"Eh?! Miko, Miko, why are you crying?! No, don't cry, then, then… here, take this strawberry daifuku, it's the last one, please don't cry."
And without even realizing it herself, Miko was actually crying, not out of fear, but out of injustice and excitement.
Facing those man-eating monsters, Miko had to be strong and calm, pretending she couldn't see them in order to avoid the fate of being eaten, and that required immense courage and a powerful will to survive.
Miko had all of that, but… she was very tired, terribly tired. Every night when she lay down to sleep, she would think: is there a monster watching me right now? Will it come out and eat me if I relax even a little?
Miko felt terribly wronged. She didn't understand why she was the one who suddenly started seeing those things, or why it had to be her and not someone else.
She even had to find places where there were no other people and no monsters just so she could secretly wipe away her tears, but now, in front of this young man, Miko couldn't suppress her emotions for a moment, and tears unconsciously welled up in her eyes.
"I-it's nothing. I just got some sand in my eye."
Wiping away her tears, Miko's voice trembled. Even though she was crying, she was smiling.
"Eh? Is sand in your eye really that serious? Are you sure you don't want to eat the strawberry daifuku?"
Hearing that, Yurikawa Hana was still a little suspicious. She held out the box of daifuku in her hand and shook it in front of Miko as she asked.
"No need, I'm really fine."
It could only be said that Miko was truly Miko; she quickly adjusted her emotions. After wiping the tears from her cheeks, her eyes were only slightly red, and her voice returned to normal.
Maybe this was Miko's talent; it would be a real shame if she didn't go into acting.
"Alright… hmm, Nakano-kun, do you want it?"
Since Miko kept refusing, Yurikawa Hana had no choice but to pull back the strawberry daifuku. She opened the box and was just about to take a bite when she suddenly remembered there was a patient lying beside her, so she stuffed the strawberry daifuku into Nakano Yu's hand.
"Nakano-kun, hurry and try it. Strawberry daifuku is really delicious! I waited in line for a long time to buy it."
Looking at Nakano Yu with sparkling eyes, Yurikawa Hana said with a smile.
"Thank you, Yurikawa-san. Then I won't be impolite."
Seeing the girl's behavior, Nakano Yu smiled. Although he knew that Yurikawa Hana was very warm toward people, he hadn't expected her to be this enthusiastic, casually giving him her favorite dessert.
Since that was the case, both of these girls were good, at least, they were good kids with pure hearts.
After taking a bite of the daifuku, the sweet-and-sour taste of the strawberry and the rich aroma of cream exploded in his mouth. The soft outer skin was pleasantly chewy, and just eating it was strangely relaxing.
"Mmm! Delicious!"
After savoring the bite carefully, Nakano Yu couldn't help but praise it from the heart.
He had to admit that Yurikawa Hana had good taste and that they got along well, but it wasn't right to just take her food like that.
Thinking this, the young man simply summoned a box of limited-edition mochi from Nanatsujiya from his system space and just as naturally placed it into Yurikawa Hana's hand.
"Let this be a token of thanks."
With a gentle smile, Nakano Yu said.
However, looking at the box of mochi in her hand, Yurikawa Hana was completely confused.
What happened? What just happened?
The young man in front of her had first taken a bite of the strawberry daifuku, and then… a box of mochi had just magically appeared?! No, where did he take it from?!
"Magic?! Nakano-kun knows magic?! He can create sweets out of nothing! I want to learn too!"
After coming back to her senses, Yurikawa Hana immediately got excited. The ability to create desserts anytime, what an incredible benefit to humanity!
In her excitement, she grabbed Nakano Yu's hand, her amber eyes looking at him with immense admiration.
"That's not magic, just a small trick."
Nakano Yu lightly shook his head, subtly pulled his hand back, and looked at Miko, changing the topic:
"Thank you, Yotsuya-kun, for bringing me to the infirmary. You probably don't like sweets. So, Yotsuya-kun, suggest something else as thanks?"
"No need for thanks, I didn't do much, but… there's something I'd like to ask Nakano-kun. My eyes…"
Hearing this, Miko quickly spoke up, wanting Nakano Yu to resolve the problem with her eyes. Those eyes had caused her no small amount of trouble. It could be said that Miko walked on the edge of death every day, dancing on the blade of a knife.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I know what's going on with Yotsuya-kun's eyes, but I'm powerless. Maybe in the future, but not now."
Hearing Miko mention her eyes, Nakano Yu knew what Yotsuya Miko wanted, but he truly was powerless in this matter.
If it were a material reward or some kind of help within his abilities, Nakano Yu wouldn't refuse. But Yotsuya Miko's eyes were truly strange.
He remembered that earlier in the plot, Miko's eyes hadn't shown any changes and were just like those of ordinary people. Then, all of a sudden, they gained the ability to see wandering spirits.
Even Nakano Yu had no way to deal with such an elusive phenomenon.
"…I understand. It's fine, thank you anyway, Nakano-kun! Thank you very much!"
Hearing that Nakano Yu couldn't resolve her eye problem, Miko looked disappointed, but she still thanked him repeatedly.
Looking at her, her eyes would probably remain that way for her entire life.
