Chasing down the criminals was, of course, effortless for Shichen. And he didn't hold back—right in front of Chisato, he sent them straight to hell.
They'd actually tried to blow Chisato up right in front of him, so they'd already made the decision to die. He was simply granting their wish.
The only useful thing about them was that their existence gave Chisato a reason not to be punished. At this point in time, if she went back, she would definitely be interrogated and disciplined—but now there was a clear justification.
Chisato didn't react to what Shichen did at all. Not even a flicker.
Once the criminals were dealt with, Shichen planned to send Chisato back. The time they'd truly be together was in the future.
It was a shame he couldn't keep little Chisato by his side longer, but you had to learn to be satisfied.
Besides, even though Chisato would grow up, she'd also be able to do more things with him then, right?
Relationships sometimes needed a little "exercise" to grow.
"Shichen, what about the radio tower…?" Chisato couldn't help asking when they returned to the area where the tower had already become rubble.
"That's not something you need to worry about."
"I'm not worrying, I was just thinking… are you going to fix it?" she asked carefully.
"I can fix it, but I'm not going to."
"Huh?"
"This tower already got destroyed. It's better to let people build a new one."
"Uh…"
"And besides…" Shichen said softly, "wouldn't this old one make the perfect memory for us?"
Thinking back to his first time meeting Chisato, he couldn't bear to see the tower restored.
And repairing it would only create trouble with no benefit. A tower collapsing like this was impossible to hide; people would come swarming in to gawk. Before long, it would be packed and treated as a dangerous site.
If it suddenly got "fixed," no one could explain it.
"A memory… I get it." Chisato thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
Using the collapsed radio tower as a memory—oddly enough, it felt fitting.
And the tower's collapse made her even more certain that what happened today wasn't a dream.
It also meant she'd have proof, forever.
She didn't know whether she'd find her "direction," or whether she'd be able to find Shichen again—but she would keep searching.
It was time to live for herself.
"Alright. People will be here any minute. You need to go back now. This is where we part."
"We're separating already…?" Chisato looked up at him, reluctant.
"Don't worry. We'll definitely meet again." Shichen ruffled her hair, soothing her.
"I believe you, Shichen… so I'm leaving now?"
"Yeah."
Chisato walked away slowly, glancing back again and again, until her small figure disappeared completely.
Shichen watched her go. He felt a tug of reluctance too—but he'd already met Chisato again.
The days ahead might be lonely for her. She might wander all over the place. But that wasn't a bad thing.
She'd be fine. And being alone would help her see her heart clearly and understand what she truly wanted.
She fit DA well, but DA didn't fit her.
Tap, tap, tap—!
Footsteps and noisy voices were getting closer now—either curious onlookers, or officials.
Shichen had no intention of meeting them. He pulled Eriri out from the rubble and left the area immediately.
What surprised him was that Eriri wasn't scared at all during the whole time. Her expression was calm—she was just staring straight at him.
"Hey, kid. You're not scared?" Shichen asked curiously as he carried her through the air.
"Not scared!" Eriri replied in a small but firm voice, resting in his arms.
"Oh? That bold? Why?"
"Because you protected me, didn't you?" Eriri shot back.
"How'd you know?" Shichen didn't deny it.
"I saw you! You and another little girl were riding a huge blue monster in the sky! Someone like that can't be normal!"
"You saw that?" Shichen raised an eyebrow.
He'd used concealment magic to hide their presence—she shouldn't have been able to see anything.
If there was any explanation, there was only one: the god-fragment inside her.
It shared the same origin as his power, so it made sense it could let her see through his concealment.
"Yeah. I saw it super clearly!" Eriri stared at him with blazing eyes—basically daring him to deny it.
"Alright, fine. That was me. And yes, I did save you."
"So it really is true! Prince Onii-chan!" Eriri shouted excitedly.
"Prince Onii-chan…?" Shichen looked at her like she'd grown a second head.
"Yeah! You saved me, and you're super handsome—so you're obviously a prince!"
