After sleeping like a king and restoring his energy, Narumi Akira finished the last round of handover work with the Wild Hunt and prepared to leave.
Right as Negamon opened the dimensional rift and Akira was about to head home—
Nene Amano arrived.
"Mr. Narumi Akira… are you leaving?" Maybe because she'd successfully rescued her younger sister, Nene's voice sounded noticeably brighter than before.
"Yeah." Akira answered cleanly. "Something came up on my side. I need to go deal with it, so I'm heading home first."
"I see…" Nene hesitated, then couldn't help asking, "Then… when will you come back?"
That's a sharp question.
What was he supposed to say—I'm a fragile elementary school kid and I'm afraid Bagramon or some unhinged Royal Knight will elbow-drop me into the afterlife, so I'll come back after I've built enough power to stare Royal Knights in the face?
Akira complained internally, but what came out of his mouth was only two words:
"Hard to say."
"..." Nene froze for a moment, disappointment flickering in her eyes. "I see… I haven't even had the chance to repay your kindness…"
My god. "Kindness"?? That's such a heavy word. What am I, some Sun of the Peninsula?
You praise me this hard—aren't you worried I'll get arrogant?
Akira chuckled and waved it off.
"I was going after SkullKnightmon anyway. You don't need to carry that kind of burden." He smiled. "In any case… if fate allows, we'll meet again."
"But…" Nene wanted to say she truly only wanted to repay him, that she had no other intentions—
yet as she watched Akira prepare to leave, and as she realized her own feelings weren't nearly that "pure," she couldn't force a single word out.
At this point, the most dignified response she could manage was to bury the emotions rising in her chest and bid him farewell with a practiced smile—
Only to be interrupted by her sister.
"Um…" the girl blurted out, "A-Xiao gege, can we go home with you?"
Unlike her sister—who felt ashamed because she'd once done bad things—Kotone Amano had far fewer inhibitions. She said it straight to Akira's face:
"The Digital World is too dangerous! We want to go back to the human world too!"
"Kotone…" Nene flushed, flustered by the sudden straight ball. She gently scolded, "Don't trouble Mr. Narumi Akira."
When she's around me, every other sentence is "A-Xiao gege." When she's actually in front of him, she can't say a thing…
No matter how you looked at it, her sister was obviously in love.
And if you're in love but you never say anything, sis, you're going to spend your whole life as a one-sided crush—the doomed "losing heroine" side character from an anime!
No choice.
My sister is helpless, so it's up to me!
"The Digital World really is dangerous!" Kotone insisted, armed with nothing but pure wingwoman spirit.
She trotted up to Akira, grabbed his hand, and shook it like she owned the situation—pouting and pleading:
"A-Xiao gege, you agree, right?"
Clearly, for a little girl, her situational awareness was terrifying. In one glance she identified who the real "guardian" and decision-maker was.
And reality unfolded exactly as she expected.
Nene could say "don't trouble him" all she wanted, but the moment Kotone grabbed Akira's hand and said the words her sister couldn't say—
Nene couldn't utter a single sentence. She could only stare at Akira and wait for his decision.
Akira, having lived two lifetimes, obviously understood what was going on.
He didn't call Nene out.
Partly because he preferred mature women with curves and had zero interest in "airports."
But mostly because he thought romance, in the Digimon world, had an atrociously low cost-performance ratio.
It wasn't that Akira was a cold-blooded profit machine with no sense of feelings.
It was just—
Digimon hearts were pure. Single-minded. Less complicated. More comfortable to be around. And they didn't come with the kind of negative emotional maintenance that humans required…
By any metric, Digimon were better companionship.
Still—separate issues were separate issues.
Since a pair of girls had basically delivered themselves to his doorstep, Akira had no reason to refuse.
"My home is in another world, you know," Akira said as he crouched down so Kotone wouldn't have to crane her neck to look up. He smiled warmly. "If you come with me, you can only visit my home. You won't be able to return to yours. Are you still coming?"
"Sure! Sure!" Kotone beamed. "We can't go back anyway, and even if we did we'd still have homework. Might as well go play at A-Xiao gege's place first!"
"You little brat—trying to dodge homework, huh?" Akira laughed, ruffling her hair.
Then he looked at Nene, who had gone quiet and was clearly waiting for him to speak, and asked seriously:
"You two staying in the Digital World really isn't safe. If you don't mind… you can stay with me for a while."
Nene's face turned red. She nodded slightly. "As long as you don't find us troublesome… I'm fine with it…"
"What trouble?" Akira waved it off. "And just call me A-Xiao. The formal stuff makes me sound old."
"Having beauties visit my place is my honor."
Nene's face got even redder, and her voice jumped an octave.
"T-Then… I'll be in your care, A-A-Xiao!"
"Then let's go." Akira stepped aside with a grin. "Ladies first."
"Aren't I a lady too?" Kotone tugged his hand, dissatisfied. "Why don't you say those things to me?"
Akira's response came instantly.
"You're a little lady. Little ladies should be protected even more, right?"
"Hehe, that's more like it~"
The little girl happily extended her other hand and grabbed her sister's.
"Let's go together—three of us!"
Nene lowered her head shyly at her sister's boldness, while Akira couldn't help marveling at how a child this young had already mastered the sacred art of wingwomaning.
Hand in hand, the three walked through the dimensional rift—
and returned to Odaiba, 1999.
The moment they arrived, Akira made arrangements for the Amano sisters.
Ever since his transcendent parents had handed him the household finances, he'd made a small fortune through foreign exchange speculation and buying racehorses. He'd even gone as far as leasing an entire residential complex in Odaiba—
specifically to "contain" the DM franchise's inevitable problem children and their equally unhinged parents, before they could cause trouble.
Right now, his complex still hadn't "collected" many lunatics.
Which meant it was the perfect place for the Amano sisters to live temporarily.
Akira handed them the keys and introduced the basics:
"My parents went on vacation in Hawaii. You can stay in this house directly."
"There's a 24-hour department store right outside—go buy a change of clothes."
"And this side is still 1999, so it might be different from what you're used to." He smiled. "Please bear with it, ladies."
"We're the ones who should say that. Thank you for taking us in," Nene replied politely, while Kotone giggled and teased:
"Then we're going to buy clothes first. A-Xiao gege, aren't you going to be our bodyguard?"
"A girl's private shopping time is a place I should stay out of." Akira smiled and waved them off. "I've got things to do. I'll be busy until the afternoon at the latest. See you later."
"Okay."
"Bye-bye, A-Xiao gege~"
After watching them leave, Akira turned under the dim yellow streetlight and stared at the plainest, most inconspicuous single-story house at the very back of the complex.
He took out his phone, dialed a number, and spoke softly:
"Oikawa-kun. I've got proof of the Digital World."
The moment he finished speaking, lights snapped on inside the dark little house. Then came a weak—but intensely excited—voice:
"Narumi-kun, where are you? I'm coming right now!"
It's time to make things happen, Akira thought.
Time to stir up trouble.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (110 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (780Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (165 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (115 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (125 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (114 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (54Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (76 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (63 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (83 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (70 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (70 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (80 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (75 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (60 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (80 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it