Chihaya Aine has nine wings

"I should count, President." Deng explained in a low voice.

“Eh? Really? That’s amazing!” Aine leaned forward to express her shock.

"It's nothing great. It's just submitting activity records regularly." Deng looked away.

"What about the other club members? No activities today?"

"There's no one else. I'm the only one in the astronomy club."

"……Um?"

"Ah."

"Can one person form a society?"

"As long as you submit activity reports regularly, you can keep the club." Deng said calmly, and then asked doubtfully, "Ano-chan, are you interested in the astronomy club?"

Interested?

To be honest, she wasn't very interested. Or rather, she had no interest in any clubs. She wanted to join a club just to expand her social circle.

But Aine would never say such words.

“I am indeed somewhat interested.” Aiyin answered with a smile on the surface, but secretly she had already started to consider whether to change clubs.

A club with only one person doesn't seem to be able to expand the social circle.

“What do the astronomy clubs usually do?” Aine pretended to stroll around.

"That is, stargazing, reading... but since I'm alone, I can't really do much..."

“Hey, this photo, was it taken by Tomorin?” Aine pointed at a photo on the wall and asked, “It’s very beautiful, is it a star?”

“It wasn’t me, it was the seniors who took care of it.” Deng explained. When she talked about the stars, her tone became lively. “Does Aine like it too? I like it too. This is Sirius, the brightest star, 8.6 light years away from the earth… and, although it looks like one, it’s actually a binary star system…”

“Wow——that’s amazing, Tomorin knows so much…” While listening to the introduction of Deng, Aine continued to look for things that interested her in the room.

Her eyes fell on a form on the table.

Eh? What is this?

Aine approached.

Its title is "Hero Group Application Form" and judging by the date, it seems to have been published several months ago.

“Could this be?” Aine picked it up curiously.

"Ah! That's it! It's..." Gao Songdeng stretched out his hand and hesitated whether to snatch the form back.

Aine saw that the column "Group Name" on the form said "Crychic'". She seemed to remember that Takamatsu Touma had a brooch with this name engraved on it.

She continued to read and was stunned by what was written on the next line of the table.

[Captain: Shoko Toyokawa]

“Huh?” Aine was surprised.

Is this the heroic group organized by Xiangzi? Is it the same name?

Didn’t Xiangzi say that she was not being a hero?

"That was... the one before..." Takamatsu Deng's voice became smaller and smaller.

Aine looked at the next row.

[Team members: Shiina Tateki; Takamatsu Touma; Nagasaki Motoyo; Wakaba Mutsu]

Two familiar names again.

Aine looked at Takamatsu Touma.

"This was... previously, the group that I formed with everyone else..." Deng lowered his eyes, "It has been disbanded."

“Oh, is that so? Sorry…” Aine put the form down.

"I was going to throw it away, so I took it out." Deng shook his head to indicate that he didn't mind.

Aine was silent for a moment: "Crychic, why did you disband?"

"……do not know."

"have no idea?"

"I don't know, I don't know either. We were all working hard together and we were having a great time... Why did Xiangzi quit?" Deng's tone became tearful, as if she was recalling the scene at that time. "Maybe I did something wrong, because I'm so useless... After she quit, we all disbanded. I became alone again..."

Aiyin was surprised. Was it Xiangzi who caused the disbandment of the hero group?

Indeed, Xiangzi had told her at the beginning that she didn't want to be a hero.

"……That……"

Perhaps it was because she had long been attracted by the girl's pure soul, or perhaps it was simply because she couldn't bear to see her show such a sad expression. In any case, Chihaya Aine looked at the tearful Deng in front of her, and said the words she had long since stopped intending to say, "Then, come and team up with me to be a hero?"

Aine saw the girl looking up at her with a mixture of confusion and disbelief, and she seemed to want to say something, so she interrupted her first: “Although the oath of ‘teaming up for life’ is indeed too heavy and fragile, so that I dare not say it out loud, I will start from the first step, from one day, to a week, to a month, a whole year... I will definitely do my best...”

Deng opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She looked at Aiyin, her eyes faintly sparkling.

"So, do you want to give it a try? Xiangzi doesn't want to be a hero, but I do, and I'm sure I want to keep doing it, so..." Aine held Deng's hands and looked into her eyes, "Can you give me, and you, a chance to spend our lives together?"

-------------------

I just realized that the lamp was called Ain all along, Ano-chan, not Anon-chan

Chapter 19: Nowhere to Escape

"...Can you give me and you a chance to spend our lives together?"

"...If you want to be a hero...please don't look for her. With your level and hers, teaming up together will only hurt each other..."

The announcement of the train's arrival sounded overhead, and people walked in and out sporadically. Takamatsu Deng sat on his seat, leaning to the right, resting his weight on the cold iron railing.

Curl up into a ball.

The door closed with a cold mechanical sound, and the train started slowly on the track again, and no one knew where it was taking the girl.

She didn't know where the tram was going.

She didn't know where she wanted to go.

Because she was running away, from the powerless and cruel reality, from Aine's expectant eyes.

"……Feel sorry……"

There was a cry in his mumbling to himself, and he didn't know who he was talking to.

Yes, she ran away.

When faced with Aine's sincere invitation, she ran away.

He just said "I'm sorry" in a hurry, and then took his things and fled from the astronomy club activity room in a panic. The reflection of Aine was reflected in the window outside the door. Her surprised and disappointed eyes were piercing and heart-wrenching, making Deng feel breathless even when he recalled it now.

