—Big bro, you be the monster! I'm the hero!
A little boy wielding a toy sword had appeared in front of Shido, enthusiastically proposing a ga.
He looked to be around the age of a first-grader—the exact age where kids were heavily influenced by tokusatsu shows and ani, purely idolizing heroes of justice.
I used to be that age once too, Shido thought nostalgically, before happily agreeing to play along with the boy.
—Evil monster! Take this! Take this! Take this!!
The little boy clumsily swung his toy sword. Because his movents were slow and telegraphed, Shido dodged them with ease.
It's about ti I let him win.
If he went too easy on him, the boy might think he was being looked down upon; if he took it too seriously, he'd be accused of bullying a child. Plus, keeping Kurumi waiting for too long wasn't good.
So, Shido stopped moving, allowing the boy to "stab" him. He let out a dramatic groan and collapsed onto the ground, playing dead to put an end to the ga.
And then, the exact mont the tip of the toy sword touched his body...
————————————————————!!!!
All sound ceased instantly. Shido's vision was engulfed by a blinding white light, which then imdiately plunged into a bottomless, abyssal darkness.
"Shido-san? Shido-san?"
"...Eh?"
Staring blankly at Kurumi, it took a long mont before Shido registered her voice.
"What's wrong, Kurumi?"
"What do you an, 'what is wrong'? Did Shido-san not proactively offer to feed , only to suddenly space out?"
"Kurumi" looked at Shido with an exasperated expression.
"Ah... you're right."
Reminded by Kurumi, Shido finally rembered that he had bought the takoyaki specifically for this purpose.
But...
"Was there... a little kid here just now?"
After glancing around the area, Shido blurted out the question.
"A child? I did not see one."
Kurumi said, genuinely perplexed.
"Ah... never mind, if there wasn't one, then it's fine."
Why did I even ask that? Shido felt a wave of inexplicable confusion in his heart.
"Shido-san~ Say 'ah'—"
"Mhm—"
Before Shido could process it, "Kurumi" used a toothpick to pick up a piece of takoyaki and accurately popped it into his mouth.
"Is it delicious?"
Kurumi asked with a beaming smile.
"It's good—Hey?! Why am I the one being fed?"
Shido's cheeks instantly flushed with heat as he retorted with a red face.
"It cannot be helped. I already gave Shido-san a chance. But you kept spacing out and left hanging."
"Ugh— Sorry..."
Shido was montarily at a loss for words. Indeed, just as Kurumi said, the fault was his.
"Let us end our outing here for today."
Saying that, Kurumi stood up from the bench.
"Eh? You don't want to walk around a bit more?"
"Mhm. Shido-san seems a bit out of sorts today. We can save the rest for our next date."
"Sorry..."
Did my distracted behavior disappoint Kurumi? Shido lowered his head dejectedly, biting his lip in frustration.
"No, there is no need for Shido-san to bla himself. I had a very enjoyable ti."
Kurumi smiled slightly, shaking her head to deny it.
"Shido-san~"
Calling his na with a gentle voice, Kurumi didn't move to leave. Her eyes quietly fixed on Shido, as if she were waiting for sothing.
Just as Shido felt confused, Kotori's voice crackled through his earpiece.
[Shido, the choices are up!]
① Escort her ho together.
② Say goodbye and go ho alone.
③ Perform an impromptu cody skit before parting ways.
[The vast majority of the crew voted for ①. Kurumi is dropping hints this blatantly; there's no way you have any other bright ideas right now, right, Shido?]
"Haha..."
Letting out an awkward, dry laugh, Shido exhaled softly and asked,
"Where do you live right now, Kurumi?"
"Mhm, at the very least, it is a route that passes by Shido-san's house."
"In that case, how about I escort you on the way?"
Hearing Shido's offer, Kurumi nodded in satisfaction.
"Mhm. Since Shido-san is offering, it would be rude of to decline."
——————————
"Waahhhhh—! Monster! Monster! Let go! I'm not scared of you! Take this! Take this!"
"Hey?! Stop swinging that around, it's dangerous! Natsumi!"
Seeing the little boy wildly swinging the toy sword in his hands, Yutsuki quickly snatched the lethal toy away and handed it to Natsumi.
"K-Kaleidoscope—Michael—[Segva]."
Fumbling to grab the toy sword, Natsumi hastily summoned her Angel. It wasn't until she completely sealed the internal detonation sequence that she let out a massive sigh of relief.
"Yutsuki, we're safe over here now."
"That's good. Hey—Kurumi, we've dealt with the bomb. Isn't it about ti you put the kid down?"
Looking at the four dark arms erging from the shadows that held the little boy in mid-air, Yutsuki spoke helplessly.
"..."
Kurumi didn't answer, but she directed her clone to release the boy.
"Oof!"
Yutsuki quickly caught the falling child.
"The imdiate danger has been neutralized. I leave this child to you, Yutsuki-san."
Leaving behind that cold sentence, Kurumi vanished into the deep alleyway along with the shadows.
"Um, Yutsuki... is she... angry?"
