My youth story cannot be a knight war

"Alas!"

Seeing Akiyama Mio like this, Tsurumi Rumi let out a long sound from her mouth, and her cold profile suddenly smiled, but there was no smile in her eyes. The black irises of her eyes were like two black holes, which made Akiyama Mio, who was sitting opposite her, couldn't help but whimper in fear.

"It seems that Yihui's behavior still needs to be corrected. It just so happens that he should be coming down soon, right?"

"Wait! Tsurumi-senpai, you misunderstood—"

Tsurumi Rumi tugged at her sleeves with both hands, stood up calmly, then turned and walked towards the stairs where the metaphorical footsteps were heard.

Akiyama Mio was shocked when she saw this. Just as she was about to stand up to explain, Tsurumi Rumi suddenly turned around and looked at her. The captivating aura in her eyes instantly made Akiyama Mio falter, and she dared not say another word.

"...By the way, Akiyama-chan, there's something I forgot to tell you."

"Yes, yes! Please speak!"

Looking at Akiyama Mio who was trembling in her sight, a scarlet light flashed in Tsurumi Rumi's eyes. Akiyama Mio felt like she was being stared at by a bloodthirsty beast. She immediately stood up to answer, her legs shaking uncontrollably.

Although it was very puzzling, she could feel that Tsurumi-senpai in front of her was indeed angry, and if she was angry, it meant that someone was going to be in trouble.

"Yihui's clothes are mine, don't you dare snatch them from me?"

"Hey, hey?"

Leaving behind this sentence that Akiyama Mio could not understand, Tsurumi Rumi turned around without hesitation and walked towards the stairs. The crisp footsteps sounded like an assassin with a knife breaking into the residence of a corrupt official.

"Hey? Rumi-chan, how did you get up here—Awwww!!!!!!!"

"I'm sorry, Zaimokuza-san, it's all my fault..."

A wailing sound comparable to that of Tom Cat echoed from the invisible stairwell on the first floor. Listening to the wailing, Akiyama Mio closed her eyes, clasped her hands in front of her chest and prayed.

"Yeah, yeah, it's such a lively scene so early in the morning."

"Store manager?"

Saki Kawasaki came over with a cup of coffee and sat down next to Mio Akiyama. Looking at the girl with a hint of panic on her face, she reached out and touched her hair. The smooth feeling gave her the illusion of petting a cat.

"What's wrong? Are you still not used to it?"

"This one……"

Facing this female store manager who took good care of her, although Akiyama Mio wanted to express her true feelings, she chose to close her mouth tightly.

Are you used to it? She didn't want to lie. For her, the happiest time was still the time she spent with her friends in the light music club. Although everyone around her was very caring towards her now, she was still living under someone else's roof. It would be a lie to say that she could live comfortably.

"You don't need to lie. I was your age too, so I know exactly what you kids are thinking."

As she stroked Akiyama Mio's hair, Saki Kawasaki's gaze softened for the first time in a long time. She felt like she saw her former self in this girl.

"To be honest, I wasn't used to this kind of noisy life at first—when Zaimokuza first came here."

"Ugh?"

The female store manager sat down next to Akiyama Mio, stroking the cup in her hands with both hands, and spoke softly.

"I actually knew that guy a long time ago, but at that time we were just acquaintances. I couldn't say I was that familiar with him."

"A long time ago... Manager, were you and Mr. Zaimokuza classmates?"

When Akiyama Mio heard that the female store manager in front of her seemed to want to talk about the past related to Zaimokuza, she couldn't help but feel curious. She had been here for almost a week, but apart from Zaimokuza, she didn't know much about anyone else.

"Well, he and I were classmates in high school. We first met during our sophomore year."

Saki Kawasaki said with a smile, and a long-lost flash of memories appeared in her eyes.

"At that time, I was a well-known lone wolf in the class. I kept to myself all day and had few friends to talk to. My acquaintance with Zaimokuza and the others was an accident. A teacher who was always nosy asked their club to help me with some issues, and that's how we met by chance."

"That's how the club Zaimokuza and the others were. They were always noisy and made a lot of news at school, like challenging the gaming club, having a tennis showdown with the school hunk, and confessing their love to someone they didn't like. Well, it was pretty typical of teenage boys. They seemed to be having a blast, but as a bystander, I just couldn't understand it."

