Elysia sat on the windowsill and buried her face in her hands. Elysia, Elysia, get a grip! Children don't have strange, weird thoughts, Shiraha's doing a good deed, that's all!
Right. Shiraha is doing a good deed!
Just then, Shiraha added: "And I really like being called someone's one and only friend. It makes me feel important. Like I'm irreplaceable."
"But in return, to live up to that regard, I'll give back as much as I can."
Don't say that right now!
Elysia let out a silent whimper inside. Her fingers slid down from her face, revealing those mournful starry eyes. I finally just managed to recapture a little of the feeling from before...
Shiraha stretched out his hand. Elysia hesitated, then took hold of it. But he did nothing more, just held it, and with that, the afternoon's classes ended.
An older girl's hand was a little cool. It couldn't quite be warmed. But the skin was fine and soft, very pleasant to hold.
"Time to go home."
Elysia had been nodding off little by little. Only at those words, time to go home, did she slowly stir awake.
"You're not going to the club?"
Her voice still carried a trace of lazy, just-woken drowsiness.
"Probably not today. PE training was a lot longer than club training. And besides—" Shiraha paused and glanced at the back of Mei-nee's head.
"Our great president will most likely give all club members the day off today."
Elysia braced one hand lightly and pushed off. Her toes touched the ground once more.
Her hand was still held. She instinctively wanted to rub her eyes but couldn't, one hand held in Shiraha's, the other... she could have used it, really, but she simply didn't want to let go. No matter! The fairy lady had her own methods.
A moment later, Shiraha's hand was raised high above his head. His expression was perfectly calm. He wasn't a child, after all. This sort of thing didn't embarrass him in the slightest.
"Hmph."
Mei let out a soft huff. She didn't take Shiraha's hand today.
"Let's go home. No club activities today."
That was what she'd said, but she still went by the clubroom to announce it.
Yuna was visibly a little disappointed, but nothing could be done. The young lady had decreed it. Besides, today had already been so happy, even the breaks were so fulfilling.
On the way home, no popsicles were bought. Shiraha didn't stop to buy any either. As Mei passed the school shop, she let out another huff, a little louder than before.
Shiraha. You really are harboring rebellious intentions!
"Mei-nee shouldn't eat popsicles anymore. Otherwise your stomach will hurt again."
Shiraha offered the explanation at that moment.
Mei shook her ponytail, still only letting Shiraha see the back of her head. But her pace slowed a little, so he didn't have to walk so fast.
Back at home, there was an unexpected figure in the living room, Ryoma Raiden.
He was rubbing his brow. When he heard someone push open the door, he'd assumed it was an employee and had still been sighing heavily.
"Uncle Ryoma?"
Shiraha called out softly.
Ryoma's movements froze. A moment later, his usual stern expression returned. "Why are you two back so early today?"
Mei glanced at Shiraha. But in front of Dad, the two of them were still on the same side. That was an unspoken, unquestioned understanding.
"We had PE today. No need to keep training at the club."
Ryoma nodded. He didn't have much to say about his daughter teaching the Hokushin Ittō-ryū outside the family.
Shiraha added from the side, "Actually, Mei-nee noticed recently that Uncle Ryoma's always looked worried. She wanted us to come back early today."
Mei stared at Shiraha in disbelief. A seven-year-old runt, and he can just say something like that so easily?
But with someone making the first move, she wasn't the type to keep everything bottled up inside either.
She forced herself to keep a straight face. "That was part of the reason too."
A flicker of softness passed over Ryoma's features.
Having a sensible boy in the house really is something.
Sigh.
"It's nothing too serious. Just an old friend of mine has gone missing. Can't find him no matter where we look."
Shiraha opened his mouth, then closed it. Uncle Ryoma... are you sure this doesn't count as serious?
"Don't worry too much. At your age, your job is to have fun."
Ryoma Raiden ruffled both children's heads.
Shiraha spoke quietly. "Uncle Ryoma... maybe I could help?"
In truth, Anti-Entropy would eventually find Siegfried in the future. Einstein had met with him once. That was when Siegfried had finally stopped wallowing in despair and when he'd given the name Kiana to K-423.
But right after that, Sirin's rampage. Siegfried's lost arm. Ragna and her entire squad, gone with full honors.
"You? You should just focus on—"
Ryoma Raiden suddenly paused. Wait. That's right. With the help of his fierce ghost friend, Shiraha had quickly pinpointed Mei's location. Finding Siegfried... maybe there really was a way.
He sank into thought.
"Go on upstairs first. Let me think about this a little more."
He still wasn't ready to drag a child into this sort of affair. Besides, things were far too dangerous over in Siberia right now. Schicksal was there too.
Siegfried truly had a good relationship with everyone in Anti-Entropy. But Shiraha, he genuinely treated as a son. He did still have some selfishness in his heart.
Going upstairs, Mei grabbed hold of Shiraha's arm. "You didn't discuss something like that with me before you did it."
Shiraha's expression was helpless. "Because Mei-nee was ignoring me."
Mei's little face puffed up. "Then from now on, no more secretly forming factions behind my back... no more always playing with that delinquent senpai. She'll be a bad influence on you."
The one at fault was definitely not Shiraha, anyway. It had to be the Raven, corrupting the child.
Shiraha nodded seriously. "Really. Senpai's way too bad. I feel like at noon today, she was deliberately trying to drive a wedge between us."
And just like that, a child's sulkiness dispersed. After all, Shiraha was right here beside her now, complaining about that delinquent senpai together.
Mei let go of his sleeve. Her expression shifted from "sullen" to "begrudgingly satisfied." She dashed off to her room, ready to grab today's toys.
All that remained was Elysia, her expression still drifting and forlorn.
"Shiraha... are you sure I can help you find your Uncle Ryoma's friend?"
Elysia couldn't do it. She'd been able to find Mei before only because of frequent contact and because Mei had been right there in Nagazora, not far at all. That was why she'd locked on so fast.
She was indeed very powerful. Origin truly had displays of near-omnipotence. But she wasn't a dog, she couldn't just sniff something and then follow a scent trail to find someone.
Shiraha paused. "I wasn't planning to rely on Senpai."
Elysia paused too, her starry eyes widening slightly. "You really do have another ghost sister!"
Shiraha looked baffled. Elysia gave two soft coughs. "Were you planning to use the skills from your past life to track him down?"
She'd nearly forgotten. Shiraha was the World's Number One Killer, after all. Having some tracking skills was perfectly normal.
Shiraha shook his head, his expression turning subtle. "How would that even be possible? No matter how high someone's search skills are, how could they possibly surpass a massive organization like Anti-Entropy?"
Elysia blinked. The fairy lady couldn't figure it out. So Shiraha was just drawing a pie in the sky?
Shiraha didn't keep her in suspense. He smiled. "It's World Serpent. We might as well use them, it's not like it costs anything. If they can't find him, no big deal. Growing my own strength is still the top priority."