"Not bad."
Inori studied her reflection in the mirror and gave a satisfied nod.
I really do get prettier every time I look. Seeing herself up close in person really was something else — there was an ethereal quality to it that couldn't be captured on screen. Just like Shu Ouma's breathless observation in the original: a beautiful girl who looked like she'd stepped straight out of a CG render. Flawless, delicate features. Porcelain skin without a single blemish. Soft, unpainted lips in a natural dusty rose. And those cherry-pink strands — a little disheveled, but not a trace of dirt or grime on them.
She was still wearing the form-fitting latex bodysuit, but she'd draped a thick black coat over it to cover herself up. She'd "borrowed" that from a clothing shop a short while ago.
The method: pretend to be a customer browsing for something to try on, then tell the attendant the size was too large. The moment the helpful clerk disappeared into the back to find the right fit — activate Time Stop, and walk right out. By the time the clerk returned, the pink-haired girl who'd looked like she was cosplaying with a wig was long gone, along with their merchandise.
One caveat: during Time Erasure, she couldn't physically interact with anything. But if she was already holding something before the ability activated, it was counted as part of her own body by the ability's rules — a loophole she could exploit freely.
A gust of cool air swept through the alleyway. She wrapped the coat tighter around herself without thinking.
I didn't want to resort to petty theft, but... when you're backed into a corner, you do what you have to. She'd just escaped the research facility — she had no identity, no documentation, and not a single credit to her name. And in this era, paper money was long extinct; King Crimson had no hacking capability, so the Stand couldn't help her on that front.
Clothing — temporarily resolved. But there was still one pressing issue.
She was starving.
The hunger had come from nowhere. The moment she thought about food, her stomach sent up an urgent, impossible-to-ignore complaint. Well, forget it. She'd already stolen a coat worth significantly more than this — lifting a bite to eat seemed pretty modest by comparison.
Besides. She was the heroine of this world. Think of it as an advance on the payment owed to the girl who would one day save humanity from the Apocalypse Virus. Framed that way, her conscience had nothing to protest.
As if summoned by that thought, her nose caught a thread of something tantalizing — grilled meat and sauce. It hit instantly, flooding her mouth with saliva. She followed the smell without even deciding to.
Around a corner was a hot dog stand. A boy in a school uniform stood at the glass display counter while the aproned, chef-hatted owner was slicing a freshly cooked hot dog into pieces for easier eating.
Okay. How to handle this.
The prey was right in front of her, and yet she hesitated.
She knew perfectly well that with a face like hers, all she'd have to do is walk over with a faintly troubled expression and ask — and they'd almost certainly just give her something.
— I'm cute! Please feed me!
Absolutely not. That was beneath her. She was a Stand user, wielding King Crimson. The Emperor is I, Inori! She refused to act like some trashy, shameless girl.
So instead—
She turned up the collar of her coat, ducked her head slightly, and slipped around into the school uniform boy's blind spot.
"There you go — beef and BBQ sauce hot dog."
The owner deftly packed the sliced hot dog into a branded paper bag and set it on the counter.
The boy didn't reach for it right away. He pulled out his device to pay — then noticed his account balance had dropped by the right amount.
"Hm? It already went through?"
The owner was puzzled too. From where he was standing, the customer had only just opened the payment window — how had the transfer gone through so fast? Had he zoned out and missed something? Strange.
"Looks like it."
The boy smiled awkwardly. Payment confirmed, so no point overthinking the details. But then he noticed — the paper bag beside him had vanished.
"Wait — where's my hot dog?"
"I just set it right there. Did it fall on the floor?"
Nobody notices the small anomalies of everyday life. Nobody knew that three seconds had just been erased from the world — and that in those three seconds, Inori had taken the bag from the counter and relocated herself to a position where no one would look twice.
Yoshi, yoshi.
Truly worthy of my King Crimson — effortlessly accomplishing what ordinary people cannot.
I'll grant you special permission to appear in my presence for one whole hour. One hour only, mind you.
"Stop right there!"
She was hugging the paper bag against herself, already picturing the very private feast she was about to have, when a small figure suddenly stepped into her path.
"You just... stole that person's hot dog, didn't you!"
Oh no. Did someone see—?
Her stomach dropped, but she forced herself to stay calm and look up.
Only Stand users could see other Stands — that was the rule. Guilty Crown was a world without the concept of Stands, so regardless of who this person was, they had no proof it was her.
"...?"
It was a girl with a baby face and chestnut hair pulled into a short, low ponytail, her pretty brown eyes wide open and staring. Her cheeks were puffed out ever so slightly — apparently she was angry.
The reason Inori froze wasn't that the girl was cute. It was because she recognized her.
Hare Menjou.
The girl sacrificed by the screenwriter purely to accelerate the growth of a useless male protagonist — she had a Void ability that could heal and restore anything and everything, much like Crazy Diamond.
"I don't know what you're talking about, kid."
Inori put on a mildly impatient expression.
"Playing detective has its limits, you know."
"I don't know how you did it, but it was definitely you!" Hare clenched her small fists against her chest as if giving herself a pep talk, brow furrowed, holding Inori's gaze with fierce sincerity. "Stealing is wrong, miss!"
"Accusing a complete stranger of being a thief out of nowhere — is that what students at Tennozu First High like to do?"
Inori pushed back, impatience sharpening her tone.
Hare's personality ran toward the soft side. As long as she was forceful enough, that determined front would crumble quickly. And sure enough — the girl who'd looked ready to haul her in for questioning a moment ago immediately began to waver, her conviction faltering.
"I have somewhere to be. See you, kid."
"...No! Stealing is wrong!"
Before she could move, a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, encircling her slender waist. The girl had found her nerve from somewhere. Damn. Those brief character notes from the anime really aren't reliable — people change. Maybe my own assertiveness only strengthened her resolve.
Time to use King Crimson and slip away.
"If you're hungry and don't have money, I can help you! But you can't steal from people!"
"...Really?"
The words gave Inori an idea. She spun around, letting genuine-looking surprise flood her expression, eyes fixing on Hare with visible uncertainty.
— Oh wow, she's beautiful... The thought rose unbidden in Hare's mind. At this distance, with those captivating eyes looking straight at her, the innocent girl's face went red — thoroughly, completely, unstoppably red, like the red delicious apples Inori had seen at the supermarket earlier.
She quickly stepped back, putting distance between them.
"Um — yes. If you return what you took, I'll buy you a proper meal! I promise!"
Her voice was calm, but her slightly trembling hands told a different story.
"You don't look like a bad person. You probably had a fight with your parents and ran away, right?" A girl this beautiful couldn't possibly be a bad person. She's just starving. That was the conclusion Hare had reached, decisively.
"Put the hot dog back and just tell them you found it. Then we can go buy whatever ingredients you like — come have dinner at my place tonight! My place is pretty big. And if you don't want to go home, you can... we can sleep together too! Ah — I don't mean anything weird by that, please don't misunderstand."
That all came out in one breathless rush.
Exactly as planned.
"If I return it... you'll really give me food? A place to sleep?"
Inori let hesitation linger in her expression, projecting every last trace of anxious vulnerability.
"Yes! I promise."
"I... I can't refuse."
— That was close. Nearly let the line that's carved into my very DNA slip out.