"Maybe it was because of my personality at the time, but I just didn't get along with them. Plus, I didn't see the point in spending all day like that. I wasn't using my time properly to study, and it was just a waste of my youth."

"...But now, I may understand why they were so happy at that time."

She stopped stroking the coffee cup and drank it in one gulp while the coffee was still warm.

"After Zaimokuza came here, I really had a hard time getting used to life at first, but since I owed him a favor from the club back in high school, I took him in anyway, thinking it was like buying a donkey and an indestructible punching bag."

"Hahaha……"

Hearing Saki Kawasaki's description, Mio Akiyama smiled dryly, not knowing how to respond or complain.

"But as the days went by, after Zaimokuza and Asahina moved into the shop where I used to be the only one, I found that my life seemed to be gradually changing. The shop used to be very deserted, and I was basically the only one there."

"But since Zaimokuza came, more and more people have been coming to my place. And as long as he's around, everyone laughs happily most of the time. Listening to those laughs and seeing those smiles, I don't know when I started to feel that such days are actually pretty good."

"Whenever this guy is around, everyone will smile unconsciously, that's why the club they used to be in was so happy, until--"

"What's wrong, Manager?"

Having said that, Kawasaki Saki suddenly paused, and Akiyama Mio, who was listening intently, subconsciously asked.

"No, it's nothing. Let's continue."

The female store manager shook her head, skipped the topic and continued speaking.

"Anyway, if I were living this way a year ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to accept it, right? But now I'm very used to it. It's become a part of my daily life, including this part~"

Turning to look at the stairwell, Tsurumi Rumi walked up the stairs with an expressionless face, dragging a large white rabbit with bruises all over its body and no sound in its left hand. Seeing this, Asahina Mikuru waved her hands in panic, not knowing whether to get the first aid kit or the mop to clean the bloodstains along the way.

Looking at such a joyful scene, Saki Kawasaki showed a faint smile.

"...Well, what I want to say is, don't feel too burdened."

"Anyway, as long as you're around Zaimokuza, you'll always be used to smiling. He's such an incredible guy. With him around, the smile will never disappear."

"--real!"

A roar filled with anger suddenly echoed in the store. Everyone in the store subconsciously glanced in the direction of the sound. They saw a live broadcast on TV. A disheveled foreigner was roaring excitedly at the camera and microphone.

The background is a night full of white tones. According to the place name displayed on the side of the camera, this place should still be in the bright daylight with blazing flames. Such a scene should not appear at all.

"I can't be mistaken! I am a faithful servant of God! I can't possibly—"

"Tsk, this seems to be the news about the 'white nights' from the past few days? It seems to be quite a big deal, saying it's some unprecedented astronomical phenomenon..."

Being interrupted, Saki Kawasaki unhappily turned down the TV volume to below 10 with the remote control and said with a smacking of her lips.

"It feels like the world is becoming increasingly magical lately. But living in a city where murderous monsters can appear at any moment is already magical enough."

"I'm going to continue working. You should also work harder, Xiao Mio~"

"Thank you for your guidance, Manager—Puchi."

Akiyama Mio bowed to Saki Kawasaki, who was walking towards the counter. She turned to look at Zaimokuza, who was being given first aid by Asahina. Her gaze rested on his foaming face for a moment, and she couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, she froze, reaching out to touch the corner of her mouth.

"A smile...?"

Thinking back to what Kawasaki Saki had just said, Akiyama Mio suddenly felt that the sadness of leaving her friends and the fear of leaving her hometown seemed to have faded a little at this moment. Although she still felt worried, it was no longer as heavy as before.

"Zaimokuza-san...you're such an incredible person."

"Okay, I'll be right there~"

Exhaling deeply, Akiyama Mio walked towards the customer at another seat who was waving at her with a faint smile on her face that she herself didn't even notice, her steps becoming a little lighter.

【--careful.】

"Ugh?"

Suddenly, a faint familiar voice sounded in her ears. Akiyama Mio, who was walking, suddenly stopped and looked back.

There was no one behind her, only the guests eating at the seats on both sides were chatting.

"Is it an illusion? But that voice—Ah! Excuse me, I'll be right there!"

Akiyama Mio tilted her head, then caught a glimpse of the customer's hands waving faster out of the corner of her eye. She no longer cared about anything and ran up in a hurry.

There is no change in this ordinary daily routine, which is repeated every day in this restaurant, but today it seems like there is an extra discordant chord.

