within just a few minutes after finishing her meal.

"She was even so angry before when she was called fat, what’s wrong with this kid………"

I’m afraid that she herself had already completely forgotten about that.That moment was already too far back to say things like “I’m not even married yet, you’re exaggerating …….”.

"Ah, it’s not that bad. Perhaps she was too tired. Hey Kisaragi, wake up. If you wanna sleep, go to my room."

After washing the dishes Kido took off her apron that had “skill” written on the front which gave it a carpenter-like feel, and walked towards Momo.

She gently knocked on Momo’s head, but the other responded with no more than “Ehh~, surprisingly, I still can eat…….”, and continued the happy feast in her dream.

"Ah~ sorry. Once this girl falls asleep she never wakes up until dawn. Just ignore her, she’ll be okay"

"Still it isn’t good to leave her like this. No choice, I’ll have to carry her…. Hm!?"

Just as Kido was about to pick Momo up, her expression slightly twisted like she hadn’t expected something.

"S-surprisingly…… much from Kisaragi…….!"

Kido tried to carry Momo, but compared to how easily she could carry Hibiya, her breathing became rapid this time.

Speaking of which, I had once read Momo’s profile in the idol dictionary where her “weight” was written, so I couldn’t stop myself from laughing that moment.

After seeing how Kido was running out of breath while she was carrying Momo, I diverted my attention towards Konoha, snoring on the sofa.

This dude was pretty unbelievable. Because of his constant dumbfounded look it has always been really hard to understand what he’s thinking.

He was now in the house of someone he had just met and yet took no caution and was just sleeping soundly.

………………….. Pretty much like a child who grew big in an instant.

Judging from Hibiya’s behavior, these two seemed to have been involved in some complicated “incident”.

No, not just them, Ene too, Mekakushi Dan too had something unexplainable that had happened to them.

I kind of forgot about it, but when I looked at Ene’s face back then I remembered that the girl might have also had something that had happened in her past. Hiding a special identity like that was pretty incredible on its own.

“What on earth happened to this girl before we met?” Not that I’ve ever considered it, but even if I were to ask her, she’d just hesitatingly fudge over it.

Unexpectedly, when I looked lazily at my phone screen, Ene who couldn’t have known my thoughts was excitingly preparing a blanket.

“………………………What are you doing?” 

“Eh? What, I’m getting ready for sleep”

“Ah, aahh, I see”

I remembered Ene boasting once by saying “I am highly powered so there’s no problem even if I don’t sleep at all!”…………………

Fine, if I insulted her there’d be trouble, so it was best to simply ignore her.

“Huu, sorry for waiting”

Along with the sound of the closing door, Kido returned while relaxing her shoulders.

“Speaking of it, it’d be better if she could slightly reduce her appetite.”

“Haha, I’m really sorry. For disturbing you all these days”

“No, it’s all our doing. Please don’t mind. But today………… this situation is just too much” murmured Kido, looking surprised, and sat down on the sofa facing me. 

At that moment the only ones still awake were Kido, Ene and me. Konoha, who had just dozed off, was lying softly on the sofa beside Kido with both his arms lazily stretched out.

“Well, well, looks like Mr. Impostor is already sleeping~. How willful”

Ene sneaked under her blanket, leaving only her face uncovered, and muttered while she glanced at Konoha’s face.

“What’s with ‘Mr. Impostor’?”

“Erm. It’s my nickname for that guy.He’s easy to mix up with someone else so I decided to call him that.”

“Ah, about him resembling your friend, right? Speaking of it, your friend actually ……….”

Just when I almost spilled out my question, Ene suddenly glared at me sharply.

“W-what the….. Ah~ I know I know. As long as I don’t ask right……?”

Upon hearing that, Ene gave a satisfied smile.

"Good for you to know that. Hey, the one who’s confused here is me. But I’ll explain it to you, Master, 'kay? Next time."

This time she looked a little bit sad.

She completely prevaricated it as usual, but I guess it was my first time hearing something like “I’ll tell you later” from her.

Wait, no, this brat was still herself. Perhaps she said it just for fun.

"Well, everyone has their own problems. Say, I’ve been thinking whether I should tell him about those things, so I brought him over………"

Kido looked next to her; Konoha was deep in his sleep. What was with all the struggle to stay awake earlier? At any rate, he failed.

“Haa….”Along with Kido’s sigh,Konoha eventually fell from the sofa onto the floor.

"Can’t help them now. Well, actually, we can’t do anything right now anyway."

Kido leaned back on the sofa heavily, rested her arms on it and crossed her legs. 

"Tomorrow…… huh. That boy, how’s he doing?"

"Hmm? Ah. You mean Hibiya, right? The thing that appeared in his eyes, I’m afraid it may have been a symptom of a "power" like ours…" said Kido while staring at the ceiling.

Apparently Hibiya hadn’t woken up since he collapsed, but it seemed that he wasn’t in an unstable condition. Seto, who understood the situation well, volunteered to guard him just in case. That was the current state of things.

"I see…… Well, since Seto’s the one taking care of him, there’s nothing to worry about."

I unconsciously stared at one of the bare light bulbs on the ceiling as I said that. Kido quietly laughed:

"Nope, nope, that guy sure is reliable, but he also has some weak spots. Perhaps he might be sleeping now."

From the first time I met Seto, he gave me a “reliable” impression, but there were also things about him that only someone like Kido who had known him way longer than me would understand.

Can’t be blamed, I’d just met him that morning, so there was no way I could deeply understand him.

  "Say, you all…….."

"Hmm? What?"

Kido gave a dazed look and looked at me who stopped halfway in my sentence.

Is it really okay to ask something like this? Is there any way to turn back if I do?

As I was having those thoughts I started feeling sleepy, which made my mouth open slowly.

"Those eyes of yours…….. To be honest I don’t know if I can ask this but, it is unusual, isn’t it? Same goes to Momo’s condition. She said she doesn’t remember when she’d become like this, but I don’t think it’s completely unrelated to you all."

Facing my straight-forward question, Kido still had the dazed look while listening, but after I finished, she gave a warm smile. 

"…….. I should have told you before you saw this kid. Sorry."

Kido bent her body forward and intertwined the fingers of both her hands between her knees.

"Eh, no. It’s okay. I guess I’m just concerned about it…"

I suddenly blushed and averted my eyes.

"No, I should have explained it to you……. Just that, like you said, this isn’t some common topic, not something you can freely talk about. We were all treated badly because of these powers. Therefore, to protect ourselves, we cannot reveal it to everyone."

 After hearing what Kido said, I lifted my head.

She didn’t look sad, just that her eyes didn’t have any darkness, as if there was a strong awareness in them.

"I-I got it. I didn’t know this. Also….. Yeah."

Right. After knowing about their matters, what can I even do?

That’s right, that was the reason I stopped in the middle of my question.

  Why am I interested in listening to this?

What can I even do?

The “incident” Hibiya was involved in, according to him, might have been fatal.

Perhaps even the cops won’t be able to solve it.

Hibiya will awaken his power like Kido and the others while everyone else will protect that power and help him.

What else can I do anyway?

Is it really okay to just ask?

If I don’t ask anything here, I’ll just go back home tomorrow morning like nothing happened and just return to my own normal life, perhaps there’s also that option.

That’s right, this has nothing to do with me. I’m……….

  "TRYING TO ESCAPE AGAIN?"  

