"Nice to meet you, Koneko-chan."
Setting down the small slip of paper in his hand, Cid pressed his palms together and smiled, showing Koneko Toujou what a textbook background-character smile looked like.
"Senpai, I think you were holding that slip upside down just now."
The puzzled loli cat girl blinked, but still pointed out what she had seen. The side with the number on it had been facing away, so Cid should not have been able to see which group he was in.
"The World... Koneko, you saw it wrong. This is the side with the number. Look."
Cid briefly stopped time, flipped the slip over, then held it down as he moved it in front of Koneko.
"...Then I must have seen it wrong."
After a moment of silence, Koneko could only admit she had been mistaken. She was sure she had seen it correctly, but the evidence was right in front of her.
"Well... Koneko, I know you're not very used to spending time with our new companion yet. How about this? I'll trade with you, and you can go home with Akeno."
"As for me... my route is actually pretty close to Cid's house. I'll only need to take a small detour."
Rias did not know about the time stop. She assumed Koneko simply was not used to being around a group of strangers with only Cid, who had just joined and was still unfamiliar, by her side.
So Rias, who had rejected the idea of going home with Cid and wanted a familiar ally with her to help deal with the other Devils, crouched beside Koneko with a smile. She held out the small slip of paper in her hand, intending to swap partners with Koneko Toujou.
"Thank you, Captain, but there's no need to trouble yourself. I don't mind who I go home with."
Koneko Toujou shook her head, refusing Rias's offer to trade slips. Then she picked up her things and left the conference room.
"Wait for me, Koneko!"
Seeing Koneko leave, Cid called out and followed her out of the room, leaving Rias behind with her expression frozen from being rejected.
"Oh my, Rias, it seems your love life isn't going very smoothly. Koneko-chan really doesn't know how to read the room. How could she not see her master's true intentions?"
Akeno Himejima looked at Rias teasingly, then walked lightly to her side. She seemed like she wanted to laugh but did not quite dare to, all while pretending to comfort Rias.
"It was just an accident, Akeno. Don't talk nonsense. Koneko probably just wants to build a bond with Cid since he just joined us, and get to know her future teammate better. That's why she turned me down."
After snapping out of her disappointment, Rias saw Akeno Himejima's expression, which was clearly just there to enjoy the show, and grew annoyed.
"Mm-hmm, so you're calling it an accident? I didn't know you were so broad-minded, Rias. Then if I invite Cid on a date someday, can I count it as building a bond too, just like Koneko-chan...?"
Akeno Himejima's words stopped halfway. She stared blankly at Rias's hand on her shoulder and forced out a smile.
"I think of you as my own sister, Akeno..."
"I know, I know. Can't I even make a joke? When did you get so petty, Rias?"
Listening to Akeno Himejima's complaint, Rias rolled her eyes.
"I don't know whether you're joking, Akeno, but I know exactly what kind of person you are."
"Rias, is that really how you see me? That hurts so much. Sob, sob..."
"Tsk..."
Akeno Himejima forced a few tears from the corners of her eyes and raised an arm over her face to block Rias's view, putting on an expression as if Rias had wounded her deeply. Rias only clicked her tongue in disdain at Akeno Himejima's act.
"By the way, where is Yuuto? I don't think I've seen him since training ended. He isn't planning to leave the main group and go home by himself, is he?"
"If so, that won't do. I trust his strength, but with things the way they are right now, and with this incident happening, he can't be left alone no matter what. It would give others something to use against him."
Looking at the empty chair nearby, Rias felt puzzled by Yuuto Kiba's absence. All sorts of strange ideas began popping into her mind, until Akeno Himejima finally gave her an answer and stopped her thoughts from running wild.
"Yuuto has already chosen who he'll go home with and which student Devils he'll team up with."
"When did that happen?!"
"Not long ago. After he finished training, he asked me to give this to you. I glanced at it when I had time. Somehow, he got to know someone from President Sona's side, and since they were going the same way, he just settled it on his own."
