Chapter 96 - Breaking Through the Neighborhood Labyrinth (4)

We passed through the side of the house and headed down the path through the rice fields. Suddenly my smartphone started to ring.

I took the smartphone out of the inside pocket of my school uniform in a hurry and checked the screen.

“Mikuma?”

The screen displayed the incoming call as “Mikuma Yunno @ Still Growing”.

It came with a picture of Mikuma’s chest taken with clothes on.

It was probably one of Saeki, the devilish cat girl’s, pranks. I didn’t know how to change it so I left it.

I tapped the green receive button at the bottom of the screen and put it next to my right ear.

“Hello, Mikuma?”

“Kunpei-kun! Are you okay!? What about Aoi-chan and the twins!? Is Shouhei-kun also with you?”

A loud voice that was rare for an adult like, Mikuma Yunno as she continued to talk.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine. I haven’t confirmed it yet because I’m not at home, but I heard that Aoi and Shouhei are okay.”

“That’s good… have you seen what’s on the internet? It’s an uproar right now. I was worried, so I skipped class.”

It was a serious voice of relief.

I’m thankful for her concern.

“No, we didn’t have the time to browse the internet. What’s it like?”

“Emergency alerts, SNS and tweets of isolated people and victims. It seems like the police and fire department are also in confusion. It’s full of information and I can’t tell what’s real or what’s fake.”

I was confused even when I’m at the scene.

“Wait, is Kunpei-kun… outside?”

“Eh? Ah, well I was planning to go home…”

“You idiot!! What were you thinking!? There have been monster sightings!!!”

Woah!

Mikuma shouted with a voice even louder than previously.

“Aoi-chan and them are safe, right!? So head to an evacuation shelter! Or else Kunpei-kun will be in danger!”

It was a slight trembling voice.

Was she crying?

“M-Mikuma. It’s okay. Officers Doggy is escorting us.”

“I’m not okay! ! If something happened to Kunpei-kun, what would Jaja-chan and Nana-chan do?? Kunpei-kun isn’t alone anymore, you know!?”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, don’t cry. My bad.”

“I don’t like it either. Really, please think a little, before acting… I beg you.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry?”

I didn’t know what to say other than sorry.

I lowered my head to Mikuma, who was not in front of me.

Wow. I made her cry.

Shouhei has been mad at me for similar things from the past, but I haven’t improved at all, huh.

“I will evacuate immediately. I will contact you when I arrive at the shelter. It’s okay.”

“… I don’t believe it.”

Eh?

“I don’t trust Kunpei-kun. I’ll call again, so be sure to pick up the phone.”

U-um, Yunno-san?

Why is your voice so low?

It’s scary.

“Promise that you will pick up the phone.”

“O-oh…”

“Your voice is too quiet! You have to pick up the phone!”

“Y-yes! I’ll definitely pick up the phone!”

A powerful forcefulness was emitted from the speaker. I couldn’t go against it. Well, I didn’t have to go against it, I corrected my posture and answered in a loud voice.

“It’s a promise! Where are you now!?”

“Um, a rice field near the market, 2 blocks away? A short cut from the national highway to the prefecture road. It goes to where we went shopping before.”

“Got it. Two blocks away, right? I’ll call you back soon! It’s cruel if you don’t pick up!”

After saying that, the presence of Mikuma disappeared from the speaker. It’s cruel?

What is?

Well, I’ll understand after she calls later.

Even so, that was scary.

“Aniki? Was that your girlfriend?”

“No, idiot. Also, why didn’t you just escape earlier?”

Kusaka, who was walking in front of me, turned around.

“No, no. I can’t just leave my Aniki behind and run away.”

“Idiot. You couldn’t do anything about it even when you were there. I already told you in the beginning, right? I can’t look after you. Since you didn’t escape first, I also missed the timing to escape.”

“Sorry…”

Did I say too much?

But it’s the truth.

I wanted you to escape as far as possible while I was buying time.

What you do would differ drastically depending on whether there is someone there you have to protect or not.

Of course, there are more things that two people can do than one.

But that’s only limited to where the power of the two people can manage the situation somehow.

At that time, there was nothing that could be done.