It should be known that Miko could see things ordinary people couldn't, and of course, she could also see the god-slayer battle between Nakano Yu and Amaterasu.
That was also why Miko dared to rush to the schoolyard immediately after Nakano Yu lost consciousness. Ordinary students would have long since been trembling in fear from the explosion caused by that human–divine battle.
But even someone as strong as Nakano Yu couldn't solve her eye problem?
Although she was mentally prepared, when Nakano Yu said that he too was "powerless," Miko still couldn't help but feel a sudden surge of sadness.
"Miko, what are you two talking about? What eyes? Why don't I understand anything?"
Yurikawa Hana, who was completely on a different wavelength, tilted her head in confusion. What eyes? What powerlessness?
She had the feeling that Miko and Nakano-kun were talking about something very deep. She didn't understand it. Could it be that Miko was nearsighted?
"No, it's nothing."
Miko shook her head, trying to change the subject.
However, although Yurikawa Hana was naive, she wasn't stupid. She looked at Miko with an expression that said, "I'm not an idiot."
"Yotsuya-kun, if you have time, you can go to the old street and take a look. Maybe someone there can help you, or if you get into trouble, just come to me. Anytime, just say my name."
"By the way, Yurikawa-kun, haven't we met somewhere before?"
Looking at Miko, Nakano Yu gave a warning out of goodwill. After all, Miko had at least brought him to the infirmary. Although it wouldn't have made much difference to him whether she did so or not, Nakano Yu could still feel Miko's kindness. After that, he shifted his attention to Yurikawa Hana, providing cover for Miko.
"Oh!! Now that you mention it, the girl who was with Nakano-kun was the only person I managed to scare the entire night! Hehehe~"
Hearing this, Yurikawa Hana immediately started chatting excitedly.
Not being able to scare anyone the entire night had made her a little frustrated. If she hadn't scared Nino, Yurikawa Hana would have thought her way of scaring people wasn't right.
But then, when she saw Nino screaming at the top of her lungs, Yurikawa Hana knew that the other people were simply too brave. Unlike them, she still preferred girls like Nino, who were timid but liked playing courage tests.
"You're talking about Nino. Indeed, Nino was afraid of the dark even when she was little, and it's pretty much the same now that she's grown up."
Nakano Yu also smiled and nodded in agreement.
After chatting with the girls for a while longer, Nakano Yu realized that it was already noon. The sun stood high in the sky. Although the pre-summer temperature was still quite high, it was much better than under Amaterasu's influence.
Nakano Yu didn't plan to stay at the school for long. He estimated that he would soon see familiar faces from the Police Department. After all, such a big incident had occurred; it would be strange if the police didn't come.
After saying goodbye to the girls, Nakano Yu left the infirmary and walked down the stairs toward the school gate.
At that moment, the school gate was already cordoned off, and fully armed police officers stood outside the tape.
"Looks like they plan to pass this off as a terrorist attack."
Seeing this scene, Nakano Yu understood what the Police Department intended.
There weren't that many terrorists in the world to begin with. After all, the news had reported just two days ago about the arrest of a terrorist group. The police probably planned to pin today's incident on that group.
How should it be said? That was much better than their previous official statements about "explosions caused by gas leaks."
"Hm? Mr. Nakano! You are…"
Just as Nakano Yu felt relieved by the Police Department's new excuse, he heard a woman's voice.
The young man looked in that direction and saw a woman in a suit, with long black hair covering the left side of her face, walking toward him.
"Oh, Ms. Honda. I didn't expect you to be here."
Seeing the woman, Nakano Yu immediately recognized her identity.
Her full name was Honda Mori, a police officer from the Police Department. He had heard that she held quite a high rank, but the first time he met her, she didn't seem like a police officer at all. She looked more like… a nanny? Or a supervisor?
"No, I was just on vacation and stopped by to take a look. I just didn't expect to run into you here. So, they weren't terrorists, were they?"
Honda Mori shook her head as she spoke and looked toward the tall building in the distance, one of whose floors had been destroyed, with a trace of fear in her eyes.
"Whether they were or not makes no difference. In any case, there were no casualties today."
Nakano Yu waved his hand, dodging the question, but silently added in his heart: "Only one god died."
Even though he said that, Amaterasu hadn't truly died; she had merely returned to mythology. Perhaps the two of them might meet again in the future, but certainly not now.
"Yes! I understand."
Hearing this, Honda Mori didn't dare to ask further and replied.
"Alright, there's no need to be so formal. Has that girl been hanging around a lot lately?"
Seeing how serious Honda Mori was, Nakano Yu smiled helplessly and started chatting.
"No, last month the young lady was sent abroad, they say for treatment."
"Oh~ No wonder I haven't seen her. Since I don't have anything else to do here, I'll be going."
Getting the answer, Nakano Yu was slightly surprised, but thinking about it carefully, he really hadn't seen her for quite some time. He even kind of missed her?
He shook his head, and after saying goodbye to Honda Mori, he left.
And Honda Mori watched Nakano Yu's retreating figure, then turned to look at the ruined building in the distance and murmured:
"The person Miss Tachibana is in love with really is a monster."