  At that moment, I felt a chill run down my spine. My heart was aching like something was grabbing it and cold sweat was slowly oozing down my forehead.

    "Shintaro? Oi, are you okay? You don’t look well to me…….."

"Ah, ahh. No-no-nothing. I’m okay. Sorry."

"…… I see. Perhaps you’re tired too. Let’s leave the rest for tomorrow, okay?"

Tomorrow, will I still be here tomorrow? Ene said “Let’s go home” earlier. Perhaps I’m wrong, but she might be worried about me.

However…………….

"……….. No, a little is also fine, tell me, then."

If I go back to that room, what can I even do?

Maybe it was because I didn’t want to leave these guys. Maybe I was afraid to be alone again.

"I understand. I’ll tell you then. This is how I got my power:"

Kido, as if she understood everything, smiled again and blinked her eyes to make them turn red.

"Eye concealing power….. That’s what Kano called it, it’s basically a power to reduce the presence of myself and my surroundings"

While talking, Kido picked up a magazine from the side of the table. She handed it towards me and the magazine was gradually becoming transparent, starting from the edges, and eventually disappeared without a single trace.

As I was staring at it I once again realized what an incredible power it was. That’s why it was reasonable that Kido didn’t want to be up-front about it.

If this power became known to the public, it would be a hot topic in the media for days. Eventually she’d be brought to some research center or whatever and perhaps things might come to the worst ending possible.

"Before getting ‘this’, I also had parents. Although I didn’t have any blood relation to my mother. My father was a cruel person. His company bankrupted because he was a womanizer. Before he died, he even burnt down the whole house."

"W-what the heck………"

It was really extreme to hear Kido’s entire past within no more than a few seconds. Kido however didn’t look pained because of those memories, she was rather indifferent about it, speaking as calmly as if she was talking about her elementary school days.

"Haha. Cruel story right? However, the real tale begins here…"

"Oh, oh………"

"When my father set the fire my entire family was in the house. In the end my sister and I couldn’t escape…"

"T-that would’ve killed you for sure……"

To be honest, I got quite scared from listening to her. When Kido realized that, she made a slightly nasty smirk and continued.

"Ahh, of course I died. Bit by bit I couldn’t breathe anymore and my body was burning."

"Eeek…………….."

"And then, that moment I saw it. The wall twisted and separated, LIKE A BIG, WIDELY OPEN MOUTH WITH SHARP TEETH!!"

"UWAAAHH!!!"

Kido said the last part excitedly, like she was telling me a precious horror story.

And perhaps due to good timing successfully managed to pick up my fearful heart.

To be freaked out by the person who had shown such embarrassing poses in the haunted house earlier that day made me regret a lot.

However, after waking up my curiosity, Kido didn’t continue her story, but simply folded her arms and made a happy expression, as if she was asking how the story was.

  "T-then?"

I finally voiced my question, but Kido remained in her pose and happily replied.

"Hmm? The end." 

"HUH?"

As if I’ve been messed with I shut my mouth, unable to say anything.

According to the story, the protagonist should have burns all over her body. After that, she almost got eaten by a mysterious huge creature, but this girl didn’t look like she was ever digested. No matter what, I couldn’t connect the dots.

"T-THEN WHAT’S WITH THE POWER?!"

"Ahh, I got it after I woke up in the debris of my house. In some way the burns that I should have had disappeared, how unbelievable."

"T-then what was with the big-mouth-thingy..?"

"I only saw it, my memories after that are totally gone. Maybe I was swallowed by it. I have no idea how I was the only one to have survived, too"

Kido lifted her hands and made a gesture that said “nope, can’t help it”.

  In the end, despite knowing the whole story, she herself also had a lot of parts she couldn’t understand, and this mystery just got deeper than before. 

"I see…… That means that surprisingly, you don’t know either…"

"Oh. Of course, I planned to investigate anything that could be investigated……. It’s in progress now. Back then, I tried to explain everything to the police, too, but in the end there wasn’t any progression at all."

Sure, if this story is told just like that, not only that no one would believe it, but it’d even complicate things further.

So, if Hibiya’s incident was similar to Kido and the others, it had to mean it really wasn’t a good idea to tell the police about it. Kido bringing him here, saying she’ll help him was because he was similar to her past self.

"Unable to make the police believe". That’s right, it was something really unforgettable.

Anyway, the most unusual part of the conversation was perhaps the “huge mouth” that swallowed Kido. Other than that, the story was really miserable, but it wasn’t something that couldn’t happen in reality. The mouth was the only thing that could be connected to their “abnormal traits”.

"What about the others? Did Kano and Seto get swallowed by the ‘huge mouth’ too?"

"Kano said ‘I saw the same thing too’, but he lost his memory after that like me. As for Seto, he got his power drowning in the river, so he’s not sure whether he saw it or not"

When Kido said “drowned” I suddenly recalled the fogged memories of my childhood. It was a memory that I could remember from time to time, but after listening to Kido, that single memory reached a different scary atmosphere than before.

"……… Momo becoming like this, perhaps it was after she drowned in the ocean…"

"You mean Kisaragi?"

"Ah, that’s right…… but I’d rather you wouldn’t mention this in front of her. At that time……. my father, who tried to save her……."

That time, Dad, who had tried to save Momo, was seen by a lot of people. However, when Dad swam towards Momo, both of them were swallowed by the waves. 

I was at tuition at the time I got the news from Mom. After all the hard work of trying to find them, Dad was still nowhere to be found, but on the second day, Momo was found on the beach and was rescued.

"I see…….. I understand. This sure is something to better avoid mentioning in front of Kisaragi."

"Thanks for the help. Just that I thought of it after listening to your story."

That’s right, from the part where Momo drowned there was something similar to Kido’s story.

Momo was found the next day. That must’ve meant Momo was in the sea during all that time.

Simply considering it, would a human actually be able to survive in that kind of situation?

No, impossible. Perhaps it should’ve been treated like a miracle, but using the word ‘miracle’ as an explanation was just meaningless.

But still to say, if we considered the “huge mouth” Kido had mentioned, then everything seemed clear enough.

The moment Kido burned, the moment Momo drowned, they were both swallowed by the “huge mouth”, at least that’s how the explanation goes.If during all that time they were trapped inside of it, they must’ve been spat out just before being found.

It was a bizarre hypothesis, but weren’t Kido’s and Momo’s ”eye powers” the best evidence to prove it?

"Those eye powers of yours, if you got them because you had seen the "huge mouth", then Momo was perhaps swallowed by it as well……  No, although it’s a bizarre assumption…"

It was a bizarre assumption, but even logic was weakened when it came to these guys’ “eye powers”.

Comparing all their stories, I realized that the key to this matter was that “certain thing”.

The unbelievable existence that was the source of those unbelievable powers…….. 

"Mhmm, we did make the connection before, but adding the thing that happened to Momo, ‘it’ is undeniably the reason for our powers activating. What’s more, Kano said that he saw the same thing, for now it’s…… like that. Just that……….."

"Just that?"

Seemingly concerned about something, Kido put a hand on her lips.

Just like she was solving a jigsaw puzzle on the clock, her eyes were focused on a spot of the table.

"It just makes people… frustrated. Same as Momo, all of us almost died "with some certain person". I heard that Kano was with his mother and Seto was kinda with his friend when he became like this" said Kido while staring at the table as if she was still concerned.

"However, the ones who were saved were only us. What’s more, the people who were with us had perhaps "disappeared" in some way."

  After listening to Kido I had a big realization.

