Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

"Yes, I won't let go."

Upon hearing Shirou's words, Fujino smiled with genuine joy.

Looking at her pure and innocent smile, Shirou was speechless for a moment.

"..."

Although he didn't show it, his heart started beating very fast.

No, no, Shirou... I already have Aoko and Aratsume! How can I fall for someone so easily!?

Ah, no... I really have to be honest with Fujino. I can't let her get any deeper into this mess.

Shirou took a deep breath, then turned to the girl beside him—

Fujino's lowered head made her look just like a girl in love, her delicate face flushed with a beautiful blush.

"........."

Sorry, Aoko, Yuzu!

He gave up easily.

Just as Shirou and Ayumi were walking hand in hand, Shiki in front of them slowed down.

"........."

With her keen observation, she immediately noticed that the two were holding hands.

Then, Shiki gave Shirou a sly, mischievous grin.

Sigh... At this point, there's nothing more to say even if she laughs at me.

Let's not tell Orange about this.

……

……

"..."

Shirou frowned.

Several people have been following them since just now.

Less than a kilometer from the office, the number of people around began to dwindle.

The figures following them also closed the distance.

Shirou looked at Shiki; she had clearly also noticed that she was being followed.

The two looked at each other, stopped in their tracks, and turned around.

"Shirou-kun?"

Fujino blinked, completely absorbed in her blissful moment and the only one who didn't notice anything amiss.

Shirou looked back and realized that he had been followed by several young men.

They stared intently at Fujino, their lewd gazes roaming over the girl without any attempt to conceal their true intentions.

Ah, so that's how it is... Shirou suddenly realized.

These aren't the same people who tried to flirt with Fujino last time. Those people have already been crippled by Shirou. Why are there new ones again?

Seriously, what's wrong with the security situation in Kanbushi City...? Young lady of the Ryougi family.

Fujino Dai frowned slightly; even she could understand the situation now.

"Is there something you need?"

Shirou stood in front of Fujino and asked.

"I wasn't looking for you, I need to talk to the girl next to you."

"Sorry, we don't know you."

"Huh? Who asked you? Get out of here."

As he said this, one of the men pushed Shirou with his palm.

But before his hand could even touch the boy's shoulder, Ryougi Shiki cut in from the side and took a swift step forward.

Then, as if by magic, the man spun around in mid-air and crashed heavily to the ground—face down.

That was probably a judo or aikido move; only Shirou could clearly see the movements.

The remaining few roared and pounced, only to be instantly killed without any suspense.

With just a light slap, one of them flew several meters away, while the others fell to the ground screaming in agony.

"let's go."

Without even glancing at the few pieces of trash on the ground, he turned to leave.

However, the girl with long, straight purple hair remained where she was, staring at the men writhing in pain on the ground.

"...Fujino?"

Fujino said, "Excuse me, Shirou-kun... I'd like to speak with them alone for a few minutes."

"Huh?" Shirou was stunned.

"Shirou, are you coming or not?"

She urged impatiently, perhaps because she had just beaten someone up and was in a bad mood.

"You go ahead with Shi, I'll be right there."

"But……"

"it does not matter."

Fujino's eyes were resolute: "Shirou-kun taught me how to use my eyes... Now I can protect myself."

After a brief silence, Shirou decided to trust Fujino.

"Okay... I understand. Be careful."

He chased after Shi's retreating figure.

After Shirou left, Fujino looked again at the thugs lying on the ground.

They all showed expressions of fear, after all, what had just happened had left an indelible psychological shadow on them, and they didn't know what kind of treatment they would receive next.

However, Fujino's next actions turned their fear into joy.

"This is my phone number." Fujino pulled out a piece of paper.

"what?"

The men suspected there was something wrong with their ears, but there wasn't.

They nervously took the slip of paper with the phone number written on it from Fujino, then looked at each other and exchanged knowing, lewd smiles.

After Fujino finished doing this, she ignored the men and left.

Although it was very unpleasant to give my phone number to these hopeless scumbags, it was all for the sake of achieving my own goals.

—To protect Shirou.

Fujino bit her lip and chased after the back of her beloved boy.

At one o'clock in the morning, the streets of Guanbuzi City fell silent.

Asagami Fujino stood quietly at the entrance of the alley, gazing at the streetlights not far away.

She deliberately chose this place where there were few pedestrians, far from her rented apartment, and also far from Orange's office—

As the meeting place.

I waited for about another half hour.

The five men I met earlier tonight have shown up.

They approached Fujino with smiles on their faces.

Wow, they've really arrived...?

"Hahaha! I knew she was the type to secretly meet up with men!"

"Looking closely, she's really beautiful, and her breasts are huge! Is she really a high school student? I've hit the jackpot!"

"..."

Fujino forced back the nausea and vomiting churning in her chest.

The girl kept telling herself that all of this was to protect Shirou.

As they approached, Fujino turned and walked into the dark alley.

The men became even more excited upon seeing this and quickly followed.

"Where would you like to go next? There's no one else here, you know?"

After one of them made the suggestion, the remaining men chuckled.

"At least ask for their name first, hahaha!"

When she reached the deepest part of the alley, Fujino finally stopped. Now, there was only a wall behind her.

The young woman stared at the men before her, suppressing her murderous intent, and calmly asked:

"Excuse me, what is the relationship between you and the form?"

"What?" "Shiki? Who is that?" "Do you know him?" "No, I don't."

"Don't act stupid."

Fujino pressed on, asking, "You two are acquaintances, right? A while ago...didn't you say you were looking for someone?"

The men looked at each other.

Their empty minds could hardly possibly remember the flirting words they had uttered just hours before.

The exact words were: They told Shirou, "I need to talk to the girl next to you."

They were referring to Fujino, but Fujino thought they were looking for Shiki.

"Don't you know Ryougi Shiki? Then why are you looking for her?"

"Huh? Are you talking about that scary little girl? Who would be looking for her? We're looking for you!"

"what……"

Asagami Fujino stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "You mean... you guys were trying to pick me up?"

"Yes, what else?"

"how come……"

Fujino's shoulders trembled.

wrong……

That's not how it is... It shouldn't be like this...

Earlier, she was excited, thinking she had finally caught Ryougi Shiki red-handed.

After months of investigation, Fujino concluded that Ryougi Shiki was the murderer who committed the serial killings two years ago.

She is a murderer, a bad girl who pretends to be a good child in front of Shirou.

It's not surprising that a bad girl like Shi would know a few scumbags in society.

Letting that woman stay with Shirou will only hurt him, so I must protect that child.

That's how it should be... Why?

Fujino lowered her head, staring at the dark ground, and asked, "Why did you lie?"

"what?"

"You clearly know her, so why are you pretending not to? Please answer me."

Fujino bit her lip, continuing to bombard the audience with questions.