Omniscient POV
Tobio welcomed the morning in one room of the hideout. It was a modest room with only one bed and a desk.
Seeing the black puppy curled up asleep at the foot of the bed, he recognized anew the truthfulness of yesterday's events. While lying in bed, Tobio exhaled.
He had also found a ray of hope amid the despair. No matter how, in spite of having been attacked by a reality that was hard to accept, he still wanted to save everyone... to save Sae.
Tobio again hardened the resolve in his heart. Having obtained a strong determination, Tobio went over in his mind what today's goals were.
It was to go to meet one of the delinquent students of Ryoukuu High School named Samejima Kouki.
Still in bed, Tobio recalled what he knew about Samejima Kouki. The last time he'd seen him, it was at the joint funeral for their classmates. That would have been a few weeks after the Heavenly Aloha Incident.
The funeral had progressed and already the time for it to conclude was approaching. Then the door was vigorously thrown open by someone entering.
About the same age as Tobio, he was a boy whose hair had been dyed a light brown. Everyone in attendance had focused on his appearance. Clasped in the boy's hand was a bouquet of flowers.
A delinquent had briskly intruded with extreme rudeness. With an expression of surliness in the presence of the deceased, he stood and looked upon a certain memorial portrait. The figure in this portrait, that person was a fierce-looking boy with hair dyed brown.
It was Maeda Nobushige, a very close friend of Kouki.
Then, he softly placed the bouquet he had brought upon the altar.
"You idiot..."
Without even joining his hands, he said as much, and then immediately turned on his heel to leave.
Having appeared like the wind, the delinquent went and left like the wind.
For Tobio, what left the greatest impression on him from the joint funeral, was this very scene.
It was Samejima Kouki. The most feared delinquent of Ryoukuu High School.
*Fuu*
Looking up at the ceiling, letting out a deep sigh, Tobio again sank his head into the pillow.
"...Ryoukuu's number one delinquent... Samejima."
Even if he had no prior memory of Minagawa Natsume, he could still distinctly remember Samejima Kouki.
With such self-derision, he covered his eyes with his arm. In the case of that young man in high school, since he carried such a title of delinquency it was only natural that he remembered him, or so he thought.
It was the one type of person that one must avoid during everyday school life.
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After freshening up, Tobio came out of his room to go to the kitchen for some food, as he was very hungry. He hadn't eaten much yesterday because of all the tension.
As he stepped out, he saw the strange black-haired girl from yesterday. He called her strange because he could see her ears and tails. She wasn't human like him and the others.
This realization made him understand that he hadn't been dreaming about all this. He had briefly met her last night and learned her name, which was quite a coincidence.
Her name was Kuroka Toujou, whereas Sae's surname was also Toujou. She had been the one to train Minagawa since she arrived.
But one thing he could tell for sure about her was that she was damn lazy! Well, it might have something to do with her cat ears too.
He could already see that as she was still just lying on the sofa in the hallway, watching TV without a care for anyone.
But what caught his attention the most was her dress. She wore a loose kimono. It didn't show anything per se, but it was worn in such a way that it left so much to the imagination that it was enough to make a teenager like him look back at her again and again.
But he had Sae, gaddamit, so he couldn't think of such things! He slapped his face hard to get his mind out of the gutter. He had to focus... focus!
Hearing the sound of the slap, Kuroka turned back and asked, "What are you doing by hitting yourself, nyaa?" Her voice was lazy and confused.
Tobio, suddenly flustered, blushed as she moved. He couldn't really look at her and talk to her, making Kuroka just laugh at his cute reaction.
"Nyaaaahahahahaha! You are so innocent. But this is only for Kouske nyaa," she said lifting her kimono a bit.
"But what are you doing up so early nyaa?" she asked again.
*rumble/growl*
Before Tobio could answer, his stomach growled, making it clear what he wanted. Tobio felt even more ashamed.
Kuroka just smiled kindly and said, "The kitchen's over there, and there is leftover food in the fridge from yesterday nyaa. You can heat it in the oven if you want. There should be fruits too nyaa," she added as she lazily went back to watching television.
"T-thank you," said Tobio meekly, to which Kuroka just shrugged.
Tobio entered the kitchen, opened the fridge, and saw the leftover food from yesterday along with all the ingredients for breakfast.
He thought he might as well cook new food rather than just heating up the old food. And while he was at it, he decided to cook for everyone.
Having lived alone for so long, he was quite good at cooking and even enjoyed cooking. However, for some strange reason, a whole section of the kitchen was stuffed with canned ramen.