The only way of surviving was to escape.

Luckily, it was a good thing that Gasaraio fired a magic bazooka, otherwise, I don’t know what would have happened.

Of course, I have no intention of dying, and I was prepared to survive by using any means available.

… In the worst case, I could use Kusaka as a decoy. Although I said that, there’s no way I could do that.

“That’s right. If you can escape, you should escape immediately. That’s number one. Though it’s not something Kazamachi-kun who rushed out of school should say.”

Officer Doggy delivered the final blow to me and Kusaka.

I couldn’t say anything to that.

Ahead of Officer Doggy, a furball lion leading the way was holding back his laugh.

That bastard…

“No, it’s exactly as Aniki says. To be honest, I was too frightened to move. I couldn’t do either, escaping or helping Aniki…”

“Kusaka. You…”

Are you crying?

Mikuma, and Kusaka, I’m making a lot of people cry today.

It feels like Aoi will also cry when I go back.

“I’m trying to be a strong man yet I’m like this. I really am no good.”

Kusaka, who was looking down, used both hands his hands to crumple his pompadour, which I had been accustomed to seeing recently.

With both hands, he brushed his hair back and looked up at the sky.

“I end up freezing up at crucial moments. How pathetic. It’s a big difference from the Aniki I saw on Children’s Day three years ago. That figure that I admired…”

Then Kusaka cast his eyes downward.

Fumu.

What should I do.

I have no words to say to Kusaka that could affect him.

In the end, doesn’t it depend on the person himself?

You should be courageous when it’s the right time.

However, only Kusaka himself is in control.

Even I have stuff I’m scared of.

The Rock Wolf was scary enough, and Aoi’s mother, Yule, was trauma-inducing.

I still don’t understand how I managed to confront it.

If you don’t do it, you won’t solve anything unless you face it.

That’s what I thought.

I’m frustrated.

I don’t know how to explain it to Kusaka.

“… Oi, blonde pipsqueak.”

Suddenly Gasaraio stopped.

He turned around while scratching his mane with his right hand.

“… me?”

“Yes, you. Well, what. I can’t say something great, but…”

Looking at a different direction like he was embarrassed, Gasaraio hid his mouth with his right hand that was scratching his head.

“When you’re really scared, just try taking one step forward in front of what’s scary.”

“Eh?”

Kusaka tilted his head and looked at Gasaraio.

“I’m just a newbie treasure hunter who just got my license last year. There have been so many times that I’ve been paralyzed by fear. When that happens, I could feel proud if I just take one step. If that goes well, I take one step further than that. It’s said that fear is an accustomed thing. The things you can do will gradually increase little by little, and before you know it, you can do things that you couldn’t before.”

Although he was talking fast, near the end he was talking while directly looking at Kusaka’s eyes.

“… that guy and other strong guys just think that we ordinary guys are out of our minds and probably don’t know what we’re thinking, but it’s different.”

Gasaraio looked at Kusaka with a somewhat lonely gaze.

Kusaka’s mouth was slightly open and his lips quivering, perhaps because he was overwhelmed by that gaze.

“That guy’s figure that you admire doesn’t consist only of strength. I’ve noticed these days by looking at the back of the person I admired. So don’t lament even if you’re weak now. There’s no need. You just haven’t found the thing you need to be strong just yet. Until then, you have to get used to it. “

“Riot-san?”

“The first half is knowledge. The second half is experience. Whether you believe it or not, I will leave it to you, blonde pipsqueak.”

With a bright red face, Gasaraio turned around and continued walking again.

Officer Doggy, stood next to him, grinned and gestured me to go.

“What you need to be strong…”

Kusaka continued staring at his hand absentmindedly.

I slowly approached him and pushed his back to encourage him.

“Well, I honestly don’t know what that furball is saying, so I can’t say anything, but it’s not bad to say I’m going to be strong for my little sister, right?”

“Stop calling me furball, ya scoundrel!”

Oops, did he hear me?

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What, you said something cool, so I went to follow up.

Was his tail standing up because he was embarrassed?

“Alright, stop quibbling, youngsters. We need to hurry.”

Urged by Officer Doggy’s voice, we advanced.