"Hey, when your house burnt down, your family…… Um, were their bodies found?"

"Ah, they were. But… only my father’s and mother’s. My sister’s body on the other hand wasn’t. The only one who was found alive among the piles of debris was me."

"That means…………"

Double event. Eye-related powers. “Huge mouth”.

And according to Hibiya who had said “There’s a girl who might already be dead now, I need to save her”, an inference gradually popped up in my mind.

"You were all swallowed by ‘something’ together with someone else but were later the only ones to return and get these powers……..?"

Kido immediately continued the idea, trying to catch my words.

"And those who were together with us were swallowed but were not found until now. If that’s the case, that means that they’re still in there."

This unexpected bizarre truth, it may have been a coincidence, but it made sense as an inference. Momo’s power, the disappearance of my father and the undiscovered “truth” were all connected bit by bit.

"Actually we had already thought about it. ‘Perhaps inside the [mouth], our important people are still in there as we are convinced. However, the most important key, our memories about what happened ‘there’ are completely gone…….."

Kido sighed again and leaned on the sofa. Losing parents, relatives or important people and now living like this, these guys had really hard lives.

Maybe after becoming lonely, because of those weird powers they were always mistreated.

I wonder how they felt about living like that.

Me, who couldn’t imagine it, who always lived on freely with his own will, kind of got an uneasy feeling.

That’s right. Me, who had given up on everything and chose to be lonely, how could I understand how they feel?

Knowing how “hard” it is to be hurt so much was the reason they told the fallen Hibiya “We’ll help you.”

"Well, that’s it then. For now, just think that the process of getting the powers is still unlikely to be known. Just that until Hibiya can control his power in some way, I think it’s on us to take care of him. After all, we’re pretty familiar with dealing with this kind of thing…" said Kido, slightly calming down the nervous atmosphere.

"I don’t know whether the girl who was swallowed together with that kid is safe or not, but it’d be better to find her step by step…………"

  "NO, WAIT."

  Kido was about to change the topic, but for me the discussion was far from over.

As if it was for sure, as if someone had pointed the way to move forward, the direction of the next step was right in front of my eyes.

"You said you ‘don’t remember what happened in there’ right? I think you even said ‘it was the same with everyone’."

Kido made a face showing she didn’t get what was I trying to say and replied with a slightly timid voice:

 "Ah, yeah. It’s true. We could only remember the things that happened after we woke up"

"No, it can be remembered. Hibiya even told Konoha ‘you were just standing there and watching’. Perhaps that boy………………."

When I came to that point, Kido opened her eyes widely, noticing my intentions.

"He remembers, doesn’t he? The thing that happened after he was swallowed. "

When I stopped talking, Kido immediately stood up, as if she was headed somewhere.

"O-oi, where are you going!? Isn’t the boy sleeping right now!?"

And after she heard me, Kido reacted at once and sat back down on the sofa.

Perhaps embarrassed because of her impetuous action, Kido blushed and lowered her sight.

This action, compared to her serious way of speaking, made the thought “Ah, this person is a girl” pass through my head, words that might have gotten me punched like Kano if I said them out loud.

"Well, that’s also true…… even for me. It’s been years since I got to see my father, so if I’d get to meet him again………."

What would I do if we saw each other again?

What would I say?

Seeing his son being a NEET for years, being rotten, I wonder what my father would think…

  "Shintaro?"

"Hmm? Ahh, sorry, sorry. ………Well, let’s just leave the rest for tomorrow. I guess Kano isn’t coming back"

There were different kinds of clocks like cuckoo clocks and digital clocks everywhere in the base. Even on a tiny shelf there was a machine that dripped some kind of unknown liquid; perhaps that was a clock too.All those clocks equivalently showed that it was 10.30 pm, each in its own style.

"Hmm, yeah. What the heck is that dude doing…….. Still anyway, today was a tiring day. It really was the first time bringing a bunch of people back here."

Kido looked at the entrance, sighing, but it was clear she couldn’t refrain herself from being happy about it.

"That ‘leader’ title, sounds like it’s pretty tiresome"

Maybe I accidentally embarrassed her by saying that; Kido’s face became redder than before.

"Sh-SHUDDUP! Don’t call me that! I-I’m going to bed! Okay!?"

Kido was already clumsy back then, but this time she was so agitated that she stood up with a loud klunk! and went towards her room.

I speechlessly stared at her departing figure, but Kido suddenly stopped and turned back “You can share the blankets with Konoha; I already took them out, they are right there” and pointed at the blankets piled up beside the entrance, then disappeared into her room.

"What’s up with her, seriously……….."

No matter how serious she looks, she’s still a girl, okay? If that’s the case, then she is a creature that I will never ever understand. I should stop thinking.

As soon as I stopped thinking, perhaps I was at my limits already, the sleepiness attacked my body.

"Haa……. I’m so damn tired……….."

I stood up from the sofa and as expected, my body felt as heavy as lead.

After I finally reached the blankets, I took two from above and returned to the sofa.

After covering Konoha who was sleeping like a dead log on the floor with a blanket, I realized that I didn’t ask Kido where to switch off the lights.

"Uhm…… where’s the switch, where is it"

Looking around the room, I couldn’t find anything resembling a switch.

Ahh, this is really annoying, I want to sleep so damn badly, what should I do? Anyway, if I sleep with the lights on it’ll be………..

As I was slowly searching in the room, I felt someone’s breath behind me.

When I turned around I was shocked: there stood Mary with fluffy hair, wearing a fluffy white gown, and she was staring at me with eyes full of suspicion.

"……… What are you doing, Shintaro?"

  "LET ME EXPLAIN! WHEN SHINTARO WAS BEING STARED AT INTENTLY BY A YOUNG GIRL, HE RELEASED A BIG AMOUNT OF COLD SWEAT!" My mind was ringing with such an intense explanation. I had done nothing wrong, but just like that explanation said, I sweated cold sweat and replied with a strained smile.

  "O-ohh!! MARY!! It’s nothing, I just wanted to turn off the lights, but I’m not sure where the light switch is!"

After I reasoned my way out, Mary returned to her usual look and pointed at the dartboard on the wall.

"The switch is there. Just press the center."

I sighed in relief and pressed on the center of the dartboard like Mary said, and with a click, the hanging bulbs all went out at once.

"EE-EEEEEEEEKKK! DON’T SWITCH THEM OFF SO SUDDENLY!"

Mary’s sudden scream made me so shocked that my heart jumped all the way to my throat, and after I quickly switched the lights back on, Mary gave me the suspicious look again, this time with tears in the corners of her eyes.

"…….. What are you doing?"

"No, NO! I was just testing okay!? Uhm…… aaaAAAAH I’m sorry I’m sorry!"

Ahh, this is SO annoying. I really wanna sleep ASAP, why did this kind of thing even happen?

"I understand………."

Mary simply changed her direction and headed towards her room.

Why did Mary wake up? I want to ask her, but then she won’t go away, so it is better to not stimulate her with weird stuff again.

"G-goodnight~"

I waved my hand, watched Mary as she returned to her room and switched off the lights.

Haa…… I sighed and fumbled onto the sofa.

I lied down, covered myself with a blanket, and looked at my phone as usual, it seemed like Ene was still wrapped in her blanket just like before.

"Annoying brat………."

There was no response from under the blanket.

I put the phone on the table and closed my eyes.

In the dark there were only echoes of the air conditioner growling.