The weird thing was that it was only ramen, nothing else like instant noodles or any other canned foods, and in large quantities at that. Just who could be eating so much canned ramen?
As he pondered this, he started cooking for everyone, and at some point, everyone had woken up, were talking with each other, and even came to the kitchen to talk to him.
"You can even cook, Ikuse-kun," said Natsume in wonder, watching Tobio place the food on the table as she and Kuroka sat down and strolled their legs lazily while Lavinia helped him set up the table. He had made Japanese traditional omurice.
"Yeah. You know how I used to live alone for so long? Even though Sae and her family had been there by my side and even gave me homemade food regularly or just invited me to eat with them, I still preferred to cook my own food. It's fun, to be honest," said Tobio awkwardly while scratching his cheeks with his index finger.
Hearing this, all the girls nodded in agreement, especially Lavinia and Kuroka, as they thought about how Kouske always said the same thing about cooking.
"You are right, Tobi. Ko-kun always says the same too," said Lavinia, making Natsume remember that insolent brat, causing her face to heat up a bit.
With a 'humph' she turned her face to the side, making everyone confused. Realizing this, she just started eating quietly in embarrassment.
"Tobi?" Tobio questioned.
"Reni loves to shorten and give pet names to people she likes. She even calls me Kuro-san, nyaahaha..." replied Kuroka as she laughed, while Lavinia cheerfully nodded.
After that, everyone started eating while chatting for a while. But Lavinia put a portion aside on the table for some reason. Seeing this, Tobio was puzzled.
"Who is this for?" asked Tobio.
"It's for Vaa-chan," replied Lavinia as she enjoyed the food, though it was still not on the same level as Sakuya's or Kouske's, she thought absentmindedly.
"Vaa-chan who?" asked Tobio, confused.
"It's just an impertinent brat that lives in the apartment," replied Natsume, annoyed, recalling the kid, making Tobio interested.
"That's for Valerica. She is the White Dragon Empress of this generation, a Longinus Sacred Gear Wielder, just like you two, nyaa," Kuroka replied as she finished her food.
Then she stood up, jumped on the sofa in the room, and started watching television again.
"Kuroka-san, you will get fat if you lie down like that just after eating," said Natsume, warning her about her health.
"Don't worry, nyaa. I am a youkai and a devil. Our body doesn't gain fat that easily. So I am good, nyaa," replied Kuroka without even looking at her.
But she had to look at Natsume because of the intense glare she was receiving from her.
"W-what's wrong, nyaa?" asked Kuroka.
"Humph! Nothing..." Natsume went back to eating, but she still couldn't quell the envy in her heart.
Kuroka doesn't have to worry about what she eats or her figure. If she also had something like that, just think about all the foods and sweets she could eat without any worry about her figure! Then Natsume aggressively started eating in annoyance.
While Natsume was having an episode, Tobio asked Lavinia something that had been on his mind for a while.
"Umm... Why are there so many cup ramens in the fridge?" Tobio asked, making Lavinia tilt her head cutely.
"Oh. That's Vaa-chan's stuff. Before we came here, she seemed to only be surviving by eating cup ramens, saying that it was delicious and time-efficient to cook.
The whole fridge was full of that stuff, actually. I had to throw most of them out of the fridge myself and had to buy fresh ingredients for home cooking.
But she still kept some of those, it seems. Maybe I will have to throw them out of the fridge again," said Lavinia calmly, thinking about something and mumbling the last bit while looking a bit scary to Tobio at that moment. She can be quite scary when she wants to.
She and Kuroka had only been living here for a week now. But in this short time, she had come to like that little girl, almost like her own little sister for some reason.
So she cannot let her live like a NEET, only eating canned foods like that in her growth period.
Valerica argued that they contained all the essential nutrients for a person to survive and that it was also delicious to her. But Lavinia wasn't having any of it! Valerica has been out for some reason since yesterday.
After some time, Natsume finished her food and said, "Hey, we need to find that stupid delinquent too, you know. We should hurry up a bit. He didn't return yesterday."
Just like Natsume, Kouki had also been in that hideout since earlier, but he seemed to be the reckless type who goes off to do dangerous things by himself.
"Yeah, we should search for Shark," said Lavinia.
"Shark? You mean Samejima?" asked Tobio, unsure.
Earlier, Lavinia had said 'Shark'. At that time, Natsume was talking about Samejima, so it must be the same person.
