The blazing sun hung high in the sky.
Skyscrapers towered into the clouds like enormous mirrors, reflecting the face of the city.
It was like an incredibly delicate and lifelike city model. Between the stacked buildings, cars traveled back and forth along roads in the gaps, while citizens of all sorts of professions ford a sea of people.
Looking around, there were office workers talking on phones, students laughing and playing at school, parents taking their children out for walks, beggars who liked to crouch in shadowy corners and ask passersby for money, and delinquent biker gangs full of rough attitude.
There was laughter, and there was sadness.
There was light, and there was darkness.
Without a doubt, this was a city.
A city where humans lived.
(It's so ordinary...)
As she observed the city scenery as though taking a stroll, Kurumi silently comnted in her heart.
Yes—ordinary.
After looking around, Kurumi did not feel that the architectural style was different, nor did she feel any major change brought about by technological advancent. Although it was an unfamiliar city, overall, whether it was the buildings, streets, or people living there, it was no different from the world Kurumi knew.
(Is this really the world seven years later...?)
With that question surfacing in her heart, Kurumi walked into a convenience store and picked up a newspaper.
The date written on the newspaper told Kurumi in an extrely objective way that she was indeed in the future.
As if understanding sothing, a complicated flavor ford at the corners of Kurumi's lips.
The present she was in was not a future where humanity had developed naturally under ordinary circumstances. It was a future reached after the Inversion of Spirits.
Having gone through countless loops, she knew better than anyone that any single Inverted Spirit could easily destroy a city of this scale in the span of a few breaths. And seven years ago, there had been nine such Inverted Spirits rampaging across the world. Just thinking about how hopeless that must have been for humanity made one shudder.
Under those circumstances, seven years had passed. To be honest, even if all humanity in the world had been wiped out, it would not have been strange. But in reality, the future was not a despair where nothing remained. Although it had left behind cruel, hideous scars, it was still within the range that people could endure.
The survivors rebuilt cities, crossed over grief, and spent more than seven years restoring a life that resembled the old days.
After realizing this, Kurumi finally understood that this seemingly ordinary and plain daily life was, in fact, an incredibly precious miracle.
"..."
Unconsciously, she crumpled the newspaper in her hand. Kurumi's heart could not calm down for a long while.
"Excuse ... I'll buy this newspaper."
"Sure. Thank you for your purchase."
[Next news: Popular idol Izayoi Miku has personally donated one hundred million yen to disaster stricken areas and is scheduled to hold free tours in recovered regions——]
When she paid at the register, Kurumi suddenly heard a na that caught her attention.
[Ha... ha... Damn it... What a worst-case developnt.]
[Kuku——Don't think you can escape. No matter where you go, even to the ends of the earth, I will find you, Fatima.]
Curious, she turned her head. However, the news playing on the store computer had already been switched to an ani by a child in the shop.
"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to use the store computer to watch ani?"
"Eh~ But Mom, this week is the decisive battle in Silver Bullet. I absolutely can't miss it."
"Don't give that nonsense. Have you finished your howork?!"
"Tch~"
"Ah, sorry you had to see that."
After scolding her son, the clerk spoke sowhat awkwardly.
"It's fine."
Kurumi gently shook her head to show she did not mind.
(I must have misheard just now...)
She dismissed the information she had just heard as a misunderstanding. More accurately, even if it had not been a misunderstanding, she intended to ignore it. After all, that information had no aning to the current Kurumi.
What she needed to do now was find a hotel, get through the next three days, and then return to Naia's underground city.
"Excuse ... I'd like to stay here for three days."
"I'm very sorry. Because of the earthquake not long ago, our power supply has developed so issues. For safety reasons, we are temporarily closed for repairs."
She had just walked into one inn when the owner hurriedly bowed and apologized to her.
Of course, Kurumi did not mind. After all, she only needed to find another inn.
However...
"Sorry, our inn is fully booked."
"This place has been reserved entirely by soone, so we are closed today."
"Sorry, our hotel owner ran off with the money, so this establishnt has suspended operations."
"Lodging? We still have one vacant room. Please wait a mont... I'll arrange it for you right aw——"
Bang!
