" … How can I be this dumb…?!"
Buried under the blankets on the bed, Aya mumbling curses her own stupidity for accepting the mission this quickly.
"You should've asked first about the mission. I mean, what kind of hero could be this careless?"
I scolded her with an exhausted tone, while thinking back for her reasons back then. Nevertheless, everything happened, as now he has to carry both himself and this girl to finish the quest.
"I–I don't know, I thought it was just about chasing wild dogs away… Who thought that I would have to deal with the police?!"
"… How do you come to that conclusion?"
Hearing Aya's reasons with a hesitant voice, I let out another sigh… As much as I wanted to scold her more, I understand some of her reasons somehow.
She wanted to get stronger, to not be afraid anymore, that part I can understand. It's just, she's somehow so stubborn and hot-headed about all this.
Come to think of it, she was rather rash in her first appearance and dragged Kunikida into more trouble.
Seems like something never changed, even through such haunted events just now…
"… Anyway, slide my matter on the hold, what'll you do next? My dad will be home soon."
Leaning a bit out of the blanket, Aya questioned me with a serious eyes.
Aya dad… isn't he like a military man or something?
Doesn't matter, she did have a point there. I should leave here befo—
"Eto…"
A faint sound coming from outside the door immediately attracted both of us, eyes filled with terror and confusion.
No way?! He's already home?!
Wait a minute… Dang it, I should've realised that sooner!! How can I forget that today is Sunday?!
The footsteps slowly approached the door, which only increased our worry. Even though he doesn't seem like a loving parent, he would still kill me if he found me in his daughter's room.
It's not about parental love, it's about trespassing!!
The door slowly opened, revealing a middle aged man with a youthful face, albeit with some wrinkle that expressed his seriousness.
"… Do you feel better now?"
"I'm… yes…"
Seeing his daughter still wrapped in blankets, he frowned. After the terrorist attack at the station, his daughter started to shut herself in the room all day, unresponsive to any callout.
After taking a closer look at the scene, he immediately understood her reaction, and he was even impressed that she didn't break down even after such traumatic events…
Nonetheless, he still feels horrible in place of her daughter, to witness such bloody scenes. But he can't really do anything about it.
He has pushed her away all these years, after her wife and first child's death. He was a fool, not giving a damn about his own daughter's thoughts, and instead forcing her to be better than those who are no longer here.
Only after the news of Aya got struck in a terrorist attempt, that he started to see her with different eyes.
"I have prepared dinner… you can have it later, if you want."
With a hesitant tone, he slowly closed the door and walked away. Aya suddenly feels her father seems a bit strange than usual, but she's not in the right mind to think deeper about that.
"Phew, though I'm gonna be a dead man…"
Jumped down from the ceiling, I silently let out a relieved sigh. Somehow I managed to hang on the ceiling, barely avoiding his eyesights just in time.
"Well… let's talk more tomorrow shall we? I don't think we can hide for long."
" … Yeah, let's."
Reluctantly borrowing Aya's phone, I check the map app on it, and after a while I spot the ideal location to meet up tomorrow.
"This park seems good, let's meet there okay?"
"I will."
And with that, I have no business here. I open the window in Aya room and steadily slip out, leaving Aya alone once again in the dark.
"I should probably gear up myself…"
With a hesitant look, she crawled out of the blankets and started checking for something useful on her computer…
"Not gonna lie… I thought this would be more thrilling."
Wandering around the city, I let out a disappointed sigh. The reasons? This place's just like my original world.
I thought I could see some abnormal or wacky structure built by ability users, but everything here seems… absolutely normal.
If not for the news of the train terrorist and being in a new city, I might just think that I am still in my original world.
I checked the chat group, and this time everyone was actually chatting with each other, unlike this morning.
[Saruyama Kenichi: So do you like watching manga or something?]
[Shinji Iwakura: Not really, I don't really have much spare time to spend on my own hobby. I used to be an otaku, but not anymore sadly.]
[Saruyama Kenichi: I see… so what's your job?]
[Shinji Iwakura: Just being a humble driver, not much.]
[Saruyama Kenichi: I see, so… do you like escorting a girl or an old man?]
[Shinji Iwakura: A young girl, namely my Lady.]
[Saruyama Kenichi: Aw man ~ That sounds so cool!]
[Shinji Iwakura: … I doubt you would say that after going through what I've taken all these months…]
[Saruyama Kenichi: Yikes! That's bad?]
[Shinji Iwakura: The worst.]
The topic seems interesting, but I decided not to interfere or anything. Not at least until I settle a place to sleep for the day.
I close the chat group and continue walking aimlessly, wondering if I can ask people for a spare room just for tonight…
By the time I realise it, I'm standing in front of a place… A familiar yet distant location, one where the famous one resides…
Yes, I'm talking about the Armed Detective Agency office… The old building that seems to fall at any given moment, yet contains such dangerous yet interesting individuals…
… This is obviously a bad idea, but right now this is my only option.
With concern lingering in my stomach, I slowly approached the coffee shop, which fortunately was still open, and walked in.
Obviously I'm gonna ask for a room at the Uzumaki coffee shop. Staying at the Agency office is a bad idea, although that place is indeed the safest location as of now.
Also, I doubt that any of them are still awake at this time, which could help me avoid confronting any Agency member as of this moment.
I slowly open the door—
"May I ask for another cup, old man?"
"Another? You sure don't want to end it already?"
"Nope ~ The night still long, and I wanted to enjoy a bit more ~"
—And then close the door immediately.
… Why the heck Ranpo Edogawa is still there?! I don't recall him being a late-sleeper in the original work?!
But… that's not really out of his character… Curse it!!
Outside of being the most intelligence member of the Agency, often comparable to Dazai or Fyodor, those whose mindset and cunning are above majority of the humanity, he's also quite a slacker, often just being lazy and only intercept when the situation call for it… or when Fukuzawa personally asked him to.
Although he's not a bad person, quite the contrary, I still can't bear to get close to him…
Dang it, seems like I have to wait out here, until he decides to leave.
"Oh my… Why do such young men like you stand in front of our shop?"
And the owner caught me outside… Why didn't I run away when I got the chance…