The day after we formed a party with Aria, Asuna, Aria, and Kurumi walked down the hallway of the Assault department.
"You two moved well. What are your ranks?"
"Kurumi-chan and I are both A."
"Kurumi's power is strong too."
"Oh, no. My Zafkiel requires a price, so I can't use it too much."
In fact, since they were in the same class, the three of them had become quite close. In the Assault department, where the smell of gunpowder is constant, the area around these three seemed like a different world.
"A price? What's that? As the party leader, I need to know."
"It might be a bit too early for you, Aria-san. What do you think, Asuna-san?"
"W-Why are you asking me!?"
Needless to say, the price of Zafkiel is one's lifespan. Asuna was just remembering something else and her face was red.
Aria tilted her head in confusion at the sight of Asuna.
"Hey, you three."
A girl approached the three of them.
She had two-side-up blonde hair with a soft, natural perm. Her petite body, similar to Aria's, was adorned with a modified uniform full of frills.
This girl's name is Mine Riko. She's a classmate of Asuna and the others.
"Oh, isn't that Riko-san?"
"It is. What's wrong? I thought Riko-chan was in the Inquesta department?"
"It's work, w-o-r-k. Ahh, it's such a drag~. I have to go home and continue my game~."
Despite her appearance, Riko is highly skilled. She's great at gathering information, and her rank is A. She's the kind of person who embodies the saying that you can't judge a book by its cover.
Riko adds exaggerated gestures to every word, but strangely, it doesn't come off as annoying. Maybe that's why she's so popular in the class.
"Oh, that reminds me."
Riko pulled out a gaudily decorated phone from her skirt pocket.
She operated the screen and showed it to the three of them.
"Do you know who these people are?"
The screen showed a battle between a Chimera Dopant and Paradox on a bike.
The three of them were speechless.
Shou had asked them to keep the Kamen Rider's identity a secret as much as possible. Although Aria revealed his identity early on because she had a goal of cooperating with him, she didn't want to spread it around.
"They appeared two days ago and yesterday... you two have met this person, right?"
Riko said, looking back and forth between Asuna and Aria.
The next picture showed Asuna and Aria clearly.
"I don't know."
"I don't know them at all either. Why?"
It was just a picture. They could get away with it by saying they didn't know.
"Well, someone who wants to put this person on their team asked me to investigate. I looked into it a little, and this person is amazing. I think they escaped from some kind of research lab, but they took down a really big monster. They can even deflect bullets with bullets. But if you don't know them, then I guess it can't be helped."
Riko closed her phone and smiled faintly. The smile was cold and sharp. It was something you wouldn't expect from Riko's usual demeanor.
Asuna and Aria were relieved that they had avoided being questioned. But only Kurumi noticed the strangeness.
"Oh, look at the time. I have to go! See ya~."
Riko left as if her business was done.
Once she was completely out of sight, the three of them let out a sigh of relief.
"That was a close one."
"Yeah. Information like that gets buried easily, but if someone gets interested, it spreads quickly. Well, if we catch the Butei Killer, we'll become famous whether we like it or not."
The two of them were completely relaxed, but Kurumi was different.
"...You're right. I should probably tell Shou-san to be a little more careful."
With that, Kurumi also kept her suspicions to herself.
And so, the three of them put the incident in the back of their minds.
Because they had things to do today.
---------
Right now, we're having a girls' get-together. Yukina (that's what we decided to call her), Asuna (who told me to drop the '-san' since it's already a thing), Kurumi (that's what we decided to call her on the first day of her summoning), and Aria (that's what she ended up being called) are having a fun time chatting.
Kuro had plans with her friends from elementary school today.
So, I was the only one who couldn't join the conversation. It was incredibly awkward since we were all at the same table. I honestly wanted to go home.
We weren't investigating anything, just having tea at a cafe. We couldn't investigate even if we wanted to, as we had no leads on the Butei Killer.
According to Aria, the Butei Killer tends to favor bombs. When they use them, they emit a unique radio wave, presumably for remote detonation.
They're relying on that to go to the crime scene and resolve the situation, but they're always a step behind, and the Butei Killer is never there. On top of that, they don't leave a single shred of evidence.
At this point, it's a completely hopeless situation. There's no better way to describe this situation than to say we're all dancing in the palm of their hand.
I know who the culprit is from the original story, but since there's no evidence, it's impossible to arrest them.
All we can do is minimize the damage from the bombs and hope for a small mistake from the Butei Killer.
Therefore, until an incident occurs, we're basically free.
And that's why we're having a get-together.
Asuna is the one providing most of the topics, though. Her communication skills are off the charts.
Kurumi, how are you keeping up with the conversation so well? What's going on? You're blending in more naturally than even Yukina, who's been here the longest. You haven't even been summoned for two days, have you?
