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

For Saki Koizumi, this was a relatively mild conversational partner.

Moreover, they are very smart.

“Did Ms. Kita Kirihara leave anything behind? Photos or videos or something… If so, I might be able to recall the time I spent with her,” Homura Akemi suggested.

So, their first date on a rainy day turned into Koizumi Saki and Akemi Homura staying at home together, organizing and going through things related to Kita Kirihara.

When the world consciousness erased Kita Kirihara's existence, it didn't actually change much; at least it didn't erase all traces of Kita Kirihara from birth to the present.

The story after Kita Kirihara's reunion with Koizumi Saki a few months ago was erased, but the things left behind by Kita Kirihara before that are still safely stored in the storage room at home.

Storage room...

Saki Koizumi remembers that Kita Kirihara cleaned the house thoroughly after returning home.

Including storage rooms.

After the cleaning was finished, something seemed to have happened.

What was that again...?

It all happened just two months ago, but now I can't remember anything about it.

Koizumi Zaoji was completely unaware.

The rain was pouring down outside, and the world was shrouded in darkness, with thunder and lightning rumbling through the clouds.

Inside, Koizumi Saki took out a photo album and replayed a videotape from Kita Kirihara from seven years ago. Only now did she remember to serve tea to the guests, and then she went to pour some juice.

Homura Akemi only took a sip and then placed the cup on the table.

Her gaze was fixed on Kita Kirihara's face in the photo album.

Her thin eyebrows furrowed, revealing her confusion and bewilderment. She subconsciously reached out to touch Kita Kirihara's gentle smiling face in the photo.

A faint smile appeared on her own face.

"I think... I did have a very important companion."

The image in Homura Akemi's mind gradually became clearer. Her gaze fell on the air, and then, in a self-talking tone:

"That companion had short, soft, silvery-white hair, and gave off a feeling like cotton, and was incredibly considerate..."

That was Kita Kirihara's second mission world. After experiencing a crushing defeat, she was ruthlessly thrown back to Homura Akemi's side by the system.

I initially thought this magical girl world would be simpler and more carefree, but...

"...She stayed with me for a long time."

Homura Akemi herself couldn't remember the exact number of times she had reincarnated.

200. She and I are very similar.

In the second mission world, during those reincarnations where Homura Akemi became her inner demon, Kita Kirihara was simply accompanying Homura Akemi again and again, experiencing those endless cycles together.

North Chern does not have a physical form in most mission worlds.

For example, in Homura Akemi's world, she spends most of her time nestled in Homura Akemi's mind, persuading the child step by step towards paranoia and madness.

Although the mission completion objective is "to play the inner demon and be killed by the original body", Homura Akemi's mission objective is actually quite special.

Homura Akemi eventually became a demon, but she did not choose to kill Kita Kirihara.

She accepted the turbidity within herself, separated Kita Kirihara's existence, removed the disguise imposed on Kita Kirihara by the system, and strengthened the other party's authority in system tasks.

In fact, this mission was undoubtedly a failure.

However, under the manipulation of the demon with slightly higher authority than the system, Kita Kirihara was not judged as a failure this time. Moreover, he successfully entered the next mission world with a character card made from a part of Homura Akemi's creation.

As for why he helped Kita Kirihara so much...

Having a friend who has accompanied you through countless reincarnations is something even a demon would cherish.

As mentioned before, Kita Kirihara was not familiar with the business at the beginning, and it would be difficult for his impersonation without the help of his abilities to deceive the target.

Moreover, during the time they spent together, the two gradually became friends who could communicate and confide in each other.

Although Kita Kirihara always played the role of Homura Akemi, the real Homura Akemi actually had a vague feeling that the other party was not just a pure negative emotion, or rather, her own dark side.

She has her own thoughts, and her own unavoidable grievances residing in her mind.

The other person wasn't actually her.

After Homura Akemi became a demon, she was able to see Kita Kirihara's true nature even more clearly.

...not [oneself].

Rather, it is a friend who has accompanied me through a cycle of despair and is now still struggling on the brink of death.

The other person is very similar to me, but I can't quite put my finger on why.

Perhaps it's that persistence.

It could also be the heart that is desperately searching for someone.

Therefore, the demon helped Kita-Chihara tamper with some of the system functions and also gave Kita-Chihara his own character card for protection.

Rather, the character card feature was created through the joint development of Homura Akemi and Kirihara Kita.

