Kyle's face was beet red as he stared embarrassingly at his rescuer, Naegi Otsune, who had a face comparable to a TV actress or maybe more.
She got her ink-jet black hair tied into a lively ponytail, making her face look smaller and more vibrant. Because she was rushing in to help him, a layer of sweat was slightly covering her delicate and exquisite features. Presently, her pitch-black obsidian-eyes were staring at him intensely.
"Are you okay? Can you stand by yourself?" Naegi Otsune asked concernedly.
"I-i'm fine. Thank you for the help." Kyle hurriedly dived out of her embrace and coughed to hide his nervousness. He then quickly shifted his visions elsewhere. Otherwise, he'd be soon discovered for ogling her.
However, his eyes soon involuntarily drifted to her figure once again. He saw she was staring at the group opposite them with her forehead creased in a frown. "I don't know what you're planning to do here, but your activity made some of my friends uncomfortable, you know? Can you elaborate on the purpose of you patrolling this area?"
"W-we were tasked to protect this area and not let anyone near it." One of the men who seemed to be the leader replied. His face was slightly red as he constantly peeked at Naegi.
"Is that only it? If so, then why?" Naegi inquired.
"We don't know. We are only informed that this place is a restricted area, and if the Monolith shows any sign of abnormality, we must report it immediately." The leader confessed straightforwardly.
"Restricted area? Why do I have no idea about this?" Naegi Otsune looks stunned for a moment.
"Uhm, looks like Bernard only notified us." The leader let out a dry laugh afterwards, driving Kyle's desire to beat the group to escalate. He was brooding over the fact that one of them condemned him for not knowing the place was restricted. It turns out the information was never even publicised.
Naegi seems not to anticipate such an irresponsible answer either, as her face becomes lost.
She then changed the topic, "Why are you guys looking like wanting to beat this gentleman over here previously?"
"It's because he was the one who started first," Jade commented. "He twisted my arm and almost broke it in the process. Had my friends not arrived, I'd probably have to walk with a bandage coating my arm."
Kyle felt wronged. "Hey, it's because you're insane. You acted like a police officer and wanted to detain me. You also keep spouting nonsense things, claiming this place was a restricting area, even though it's clearly a public property. I also remembered you inquired about my preceding whereabout like a parent did to their children. Wait a minute, are you secretly my parents? Then that'll explain why your face looks so old."
Naegi immediately bulged her reddish cheeks, trying to stifle a laugh coming out of her mouth.
"Y-you!" Jade shakily pointed his finger at Kyle as his anger drastically intensified, "Bast*rd! I won't let you off today!"
A flash of unnatural redness clouded his eyes.
Jade immediately appears to be blinded by rage as he paid no heed to everything while making his way toward Kyle. His steps were brisk and looked unstoppable.
"What a hateful fellow." Kyle didn't expect the man he provoked would be so hot-tempered.
He was about to confront the man frontside when he got stopped by a faint voice belonging to Naegi Otsune, "Let me handle this."
"You?" Kyle was startled.
"Naegi-chan, although I'm your greatest secret admirer, I won't stop until I pummel this guy. So, please step aside." Jade pleaded.
Naegi didn't answer him and continued to stand in his way.
"If that's your answer, then I apologize in advance If I damage your body in the process." Jade smiled cruelly.
Kyle was anxious but chose to put trust in Naegi since she looks to be a person who won't act recklessly.
He then scanned Naegi's slender figure, wondering how she planned to cope with Jade's charge since his build was bigger. He was wholly dubious until he saw a glow was gleaming inside her palm.
In a flash, the glow materialized into a thin, damaged wooden sword. The sword looks old, and various scratches are visible on its surface. With a sword in her right hand, she meets Jade midway.
When their distance had closed for around two meters, Naegi wielded her sword forward and stabbed in swift motion at various spots of Jade's body.
The blow was dealt not less than a second; nevertheless, Jade slowly slumped down with eyes closed, looking like passing out.
'How powerful... Is this the equipment that could only be drawn from the Matrix Band?' Kyle mused, full of surprise.
Jade's group also appeared shocked about the result.
"Jade!" They cried and quickly surrounded Naegi.
Kyle, who saw this, stepped forward and stood beside Naegi protectively.
Unexpectedly, instead of attacking them, they hollered in excitement, "That was so cool, Naegi-chan!"
"How do you pierce that fast? Did you secretly learn how to handle a "sword" from someone?"
"How do you conjure a magic sword on your palm?"
"Naegi-chan, I watched dozens of anime so that I can speak the same language as you!"
Various exclamations were sounded, causing Kyle to feel a second-hand embarrassment.
"Haha, thank you for the compliment." Naegi awkwardly laughed, ending the topic.
"By the way, I have a question for you." Naegi inquired.
"Sure, you can ask anything from me." The leader said confidently.
"Did you perhaps have a symptom of mood swing recently? Like, you had this immense urge to beat this annoying person, even though you clearly didn't before." Naegi explained.
"Well, now you say it. I indeed feel excessively irritated lately." The leader nodded his head thoughtfully.
"Why are you justifying yourself like that? That's maybe part of your true nature." Kyle couldn't help but say in jest.
"What did you say?" The leader admonished. Instantly, a shred of redness appears deep inside his eyes.
"There," Kyle hinted at Naegi, who also noticed the peculiar changes in the man's eyes.
At first, Kyle was utterly puzzled by Naegi's out-of-blue questions. It was only after his mind wandered, recalling today's event in detail, did he finally discover some apparent oddness.