"…Fine. Call me whatever you want."
"Mm-hm! Prince Onii-chan!" Eriri said again, sounding more and more pleased with herself.
"Since you're calling me 'Onii-chan,' let me ask you—why were you at the radio tower? That was dangerous, you know."
"I… I was chasing you guys. I followed you all the way to the tower…" Eriri admitted in a small voice.
"Following us?"
"I saw you riding a giant monster! Following you is totally reasonable!"
"I mean… sure. But did you ever consider it might've been a hallucination?"
"If I kept seeing it, how could it be a hallucination?" Eriri said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"…Fair enough. But didn't you think we might be bad people? What if we did something awful to you? Don't be this—this cute. It's dangerous, you know?"
"I-I'm cute?" Eriri blushed and cupped her own cheeks.
"That's what you care about?"
"Yeah… Prince Onii-chan thinks I'm cute?"
"If you're calling me Prince Onii-chan, then you must be as cute as a princess."
"As cute as a princess…" Eriri's little porcelain-white face bloomed pink like cherry blossoms.
"Stop getting excited and answer the question," Shichen cut in, interrupting her happiness.
"I… uh… I didn't think about it," Eriri admitted honestly, lips pressed together.
"You little dummy!" Shichen flicked her forehead.
"Ow… that hurts~"
"Good. Let it hurt. Don't do something that reckless again, got it?" Shichen warned her.
"But if I didn't do that, I couldn't meet Prince Onii-chan. And you're not a bad person anyway!" Eriri protested.
"That's only because it happened to be me. What if it was someone else?"
"Are there other people like you, Prince Onii-chan?"
"…Probably not. But that's not the point. Don't chase weird supernatural things again, okay?"
"Okay…"
"Not listening?"
"I am! I get it—I promise, Prince Onii-chan!" Eriri blurted quickly.
"That's better."
"But I have a condition," Eriri said.
"A condition? Let's hear it."
"I want to see Prince Onii-chan again later. Can I?"
"You're dreaming. My world isn't something you can just casually step into," Shichen said bluntly.
"Aww…" Eriri pouted, unhappy.
"Still… meeting once in a while is fine."
"Really?" Eriri's eyes lit up.
"I'm not lying. We can see each other often."
"Promise!"
"We can even pinky-swear."
"Then pinky-swear!"
…
After the pinky swear, Shichen also happened to have delivered Eriri back home.
"Remember—don't do reckless stuff again. If I hadn't paid attention, you would've been buried for real."
"I remember." Eriri nodded obediently.
"Good. If you behave, I'll come see you."
"Promise, okay!"
"Yeah. Promise."
"And we pinky-swore, so you can't lie!"
"I won't. Never."
In the future, they really would meet again—and often—so Shichen didn't think he was lying.
Still… maybe it wasn't exactly "friendly" to Eriri?
Whatever. Little Eriri was cute, but she'd chased after him just because she saw him—at that age, it was too dangerous.
So a tiny punishment was fair.
After parting with Eriri, Shichen didn't rush back right away. He took a proper walk around the city in this era.
He spotted many familiar faces—young Utaha Kasumigaoka, young Takina Inoue, young Ai Hoshino…
But he only glanced once, then moved on.
When he returned to the present, it was still nighttime. Everyone had already eaten and gone to rest in their rooms.
Only the game room still had people: Chisato and Takina were playing versus, and Kanna was picking up sticks.
"Just you guys?" Shichen picked Kanna up and sat down in her spot.
"Shichen—welcome back~!"
"Shichen…"
Chisato and Takina didn't even turn their heads; their eyes were locked on the screen.
The match was intense—pretty even—but in the end, Chisato still won.
Her dynamic vision was just too strong.
"I lost again…" Takina sighed.
"Heh-heh~ Then you have to keep the promise~" Chisato teased.
"Uh…" Takina glanced at Shichen, cheeks flushing red.
Shichen: "?"
~~~
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