The comments section all think I'm a really good person.

...Besides, Hibiki Tachibana is also considered her friend.

Kita Kirihara, unusually, saw his past self in the memories that belonged to Tachibana Hibiki last night.

At that time, my decision to temporarily seal away Tachibana Hibiki's memories was truly ill-considered. If Kita Kirito had handled it later, perhaps even her independent consciousness would have been erased.

But she was far too naive back then.

They treat their mission targets as friends, as living, breathing people, not just character cards. Therefore, they will do their best to consider their friends and protect them.

...Actually, it was just because Kita Kirihara needed some companionship during that extremely long journey.

At first, she would still try to talk to her target, attempting to build a friendly relationship and eventually become friends.

After all, walking alone on a road with no end in sight is too lonely.

Perhaps, the idea of ​​the Silver Garden began to take shape in Kita Kirihara's mind at that time, and only now has she put it into practice.

The character card she received was just as Yuki Uesugi had guessed.

The moment the mission was completed, the pause button was pressed.

There is no future, only a past whose length will never change.

Admittedly, these characters will never experience a deeper level of despair again, but they will also never see the next chapter of the story unfold.

Kita Kirihara... doesn't want these characters to end like this.

I don't want the story to end like this; I want it to continue.

From this perspective, she is not a competent director, but merely a selfish audience member.

Being a little selfish... isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Kita Kirihara thought so.

These ideas of hers were not conveyed to the members of the Silver Court. To be honest, she rarely communicates with the character cards in a real sense now, and mostly just gives instructions.

Naturally, Hibiki Tachibana had no way of knowing Kita Kirihara's intentions.

She wandered aimlessly through the streets.

Wearing an orange-gray coat, hands in his pockets, a stern face, he gave off a "keep away" vibe.

She didn't really want to go back to her rented apartment, nor did she want to go back to her dormitory in the Silver Garden Starlight Hall.

Thinking I'd just wander around, the farther the better, and since I didn't have to go to work today, I chose the random exit of the Silver Garden.

This random teleportation exit took Tachibana Hibiki to a place she had never been before.

She saw the tree-lined streets blending seamlessly with the old city streets. Hibiki Tachibana's head was spinning; she didn't know where she was, but looking at the sky, she knew it was getting late.

She deliberately avoided looking at landmarks and didn't pay attention to her phone's battery level.

With a mix of excitement and exhilaration at running away from home, she walked through the unfamiliar streets. The area was not as bustling as Tokyo, and the streets were sparsely populated. The blackened marks from the fire in the park by the roadside had not yet faded, and there were several deep pits, all indicating that things were not peaceful here.

After all, disasters don't only happen in Tokyo; they also occur in other places.

It appears to be a coastal city, with a slight fishy smell in the air.

Hibiki Tachibana didn't actually dislike this atmosphere. Compared to Tokyo, which was overly bustling and had a hurried pace, she preferred this quiet place with fewer people.

It's also a good time to relax.

There's no need to worry about things like phone battery level; Tachibana Hibiki can easily contact someone else through Kita Kirihara to take her back.

But I'm a little hungry.

After walking for a while and breathing in the fresh air, Tachibana Hibiki's stomach dutifully growled, reminding her owner that it was time to eat.

Hibiki Tachibana realized that it should be dinner time, and she hadn't had a drop of water all day.

But... she didn't know where she was, or where the nearest restaurant was. In fact, she hadn't seen many cars along the way.

It's practically a ghost town.

I instinctively opened my phone to check the navigation, only to find that it had already run out of battery and shut down.

...This is truly a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own foot.

He sighed silently to himself.

Strictly speaking, even though it's not the same world, the era in which Tachibana Hibiki lived was the "future" for that era.

She was born about twenty years ago, and the technology she was familiar with was about fifty years ahead of this era.

Therefore, for her, a city with such a relatively slow development was quite unfamiliar, and she couldn't use her experience to make inferences.

In short, first look around to see where there are shops where you can go in and get something to eat.

She doesn't really want to go back to the Silver Garden right now.

Just then, Tachibana Hibiki vaguely sensed a watchful gaze coming from behind her.

She frowned and subconsciously looked back.

There was no one in sight at the corner of the alley.

As night fell, the streetlights on the corner flickered. The night wind rustled the leaves, and Tachibana Hibiki stood outside the light, her golden eyes slightly narrowed, lost in thought.

She pretended not to notice anything and continued walking forward.

He simply quickened his pace, pretending to be slightly flustered.

This is a residential area; we should find a secluded spot to deal with this guy behind us.

Thinking this, Tachibana Hibiki hurried past, her steps quickening until she started jogging.

The gaze behind her remained fixed on her back until—

As she passed a childcare facility, a hand from the shadows hurriedly grabbed the hem of her clothes and dragged her inside.