The original system simply projected Kita Kirihara as a mass of negative emotions into the mind of the mission target as a tool to drive the current world's plot, without any specific image design like the Heart Demon character card.

It wasn't until after Homura Akemi's arrival in the world that Kita Kirihara officially began collecting character cards.

Using Homura Akemi's power, he gathers the negative emotions generated by the characters themselves and creates inner demon character cards. He then completes his mission by manipulating the feigned death of these character cards—rather than the "death" that truly harms the essence of his soul.

However, during this process, the consciousness and memories of the target are also incorporated into the character card, and the target will send their blessing when Kita Kirihara leaves the world.

After all, this is a "friend from another world" who has resolved my worries and helped me a lot by taking away all the things that were weighing on my heart. It's normal to develop feelings for this person and acknowledge them as a friend...

Therefore, the blessing of the mission objective was attached to the character cards to some extent, making these character cards, which were originally just byproducts, "come alive".

Sometimes, when Kita Kirihara looks at these character cards, he thinks, "Could this be the real people?"

A part that is abandoned, severed, and forgotten, yet carries blessings.

Call it a demon in her heart, or a fake... for Kita Kirihara, these were rare companions amidst her seemingly endless missions.

So she began her collection in the second mission world.

Collect these unfinished stories and place them in your own space.

Over time... it grew to a considerable scale.

These character cards represent both Kita Kirihara and each of his friends.

Of course, this was something that couldn't be said to Saki Koizumi.

According to Homura Akemi, only her friend Kita Kirihara accompanied her through countless reincarnations... that's the story.

In this story, Kita Kirihara has a physical form and is considered Homura Akemi's neighbor. He tries to care for Homura Akemi, who is physically weak, and miraculously retains his memories of Homura Akemi in each time loop.

"Now that I think about it, it must be because she doesn't belong to my world, so she wouldn't be affected by my time reversal."

As she spoke, Homura Akemi's tone gradually calmed down, becoming more and more like the demon that Saki Koizumi had previously known.

She placed the photo album on her lap and happened to flip to the scene of Kita Kirihara's first discharge from the hospital, and her eyes warmed.

But it wasn't that obvious; it looked much colder.

Then, he took off his glasses and casually let his hair down.

Her long, smooth, jet-black hair cascaded down as she turned her head to look at me, her purple eyes filled with melancholy: "She is undoubtedly my friend."

Unlike Xiaoyuan, he is the most trustworthy companion.

In a cycle of reincarnation where no one trusts you, only the voice within your own heart truly believes in you.

Even for demons, Kita Kirihara fits the definition of a "friend".

It's unclear whether she was referring to Koizumi Saki, herself, or Kita Kirihara, who was still listening to the commotion on the other side.

“Kitagiri was a fool,” she commented sarcastically. “More stupid and more stubborn than anyone else.”

Saki Koizumi unconsciously tightened her grip on the glass, but quickly released her pressure when she heard the crisp sound of the glass shattering.

"...You two seem to have a good relationship." Koizumi Saki's voice was a little dry, and even she herself felt a slight bitterness in her heart.

“Because we are very similar,” Homura Akemi replied. “We dislike each other when we look at each other…and we know that we should be the same kind of people.”

"...Huh?"

"I don't care about being trapped in an endless labyrinth, as long as it's for Xiaoyuan, I can endure it all." The demon, now fully revealed, spoke in a cold tone at the end, "What sustains me is the most important person to me."

Homura Akemi raised her eyes and looked directly into Saki Koizumi's clear, steel-blue eyes.

The latter seemed confused, yet also as if he understood something.

"What do you think made her risk her life to come back here?"

The demon calmly gave this answer.

201. The First Protagonist

The second date was with Nana Ohba.

Immediately following Homura Akemi, it happened the very next day.

Perhaps because the rain had been completely drained the day before, the weather was fine the next day.

The air still carried the freshness of rain, and puddles occasionally dotted the roadside. The sunlight shone brightly, and the convex lenses at the road corners reflected the sunlight.

Nana Oba took the initiative to arrange to meet at a nearby restaurant for lunch, so that Saki Koizumi wouldn't oversleep and forget the time.

A very considerate gesture.

To be honest, this date plan made Saki Koizumi somewhat uneasy and uncomfortable.

It seems like they really are coming on a date...?

She wondered if Nana Oba had some other intentions, until she sat down at the reserved table in the restaurant, smelled the aroma of the food in the air, and her mouth watered...

He barely managed to come to his senses.

Ok?