She ran and ran, as if a monster was chasing her. She ran to the tram platform she rarely went to, and ran into the unfamiliar tram, only then did she feel a pitiful sense of peace.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... It's all my fault because I'm too weak, I'm such a loser..."

The girl hugged the railing tightly, as if it was the last thing she could rely on.

At that moment, she was actually really happy. When Aine invited her, when she said "work hard towards a lifetime", she was really ecstatic and felt as if she was the happiest person in the world.

But, but, but.

She is too useless, she can't do it, she can't help others, and she can't maintain relationships with others. Crychic is the same, because of her uselessness, they disbanded. If she forms a team with Aine again, it will definitely end in failure again because of her uselessness, right?

She had already experienced disillusionment once.

She didn't want to go through it a second time.

So she fled, from the light radiated by Aine.

After a long while, she didn't know how long she had been sitting in the car, she looked out the window. The train was running more than ten stories high, and below her was the sparkling sea under the setting sun.

After the emergence of superpowers among humans, technology naturally ushered in rapid development. The development of materials engineering has made the construction of cities no longer confined to a flat surface, and the tram tracks that surround the city are one of the representatives.

Tokyo's tram tracks are built on layers of viaducts, wrapping around buildings, rising above the streets, one stacked on top of another, forming a complex three-dimensional network. If it weren't for special optical transmission technology that allows people on the streets below to see the tracks above as transparent, many streets would probably be shrouded in shadows cast by these tracks and sky islands.

Yes, the blue sky that people on the street see when they look up is not actually the real blue sky, but the result of the sky island buildings or tracks above transmitting the sunlight received to the bottom. You can't see the tracks when you look up from the bottom, but you can see layers of bridge buildings when you look down from the top - that's probably how it feels.

And now, the tram that Deng was riding on has reached the surface of the sea.

Where is this train going?

Get off at the next stop and sit back.

I can't leave too far and make my family worry.

She took out her cell phone and saw the "99+" message from Aine, as well as a few short messages from Shiina Riki.

After saving Aiyin and watching her being picked up by Xiangzi that day, she and Li Xi finally waited for the rescue of the supernatural police. After that, Li Xi also received timely treatment - although Li Xi himself had already recovered.

The case seemed very complicated, so Li Xi just expressed his gratitude and concern to Deng after waking up, and then went to the police station. As for these messages, they were all Li Xi sharing the progress of the case with Deng and expressing his concern for Deng's daily life.

It also seemed that Deng would be awarded a medal to recognize her contribution to the case.

But the lamp doesn't care about such things.

Forcing herself to ignore Aine's message, she opened Riki's chat box using muscle memory.

But this time, the content sent by the other party was not simple concern.

[Shiina Riki (16:52): Deng, you must hurry home today. The "mechanical ghost" has issued a crime warning, planting bombs in four public places in Tokyo, which will explode at 18:.]

After that, he sent many messages and made many phone calls, but Deng was not paying attention to his phone at that time, so he didn't answer any of them.

Mechanical ghost...

Deng knew this name. He was a criminal who had existed for ten years and had launched many horrific terrorist attacks. After that, he disappeared for a while, and many people speculated that he was caught by the heroes and sent to the mobile prison "Arigo" at sea. Until recently, he reappeared and became insidious and cunning, carrying out various terrorist attacks across Japan.

Li Xi sent another new message.

【Shiina Riki (17:59): Deng, you must protect your own safety. Go to a remote place, the better! 】

Gao Songdeng's nose was sore at the sincere concern. She wanted to send a message to assure her that she was safe, but she saw the current time.

"17:59"?

Didn’t Li Xi just say that the explosion would happen at 18:?

Then, a shudder rose from the bottom of her soul and rushed through her spine. The intuitive sense of danger made her body stiffen instantly. All the cells in her body wailed at this moment, and the superpowers buried deep in her genes were automatically mobilized because of the premonition of crisis.

The next moment, the bridge surface shook, glass shattered, and a roar accompanied by heat came. An explosion occurred at the front of the tram, and a ball of fire engulfed the first carriage in an instant.

Then, the fireball stopped, the roar died down, and time paused.

Deng's stiff body finally relaxed and he collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, like a drowning person who had just been rescued.

There were only four bomb attacks in Tokyo, but she didn't expect to encounter one of them.

How to do?

She turned on the light and looked in the direction of the explosion. She was in the second carriage, and the tram had a total of four carriages. The explosion seemed to have originated from the driver's cab, and now the flames had engulfed the first carriage. The explosion had even caused the floor of the second carriage to begin to crack.

The people in the first car are definitely beyond saving.

She looked behind her.

Although this station was quite remote and there were not many people on the train, it was estimated that there were more than 20 people. She didn't know when her time pause would end, and she was not sure whether she would have time to start the next pause after the time pause ended.

She wasn't sure if she could save these people.

...Save?

She had long since given up being a hero. As a minor with inadequate abilities and out-of-control supernatural powers, no one would blame her even if she chose to protect herself and escape alone. In fact, she couldn't save these people at all, and no one expected her to turn the tide.

but……

Gritting her teeth, she ran, picked up a man, and ran with him to the rear of the car with all her might.

However, there were also people who believed in her abilities, believed that she could do well, and even wanted to team up with her to be a hero. Although she didn't have the courage to accept her invitation, at the same time she didn't want to disappoint her and thought that her invitation was a wrong decision.

She screwed up Crychic, she rejected Aine's invitation, and if she ran away alone now, she might never be able to take the next step.

Behind me, I could feel the ferocious temperature of the flames.

In front of me, I vaguely saw Aine’s eyes filled with expectation when she invited me.

She had nowhere to escape.