"Robbery! Hand over everything valuable!"
...
Things went more or less like that. Every ti Kurumi found a hotel or inn, she was unable to stay there for all kinds of strange reasons.
"What exactly is going on?"
Looking at the sunset gradually sinking westward, Kurumi muttered gloomily.
Left with no choice, Kurumi gave up on finding a hotel and decided to simply find an abandoned building in the city to sleep in.
But then, sothing bizarre happened.
The instant Kurumi walked up to the building, a cracking sound rang from inside it. Imdiately afterward, like a chain of falling dominoes, cracks spread throughout the building. Finally, under Kurumi's astonished gaze, it collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Very quickly, the disturbance of the building's collapse drew police cars and ambulances over.
"What caused the building to collapse?"
"According to the initial inspection, no traces of man-made explosives were found. It should have been a natural collapse caused by aging."
"Well, the buildings here are indeed very old. Today's earthquake must have been the trigger. How's the search?"
"Report. We've confird that there were no casualties."
"That's good. Considering the possibility of other dangerous buildings collapsing as well, set up a cordon as soon as possible. Also arrange personnel to check whether anyone lives in other dangerous buildings. If there are, arrange evacuation."
"Understood."
(Looks like this won't work either.)
Kurumi could not help sighing.
Looking at the large number of police officers patrolling near the dangerous buildings, Kurumi understood that her plan to spend the night in an abandoned building had also gone up in smoke.
"This feels a bit wrong..."
Kurumi lowered her head in thought.
If it had happened once or twice, it could be called coincidence. But when it happened seven or eight tis, even ten tis, one could not help suspecting that soone was secretly causing trouble.
(Could it be Naia?)
The first one Kurumi suspected was Naia, who had sent her into the city. But it was hard to imagine that emotionless puppet pulling off such complicated tricks.
(Or... Yutsuki-san?)
At that thought, Kurumi unconsciously held her breath.
(But if it really is Yutsuki-san doing this, then what is her goal? If she wants to convey so information, such a roundabout thod is not Yutsuki-san's style.)
"Ugh——"
At that mont, Kurumi, who had forgotten to watch where she was going while thinking, accidentally bumped into soone in a dark alley.
"...I'm very sorry."
After quietly apologizing, Kurumi intended to walk around the person and leave.
However, the other party reached out and blocked her.
"Hey, hey! You think bumping into soone can be settled with one little apology?"
Hearing the unpleasantness in the other person's tone, Kurumi had no choice but to set aside her thoughts.
"Is there sothing you need?"
Kurumi raised her head. The other party consisted of two n, one fat and one thin. They had earrings and tattoos, and judging by their clothing, they were likely unemployed thugs.
Both n were over one ter eighty tall. Taking advantage of their physiques, they blocked Kurumi in the alley, one in front and one behind.
"Hey, hey! What do you an, sothing? You just dirtied my jacket worth five hundred thousand yen. How're you gonna compensate ?"
The man pointed at a stain on his clothes and pulled a nasty face at Kurumi. He was plainly trying to extort her.
"...Ara ara, that truly is unfortunate. But this humble girl does not have that much money right now."
Kurumi answered with a troubled expression.
Of course, that was a lie. The living expenses Naia had given Kurumi were more than enough to cover such compensation. But Kurumi clearly did not intend to spend money in such a place.
"No money, hm~ That's no good. In that case, we'll have to ask your parents for it."
"Eh? My parents?"
"Well... Looking closer, you're pretty cute, little lady. If you don't want your parents to know, we can teach you another way to pay us back."
"We'll even take you to play so fun gas."
As they spoke, the two n looked at Kurumi's beautifully curved body and stunning face, swallowing at the sa ti.
Closing in on Kurumi without making it obvious during the conversation, the n showed vulgar, filthy grins. Their fingers twitched disgustingly, unable to suppress their desire.
"...Today really is an unlucky day."
Suddenly, Kurumi let out a strange sigh.