97. Asagami Shinku

Perhaps because of her impatience, the other person's actions were excessively rough, and Hibiki Tachibana could even hear the sound of her coat being torn.

Before she could even react, she was pulled inside the child safety facility, and the small door she had just passed by quietly closed.

A rather neutral voice snapped angrily, "Still loitering around at this hour... Are you fucking asking for it?!"

It was quite rude, and even profanities came out, but it cannot be denied that the other party was indeed well-intentioned.

Hibiki Tachibana's gaze shifted in the direction of the sound, and what came into view was a pair of dark purple cat eyes wide open due to nervousness.

Unlike Yuki Uesugi's eyes, which are similar in shape but are actually human pupils, the person in front of her truly had cat-like eyes that would bulge out when nervous.

Not only that, but a pair of fluffy cat ears also stood out nervously on the somewhat messy and stiff dark purple short hair, alert to the surrounding environment.

The person in front of him was wary of the thing that had been following Tachibana Hibiki earlier.

As for whether those that followed were human... it's too early to draw a conclusion now.

Unlike the catgirls commonly seen in anime, the girl in front of me has a rather androgynous voice and appearance. Her eyes are also quite fierce, her chest is flat, and her figure is slender and muscular, making her seem completely unrelated to the "cute and soft catgirl" stereotype.

It should be described as follows: ordinary catgirls are chubby pet cats, but the girl in front of us is more like a large wildcat with a sturdy build and smooth muscles.

The reason why Hibiki Tachibana was able to identify the gender of the androgynous boy at a glance in the dark was because Kita Kirihara had turned on the comments and shared the information with her.

Clearly, the purple wildcat in front of us is an important character in the story. It will play a significant role in the later episodes, which is why it is well-known to the audience.

In fact, this is the first major storyline character that Kita Kirihara has encountered, aside from the Silver Garden and the Tower of Civilization. Currently, this girl doesn't seem to belong to any faction.

[This is so popular!! My big cat is so popular!!]

[Who is this character? Can anyone kindly tell me?]

[Asagami Shinku, whose ability is lightning-based, has a volatile and arrogant personality, and is also quite handsome (a woman with a cool appearance and personality). She later became a member of the National Team.]

It seems that Asagami Shinku hasn't been found by the people at the Tower yet, and hasn't agreed to enter the National Hero Academy.

I remember the people at the tower found her at the funeral on the ancient bridge.

[The origin story states that Asagami Shinku was a junior at the children's care facility of Furuhashi Jun. She idolized Furuhashi Jun, who had become a Special Class Hero. Although they had a falling out later, she still respected Furuhashi Jun very much.]

[Ah, I really want to get a good scolding from Shin-chan after my confession is rejected, and then commit suicide in front of her that afternoon so she'll regret it for the rest of her life.]

[Seriously, are all the True Red Chefs this twisted?]

But she really is... her saying one thing and meaning another is a huge plus, and her temper is so irritating, I really want her to yell at me. Of course, it would be even better if she could step on me instead.

[They're all perverts.]

Completely unable to extract any useful information from these nonsensical comments: ...What the heck?

Feeling Asagami Shinku pin her against the wall and cover her mouth with slightly too much force, even slightly electric due to her emotional fluctuations... Tachibana Hibiki winced in pain and couldn't help but frown slightly.

Asagami Shinku's ability enhances her body to a certain extent, but because she's still relatively young, it's also somewhat unstable. She's prone to electrocuting others when she gets emotional.

Hearing a few crackling sounds, Tachibana Hibiki, who had been hastily pulled in, gasped in shock from the electric shocks, and her hands also felt an undeniable heat.

After Asagami Shinku was burned, she subconsciously let go of Tachibana Hibiki, who almost immediately broke free from her grasp.

"Hey, you..." Asagami Shinku said anxiously, trying to keep her voice down, "Don't move..."

Hibiki Tachibana just clicked her tongue and said, "Leave me alone."

She just wanted to lure that guy outside to a secluded corner to deal with him, which doesn't mean she couldn't handle it.

In reality, Hibiki Tachibana felt she could probably handle someone of that caliber even without chanting hymns while dressed. However, her fighting style was usually quite noisy, and in a place like this, it might affect the residential area.

Unexpectedly, Asagami Shinku dragged her into this whole affair.

Although it was well-intentioned, it only added to the trouble.

Just as Tachibana Hibiki was about to stand up, Asagami Shinku rushed over again, pushing her away with one hand, and the two almost started fighting.

"Are you so eager to die?!"

"I told you not to worry about me!" Tachibana Hibiki was in a bad mood, so her tone became sharper. "Just go somewhere far away."

"You bastard—" Asagami Shinku gritted her teeth in anger, her sharp, white canines standing out starkly in the darkness.

[Damn, what's with these cats scratching each other?]

These two seem to have become friends after a fight.

[I feel like Hibiki and Shinku get along quite well.]