"Oh, is that so?"
Asagiri nodded in a noncommittal way, then smiled.
"Tracking down a serial killer hiding in the city and handing out punishnt, that sounds like sothing a mysterious hero would do."
Iwanaga Kotoko's lips curled upward.
"Hmm? Don't tell you've got a hidden chuunibyou soul. You think this is exciting and it gets your blood pumping?"
"It's not exciting at all."
Asagiri waved a hand lazily.
"Why would I get fired up over sothing that doesn't benefit , makes travel to another city to kill soone, requires zero deduction, and has no challenge?"
Kotoko blinked, genuinely curious.
"Then why…"
"Oh, it's not completely without benefit."
Asagiri gently cut her off. He looked at her cute face with a trace of surprise, and his smile softened.
"Being able to help you is already more than enough reason."
"Asagiri…"
That simple line hit harder than any dramatic confession.
Kotoko, who was usually sharp tongued and fearless, froze for a heartbeat. A blush blood across her fair cheeks, and the deep purple eye visible beneath her pale golden hair misted over.
Then, as if to hide her embarrassnt, she imdiately latched onto Asagiri's arm and grinned.
"Sure enough, compared to Asuna, you still love more…"
"No, you're wrong."
Asagiri cut in again, calm and absolute.
"There is no more. You, Asuna, and gumi, I like you all equally. No preference, no bias. Completely fair."
"Eh?"
Kotoko did not react like Asuna had when she first heard those words. She caught the key point instantly.
"Don't tell … you want a harem?"
Asagiri answered without hesitation, righteous and shaless in the sa breath.
"That's right. I want a harem!"
He did not even bother lowering his voice.
In an instant, the train car, which had still been filled with scattered conversation, fell silent.
The female passengers' eyes sharpened with instinctive disgust at first. Then their gazes slid toward the source of the voice, and the disgust vanished as if erased, replaced by startled admiration.
That guy…
He was ridiculously handso.
As for the n, whether they were salaryn in suits or students in uniforms, they seed to reach a subtle, wordless understanding. Their eyes turned toward Asagiri with complicated respect.
Brave.
To declare he wanted a harem in front of such a cute girl, so openly, with no sha whatsoever.
A man among n.
The passengers felt they could already predict what happened next.
A normal girlfriend would storm off, or slap him, or at least call him trash, right?
After all, a harem was still far too…
"Hmm… okay then."
The entire train car froze.
Huh?
Okay then?
Was she… agreeing?
Were there hidden caras? Was this so kind of show? What kind of plot was this?
But Kotoko's thoughts were not complicated at all.
Even if they bickered all the ti, she genuinely cherished Yuuki Asuna and Kato gumi as friends and teammates. Friends ca first, then teammates.
And Asagiri was Asagiri.
From the mont they t in the hotel Dungeon, Kotoko had fallen in love at first sight and never climbed back out.
She did not want to lose Asuna and gumi, and she also wanted to beco Asagiri's lover and do all the shaless things she had dread of.
So if the solution was a harem, then fine.
Harem it was.
"Let see… we should arrive in Kanagawa around four o'clock…"
Kotoko checked the ti on her phone, then leaned close to Asagiri's ear and whispered.
"Before we do serious business tonight, let's eat first. I heard there's a place in Kanagawa that makes especially good eel rice."
Asagiri asked, curious.
"Why are you suddenly craving eel rice?"
Kotoko propped her cheek with one hand. Her face was flushed with girlish shyness, yet the words she spoke made every passenger's jaw drop.
"Aren't we spending the night together? It's my rare first ti, and I want it to be a beautiful mory. Of course I need sothing to replenish my energy."
She lowered her voice even further, as if sharing sacred knowledge.
"Eel is a symbol of children and safe childbirth, and because its shape is very similar to a certain male organ, it's also considered a symbol of harmonious married life."
Kotoko turned her face aside, red to the ears, and whispered as if she could not believe she was saying it out loud.
"It sounds very nourishing."