And Aria... yeah. If the original story is anything to go by, she doesn't really have any friends. Her responses are so awkward that it makes me anxious just watching her. When she's not talking, she gives me this piteous look asking for help.
Please stop. I don't have the skills to join a conversation that's like a fast-paced spell chant.
"T-That reminds me! Do all of you live together!?"
Perhaps flustered by the situation, Aria blurted that out in a strained voice.
Aria might have thought it was a safe question, but for us, it was a question that made us break out in a cold sweat.
"Yes. Shou-san invited us to his party. That house belongs to Shou-san's father, you know?"
Kurumi smoothly spouted that lie.
I asked Kurumi about it later, and it turned out my father really was the legal owner of that building. My father shouldn't exist in this world (as far as I know), but the paperwork was done that way.
To have investigated all of this in such a short time... she must have used Zafkiel. In the first place, how did she even think to look up the owner of the building?
I feel like I'm being shown just how different things can be.
"Huh~, so you formed a party and you're living together?"
"That's right. And it was... a passionate invitation, if I do say so myself."
This part was a complete lie.
"Wait, what? A-An invitation... Asuna and Yukina aside, even that girl Kuro!? Shou! Do you just like any girl!?"
Honestly, if they're cute, then yes.
"I didn't see it myself, but... the other two must have had a passionate relationship as well."
Yukina and Asuna's faces turned red at those words. Even though Aria didn't fully understand the meaning, she reacted instinctively and pulled out her guns.
Kurumi, who had thoroughly provoked her, had already taken cover.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the peaceful cafe.
---------
The five of us were on our way home.
We had caused a little, just a little, commotion at the cafe, but the day was ending without any major trouble.
"What should we have for dinner tonight..."
I thought about tonight's dinner.
"Shou, you can cook?"
"Yeah. I split the chores with Asuna."
I went shopping yesterday, so I don't need to stop by the supermarket today. I'll just go straight home.
Just then, Aria suddenly stopped.
"Is something wrong?"
Yukina called out to Aria.
"What is this place?"
"It's an arcade. Don't you know that?"
"I'm a returnee from abroad, so I can't help it."
Asuna suggested something to the two who were talking.
"We still have time, why don't we go in?"
"Good idea."
We entered the arcade. The moment we stepped inside, we were hit with the loud sounds typical of an arcade, so loud we wanted to cover our ears.
In response, Aria said,
"What a noisy place."
She gave a perfectly reasonable assessment. I thought so, too.
It's easy to forget about Aria, but it was also Yukina's first time visiting a place like this. So, we decided to accommodate them both.
We walked around without playing anything, and I explained the things that caught their interest.
"Hey, what's this?"
Aria pointed to a machine nearby.
"That's a UFO catcher."
"UFO catch? What a weird name."
"Where is the UFO in this?"
Yukina was also observing the UFO catcher closely.
And then, Yukina and Aria saw the stuffed animals in the box. Their eyes were glued to them.
Aria was practically plastered to the glass window of the box, while Yukina was peeking at it from the corner of her eye. Both of them were giving off a strong "I want this" vibe. They'd probably deny it if I said it out loud, though.
"Shou-san. Isn't this a moment for you to be a man and say, 'I'll get it for you'?"
"Unfortunately, I'm not that good at UFO catchers. If I get cocky and say I'll get it, I can see a future where the girl says, 'It's okay now,' and takes pity on me."
My skill is limited to being able to get the ones near the hole. It's so difficult.
"Why don't you at least try?"
"If you insist..."
I took out a 100-yen coin.
I had the two of them step aside and stood in front of the control panel.
I put in the coin and the game started. The arm started to move with a cheerful sound.
I operated the buttons without much pressure.
I'll go for the one that looks easiest to get... that one.
The arm went down and grabbed the ear of a stuffed animal.
"Oh."
It was being lifted smoothly... huh!? A chain from another stuffed animal is tangled around the first one's leg!?
The arm, now carrying the weight of two, swayed unsteadily as it headed for the exit.
And then...
---------
On the way home, for real this time, Yukina, Asuna, Kurumi, and Aria were all holding a stuffed animal.
When the arm opened and dropped, it had somehow tangled up two other stuffed animals that were piled on top of each other.
With that, we were able to get four in total.
I feel like I've used up all the luck I have in my life for UFO catchers.
"Shou-san."
Kurumi, who was walking a little ahead with the other girls, slowed down and came closer to me.
I can't help but flinch, even when she hasn't done anything to me. I feel so bad about that.
"Please give this stuffed animal to Kuro-san. We can say it's an apology for not being able to go with her today."
"Hmm? Are you sure?"
To my question, Kurumi smiled faintly and intertwined her fingers with mine, holding my hand.
"Yes. I don't want you to be wary of me forever, after all. You can just think of this as me earning some points."
Her words were cold, but she didn't let go of my hand.
"I see, thank you."
"Hehe, you're welcome."
In the end, we held hands until everyone else saw us.
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