  Thinking back, it felt like that day was not just one normal day, but a very very very long day.

I’d just met the Mekakushi Dan members like, that morning……… No, to be precise I met them at the shopping mall, but still, they were the kind of people who could easily get along with me within such a short period of time. To think about it carefully, it really was the first time having something like this happen to me.

Being invited by your friends to come to their house, eating together, talking about each other’s stories while discussing tomorrow’s plan.

Hearing this, it was actually just like hanging out with normal friends in your daily life.

Although it felt quite strange to me. I had never thought that I’d be given a chance like this.

………… Is this really right? Really?

Feels like the more people I meet, the more fun I have, the more it gradually becomes thinner.

Still, still at least for now, at least during this summer vacation, letting myself understand the feeling of having friends is acceptable, isn't it?

In the dark, I asked some certain person who didn’t exist but wasn’t me.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Hey, Shintaro."

  ”………..What?”

  "You have made so many friends, isn’t that great? When you’re together with them, are you happy?"

  "Impossible. I have never thought of that"

  "Liar. Because today, you seemed to be very happy, Shintaro. It was my first time seeing you smiling so happily"

  "I told you, there is no such thing. I’m just being led by the nose. I’m pretty tired here"

  "Hey, Shintaro. Do you remember me?"

  "What are you saying, of course I remember!"

  "Then, why don’t you call me by my name?"

  "Eh…….. What’s with this all of a sudden, what’s the matter?"

  "Hey, Shintaro. Why don’t you call my name?"

  "S-STOP……….. Please, stop it………….."

  "Of course……… So, you can’t? You can’t remember anything about me?"

  "Enough……….  Stop. Please, I’m begging you!"

  "HEY, SHINTARO"

    "UWAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"UWAAAAAAHHH!!??"

  "Y-y-y-y-you scared me to death! What’s wrong?!"

My vision suddenly became clear, the view of the hideout returned without any changes.

I turned my head and saw Momo looking at me with a worried face, with her hand on the dartboard-shaped switch.

"Ahh, it’s you. N-nothing. Just a nightmare."

"W-what kind of dream……? You don’t look so good, you know"

Momo worriedly ran towards me and stared at my face.

"I told you, it’s nothing. Anyway, what about you, what’s wrong? I thought you were asleep"

"Eh? Nothing, just kinda woke up…….. So, I thought maybe I should check out that kid’s condition or whatever~"

Momo laughed like she was sorry for waking me up.

"……. I see. But you didn’t wake me up, so don’t worry."

"Uu~mm. But we had a lot of activities yesterday and today, so Nii-chan must be pretty tired, right? Have a good rest, okay?"

"I will…… Ah, anyway" I said as I stood up from the sofa and looked down directly at Momo, who was blushing.

"W-what……? What’s the matter, Nii-chan……?"

"Why are you doing this?"

Faced with my question, Momo gave an anxious and scared look.

"E-eehhh………. I don’t know what you mean………"

Forming a clear difference with me who didn’t move my sight, Momo couldn’t resist moving her sight towards the floor.

"Once Momo falls asleep she wouldn’t wake up even if you’d pry her with an iron. So this is pretty worrisome.Also, Momo had an argument with Hibiya today. I don’t think she’d be worried about him so that she’d go check on him. Lastly….."

While I was saying all that, Momo was completely speechless. Perhaps because she was staring at the floor all the time, I couldn’t see her expression.

  "Momo calls me ‘Onii-chan’, Kano."

  For just a moment, the air around my ‘sister’ wobbled, and in the next moment Kano, with his silly smile that was exactly the same as all day, was looking at me.

  "………Well well~, you’re really interesting, Shintaro-kun. Fantastic."

"Thank you. Now, let’s hear it from you. Why were you purposely disguised as Momo in the middle of the night?"

With an attitude of someone who wouldn’t take a single step back,Kano’s expression didn’t change at all, he still had that sly grin on his face.

"Haha, you hate me, huh? But there’s no way you wouldn’t, after all, it was your very important little sister that was being impersonated……… right?"

Kano blinked his eyes as if he thought I was stupid.

It wasn’t just a silly prank like the ones Ene would usually play on me, this seemed more like molesting the untouchable, most sensitive part of a person, filling it with such an ugly attitude.

"That wasn’t exactly an answer. Why were you disguised as someone else when you are in your own home? I want you to clearly explain your reason for it."

"Mm~ hmm. Of course I was doing something that benefits me. However, what would happen if I said it out loud? After knowing the reason for my actions, what would Shintaro-kun do, I wonder?"

Kano suddenly swiftly turned around, facing me with his back, with his arms spread out.

"Because isn’t this strange? I only become energetic at this kind of hour. Am I forgetting some… important things~ as I was thinking about that?"

Kano remained in his pose and I still couldn’t read his expression.

However, the difference was that those words that seemed to be looking deep into my heart, tightly reined my chest.

  "…….. What are you trying to say?"

  "Mmm~? Oh no, no, I mean it literally. Shintaro-kun, you are~ making a face that makes it seem like you almost forgot about something important, y’know"

  Suddenly the light bulb above Kano’s head started to flicker.

And every time it flickered it was like a flash against Kano’s back.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT……?!"

"Ah~ bingo? How frustrating, this is getting exciting. Seems that you really forgot about her, Shintaro-kun"

Faced with Kano’s manner of speaking, my anger reached the boiling point.

  "I SAID I DIDN’T FORGET ABOUT ANYONE!!!!!!"

As I said that I grabbed Kano, forcing him to turn towards me. Just then, the bulb flashed fiercely.

    The next moment, my loudly thumping heart was crushed into dust.

         "THEN, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME?"

        Shoulder-length black hair, with a scarf as red as fire.

With a smile that I could never mistake for another, Ayano appeared right there.

    "A-AAHH…………."

My legs started to tremble, as if I was about to collapse.

My mind gave up on comprehending the situation and from my mouth spilled sounds that couldn’t be formed into a sentence.

"Hey. Answer me, Shintaro. Could it be that you’ve forgotten about me?" 

Ayano’s face suddenly approached with a lifeless smile, her eyes staring at me like glossless artifacts, and I couldn’t breathe.

      "N-no…….. I……………"

    The thoughts that I’ve been thinking for years were trying to spill out, but I couldn’t turn them into words. In the end I couldn’t say anything.

  Ayano didn’t wait for me. And just like that day, I couldn’t tell her anything.

    "Fine. Goodbye, Shintaro. Be happy."

  The next moment all the bulbs in the room turned themselves off and before light returned to the room after a moment of darkness, Ayano in front of me had already disappeared.

    My legs suddenly became unstable and I dropped to my knees.

Supporting my body with my trembling hands on the floor, like something had burst out of me, big teardrops spilled out and fell.

  As if induced, my refrained feelings spilled out one by one and I couldn’t move.

    ………… Was this punishment? Was this punishment for me, who didn’t listen to that person and couldn’t lend her a hand?

    "I’m sorry…………. I’m sorry………………………"

    The words I finally said out loud quietly echoed through the room and unnoticeably, quietly disappeared.

The stretcher that was making loud noises swiftly passed in front of my eyes.

I was kind of surprised by being this close to it, but the situation at the moment was so serious that nothing else mattered, thus I gave it no more than a mere glance.

But the thing the stretcher was carrying might have been the heaviest, yet the weakest thing I’ve ever seen.

It was the reason all of this was so troublesome for the hospital. They had to face ''that thing''.

