( Arata's POV )
With the gang leader motionless on the ground I thought things were finally over but suddenly a punch came from the mysterious blonde girl next to me, I was surprised, but I managed to catch her fist, which was heavier than expected.
Arata: Hey, what's that about?
I was confused with her actions and decided to throw a question her way but she didn't answer, she just looked at me with her wild eyes but then she opened her eyes wide in surprise and she just stood there, she withdrew the strength she was putting into her fist and but she kept her fist in my palm, her skin that felt rock hard when she threw the punch now felt soft and delicate, this girl was not normal.
Urara: hey Arata, over here!
I turned around and saw Urara at the entrance of the building calling me, and the unconscious girls were by her side, she had rescued them at some point while we were fighting.
Sun and Sagiri ran to the entrance and I took one last look at the mysterious girl who just kept staring at me, I ran to the entrance too while the girl stood where she was, then, once we had rescued the girls, we moved to a safer place.
The only plan we had was to carry the girls back to their homes but before we could do that, someone found us.
Some black cars parked in front of where we were and luckily they were on our side, Sun's mother and several of his subordinates got out of the cars, she quickly said that she would take care of taking the girls to her house and we took a car together with Sun's mother and Chisaki, I knew I could trust Sun's mom to send the girls home safely, but I wouldn't rest easy until I knew Chisaki was in her bed.
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After our successful mission we ended up at Sun's house sitting on a couch in front of her mother, who was looking at us with a firm, almost piercing gaze.
Reí: Well, could you tell me what you were doing tonight?
Urara: ... Patrolling of course, a chuuma ninja's job is never done.
Sagiri: The increase in evil spirit activity forced us to ask for support from Arata and Sun.
Sun: Yes, and while we were patrolling we saw that some of our schoolmates needed help, we couldn't ignore that.
I was somewhat surprised at how quickly the girls could come up with a believable story but more than that they continued trying to keep our mission a secret like I asked them to, when they were the ones who wanted to leave this to them but their attempts seemed hopeless, Reí was listening with one eyebrow raised and seemed not to believe anything we were saying.
The girls had already done so much for me and I didn't want them to end up in trouble so I told Rei what they were leaving out.
Arata: That's mostly the truth, we were also investigating a strange drug called Oni blood, which we stumbled upon on a mission.
Reí: Oni blood? You have a sample of that.
Arata: Just some used syringes.
Urara: Actually, I got a complete sample.
Urara showed me a syringe filled with red liquid, and I reacted with excitement.
Arata: Oh Urara, you're amazing!
Urara: hehe It was nothing, I couldn't help you in the fight so I had to bring something.
We gave the sample to Sun's mother and also told her about the effects we had observed, and she got very deep into her thoughts.
Rei: um It seems this drug increases the spiritual power of a creature and awakens the latent blood of yokai or other supernatural creatures in a person.
Arata: Seriously, what would that do to a normal person?
Rei: Well, there are no pure humans in the world anymore, so that's irrelevant.
Arata: Huh? First time I've heard of this, could you explain that?
Rei: That's a story for another time, but Arata, you're not interested in returning to your normal school life, are you?
Arata: I'm sorry, but no.
Rei: then I have some advice for you, you should create your own faction, your own family.
Arata: My own family, what does that mean?
Rei: First let me tell you that my promise to protect your family is still very much in place, but we might need your help.
Arata: Yes, this is what I wanted from the beginning, but why the sudden change.
Rei: In the past, there was a major crisis that could not be managed because different factions could not work together and we all paid deeply for that, To prevent something like that from happening again, we worked on improving the relationship between us, although the results have not been amazing but if you create your own faction that could be the bridge to a strong relationship between four factions and possibly many others in the future, you will of course continue to count on our support, like the cleanup we did after your mission tonight.
Arata: ... right, what did they do to them?
Rei: The youngest were taken to the hospital with sudden memory loss, and for the other, more seasoned criminals, let's just say you'll never have to worry about them again.
I knew Rei was talking about something very definitive but it was a bit disturbing how calmly she spoke about it, I guess that's a Yakuza wife for you, I'll have to get used to that.
Arata: Fine, I'll start my own family.
Rei: then your first mission will be to keep investigate this Oni blood, and Arata, I'm sorry again for putting you at risk.
Arata: Well, we're going to be a family in the future, this is to be expected.
Rei: ufu I see~ I'm happy Sun has someone like you as her future husband.
With those words Sun started to blush hard and that was our signal to leave.