NOVEL NEXT Chapter 320: Onee-San
(Mikan's pov)
I was walking with Ryoto's old teacher, who was called Koro-sensei for some reason. Koro-sensei is not his real name, that much was told to me, but no one said why he was called it, and certainly no one told me his old name. It wasn't that important in the end, and I won't admit that I was curious. I feel like it's what everyone who knows the secret wants.
"Do you have something on your mind, Yuuki-San?"
Koro-sensei suddenly asked, taking me out of my thoughts.
"I'm just thinking... Ryoto revealed a lot. I mean, it's just... a lot. He may vanish today, return the same moment, and be older by another 300 years or something. What if he gets hurt even more. What if he dies and never returns instead. I'm just worried."
I don't know why, but I explained to Koro-sensei how I really felt deep down. He has that kind of aura that makes you feel like you can share anything with him, and he'll give you advice in return.
Koro-sensei took his time to think about how to answer me.
"I understand your worries. You, as his younger sibling, have concerns about Ryoto's safety, and they're not unfounded. Young, well, not so young anymore, Yuuki-kun has a tendency to find troubles wherever he goes.
When I met Yuuki-kun, I think I should start calling him Ryoto-kun with all the Yuuki family members, he was a troubled young man. He was lost, with some purpose, but still lost. During my time teaching him, he was getting better, and Lala-san was definitely a big help in that, but even with that, I could still see underlying issues hidden within him. However, when I saw him yesterday, I could see that my former student was fully grown up. Not his body, although he looked a bit older, but in his eyes, I could see that he had gone through a lot and came up on top in the end.
I don't know if he will do something similar in the future or maybe something even more dangerous. What I know is that Ryoto-kun cares about his family, and I can see how much he loves all of you. You can't stop what he'll do in the future, but you can be there for him when he is near you. That's all you need to do to help him, and that's everything Ryoto needs to be happy. That's why he'll do everything in his power to return home."
As he finished his lecture, I stopped walking and looked at him. I wasn't expecting thoughtful and sound advice like that. 'Just be there for him whenever you can, and that's enough,' he says. I want to disagree. There is something else I can do, but the longer I thought, the more it became clear. Being there for Ryoto may be enough, or it just may be a first step. I'll see how it goes and adapt.
Feeling a bit better, I turned to Koro-sensei, who had a broad smile showing all his teeth.
"Thank you, Koro-sensei." I smiled with my eyes closed, and I felt a hand on top of my head.
"You have nothing to thank me for. I am a teacher, after all... I was a teacher... I'm jobless... and I'm using my former student's kindness to not become homeless! What should I do!? What should I do!? What should I do!?"
He started panicking, realizing that he didn't have a paying job. My smile fell as my face became expressionless, and I looked at him in disbelief. I couldn't believe that this panicking man was the same man who had shown incredible maturity and wisdom to make me feel better just moments before.
(Ryoto's pov)
Even after the examination, I was one of the first to return home. Mikan was here before me, but she went shopping with the help of Koro-sensei. The first years, meaning Kaede, Rio, Nagisa, and Karma, explored the city or maybe met up with the other first years. Lala was with Haruna, and Rito was playing football—as far as I know, at least.
There wasn't much to do at the moment, so I decided to relax, but not in the way I usually do. I don't mean that I won't sleep under Celine—Oh, how I missed relaxing under my favorite plant—but I'll do it in a new way. What I discovered today is that being in my Beast Form is surprisingly comfortable.
"Aguri-san, I just want to warn you that if you see a big white tiger in the backyard in a few moments, don't panic. As a rule, if something is strange but doesn't immediately try to kill you and is in this house, it should be relatively safe. This whole city is filled with strangeness, and you should get used to it. Besides, if you ever are in danger, a certain handsome former assassin will save you."
I teased her at the end, and before she could say anything because of her embarrassment, I transformed into my Beast Form as I lay in the Shadow of Celine. When I started transforming, Yoruichi jumped off me but soon joined my side to relax.
Alme had stars in her eyes and tried to scratch my ears but before she could touch me Rin appeared next to her and caught her wrist. She must have felt something about scratching in my emotions... somehow. Otherwise I don't know how she knew to appear at this very moment. Also she got faster.
Then, without saying anything, she approached me just to scratch behind my ears, which was very nice, by the way. She smiled at my reaction, which was a small twitch of one of my ears. After she was satisfied, she kissed me on my forehead and left in the blink of an eye.