The torture of trying to understand the horror of death in your numb everyday life. That’s the kind of thing it was.

How much time had already passed from that moment?

Maybe because the running was so sudden, my “slightly stronger than burdocks” legs started to shiver and tremble. I didn’t think they’d be that useful, although only for a limited time. 

Well, that’s a given. The only time I’d use my legs in my usual life was when I went to the toilet or the bathroom. Then all of a sudden using these legs of mine for going to the department store and the amusement park, and lastly, running with all my might. I bet anyone would feel exactly like me after such an experience.

Anyway, what was going on inside that brat’s mind? Wait no; I’ll never understand what’s on her mind. More importantly, I don’t even want to know all of her playful, evil thoughts.

However, this little brat made me incapable of not worrying about her today. On the way back from the amusement park she suddenly said “Can you catch up to that guy?!” and made me chase after an ambulance, when we finally reached the hospital even said “Can you leave me alone with him for a while?” and had my phone passed to a complete stranger, and then I was brought to some unknown place, and seriously. It was just ridiculous.

And then, this was the situation: me standing in front of the examination room into which the unknown kid was brought, thinking about a whole lot of questions, unable to go anywhere at all, simply waiting for supposedly the kid’s guardian who had taken Ene away to return.

I sat down smoothly as if everything was fine, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that my existence there didn’t exactly have the right timing. I didn’t even know the kid, didn’t have anything to do with him, I was simply sitting there, waiting.

If the kid’s parents were here now I’m sure they’d ask me “what’s with you?” and then I’d respond with a gloomy grin, saying “nope nope it’s nothing…….”

I’ve had enough lately. I’d already gotten used to Ene’s queer actions that made my head spin, but she’d gone waaay overboard those last few days. I wanted to go home after that brat’s return and go back to living my usual life, but would the Mekakushi Dan even allow me to do so?

Just thinking about all this troublesome stuff piled up was enough to make my head hurt.

"This is totally absurd………"

"Haaa." I sighed.

  "A really absurd thing is happening around me…. Seriously….."

All of a sudden, someone right beside me, as if joining me, sighed “haa” and muttered, shocking me so much that I bounced up from my seat.

"Woahhwahhh!!! You, since when have you been here!?"

As I turned my head, sitting there, the white-haired teenager whom I had passed Ene to lifted his head and made a clueless expression.

"Sorry…. I ……"

The teenage guy seemed to think I was angry at him and apologized with a slow intonation.

However, his expression didn’t change at all except he seemed even dumber and less worried than back then. I on the other hand, thinking “What is that brat trying to say” and not responding immediately caused several intervals of silence in our conversation.

"Eh? Ahh, it’s fine…. It’s not about you, it was all this brat’s fault."

The guy looked at the screen of my phone that he had been holding for quite a while and that familiar blue-haired girl floating in the screen was pouting and sulking. 

"Yea. Is there something on your mind, Master?"

She was still pouting while floating in the screen and didn’t look at me at all.

"Ah no, I was just wondering when will you be willing to come back. Anyway, who the hell is this guy? Isn’t he someone you know?"

I was being dragged around while not knowing about what was happening. So I thought finding the cause of all this wouldn’t be the wrong thing to do.

That was the reason I posed my question, but I wasn’t sure why she switched on the phone vibration and glared at me severely when I was questioning her.

The glare she gave me was something I had never seen on her usual playful self, but for some unknown reason it was an unbelievable sight I knew I had seen before, somewhere.

Towards me who was a bit timid at that moment, Ene pouted again and muttered.

"It was a mistake. I don’t know him. I already apologized for making you run this much. Let’s go home."

The way Ene said this furiously exposed the truth. The white-haired guy’s blank expression darkened, and it seemed as if he thought it was his fault again.

"I, say you…….. It can’t be helped if you say you’ve mistaken a person for someone else, but you actually stopped someone whose relative is in the ER, so was it really merely a misunderstanding?"

"That’s because….. Well… aaaAAAHHH~~ YOU’RE SO ANNOYING!!! Didn’t I tell you it was a mistake?! No wonder Master isn’t very popular!!"

Ene shouted, scaring the white-haired guy who only shook his shoulders slightly, but still didn’t change his expression.

Was he shocked or what? That attitude of his that made it impossible for anyone to see what’s on his mind made him seem as dull as a robot.

"That…. I’m sorry. I think this child is angry because of me. I think."

The white-haired guy looked over with his blank face, and spoke with an apologizing-like intonation.

"She was crying while saying things like ‘I miss you’ and ‘I thought you were dead’, but I didn’t understand anything……. I think she kind of misunderstood something."

20 seconds seemed to pass from the moment he started talking until the moment he stopped. I didn’t know whether it was because I’ve gotten used to Ene’s babbling or was it because his speech was so slow that made me feel like time had slowed down.

I see. I think it’s because this guy looks like a friend of Ene’s.

It’s true that he somehow gave off an unstable atmosphere. If he were to be Ene’s friend, at least I could’ve accepted that oddness.

However, I was more worried about my phone that had been vibrating ever since the guy stopped talking.

As I timidly glanced at the screen, there laid Ene who wasn’t in her usual pure blue form. Instead, her ears went bloody red and she was vibrating non-stop.

"You, you, why-"

"UWAHHHHHH!!! UWAHHHH!! YOU’RE ANNOYING!!! IT’S NOTHING, JUST SHUT UP!!!!!!"

The scene froze for a moment. I could faintly see that the guy shook his shoulders again, but with his expression still remaining unchanged.

Even me who was used to this brat’s talking, froze as it was the first time seeing Ene showing her feelings to that extent.

Ene was laying on the screen, hugging her head while kicking with her legs, but then she suddenly stood up like she’d just realized something and smiled at me with cold sweat.

"…….Please, Master?"

I wasn’t sure if she was trying to hide her uncontrolled actions or simply trying to act as usual, but the dead silence in the air slowly floated away.

Obviously not in a very good mood, Ene’s face turned red once again.

"Technical problems…?"

I knocked on the phone and it vibrated as if trying to show how much it hated that.

"What do you think I am??? It’s not what you think!!!!"

Ene shouted noisily in surprise.

She seems healthy enough. It’s not like there’s a virus, I guess it’s due to a cold….. Wait no; this brat can’t get a cold at all.

Although she had always been a weird brat, her weirdness seemed to have gotten worse that day.

"It-it isn’t wrong to occasionally have a moment of utter confusion right!!? It’s because he looked like a friend of mine back then, so…. Well, was it because I said something weird, or recalled a lot of things from the past….? Is it because I’ve unwarily been waiting for something……?"

"No, I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about. Long story short? He looked like some boyfriend of yours, therefore you got emotional?"

When I finished, Ene, who had been awkwardly saying weird stuff, suddenly shut her mouth tightly, looked speechless, surprised, and gave me a confused look.

"Ah~ I think I really know why Master isn’t popular now. Perhaps you’ll stay alone forever. I think it’s not that bad. (Monotone voice)"

"Ehhh?!! Did I actually say something really bad?!! Also, why exactly aren’t I popular!? TELL ME!!"

"Ah, please don’t talk to me for a while, you pathetic creature"

"OH NO, I JUST HEARD YOU SAY ‘PATHETIC’ DIDN’T I!!! Even if you just mention it casually I can still hear it, okay!!"

"You’re freaking noisy!! In short, even I have things that I can’t tell you, Master…….."

