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

Meanwhile, Tachibana Hibiki also learned from the shop owner that there were dangerous people moving around in the vicinity.

"I really don't know what those heroes are for," the shopkeeper, with his beer belly, complained loudly. "Didn't they say there were observers? After all this trouble, they can't even catch some nobody, they're really useless..."

This forced him to adjust his business hours. Business was already bad, and now he has to close before dark. What's going on?

However, even with a lot of complaints, the shop owner still knew that the personal safety of his employees was more important, and he didn't want to get into trouble.

He quickly urged the shop assistant to go home: "Go, go, go... hurry back, don't linger on the way, come to work early tomorrow."

Tachibana responded and checked the time; it was almost time to get off work.

However, she returned home later than Nana Oba, by about half an hour. The originally sunny weather suddenly turned into a downpour.

The store manager had already gone home. Tachibana Hibiki finished tidying up what needed to be tidied up, mopped the floor again, grabbed an umbrella from the store, and prepared to go home.

I had just turned off the lights in the store when I suddenly noticed someone standing at the door.

He was a middle-aged man, soaked to the bone by the torrential rain, wearing a wrinkled suit, with a stubble beard, wet hair, and fogged-up glasses. He looked quite disheveled.

He stood under the eaves of the shop to avoid the rain, and glanced at the time, only to realize that he hadn't worn it when he went out today.

Hibiki Tachibana recognized the person, which surprised her somewhat.

Isn't this the retired Special Grade fighter?

It is said that after retiring, he resigned from his position at the company to focus on taking care of his family in the hospital.

His child is still in a coma, and his wife has passed away. Having narrowly escaped losing his last family member, he has chosen to retire and spend the rest of his life with them.

However, the child's condition was not ideal.

It could take as long as six months, or as short as just a few weeks.

Becoming a hero is a truly painful thing.

Hibiki Tachibana was just thinking that when she saw that the now no longer Special Grade Frozen Frame turned around and nodded slightly to her.

Despite his disheveled and haggard appearance, the still-portrait still retains his usual refined manners.

The other person greeted him politely, then looked up at the sky, realizing that the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and reluctantly stepped into the rain.

He was looking for a toy store nearby, but unfortunately, the weather suddenly turned rainy.

I don't know where to find a store that rents Lucky Bear mascot costumes.

He had seen a young man of similar build wearing it a while ago, handing out flyers to children.

If they can find it, Tetsuta will probably be much happier.

PS:

73. Attack

I stood there, braving the rain, and finally found the toy store.

Unfortunately, because he didn't know that the shops in the vicinity would close earlier these days, he just missed the last person in the Lucky Bear costume leaving.

That is, Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

He paused in front of the toy store, thought for a while, and decided to come earlier the next day. He also wrote down the contact information at the store entrance.

He stood frozen in front of the store, deep in thought, a sight noticed by viewers watching the live stream.

What is this man trying to do?

[Isn't this the place where Yoriichi Tsugikuni worked a while ago?]

[Did you discover something, which is why you're looking for someone?]

[That doesn't seem like it... Didn't he retire and never get involved in hero affairs again?]

[Could it be that she wants to buy a toy for her son?]

But you can go anywhere else; there's no need to specifically look for this place.

【strangeness】

The commenters noticed the frozen action, but because they lacked the key information of "Lucky Bear mascot costume," they couldn't determine the purpose of the freeze.

However, the discussion in the comments also made Kita Kirihara notice the frozen movement trajectory.

I don't know what their purpose is, but if things continue like this, they'll inevitably have to meet Yoriichi Tsugikuni. In short, let's get the Demon King ready.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni is a somewhat dull and wooden person—or should I say a demon?—If you asked him to act in a freeze-frame scene, he would definitely be very unnatural and then be exposed on the spot.

Kita Kirihara didn't expect Yoriichi Tsugikuni to be able to act. He only told him not to tell everyone everything, to keep some things to himself, and not to act.

After that, none of these things had anything to do with Hibiki Tachibana. She took what was probably the last bus home and planned to buy some groceries on the way to replenish her empty refrigerator.

Speaking of which, Furuhashi and Kobayashi really can eat a lot...

Hibiki Tachibana, who prepares meals for an average of seven or eight people per meal, pondered this.

When it comes to eating a lot, none of these three can laugh at the other.

Hibiki Tachibana and Jun Furuhashi are both capable of eating three people's worth of food by themselves. Chiho Kobayashi, on the other hand, has to replenish her stamina quickly after using her ability, so she always has snacks on hand.

However, Jun Furuhashi and Chiho Kobayashi are not as easy to raise as Hibiki Tachibana.

Hibiki Tachibana can make do with rice over rice, occasionally adding some pickled vegetables, which is enough to satisfy her.

The other two, however, would not eat like that.

