After hanging up, a thoughtful expression appeared on Yusei's face.
The name [Futsu no Mitama] mentioned by Haruko surprised him. He knew a bit about myths and legends and was aware of what the Futsu no Mitama was.
At the same time, the claim that she could 'unseal' a divine weapon was tempting.
It was true, the current [Nameless], in its dilapidated state, didn't look like a divine weapon at all. But whether the old Miko's words were true was another matter.
'Judging by her inability to resolve her own [Curse of the Weather], it was highly likely that 'unsealing the divine weapon' was also false.'
As for actually handing Hina over... that was clearly impossible. Hina had already made her stance clear through her actions, and Yusei certainly wouldn't capture her and force her to go against her will.
"I'll think about this later. Hina has returned to her hometown now. Knowing that someone is after her power this time, she should be much more careful. So I don't need to worry about her safety."
Yusei rubbed his smooth chin, thought for a moment, and formed a plan.
He would leave Hina alone. If she wanted to return home, so be it, as it was a good choice. As for the 'divine weapon', he would try to get it without giving anything in return.
Whether to use deception or coercion would depend on the specific situation.
He still had the afternoon off. Now that Hina was gone but the time off remained, Yusei decided to stay at the apartment and draw, finishing the next few chapters so he could rest for a while.
Tokyo.
A figure draped in a cloak always seemed somewhat out of place on the bustling streets. Hina chose to stick to the smaller alleys.
After navigating through streets and lanes, she arrived at a rather old and ordinary residential area.
Looking at the familiar house, a smile appeared on Hina's tired, weak face.
This was her home. She had nowhere else to go. This was her only refuge.
At this time, her younger brother, Amano Nagi, should still be at school, so no one should be home.
But she had told her brother before, and on ordinary days, the house key was hidden under the flowerpot by the door.
Dragging her weak body upstairs, Hina lifted the flowerpot and looked at the key underneath.
"See? It's in the exact same position as when I left home." Hina smiled faintly and reached for the key.
But she suddenly froze.
'The exact same position?'
'There was only one key to the house. If the position was exactly the same, didn't that mean Nagi hadn't been home at all these days?'
'But that was impossible. Nagi usually took the school bus home. It wasn't possible for him to get lost or something.'
'That left only one possibility... He had been detained at school, prevented from returning home.'
'Because his sister was now a wanted criminal. The police were waiting at home for me to walk right into the trap.'
Almost instinctively, Hina quickly went back downstairs and ran into the alley.
At that moment, the door to the Amano House opened. Two policemen came out and spoke into their radios.
"Report, the target has spotted us. She did not enter the residence, and is currently fleeing towards-"
"Received. In pursuit."
Soon, the sound of police sirens echoed through the streets of Tokyo.
Hearing the sirens, Hina was filled with fear. But not wanting to be caught, not wanting to be wrongly accused, she mustered all her strength to run.
Perhaps because she was still sick, Hina's legs felt weak. She stumbled and fell into a puddle.
The originally clear sky had turned overcast, and soon heavy rain began to fall.
The cold rain hitting Hina's body made her shiver, and her mind cleared a bit.
She stood up and continued running forward quickly.
She didn't know where she should go, and she was just running on instinct.
Soon, she found herself below the apartment Yusei had rented for her.
She looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar place, she paused for a moment, then gritted her teeth and continued running forward.
About a hundred or two hundred meters behind her, several plainclothes police officers were using loudspeakers to shout, nothing more than telling her to stop and accept legal punishment, etc.
The noise was very loud, and the apartment's soundproofing wasn't great, having been built without much consideration for acoustics.
The noise was like a 360-degree surround sound system, annoying Yusei, who was trying to draw inside the apartment.
Seeing that the noise wasn't stopping after a while, Yusei couldn't take it anymore. He opened the window and looked down at the group of police officers running quickly below.
"Officers, could you please use your cars to chase? Four wheels are faster than two legs, right?"
"What? Since when do we need you to tell us how to do our jobs? Get lost!"
Upstairs, Yusei, hearing the deafening shout, instinctively covered his ears and grimaced.
He immediately used an illusion to hypnotize the group, making them look for cars to chase the fugitive.
After doing this, the whole world became much quieter.
Shaking his head, Yusei sat back down.
"I'm such a good citizen, kindly helping them out. These fools don't even know how to catch someone. The fugitive is running, so you insist on fairness and run too? Will a loud voice make the fugitive stop?"
However-
Because the terrain in this area was all small alleys, using cars wouldn't allow for constant tracking. This was why the plainclothes officers weren't using vehicles.
But Yusei didn't know that. He had only been here a few times, and each time he came by taxi directly to the building's entrance.
He had meant well, wanting to help the officers, but instead, he had given Hina a chance to escape.
However, from another perspective, Yusei had helped Hina... it was a fortunate coincidence.
After all, Yusei didn't know that the person the officers were chasing was Hina.
The girl who had just told him she was returning to her hometown.
The next day, Yusei arrived at school yawning and sat down in his class. He saw Asuna looking at news on her tablet, which showed a photo of a wanted criminal with the latest tracking report below.
Yusei skimmed over the report, but the wanted criminal's photo made him freeze.
'Black hair, twin tails... isn't this Hina?'