In the square in front of the hospital.
Turning back and looking at the third floor of the hospital behind her, after staring at Fujino's room for a few seconds, Gray asked, "Brother, is it okay to just leave Miss Asagami in the hospital like that?"
"It should be fine, and thanks to the coincidence of meeting her, I suddenly have a place to visit."
Speaking of things related to Fujino, it must be the plot of Kara no Kyoukai: Remaining Sense of Pain, and also Araya Souren. However, for Kara no Kyoukai: Remaining Sense of Pain, the time hasn't arrived yet, plus it's not 1998 yet, Ryougi Shiki should still be lying in the hospital, no need to rush.
But Araya Souren, for this greatest mastermind of Kara no Kyoukai, Naoki felt the need to meet him.
After all, he who once acted with the goal of [wanting to save everyone], and Naoki who aims to [help others as much as possible], in the extreme could be said to be senior and junior.
'If I'm not mistaken, it's Ogawa Apartment, I need to find a map, but at this hour...'
It was almost 8 PM now. Naoki was fine, but Gray, who was still young, should have been asleep. If possible, he wanted to take her back to the hotel first before making any plans.
'Speaking of which, constantly staying in a hotel isn't a good solution either, the cost is too high... If I ask the teacher for help, will she allow me to stay in Garan no Dou? I'll ask her tomorrow when I go there.'
Earlier, after dinner, Aozaki Touko had already told Naoki to go to her office, Garan no Dou, tomorrow afternoon.
Thinking of that, Naoki said to Gray, "It's late, let's go back to the hotel. Are you sleepy, Gray?"
"A little, but if Brother still wants to do something, I can hold on."
"It's okay, my business can wait until tomorrow. Little kids shouldn't sleep too late, or they won't grow tall."
Patting Gray's head and taking her hand, Naoki was just about to walk to the main street, but his eyes caught a rather strange figure on the empty street.
Said to be strange, it was from the perspective of common sense. It clearly wasn't raining now, yet that person was wearing a yellow raincoat, standing under a street lamp like a statue, their whole body hidden inside the large raincoat, and due to the angle, not even a hint of their eyes or facial expression was visible.
The moment he saw this person, a mixture of unfamiliar and familiar feelings instantly flooded Naoki's heart.
He might have seen someone wearing that raincoat somewhere before, but the person wearing that raincoat was not someone he had seen before—perhaps that was the meaning if expressed in words.
*TAP!*
The person took a step forward, their raincoat lifted by their calf, revealing a bit of blue clothing.
And at that very moment, like a cheetah pouncing on its prey, the person in the raincoat suddenly charged towards Naoki!
The distance between them was about fifty meters, with the current speed—
'Six seconds. Too slow.'
For Naoki, that time was enough to distance himself hundreds of meters away, but because Gray was by his side, the best option was...
"Brother?"
Faced with Naoki suddenly picking her up, Gray was slightly surprised, then was immediately carried as he jumped onto the street lamp across the road. And exactly a second after Naoki left the ground, the person in the yellow raincoat lunged, followed by a silver flash that suddenly grew rapidly in his vision—
'Short knife. No Mana reaction, poison... doesn't seem to be any either.'
Tilting his head to avoid the attack, Naoki looked at the person below him, "Attacking innocent strangers at night, can you give me an explanation?"
"Prey..."
"Huh?"
"You took my prey."
The voice coming from under the raincoat was somewhat neutral, but still clearly sounded like a woman's voice, and upon hearing that voice, Naoki instantly understood why he felt a sense of familiarity when he saw this person.
However, at the same time, he felt even more disbelief and incredulity from the bottom of his heart.
"You are..."
Seeing the edge of the blue clothing and the red sleeve visible from under the raincoat, Naoki could already confirm the identity of the person who attacked him, but how was it possible? It was currently December of 1997, she should still be lying in the hospital at this time.
"You are Ry—"
"The weapon is gone, throwing it directly was a bit reckless after all, next time I should bring some spares."
Without waiting for Naoki to finish speaking, the person spoke to themselves, then looked up at him, as if trying to remember his face, her ice-blue eyes stared at him for quite a while before pulling back.
"There won't be a next time."
"Eh? What do you mean? And you should be—"
Once again, without waiting for Naoki to finish speaking, the person quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night.
'That voice, and those eyes... definitely Ryougi Shiki!'
What an unexpected event!
Even more shocking to Naoki than the fact that Morgan was still alive!
Why did Ryougi Shiki appear at this time? Shouldn't she be in a coma due to the car accident in 1996, and only wake up around June of 1998? It was only the end of 1997 now.
'Could it be that Ryougi Shiki in this world didn't have a car accident? Then... could this be a parallel world?'
Ryougi Shiki who didn't fall into a coma, but still awakened the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—if this was a situation vastly different from what Naoki knew, then only a parallel world could explain it.
"Looks like, tomorrow there's one more thing to do."
Visiting Touko at Garan no Dou, visiting Araya Souren at Ogawa Apartment, and—investigating the events of 1996 related to Ryougi Shiki.
'Since returning to Japan, it feels like problems keep coming one after another, won't you guys let me take a break?'
Staring in the direction Shiki went, Naoki let out a small sigh.
"Brother?" Gray's voice brought Naoki back to reality, "That person just now... were they an acquaintance of yours?"
"You could say yes, you could also say no, it's just me who unilaterally knows them. Alright, let's go back to the hotel."
"Um."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
[He's already met her huh]
[A little earlier than expected, but since he's already there, it's only a matter of sooner or later]
[If it's him, he should be able to handle it, it'll definitely be fine]
[After this, I'll also look for an opportunity to meet him again]
[Three years... hehe, in the blink of an eye, time passes so quickly]