Just when she pouted and wanted to say something, there was a huge sound coming from the examination room in which the boy who had been tightly hugged by the white-haired guy was.

Not long after, clattering noise of metal objects hitting the ground could be heard.

"………?! Master! This isn’t good!"

 ”I know…!”

Crossing the corridor, I hurriedly opened the examination room door, seeing the boy who had been brought in laying on the floor.

Messy blond hair and a white vest, from the back he looked like he was around 11 years old. Thermometers and medical devices were scattered all over the floor and at the center of it all the boy was unsuccessfully trying to support his knees to stand up.

"Hey, hey, watcha’ doin’!! I don’t know what’s going on, but you’ll need to lie down first……!"

I squatted beside the boy to lend him a hand, but he pushed it away as if afraid.

The first time I saw his face from up front it was wetted with tears. Inside his watery eyes there seemed to be hatred for something cruel he suffered from, bringing out a dark and heavy feeling.

"Who are you……. don’t…. try to stop me….!"

The boy stood up, his body still wobbly, but yet he managed to stabilize his pace and head towards the exit on his own.

"Hiyori….. I need to get to Hiyori……"

The boy muttered like in a dream and walked out of the room without listening to anyone’s words.

I caught up quickly. Right after stepping out the room, the boy came face-to-face with the white-haired guy.

"It’s all your fault……. None of this would have happened if you didn’t exist……"

Said the boy while giving the guy a hateful glare and there were tears falling from his eyes yet again.

The white-haired guy took it all in and gave a seemingly confused look, but just kept standing there and said nothing.

"That’s it….. I must go….. Have to go………"

The moment he uttered those words the boy swiftly changed the direction of his body and ran away with a shocking momentum. Not long after, the boy running through the dim hospital corridor disappeared in the dark.

"Ma-Master, what are you doing??!! If you don’t chase that boy he’ll be in danger!!"

"Oh oh oh. I know. Ah, my legs can’t do it anymore….."

That’s right, just at that urging moment my “slightly stronger than celery” legs started to tremble miserably.

"DAAAAHHHH!!! SERIOUSLY! MASTER, ARE YOU A FAWN??!! Why are you so useless at this kind of important moment…….!"

"Sh-shut up!! To tell the truth it’s all your fault!! DON’T

UNDERESTIMATE MY SLIM BODY!!"

  As we were bringing up this useless argument, the boy had already gone far ahead.

I was afraid that according to his speed he could escape the hospital compound in just a few minutes. After that he’d be out on the open. Then we wouldn’t know where he is at all.

"Call the nurse…. but I guess it’s already too late for that…….. I say, can you at least do something!? Although it looks like you are hiding something, still, he’s your relative isn’t he??!! If this goes on we’ll lose track of him!!"

Facing my question, the white-haired guy nodded with a confused face and spoke with a slightly faster yet still slow and steady intonation.

"Hibiya is quite angry at me……. 

“I have to do something…… C-can you come with me?”

The flow of events seemed a bit messed up, but I assumed Hibiya was the name of the boy who had just run away.

Seems that the guy also had his own sense for danger. When he said “come with me” his calm expression looked slightly different as his eyes contained faint traces of enthusiasm.

"Oh oh, no no I don’t mind coming with you, just that my legs aren’t very convenient at the moment….."

"What’s up with saying your legs are inconvenient all the time, Master? You’re just a slob who’s lacking exercise, aren’t you."

"No matter what you say, right now, I really can’t run…… Uhm, eh?"

As if he wanted to cover up my sentence, the white-haired guy appeared in front of me and I felt a pressured floating sensation which I hadn’t experienced for years. 

"WoahwOOAAAHHH?!!"

As if playing upsy-daisy with a baby, the guy picked me up effortlessly and carried me on his shoulder.

"Sorry, this might hurt a little….."

After saying that with a low voice, accompanied by a sonic boom and an impact, my view of the corridor started moving backwards with an extremely high speed.

The guy half-squatted and jumped over meters and meters in that pose, and I took freaking 1.5 seconds to realize what was going on.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I couldn’t make a sound for a moment, but after looking at the situation again, I miserably screamed from the bottom of my lungs.

"P-p-p-p-put me down….. UPPU!!"

I was trying hard to say something, but was cut off by the huge landing impact, causing air to gush from my mouth and replace my words.

"S-sorry, please be patient for a while"

The next moment I wasn’t looking at the high-speed movement of the corridor anymore, but it was the ground that was suddenly far away from me. Realizing what an extremely big leap it was, I nearly fainted.

I tried to hold onto my intentions and looked at my phone that I’d been grabbing tightly. Ene was using a cushion-like thing to cover her head, shutting her eyes, as if to protect herself from the next impact.

"THIS IS WEIRDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

While I was shouting, the air was cut off as we jumped into a cool-aired space. The hospital rooftop lay beneath my eyes. The ajar dormer that we jumped out of had already become small.

I wonder if that’s how it feels to skydive. No, to be exact, it felt almost the same as being on the roller coaster I had ridden earlier that day, my current darkest fear.

So, I was afraid that once I landed on the ground I’d end up like I did after the roller coaster ride.

"Found him….!"

The guy whispered. He removed me from his shoulder - maybe to soften the landing for me - and proceeded to carry me under his arm.

Then, the sense of weightlessness struck me again, but this time the ground was approaching with an incredibly high speed.

My brain started reciting “At any rate, falling from this height will kill me. THANKS.” and prayed to God, then, much like what Ene did back then, tightly shut my eyes.

"THUMP!!" the loud sound was accompanied by a strong sense of regained gravity. The impact itself was lighter than expected. Still, it was enough of an impact for my stomach that had been stimulated by the big flight, causing it to roll and mix up and down. Once the shock of the landing released me, the guy asked worriedly:

"Are you okay?"

"HaaaAAAh!!!"

Instead of a response to the expressed concern, me, who was still being hugged, gave a big sigh of relief.

"U…. uuuooo……"

Annndd as usual, I puked. Despair.

                         "Kyaah!!! So gross, don’t come near me!!!" "Haaa….. Haa…. No, you should’ve been at least a little concerned about me ….."

"Sorry, but I had to do it fast. I’m sorry for startling you…."

Jumping meters and meters just to be faster while carrying a fully grown guy, how many people of this type even exist in this world?

I slipped from under the guy’s arm and stood up, wobbling while looking at his face. I noticed that the eyes of the poker-faced guy were flashing in some kind of bright pink color.

"Your eyes……..your body has something too, huh. What’s going on, seriously?"

From the color of his eyes and his unusual actions I accepted the possibility that he also had a power, just like Momo and the Mekakushi Dan.

I’ve gotten kind of used to this phenomena due to Momo and Ene, but it seriously didn’t seem right to meet all these people several times within one day. 

Speaking of it, what was up with those eyes? I think it is better not to investigate it too much out of curiosity…..

"Who are you……?"

"Master!! Isn’t that child already out of the hospital??!!"

I stopped thinking and quickly looked in the direction Ene pointed at. On the long road in front of the hospital’s main entrance there was the running boy.

And that boy was very close to exiting the hospital compound.

"Hibiya…. We’ll lose him if this goes on...!''

The guy grabbed my arm as if he wanted to carry me again.

"GAHHH!!! NONONONONO!!! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! I beg of you, please, LET ME GO!!!"

"S-sorry, I won’t do it again…."

As I rejected, the guy quivered and released his hold of me. I successfully avoided another screaming comical act, it was true however that the boy would run onto the streets if this went on. It’d be troublesome if that happened.