Rather, no normal person would eat like that.

The ingredients that had been planned to last for half a week were almost used up yesterday, so Hibiki Tachibana had to hurry up and replenish them.

Hopefully, these two people won't tear down the house.

Hibiki Tachibana had a bad feeling, and this feeling came true just ten minutes later, thanks to the sudden and enthusiastic discussion in the comments section.

Let's go back to the time after Tachibana Hibiki left home.

After the patriarch of the family left, Kobayashi Chiho, who had been instructed to stay home and behave herself, couldn't contain herself any longer.

She ate the few snacks that Tachibana Hibiki had hoarded at home, and then openly took out the cake from the refrigerator that she had originally planned to have as an afternoon snack. She had been thinking about it all night, and finally she could eat it.

Then, I realized something was wrong.

Because Kobayashi Chiho was the first person Furuhashi Jun saw upon entering the new school, and because Furuhashi Jun still vaguely remembered her partner, the big dog became quite dependent on her.

Although, strictly speaking, the one who should truly be considered the owner is Tachibana Hibiki, who is responsible for the lives of both of them.

Jun Furuhashi has now lost her social identity, and Chiho Kobayashi has her own considerations. She has not chosen to contact her older sister and has been listed as missing. Her phone has also been thrown away long ago.

Both should now be detached from social relationships.

In other words, no one should be able to find the two of them.

However, Kobayashi Chiho noticed Furuhashi Jun's unusual behavior.

The monster, covered in jet-black armor, which had been lying next to Chiho Kobayashi watching TV with her, suddenly raised its head, its vertical pupils narrowed, and let out a wary growl at the window.

Television news is reporting on recent incidents of escaping hazard bodies causing injuries, urging residents to stay indoors at night and keep doors and windows locked.

"The victim had bite marks on his body from a wild animal..."

The monster bared its sharp fangs as it approached the direction from which the unfamiliar scent was coming.

Chiho Kobayashi also noticed something; she always trusted her partner's intuition.

Long before they became Special Grade, or perhaps more accurately, Heroes, they were already partners who had always been together.

She lacked offensive capabilities, which Jun Furuhashi made up for perfectly.

Beneath the black eye mask, fine golden lines appeared in the pupils, which were as pale as the whites of the eyes. In an instant, a mysterious and complex change occurred.

Those eyes captured fragmented information about the future.

Although she was covered by bandages and couldn't see it, Kobayashi Chiho's expression changed, and she suddenly lunged at the coffee table, rolling under it.

At the same time, she shouted at Furuhashi Jun, "Left!"

Despite not being the sharpest of them all, Jun Furuhashi reacted immediately to Chiho Kobayashi's command and instinctively lunged to the left in the direction from which the danger was coming.

The next instant, the enormous impact shattered the fragile window, and the coffee table in the living room directly opposite the window was almost reduced to dust.

Having narrowly escaped death, Chiho Kobayashi experienced temporary hearing loss and a dizzy head. Unaware that shards of glass had pierced her already incompletely healed wounds, she quickly got up from the ground.

A bony tail stretched out and immediately wrapped around its partner around the waist, protecting it behind it.

Gu Qiaochun is now tough and thick-skinned, so he is naturally not afraid of being hurt.

However, her partner soon suffered more wounds. The smell of blood stimulated her, and suddenly, a dark substance climbed back onto her body, completely covering her remaining human form, leaving no trace of her original human skin.

It was almost a monster, with a bony tail and jet-black horns, and long, messy hair like a lion's mane, which was completely covered by a jet-black liquid.

It growled warily at the window, its tail thrashing restlessly on the ground. Normally, its sharp bony tail was concealed, but now, with just a light swipe, it was enough to shatter the wooden floorboards.

Crimson lines rapidly climbed up the monster's body, making it seem as if real blood was flowing through it, and even rose and fell rapidly with its breathing.

Ignoring her reopened wounds, Chiho Kobayashi simply frowned slightly and looked at the attacker.

The attackers were not human.

It was merely a mass of grayish-white, chaotic liquid, the exact state of which was impossible to discern. It had just seemed to have taken on a humanoid form, but after unleashing that threatening attack, it reverted to this shape.

“…It really was this guy.” Kobayashi Chiho gritted her teeth, the laceration on her abdomen from the other party still throbbing.

Even the little finger that was no longer there began to feel pain.

P.S.: Goodnight! Time to sleep!

74. What's going on?

Chiho Kobayashi was very familiar with the attacker in front of her.

After all, they had already met once before.

The reason she and Jun Furuhashi are in this state is all thanks to this guy.

This strange lump—let's call it mortar for now—possesses intelligence no different from that of a normal human, and has the ability to speak and communicate.

This thing broke into Jun Furuhashi's house through the ventilation duct and attacked them.