Then she snapped her head back and stared at Asagiri with unprecedented seriousness, like a knight swearing an oath.
"Tonight, I will go all out!"
The passengers in the train car fell into a heavy, stunned silence.
What kind of words was this girl, dressed like so sheltered young lady, saying so boldly?
Go all out?
Where, exactly, was she planning to use her full strength?
Was this still a normal train in Japan, or had they all been transported to so filthy joke planet?
"Hmph. You want to challenge ?"
Asagiri folded his arms, lips curving upward. His voice carried a confident dominance that only the truly strong could wear without embarrassnt.
"Fine. I accept your challenge!"
Kotoko clenched her small fists and pumped them, refusing to lose.
"Heh heh. You may be strong, but I'm not an ordinary person either. Tonight, let's have a hearty battle!"
The passengers: "…"
The handso guy and the cute girl were not just a match in looks.
Even this level of shaless absurdity fit together perfectly.
…
A little later, in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, inside a shop with a standing sign outside displaying a glossy photo of eel rice.
"I'm eating!"
Kotoko tore open her chopsticks, delicately picked up a glossy piece of grilled eel, and placed it into her mouth.
Her whole face lit up.
"Mmm! It's really delicious. It totally lives up to the reputation."
"Is it that good?"
Asagiri casually took a piece, tasted it, then shook his head.
"It's average. I feel like it's not as good as Asuna's cooking."
"Tch…"
Kotoko made a dissatisfied sound like an annoyed cat, then pouted.
"Even though I don't want to admit it, Asuna's cooking is really amazing. It's not worse than those hotel chefs. In that area, soone like who can't cook at all can't compete."
After grumbling, she shook her head and smoothly dragged the topic back to tonight's mission.
"If it were just killing that man, Kōsaku Hosokawa, it wouldn't be hard. For you, it's as simple as sending an email. There would be no need for us to travel all the way here."
Her gaze sharpened.
"The real reason is this."
Kotoko pulled out a black covered notebook and slid it across the table. Asagiri opened it and found detailed notes about the serial murders, gathered through the yokai's investigation.
"Left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg, torso…"
Asagiri scanned the pages, voice flat.
"Each victim's body was dumped in the mountain forest missing one part. Is he playing so kind of puzzle ga?"
"Exactly."
Kotoko kept eating as she spoke. The grisly topic did not slow her down even a little.
"He keeps the victims' bodies in his apartnt and sews them together with needle and thread. As for why he does it, maybe it's so cult superstition. Maybe he's simply insane. The thoughts of a ntally ill serial killer are hard to understand."
She wiped her mouth lightly, eyes steady.
"But his behavior, cutting them up and stitching them together, whether intentional or not, has seriously violated the order of this world."
"The vengeful spirits of unjust deaths carry powerful resentnt. He's forcibly mixed them together through that stitching."
Kotoko's tone grew colder.
"What is born is a complete Banshee. And because the resentnt and hatred are so concentrated, its power is exceptionally strong. Ordinary yokai don't even dare approach it."
She paused only long enough to take another bite.
"Last night, he kidnapped a woman and took her to his apartnt. He's probably planning to kill her after work on Friday, during the weekend, and complete the final part of his corpse doll."
Kotoko's voice beca crisp, as if she were describing the last piece of a ritual.
"He intends to sew on the woman's head."
"At the mont of completion, his twisted evil thoughts, combined with the resentnt of six vengeful spirits, will make that Banshee even stronger. It will threaten every yokai in this city."
Her gaze did not waver.
"As the God of Wisdom, I absolutely will not allow that."
Asagiri listened, then nodded slightly, smiling faintly.
"You didn't explain this earlier because you were worried Asuna and Kato gumi would feel uncomfortable hearing it."
"Pretty much."
Kotoko smiled again, bright and sweet, as if the conversation had been about the weather.
"After all, they're still normal people."
Her chopsticks tapped the bowl lightly.
"Unlike the two of us."
.....
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