The first character of Samejima's name, Same, means shark in Japanese. Lavinia was simply using the English word for it, Tobio thought.
Lavinia answered, "That's right. Shark is Shark. Because his mood is really shark-like, I thought it was perfect."
Samejima had a shark-like mood, huh? Tobio pondered. Perhaps it was because he was perceived as aggressive, being a delinquent?
Still, even at Ryoukuu, despite his reputation as a delinquent, Samejima was popular with the girls, being the so-called good-looking bad boy type.
But he never spoke flirtatiously; only talk of his heroic face reached anyone's ears.
Lavinia continued speaking. "It seems Shark didn't return to this apartment building last night. Most likely, I think he was outside exterminating Utsusemi using his Sacred Gear."
Exterminating Utsusemi outside, huh? That's extremely daring... even more, a reckless behavior.
He probably also possesses an animal like Sacred Gear, an independent avatar type, similar to Minagawa Natsume's, Tobio thought.
Could Tobio handle such battles alone, facing those monsters all day long? Considering his mental and physical fatigue, such an approach seemed very risky.
It took strong determination to do that, but could Samejima possess such an unshakable purpose?
To face battles like that alone, with just the temperament of a simple delinquent, was hard to imagine.
Moreover, there was one troublesome special characteristic of the Utsusemi. Tobio recalled the information he received last night.
Utsusemi—the monsters they use, once they memorize the smell of their opponent from the blood of their prey, they can transmit knowledge of that scent to their fellow Utsusemi.
For Tobio, this happened when the Utsusemi used by his friend Sasaki cut his cheek. Apparently, it had memorized the scent of his own blood that was spilled at that time.
The Utsusemi would then pursue their targets by tracing the scent of the opponent that had been memorized on that occasion. Thus, the Utsusemi had invaded Tobio's home.
Was there anywhere he could find relief where he might not be discovered? Since they broke into his home, he hadn't thought to return... yet.
But, despite his wishes, attacking his home would be extremely easy for them. The shock was immeasurable.
As he heard it, Natsume had also been attacked at her home and ended up here.
The hideout that the Governor General Azazel had prepared was located on the outskirts of the city.
It seemed to be a special structure, making it difficult for the Utsusemi to find. But Tobio still didn't know how it worked or what the head of the Utsusemi Agency was thinking, doing something so inhuman!
Lost in his thoughts, everyone had finished breakfast. They were leaving for their rooms for a bit, but Kuroka stopped both Tobio and Natsume.
"Wait, both of you," said Kuroka, looking at them.
"Yes?" asked Natsume innocently.
"Come to the garden outside in 20 minutes. We will train for a while. You guys need to get used to fighting with your Sacred Gears.
Then you can go search for Samejima. This way, I can also keep my promise to Kouske," said Kuroka, turning back to the TV and not leaving them any chance to refuse, mumbling the last bit to herself.
Natsume's face paled at hearing that, making Tobio feel uneasy seeing her reaction.
"W-why do we have to train so early in the morning?!... Right! We might get too tired to search for that idiot if we train right now," said Natsume suddenly, trying to dodge the training.
The last three training sessions with Kuroka had been brutal. Kuroka could be quite sadistic at times, and Natsume didn't like it one bit!
"Did you forget, nyaa? I can use Senjutsu to heal your fatigue and injuries," said Kuroka, reminding Natsume of the many times she was beaten during training and then quickly healed.
Sometimes, Kuroka even used potions that accelerated the healing process! Dejectedly, both Tobio and Natsume returned to their rooms, while Lavinia smiled and cheered for them.
After a while, they were brutally beaten and healed in the name of training. At least Lavinia's magic lessons might be more enjoyable and 'safe' than this, they thought.
After they reached their peak, all of them except Kuroka went out to search for Kouki. Kuroka said she was going home to meet her little sister, Shirone(Koneko) for some reason.
Following Lavinia's lead, Tobio and Natsume were searching for Kouki when Natsume suddenly stopped them all.
"Hey, don't you need to name your dog? It would be better, you know. You saw how helpful it was in that mock battle earlier," said Natsume, prompting Tobio to contemplate it.
Having a name for the dog inside his shadow would certainly be more practical than just calling it 'dog'.
"Yeah! Give it a cute name!" said Lavinia excitedly, encouraging him.
After a moment, Tobio made up his mind and thought of a name. Then, his dog suddenly emerged from his shadow, looking at him.
"Your name will be... Jin. I'll call you that!" said Tobio, causing the dog—Jin—to bark and nod in affirmation.