"No, I can’t. I’m scared to do it alone so I can’t… Uu…."

The guy did an action completely unimaginable for someone with a tough demeanor and weakly bowed his head.

I looked at the boy running towards the front door once again and knew that even if I tried to chase him down my legs wouldn’t work at all.

Just when I was about to give up I suddenly remembered something. I quickly talked to my phone.

"Hey, Ene! Call Momo!!"

"Eh? Call Little Sister? ……… Ah! I see!! Roger that!!"

Showing she understood my intentions, Ene clapped her hands and used her right hand to draw a cross, then the screen changed to dialing mode to call Momo.

About 2.5 seconds passed before a big green “CALLING” sign appeared on the screen.

"Ah~ Hey, is that you, Onii-chan? Are you done with Ene’s stuff~?"

"It’s done, but now there’s something else to do…  Momo, where are you now?"

"Eh? Uhmm~ Let’s see…. Where are we, Leader? Oh, thanks. Ah, Onii-chan? I’m now~ in front of the hospital? Under the tree beside….. Argh, what’s up with that kid? Running so fast-"

"Heyy!!! Stop that kid from running away right now!! Please!!"

"EHHH??? WHYYY??!!"

"IT’S URGENT!!! PLEASEEE!!!"

"URGENT?!! Uhm~ OKAY…… Got it! I’ll give it a shot!!"

Momo hanged up, the screen displayed a red “END OF CALL” sign.

    "This won’t be a problem for Little Sister, right?"

"She might be stupid but she’s very active…"

"Yeah…. maybe a little stupid…."

I saw the boy was about to pass through the main entrance.

When he was just about to reach the destination, he staggered like he bumped into something.

When in the next moment Momo suddenly appeared in the empty spot, the boy was shocked and tried to defend himself, but was pressed down heavily by Momo and thus completely immobilized. "Woah!!! Good job Little Sister!! Ah~ ah~ but she hugged him so tightly….."

"She has somehow become a good cushion. Alright, if we don’t catch up now…"

"The one who’s being slow is only you, Master."

I ignored Ene and quickened my pace. When I finally reached the entrance, there was Momo, hugging the boy tightly. Meanwhile, he was struggling to escape her as he was nearly being suffocated.

"Ah, Onii-chan! What’s going on, seriously….. Ouch, that hurt! Don’t move, you………"

"Sorry, Momo. Hey, you there! I’m not sure what’s going on but can you at least calm down!? Your sudden escape from the hospital caused people to worry!!"

"Eeehhh!?? This child is a patient!?"

Momo released her grip, maybe out of surprise, and the boy escaped from her arms. His face went red as he took a deep breath, then gasped and glared at Momo.

"Waddaya think you’re doing, you fat lady! Don’t suddenly jump out of nowhere and grab me!!"

Momo, whose reaction was slow, made a blurry face at first, but as soon as she grasped the meaning of his words, became red-faced.

"H- HUHHH??!! F-f-f-fat lady……. WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY??!!!!"

"I mean it, you big fat lady!! I’m in a hurry……"

The boy was about to make another run for it but Momo swiftly grabbed the boy’s hood and pulled him back.

"I-I say you…….. You’re a patient aren’t you?!! Of course running away isn’t the right thing to do!! A-and I’m no-not f-fa-fat ……"

Perhaps it was too big of a strike for her: Momo’s body started to tremble and her breathing was off-beat.

The boy glared at her once again, took off his hood and shouted at Momo:

"As I said…..!! Don’t try to stop me!!! And also I’m not a patient, there’s nothing wrong with me!! As for you auntie, I think you should have a doctor check your cow-like body!! It’s definitely a disease."

So said the boy as he pointed towards Momo’s boobs or somewhere nearby, Ene was laughing from my phone “Pfft…. Ahh, sorry”, and a broken sound could be heard from Momo: “S-someone is worried about you, yet you!!!!!!! YOU…….!"

Being bullied by the boy almost made her cry. Just when the red-faced Momo was about to rush and seize him, this time it was her hood that was pulled back by something invisible, stopping her from attacking.

"L-let me go, Leader! T- THIS CHILD IS OUR ENEMY, OH YES, OUR ENEMY!!!

MEKAKUSHI DAN EMERGENCY DISPATCH!!! Let~ me~ go~ ARGHH~~

……!!!!!!!!"

Momo was struggling like a mad cow, and combined with what the boy had said I couldn’t help but to let out a little chuckle, but it seemed that Momo heard me and glared at me sharply.

"Whatcha’ laughing at, Onii-chan!? What’s up with that kid?! Why is he calling me that?!"

"Ah~ I know I know. Sorry, just calm down first. Hey, your name is Hibiya, right? Why are you in such a hurry? Can’t you go later?"

Hibiya didn’t try to run away after listening to my questions, instead he turned to me, without trying to cover the hostility on his face. He said dismissively:

"…….. There’s this girl, perhaps she’s already dead now. Someone important to me. I was the only one saved. So now it’s up to me to save her."

Hearing Hibiya say all that caused everyone to hold their breath.

Even Momo who had been noisy before stopped squirming and opened her mouth in surprise.

"W-wait a minute. Dead as in……. as in saying you two were involved in some kind of accident? If that’s the case, it’s better to discuss this matter with the police or the doctors first, right? Where are you going all alone?"

Before I rushed to the hospital, I hadn’t seen any signs of a car accident at the place where Hibiya fainted. His body had no obvious wounds, so from an outsider’s point of view he simply fainted due to heatstroke.

That’s what I thought it was at first, too.

Still, from what Hibiya had said, it was clear that it wasn’t merely a sudden occurrence, but more like some kind of incident. If that was truly the case, he should’ve discussed this with the police.

"No matter how much I try to explain this, no one will believe. Oh yeah, if you want proof, just ask that guy. He just stood there and watched it all happen."

The boy pointed at the guy who was starting to look anxious and clenched his shirt.

"Hey, you were there watching everything, weren’t you? If you couldn’t do anything, why don’t you at least try to explain yourself?"

"No, that’s not it! I also wanted to save her…. but... but... I had no choice…!" Said the guy, while the boy kept gritting his teeth, staring at him using an even sharper glare.

  The guy lowered his gaze as if he couldn’t take it anymore.

The boy sighed softly and again showed signs of wanting to pass through the entrance.

"…….. Fine. If you can’t do anything, I’ll just go by myself. Don’t stop…… me….."

The boy was just about to take a step forward when his body suddenly wobbled, tilted forward and headed towards the ground defenselessly.

"O-oi!"

I wanted to rush over to hold the boy but the distance between us was too great. Even the guy who had just shown such shocking actions earlier reacted two times slower than me, as if frozen in place by the boy’s words.

The boy didn’t show any signs of resistance and seemed like he was about to hit the ground.

"Dammit……!"

Just when I thought it was too late, Hibiya’s body looked like it was hanging on an invisible rope and just stopped in mid-air in an upright position.

I didn’t realize what was going on immediately, but after looking at Momo who had lost her balance and had fallen to the ground, I understood.

"Shintaro, this fellow…. It’s better not to send him back to the hospital."

The air around Hibiya suddenly shook and wobbled, at the same time Kido, who was wearing her purple parka with her head hidden under her hood, appeared.

Hiding under the hood with her long hair, Kido’s face showed mixed feelings of surprise and anxiety.