The TV, with the volume turned down very low, still continued to play the roar of the interviewee. Although it was about the same as the voice of an ordinary person speaking, it could still be heard so clearly in this phonetic setting. You can imagine how loud his voice was originally, and every word was filled with excitement and resentment.

"I'm not lying! I'm not a liar! I'm a priest serving in the Christian Church! A licensed one!"

On TV, the priest, dressed in rags like a homeless man, grabbed the microphone from the reporter's hand and rushed in front of the camera with an excited look on his face. Then, the next moment, he was pulled away. Others rushed over to grab the microphone back from his hand, but they couldn't pry his hand open no matter how hard they tried.

His faithful faith gave him unprecedented strength. The priest, who normally couldn't even beat a goose, was restrained by the strong men, holding the microphone tightly and roaring at the top of his lungs:

"I have no doubts about my faith in God, but I'm really not a fanatic! But I really saw it! Two winged figures flew across the sky. This sacred 'white night' and 'holy light' are each other's revelations! Those two figures must be the legendary angels serving God!"

"I saw it! Angels are fighting the enemy! That figure looks just like—no! It's a demon! Only the demons described in the Book of Revelation could have such a hideous and hateful appearance! It's a demon that has escaped from Satan's control and is endangering the world! The angels are stopping it!"

"And I saw it! An angel was killed by that devil, by that devil—"

Snap.

The power to the TV was cut off, and the priest's final desperate roar and the TV screen were swallowed up by darkness.

20. Dark Horn (6K)

Tokyo, Chiyoda-ku, Metropolitan Police Department.

10:25 AM

"Ok?"

The cell phone in his pocket vibrated at this moment. Kyosuke Kousaka, who had just walked out of the meeting room after the meeting, took out his cell phone and showed a little surprise in his eyes when he saw the name displayed on the screen.

"Mom?"

The caller ID showed "Kousaka Yoshino", which was exactly his mother's name.

Kosaka glanced around and saw that there was an empty room next door, so he walked in and closed the door before answering the phone.

"Hello, is this Kyousuke?"

A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone. Upon hearing this voice, Kosaka's eyes softened slightly and he spoke softly.

"Mom, it's me... It's rare that you would call me."

Kosaka was indeed surprised that his mother would call him. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with this behavior, but because of the nature of his work, he hadn't called home in a long time. Kosaka Yoshino was also very considerate and understanding of her son's difficulties. So she had always sent text messages to inquire about his mother, waiting for Kosaka to reply when she was free.

This was the first time the two of them had spoken on the phone since the incident on the 24th.

"Nothing, I just missed you Kyousuke a lot, so I called to ask about your situation... Is everything going well for you lately?"

"Don't worry, everything is going well here - this matter should be over soon."

Kousaka glanced around, lowered his head and spoke into the phone, blocking the possibility of his lip reading being recorded and leaking information. In this obscure way, he told his mother the current progress of the Gurongi incident.

As a woman whose son and husband are both police officers, although Kousaka Yoshino is an ordinary person, she has learned a lot of police code words and jargon through daily exposure. After hearing her son's deliberately lowered voice on the other end of the phone when he said this, she immediately understood what he meant.

"Really... That's good. Kyousuke, can you come home then?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Kousaka on the other end of the phone suddenly fell silent. Feeling uneasy about the silence, Kousaka Yoshino subconsciously tightened her grip on the phone and asked nervously.

"What's wrong? Is there any problem?"

"...No, don't worry, Mom."

Kousaka lowered his eyes, staring at the leather shoes on his feet and spoke softly.

"When all this is over, I will definitely come home... I promise."

"That's good. I haven't seen you in a long time."

Not noticing the strangeness in her son's tone, Kousaka Yoshino breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the assurance. She clutched the phone with both hands and suddenly spoke hesitantly:

"Um... Kyousuke."

"Tell me, Mom, what happened at home?"

Kousaka looked up at the surveillance camera above his head with a helpless smile on his face.

"When you called me for no reason and didn't mention it in a text message beforehand, I knew you must have something to talk to me about, and it must be a family matter."

"You, kid, are really like your father in this respect. You are both so perceptive."

Kousaka Yoshino on the other end of the phone smiled subconsciously, but the smile then became a little dim, and so did her eyes.

"Kyosuke, you..."