Poking her head out from behind Yutsuki, Natsumi asked cautiously.
Although she had long heard that Kurumi had the ability to create clones, seeing a mass of pale arms suddenly burst out from the shadows in the corner had thoroughly terrified Natsumi.
If an ordinary person saw a scene straight out of a horror movie like that, they probably would have fainted from shock.
And honestly, feeling the aggressively intense aura radiating from Kurumi earlier, Natsumi genuinely thought Kurumi was going to tear the child limb from limb right in front of them.
"...Well, maybe she's blaming ."
Shrugging with a bitter smile, Yutsuki gently set the little boy down on the ground and ruffled his hair.
"It's okay, it's okay! We already chased the bad guys away. You don't have to be scared."
"..."
Slowly opening his eyes, the little boy looked around nervously. Only after confirming Kurumi was gone did a look of relief wash over his face.
"Who are you two onee-chan?"
The boy asked curiously.
"We're Allies of Justice protecting the peace of this city."
Yutsuki answered with a completely straight face.
"..."
Hearing Yutsuki's words, the corner of Natsumi's mouth twitched. She wanted to roast her, but she ultimately kept her mouth shut.
"Allies of Justice! That's so cool! Onee-chan!"
The little boy clearly bought it hook, line, and sinker. The way he looked at Yutsuki was suddenly filled with pure adoration.
"Say, could you answer a question for onee-chan? Who gave you this toy?"
Pointing at the toy in Natsumi's hands, Yutsuki asked.
"Oh, that? Another onee-chan gave it to . She told that if I played the hero ga with the blue haired onii-chan walking next to the pretty black haired onee-chan, and won, she'd give a toy transformation belt."
The little boy answered honestly.
Hearing the boy's words, Natsumi couldn't help but say,
"Yutsuki, could this child also be brain—"
"No, but he was clearly used."
After observing him for a mont, Yutsuki shook her head silently. But honestly, compared to that woman exuding obvious murderous intent, this completely innocent child was far more likely to make soone let their guard down.
"Um... could it be that this toy sword... is sothing dangerous?"
The little boy asked uneasily.
"Yeah, it's very dangerous. It's cursed. It can attract man-eating monsters like the one you just saw!"
"Eh!? That monster eats people?!"
All the color drained from the boy's face.
"You can't just take things from strangers anymore, understand?"
"Y-Yeah! I got it!"
"That's good... Natsumi, can you use Michael to seal this child's mories of us?"
Faced with Yutsuki's sudden request, Natsumi froze, then hastily waved her hands.
"Eh? N-No way! I an, theoretically, it should be possible, but I haven't used this Angel much. It's hard to control the exact output!"
"It's fine, I'll use Ratziel to assist. You just need to follow your intuition."
"Alright... but I'm not taking responsibility for whatever happens..."
Muttering under her breath, Natsumi pointed the pseudo-Michael at the little boy.
Placing her hand over Natsumi's, Yutsuki chanted silently in her heart.
(Ratziel. You can do this, right?)
[—Task Received. Comncing Intervention—No resistance detected from the target—Output Limitation Complete—]
"Onee-chan?"
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to get you back to your family safely."
Ruffling the boy's hair, Yutsuki smiled and said,
"Everything you saw today was just a bad dream. When you wake up, it'll all be gone."
Michael—[Segva].
...
"Hey, Yutsuki, can I ask you a question?"
After returning the little boy to his parents, on their way ho, Natsumi spoke up to Yutsuki.
"What is it?"
"Since Kurumi knew DEM was going to attack Shido there, why didn't she just avoid the place? Why deliberately walk right into a trap?"
"Yeah, didn't I explain this earlier? Even if they avoided it, the enemy who has Beelzebub could quickly track Shido's movents and formulate a new plan. To prevent the intel she finally obtained from becoming aningless, she had no choice but to do it this way."
"I know that... but—is there really no other reason?"
Mustering her courage, Natsumi looked straight into Yutsuki's eyes and asked.
"..."
Ryougi Yutsuki would not lie to her family. Whether it was Natsumi or anyone else, they all knew this very clearly.
But similarly, this did not an Yutsuki would always tell them the whole truth. Often, to prevent everyone from feeling anxious, she would hide the crucial part and give them superficial answers instead.
But, what if they kept pressing the issue?
Natsumi knew. If the hidden reason was rely out of fear that everyone would worry, then as long as she pressed further, Yutsuki would honestly confess the truth.
However——
"There is. But I'm sorry, I can't tell you."
If Yutsuki answered like this... It ant that confessing the truth would only make the situation exponentially worse.
"No... you don't need to apologize, Yutsuki. I'm the one... sorry for saying sothing weird."
"Honestly, you're overthinking things again. You were a huge help today."
Then, as if to cheer up the gloomy Natsumi, Yutsuki vigorously ruffled her hair and flashed a bright, reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, I will absolutely never let my family fall into danger."
Yes, Ryougi Yutsuki would not lie to her family.
More accurately, she was constantly fighting with all her strength so that the words she said to her family would never beco a lie.
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