"Nice catch….. Say, what did you mean by that? It’s obvious that the boy’s condition has worsened. Well, it does look like quite a bad situation. Anyway, it’s better to leave him with the doctors or the police, right?"

"……. No, I’m afraid even the doctors or the police are useless. As for this fella’s current condition, I think the only ones who can help him are us."

Kido was looking at Hibiya in her arms while making an expression as if she had bitten something bitter.

As I was walking beside Kido, I glanced over at the boy’s face and in his partially opened eyes I saw traces of bloody red seeping out, mixing with the original color of his irises.

What’s going on?

"Oi, this is………."

"Ah, I know what you’re trying to say. The situation is pretty troublesome now."

Kido responded like she’d remembered something abominable.

The change in the color of the boy’s irises was definitely the characteristic of when Kido and the others used “some kind of power”.

Perhaps what Kido meant by saying “even the doctors or the police are useless” is because of this. It’s true that none of them would be able to easily accept an unusual and rare symptom like this one, I think.

"Then, what do we do right now…..? Is he going to be okay!?"

"For now, we still don’t know what the kid’s power is…If we let him go back it’d be dangerous. In any case, we should bring him back to the base first."

Kido’s hand supported Hibiya’s waist firmly and she hugged him properly with his head resting on her shoulder.

"Alright, Kisaragi. You tell Kano to space out a bed. Oh, and if Mary is afraid it’ll be troublesome, please let her stay in the room with Seto.

    Upon hearing Kido’s request, Momo, who had previously been sitting firmly on the ground, immediately stood up and gave a salute. "O-okay! Roger that!"

"Haha…. you’re so stiff"

Kido gave a dazed expression, then a rare smile. Her eyes have normally had a sharp glare in them, but when she smiled it was a really warm smile that revealed her motherly traits.

"Oh, yes. What’s your name?"

Kido, still hugging Hibiya, suddenly thought of something and turned to Konoha.

"M-me? ……. Konoha. That’s the name. I think."

Perhaps he didn’t mean it to be that way, but his usual incredibly slow manner of speaking made his self-introduction seem pretty sloppy.

When the guy said his name, the smartphone in my hand started vibrating again, and on the screen Ene was wearing an angry expression again and was kicking around with her legs.

"I see, Konoha. From what I heard just now, I guess we can lend a hand with the "incident" that involved you two. Anyway, we’ll be taking care of this child before he becomes stabile. Listen to me, you wanna come with us?"

As Kido said that, Konoha made the most serious face I had ever seen and nodded.

"It’s a yes, huh. Alright, let’s go…. but I’m kind of hungry now. I should leave it to Kano to prepare dinner….. Hey, Kisaragi. Did you contact Kano?"

"No, I couldn’t reach him at all, so I’m calling Seto right now….. Ah! Hello, this is Momo!"

I guess Seto did pick up the phone. Even though she couldn’t see the other side, Momo still stood straightly and spoke.

"Pardon me, there’s something going on here. There’ll be a patient coming to the base, so I was thinking if Kano could spare a bed for…… eh? He’s not in? Uhm….. Okay, I understand! Ah, besides that there’s making dinner…….. and also, after that, please stay in the room with Mary! Well then, goodbye!"

She rushed at the last part, so did she even tell Seto everything properly?

After hanging up, Momo gave a sigh of relief as if some strategy she had come up with succeeded.

"Sorry for troubling you, Momo. And, did Kano go somewhere?"

"Ah, yes. He kind of left a message ‘I won’t be back tonight’ and just went away."

"Haa……. That dude is really useless when it comes to important moments like this one..."

I remembered Ene saying a similar thing before and my heart began to cramp.

Speaking of it, I wonder what Kano’s up to, going out at this kind of time. For someone with an aloof attitude like his, having a lot of friends wouldn’t be a big surprise. So he went out for a night with his friends, I guess. Dammit…….. He’s even younger than me…..

"Let’s go then. From here to there might not be far away, we gotta be faster."

Kido’s eyes revealed a gleam of red again. I guess she was using it because of Momo.

I still didn’t completely understand her power, but I knew she made it so that no one could see us and that was kind of unbelievable.

"Uhm, Master,"

After leaving the building everybody followed Kido closely. Suddenly, my phone vibrated quieter than usual.

"Ah? What is it?"

The Ene I saw on the screen was different from before: she was floating there with a gloomy expression like she was deeply immersed in her thoughts.

"Uhm….. Shouldn’t we go home faster? With Little Sister. I just feel a bit worried. As if something bad is going to happen……"

Ene voiced a rare negative thought and awkwardly rubbed her shirt, creasing it slightly.

Usually the brat would say things like “Jump over it, Master!” if there was a ring of fire in front of me, so there was clearly something wrong with her that day.

"Huh? If you look at it from the beginning it was all actually your fault. Hey, although I really want to go home, too…….."

"If, If that’s the case, then……!"

"Mm-hmm, but I’m a bit concerned about the child myself, and Momo doesn’t seem like she’d want to go home either. Anyway, I don’t think that Leader would easily agree with us leaving."

"I-I see…….."

Ene looked powerless and depressed. I was thinking what she was trying to say when I suddenly realized something.

"Ah, don’t tell me you…!"

"Eh eh eh??!!  No! Of course not!! Ene is still… Ene, okay?! I’m not what you think! Master, you’re really nasty, seriously……."

"So you’re worried that you’ll run out of battery?"

"………Huh?"

Ene had said a lot of weird things, but when I posed the question she just opened her mouth without saying anything and looked stunned.

Then suddenly her expression changed into a smile. She clumsily waved her hands.

"……..Ah, ah~ charging the battery, yes, that’s it~! Once the battery’s low I become tired, how frustrating!"

"Uh-huh! It’s just what I thought! Hey I’ll recharge you as soon as we get back to the hideout, so cheer up, okay?"

So the problem was with the battery, huh? Maybe because she had wasted a lot at the amusement park, the screen did show that there was a lot less power remaining…  

I don’t know what she needs to stay active, but if her weird self returns after I charge the battery, I’ll be relieved.

If I don’t take care of her she’ll just do something even weirder. I wouldn’t be able to stand something like that.

"Ahaha……. haa. Speaking of which, I kinda think that Master…. has changed a little"

"Ah? Really? I’m not sure of it myself….."

"Looks like you had a lot of fun today. Isn’t it great, making friends?"

"Huuh? Are those people really my friends? I just feel like they’ve been leading me by the nose ………"

  I felt kind of defensive about considering them as my friends after knowing them for no more than one day.

Yet it was true, they were pretty good to get along with.

They’d lend a hand to a normal boy and even try to solve his problems, so they were really good people for this era.

"Isn’t that great? Master can even get along with people who are leading you by the nose."

Ene gave a gentle, yet lonely smile.

Suddenly, a smile I knew I had seen before unexpectedly passed through my mind. A smile I had once lost. A smile that had always been kept somewhere deep inside my brain.

"I guess it really is."

I didn’t want to forget it, so I locked the smile away somewhere, to the same place I always did.

"Of course it is! Ah, by the way, I’ve always thought that I’m a really tough girl, don’t you think so too? Are you obsessed with me or what?"

"Nono, first of all, do you really fall into the "girl" category?"

"EH EHHH?!!! You’re too much, Master!! Aren’t I a super girl!? Young and pretty, right!?"

Facing Ene, who had once returned to her usual talkative self, I decided I should get back quickly to charge the battery for her and slightly sped up my pace.