She just came here to cash on my promise of letting her be my first scratch in this form. Members of her squad probably wouldn't believe that her fearsome Captain could have such an adorable expression.
Alme stared at Rin the whole time with an expression that said, 'She is strong.' But I just wanted to take a nap, so I invited her to lay with me and Yoruichi. She instantly accepted, with a big smile on her face, as she jumped and landed at me. Next, she buried her face in my fur with bliss on her face.
"So soft~"
"As you see, not everything makes or needs to make sense but we are happy either way." I spoke to her, and she flinched, hearing my voice from the large beast of an animal. "Also, tell everyone about me being here in this form. We don't want them to get a heart attack."
And so I started dozing off. I was still 'aware' of my surroundings, but I was unable to drop my guard. I felt too vulnerable if I did. I'm sure my edge will dull in the future, but for now, I'll stay like that, ready to defend myself at any moment.
I could feel both Yoruichi and Alme started falling asleep as well.
In the next hour or so, everyone slowly returned, and I introduced Yoruichi to them. I may also have forgotten that I was still in my Byakko Form, so the reactions to me were mostly shock and a bit of fear.
Lala, as usual, wasn't scared of a 'big kitty' as she told me. Mikan had a face that meant 'another animal?' but didn't say anything otherwise. Her eyes went over my whole body, and she noticed a few scars on my body that she couldn't see before. I was ready for her to start asking about them, but surprisingly, she didn't and just approached me to feel my fur up close. That was unusual, but she was always more mature than she should have been. I am partially at fault for that, and I plan on fixing it in the near future.
Then I felt it. Danger. That was not something my spider sense warned me about. They were my natural instincts that I trained to their limits, and now they were screaming at me that someone much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much stronger than I was.
My body went into a fight-or-flight response as I quickly stood up, ready to fight. Thanks to my feral look, my menacing form looked even more intimidating. I slightly opened my mouth to show my canines. Even my eyes were opened to make me even more threatening to whoever it was. The wind around me started to grow stronger, and the lighting started cracking.
It all happened in mere moments, and it ended just as fast when my eyes landed on the person in front of me. In fact, it all happened so fast that neither Alme nor Yoruichi reacted to what happened. Strange, but I didn't even notice it at the moment.
The size difference between me and that person was significant, but she dwarfed my powers without any effort, which should have made me even more nervous. Instead, I relaxed and lay on the grass underneath me again.
"What do you need, Sophia?"
At my question, the woman in front of me didn't move or say anything for a moment and was keeping her carefree smile the whole time. The kind of smile that told me she was strong and didn't need to worry about anything because nothing could be of danger to her.
"What~? I can't visit my own little brother after he completed a difficult job?"
"Since when did I become your brother?" I asked, but I already knew the answer she would give.
"What do you mean when? I'm everyone's Onee-san! Everyone includes you too, silly." She bopped my nose, and as usual with her, I couldn't even react to her movement. I'm three centuries old, strong enough to kill the son of God in one of the worlds, but I'm still just as powerless against her as I was before my mission.
I sighed before talking again. "You still didn't answer my question." Although I felt like she was hiding something with that line. That was just a feeling I got for no reason at all.
She pouted, seeing me ignoring her 'Onee-san roleplay'.
"Fine then, you bully~. I came here to congratulate you on completing your longest mission so far and also on fulfilling your promise and the goal of this whole mission. Your Onee-san wanted to visit~, but a bully Truck-san forbade me. I wanted to play with my little brother and his children, but it was taken away from me!"
Sophia whined about her experience, but I had difficulty sympathizing with her.
"Thank you, Sophia." I just decided to thank her for her thoughtfulness. "Also, when you see Karen, just tell her that I'm waiting to hear her annoying voice again." I remarked, joking slightly but also partially serious.
Now that I was more relaxed, I noticed that Yoruichi and Alme didn't move at all and were in the exact same position they were in before I stood up, which shouldn't have been possible. They were also still asleep for some reason.
Seeing my confusion, Sophia decided to clear it, but as usual, she was talking in a roundabout way. She put her index finger to her mouth.
"We shouldn't disturb their rest."
I won't voice that it was somehow okay to disturb mine, but...
"I heard that!"
I rolled my eyes, but at that moment, an idea came to my mind.
"Hey Sophia, would you mind doing me a small favor..."
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END
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