Seeing Rias's baffled expression, Akeno Himejima smiled slyly and took out a sheet of paper.
"Uh... That's a little surprising, but it's good that Yuuto got to know someone from Sona's side. Still, he didn't even tell me before choosing his teammate. I'll have to talk to him properly about that later.
"Right, who does Kiba know?"
Putting on a lecturing air, Rias took the paper and flipped it over to read.
"I think it was... Genshirou Saji, the one with the Absorption Line Sacred Gear. That should be his name."
Akeno Himejima rested a finger beneath her chin as she recalled it.
...
"Bye. See you tomorrow."
"Koneko-chan, it's just you and me now. Should we go to your place next, or mine?"
Walking quietly behind Koneko, Cid warmly said goodbye to the last Devil seeking shelter, his usual lazy smile on his face.
"Let's go to your house first, Senpai. I'm stronger than you, so if we really get attacked by those people, I should be able to escape."
Stop bragging. You got attacked by the Church warriors yesterday and couldn't even withstand one AoE from Dulio. You're total small fry, Koneko-chan.
"Sure, sure. If those guys attack us, I'll be counting on you, Koneko-sama... Let me think. From here, we should take the alley on the right. It's shorter."
Cid said it with a chuckle, looking completely unconcerned about the possibility of being dragged into an alley and beaten up by the children of other factions. He clapped his hands and chose the route for Koneko.
Putting other enemies aside, at least on the current Itogami Island, until the Devils found and dealt with the culprit who had pinned the Black Spot Curse on them, the heirs of various factions who had banded together to target civilian Devils would not make a move.
After all, the reason they could bully Devils so brazenly was because they had numbers on their side. With several factions backing them, their combined weight completely surpassed the Underworld, forcing the Devils to swallow the humiliation no matter how unwilling they were.
But now, anyone with eyes on the island could tell that something major had happened between the Underworld and Heaven. Even Heaven's Joker and one of the Four Great Satans had been sent over. No matter how reluctant they were, they had to stop targeting them for the time being.
Of course, that did not mean everyone was getting along peacefully. They were only worried the agitated Devils would drag them in as scapegoats.
Once the investigation was over, if the Devils were innocent, the targeting would continue. If the Devils were not innocent, they would absolutely add fuel to the fire and try to make Heaven and the Underworld go to war.
"Mm. Either is fine with me."
Completely unaware that they were about to enter an alley with no surveillance, a place where even if she were knocked unconscious and had all sorts of things done to her, no one would ever know as long as her memories were erased, Koneko nodded indifferently.
"Heh..."
Inside the dark alley, Cid walked behind Koneko and let out a strange little laugh. His eyes were cold as he looked at her, and Slime Suit liquid surged from the palm hidden behind his back, forming a hammer.
He had memorized the code in advance and rigged the draw for this very moment. Who would have thought that the seemingly random lottery had already been decided by the Eminence in Shadow? Thank you, Rias.
Your arrogant misjudgment of strength has sealed your tragic fate. Farewell, yesterday's Koneko-chan. I'll remember you.
"Senpai, have you... run into anyone strange recently?"
Just as the hammer was about to swing down, Koneko suddenly spoke as if inspiration had struck her, successfully preserving her memories from yesterday.
"What strange person? I've basically been with all of you these past few days. If there really were someone strange, you should have noticed them long ago."
Cid withdrew the hammer at a speed too fast to see, stopped walking, and smiled at Koneko Toujou.
"Then... why did you have her scent on you after you passed out yesterday?"
Koneko Toujou spoke with certainty. As she said it, she stepped closer and closer to Cid, pressing him into the corner against the wall. Her small body stood in front of him, her little nose twitching near his neck.
"Her scent?"
Cid blinked, somewhat curious about the "her" Koneko Toujou was talking about. Judging by the current situation, Koneko Toujou's strange behavior yesterday was probably because of "her," not because there had been some flaw in his perfect background-character disguise.