"Originally, I was behaving myself and staying at ho, but because of an earthquake, I had no choice but to go out. I tried to find an inn, but they were either without water and power, had owners who ran away, or were being robbed. I tried to find so ruins to spend the night in, but before I could even move in, the police sealed the place off. Now I can't even sleep on the streets. I only wanted to find a place to rest. I'm so unlucky! I'm so depressed I feel like crying!"
"Is that so? That really is unfortunate."
"You can relax. As long as you co with us, we'll provide you a place to stay."
Seeing Kurumi suddenly pour out her bitterness, the two clearly did not realize disaster was about to befall them.
"Ara ara, you two are truly kind. But you seem to have misunderstood sothing."
Kurumi looked at the two n, the corners of her lips lifting into a bewitching smile.
"When I said unlucky, I ant the two of you."
"Wha—gh!"
Before the n could finish speaking, Kurumi's slender hands seized their necks and lifted the two thugs, whose bodies were far heavier than hers, into the air.
"Ara ara, what is wrong, you two? Didn't you say you were going to take to play so fun gas?"
Kurumi asked with a smile.
Yes. The unlucky ones were these two thugs, not Tokisaki Kurumi.
Over these six years, although Kurumi herself had not realized it while staying shut underground, she had in fact accumulated a considerable amount of stress. It was just that Kurumi's ntal state had been extrely negative and worn down at the ti, so she had not taken any overly emotional actions.
But today, this series of unexpected incidents had turned the stress in Kurumi's heart into aggressive irritation.
And these two n's appearance was like walking right into the muzzle of a gun, giving Kurumi an outlet to release that pressure.
And so, her delicate white fingers slowly dug into the flesh of their necks. The pressure was so great that even the blood vessels beneath their skin could be seen clearly.
"Ara ara, what's wrong, you two? Your complexions look terrible. Are you feeling unwell?"
Looking at the two whose faces had turned blue from lack of oxygen, pleasure surged in Kurumi's blood-colored eyes.
"S-save us..."
"We were wrong... Please forgive us..."
"Forgive you? You two are saying sothing strange. If this humble girl just happened to not possess the strength to defend herself, I'm afraid our positions would already have been reversed. If that were the case, would you two forgive this humble girl just because she apologized and begged?"
As she spoke, Kurumi could not help sticking out her soft pink tongue and lightly licking her red lips.
"How perfect~ This humble girl was so busy looking for a place to stay today that she has not eaten all day. Why don't the two of you... die for ..."
Hidden beneath her bewitching and insane expression was killing intent far beyond anything the two n could comprehend.
"Co forth! Za——ugh!"
The instant Kurumi was about to summon her Angel, an unbearable nausea suddenly surged to her mouth.
And that disgust also snapped Kurumi out of her madness.
(What was I... about to do just now?)
Amid her turmoil, the strength in her hands loosened on its own. The two thugs were finally freed, collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Ignoring the two on the ground, Kurumi fled the scene in panic.
...
"Ugh... ah... ngh..."
Inside a public restroom stall, Kurumi kept vomiting. But in truth, since she had not eaten anything today, she was only repeatedly dry-heaving due to a psychological reaction.
(Just now... I really wanted to kill those two people.)
Kurumi's hands trembled on their own.
Tokisaki Kurumi was no stranger to killing. Among the twenty thousand people who had died by her hand in her mory, there were villains far more despicable and shaless than those two n, and also a small number of innocent people without sin. Although she had felt so resistance and guilt, it had never been as intense as it was today.
In the past, when she killed, she could numb herself by saying it was for revenge, to fulfill her long-cherished wish, to change the world, giving her actions a justified reason as protection.
But now that everything had ended, Tokisaki Kurumi's actions just now had not been self-defense. It had been sothing purer.
Feeding.
If she had eaten those two n's "ti" just now, Kurumi would have beco an unmistakable monster.
(How frightening...)
For the first ti, Kurumi felt fear toward her own power, and toward herself.
"Shido-san...Yutsuki-san...What exactly... should I do now..."
She cried helplessly. Only after a long while did Kurumi's emotions gradually settle.
Walking out of the public restroom, just as Kurumi continued thinking about how she should solve the problem of lodging for the next few days, a banner advertisent caught her attention.
Bus tour.
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