Kiana's eyes were wide open in shock as she stared at me.
"You... followed me?"
"Yup." I said as I stood back up straight.
"But... didn't I say that I was going to the toilet?" At that, Kiana's face seemed to morph into one of disgust. She then took a few steps backwards and hugged herself. "Were you planning to-"
I interrupted her with a loud sigh, the sound echoing slightly in the park. Unable to stop myself from facepalming-a gesture that becoming distressingly frequent-my face settled into a deadpan. My voice came out flat, bordering on disappointment, "You... you can't possibly be serious..."
Kiana's disgust vanished like smoke, instantly replaced by her usual mischievous grin. "Ha! I was just messing with you. Who told you to try and act cool like that with me!"
Her eyes immediately became serious again. "Seriously though. What are you doing here? It's not safe here."
"Well, someone decided that they were gonna leave me hanging at that cafe with the toilet excuse while they were doing..." I gestured to the dissolving zombie girls. "this?"
Kiana scratched the back of her head with a wry, slightly embarrassed chuckle, "Well, I was planning to come back..."
"Were you really?"
"...I err... still needed to get info about you about my dad?"
I just gave her that look.
That look when you know a guy's lying but you still listening anyways.
At that moment, I felt a tiny pulse again, much weaker than the previous one. And unlike the previous one, I was able to somewhat sense the direction that the pulse came from.
"Did you feel that?" I asked already turning.
"Feel what?"
I didn't reply as I began to walk towards the origin of the pulse- a random bush. Focusing my eyes, I could see a hint of metallic shine.
"Oi! Don't ignore me! Feel what?!!"
"This thing." I swept aside the bush, revealing the true nature of that shine.
A small device, about the size of a chocolate bar that you would find at the supermarket laid on the leaves of the bush. There was a soft purple glow in the middle with red lines stretching out of it.
Before I could react, the soft purple instantly intensified significant, causing me to experience the feeling of being flashbanged. I was barely affected by it with how good my eyesight was, but I couldn't help but take a few steps back.
The reason?
The sense of discomfort that suddenly violated every inch of my body.
"GET AWAY FROM THERE!"
That scream was my only warning before something heavy slammed into my side, knocking the air from my lungs. My vision blurred as the world spun, my body tangled with my attacker's as we tumbled across the ground in a mess of limbs and dirt.
It took me a split second longer than it really should have for me to fully process the situation.
Kiana? She was the one who tackled me? But how was she so fast? I should have been able to dodge her easily?
And why did she look so distraught?
"AHH!!! You... I..." Kiana seemed to be at a loss for words as she looked down at my body.
I followed her gaze.
What the-
Crimson red lines crawled across my skin. There seemed to something moving through those lines, sorta like literal version of ants under your skin.
I opened my mouth, trying to say something- anything, but the only thing than came out was a bitter, metallic taste.
Blood?
What in the world was going on with me? Was I poisoned?
*Clunk*
There.
Much better.
And faster than I'd hoped it would work.
My adaptation speed really is much faster than before.
Gently pushing Kiana's frozen figure off of me, I got up. The red lines retracted from my body until only a tiny blip remained.
Kiana stared at me with blank eyes, her jaws not fully closed yet as she stared at me in shock.
"You're ok?" Kiana seemed amazed. "I thought you were gonna die! Your whole body was corrupted!"
"Corrupted? You mean I was gonna become a zombie too?"
"Yea, by Honkai. But umm you probably won't become a zombie. Only girls become zombies." Kiana's pale face started to regain some colour. "You'd probably just turn to ashes or something."
Wow... I'm not complaining, but that's kinda sexist no?
Wait, who am I kidding. It's some sort of anime world. Of course it's gonna have strange rules like that.
And Honkai huh. That was a new term.
My eyes flickered back to that bush.
The device was still there, its shine much dimmer than it was initially. It seemed that whatever it did, it seemed to have used up most of the juice- Honkai, that was in it.
I tried to connect the dots. However, the more I tried, the heavier my head felt. I attempted to push past it as I opened my mouth to ask about Honkai. Unfortunately, the moment I did so, I stumbled.
"Ah! Don't push yourself!" Kiana hurriedly caught me before I fell. "You're lucky enough that your Honkai resistance to good enough to help you survive."
Honkai resis---
Crap...
I feel like I can't think properly right now.
I could feel the wheel trembling behind my back trying to help me recover... whatever was going on with me right now. It's just that it wasn't done with the adaptation yet.
My own healing factor should be healing me as well, but it seems like whatever is going on, it's beyond the scope of my current healing factor to fix instantly.
And honestly, all of this was pretty foreign to me. It had ben a while since I've felt like this. The last time had been in my past life when I had a heavy fever.
"Where do you live? I'll bring you back." Kiana asked in concern.
"It's ok. I can get back myself..."
A frown appeared on the white-haired girl's face. "Stop being stubborn. If you're not gonna tell me where you live, I'll take you back to my place."
Hearing that, I finally relented. "#001, Mitaka Street..."
"Ah? Isn't that where all the rich people live?"
"...Yea"
"Seriously?"
"Seriously"
"So you're a bajillionaire or something?"
"..."
Kiana let out a sheepish laugh.
"Damn, I should've made you pay for my food back at the café."
"I did." I sneered at her. "Don't forget to pay me 1000 yen later."
"Hey! I'm literally saving your life here!"
"Bullet."
Kiana instantly deflated. "How are you so active when you're arguing with me..."
"Eh he."
"What do you mean eh he?!!!"
She let out a harrumph as she shifted me onto her back. "Whatever. Let's go."
"What about that thing on the ground there?"
"We'll deal with it next time! I gotta get you somewhere safe first."
Ehh... whatever.
Just as Kiana started moving, adjusting her grip, she stopped again. She looked down at her clothes, then at mine, with my face after.
"Do you think that we should probably... clean you up a bit before we head out onto the main street. And maybe figure out a less conspicuous way back? I don't think we want to attract attention, especially not from the cops!"
I blinked.
Then, I took out my phone and used my selfie camera.
Sigh...
Man...
I see why I was feeling kind of lobotomised and why I couldn't even react to Kiana's tackle...
Really, I'm really becoming more and more like Gojo as the days go by.
As for that device, I guess I would just leave it for another day for now.