"Yes. And... sniff, sniff... the scent is even stronger today. Senpai, you definitely had close contact with her."
After taking several deep sniffs at Cid's neck, Koneko frowned, stared at him, and nodded firmly.
"The problem is, I don't know who this 'her' you're talking about is, or what she looks like. Could you tell me? Maybe I'll remember."
Cid narrowed his eyes. On the surface, he pretended not to know, but there was no way he had no suspect in mind.
During the time he had been "unconscious" yesterday, someone had touched him and left a scent. It could not have been Rias and the others, or Koneko would not have found it strange. With those precise conditions in place, Cid immediately locked onto the suspect behind this "her." Delta.
If Koneko really suspected him because of the scent on him, then this was not a problem that could be solved by erasing one day of memories.
Koneko had been unconscious when Delta attacked Rias and the others. On top of that, a cat's nose was far less sensitive than a dog's, so Koneko could only have met Delta somewhere on the island before the attack.
In other words, as long as Delta's scent was still on him, no matter how many times he erased her memory, Koneko would immediately notice something wrong the moment she saw him.
The good news was that his perfect background-character acting had no problems.
The bad news was that his entire body had become the problem.
At this point, simply erasing Koneko's memory would no longer solve anything. To protect his background-character identity, the only thing he could do was pray Koneko would have a pair of loving parents in her next life.
"...Kuroka."
Her sudden words once again interrupted Cid's silent mourning for Koneko. Koneko Toujou had preserved both her memories and her life for a second time.
"Huh?"
Cid let out a surprised sound, confused to hear the name of Delta's mature catgirl subordinate from Koneko Toujou.
"Her name. Her name is Kuroka Toujou. She's my older sister. Her Nekomata traits look different from mine. Mine are white, while hers are black."
"By now, she should have become the same type of big-sister figure as Captain Rias..."
As if she were talking about something difficult to say, Koneko Toujou told Cid her sister's name and appearance one word at a time.
"That's all. Senpai, have you seen someone like that?"
Looking at the urgency in Koneko Toujou's eyes, Cid raised an eyebrow. To be honest, this was the first time he had seen Koneko like this. Usually, Koneko was expressionless, either eating or on her way to play games.
"I see. Let me think... I remember now. When I went out for lunch today... during my investigation, I did accidentally bump into a woman in a black kimono who looked a lot like you, Koneko. That person was probably your older sister."
Cid struck his right fist into his left palm, pretending the memory had just come to him. Using the information he currently had, he pieced everything together and very naturally cleared himself of suspicion.
"I see. Then it should be that woman. But why would she come here? Was it for me?"
"...No, Koneko. You absolutely can't trust that woman. Don't forget, last time, she abandoned you alone in the Underworld..."
Ignoring Koneko, who had fallen completely into her own world after getting information about Kuroka Toujou from him and was now standing off to the side with her chin in her hand, Cid secretly glanced at her profile. Now that Koneko mentioned it, Kuroka Toujou's face really did resemble hers a little... It felt like there was some kind of story there.
Forget it. No need to care. Since everything was clear now, there was no need to reset Koneko. He only needed to make her forget yesterday's memories. Be grateful, Koneko. You got your life back.
After sorting out the logic a little, Cid understood everything.
In daily life, Kuroka Toujou was the one taking care of Delta, so Delta carried Kuroka Toujou's scent.
And yesterday, when Rias and the others were attacked by the Church warriors, Cid came into contact with Delta, causing Kuroka Toujou's scent on Delta to transfer to him. As Kuroka Toujou's younger sister, Koneko immediately noticed Kuroka Toujou's scent on him and showed something unusual because of her confusion.
As expected of him. He figured everything out right away. Then there was no problem from here on. Goodbye, cute Koneko.
The Slime Suit liquid turned back into a hammer. Cid silently walked behind Koneko, who was still lost in her own thoughts, and raised the hammer in his hand.
"Boss!!!"