Yuu turned to Rei. She was looking towards a courtyard off in the distance. Before, it had been filled with zombies, making it difficult to see, but now that they had been eliminated, there was a clear path with no obstacles blocking the view.
"That girl... She's a normal little girl! Yuu-kun! We've got to help her!"
The girl Rei was talking about was the small, weak, and hopeless human life that Yuu sensed before getting rid of the zombies.
There was a little girl in the middle of the courtyard. Maybe seven or eight years old, but no more than that. Her pink hair was covered in dirt. Her torn clothes were covered in grime and blood.
She was kneeling next to a body. The body lying there belonged to an adult man with wounds on his stomach that were not caused by zombies.
Deep wounds.
Someone had stabbed him with something sharp, and that same blood had splattered onto the girl.
And the girl was crying loudly over him as her small shoulders shook.
Behind the fence, the zombies were pushing from the street. The gate was starting to give way and would only last about 30 seconds before they broke through.
That would also be the moment when the girl would be devoured.
"Yuu-oppa... I also think we can't leave without helping her."
Yuu nodded.
"Okay."
He took a step toward the girl.
And in the next second, he was standing right next to her.
She gasped, looking up at him.
"W-who...?"
Beautiful purple eyes full of innocence stared at him. Because she had been crying her eyelids were all swollen.
The young man in front of her gave her a big, cheerful smile.
"Hey, how's it going? Would you like to see a wonderful show?"
He probably should've introduced himself first. But then he heard the gate creak behind them.
The girl blinked in confusion as strings of sparkling tears ran down her cheeks.
"A show?"
"Yeah."
Yuu nodded. He raised his hand toward the zombies now pouring through the broken gate.
"I'm a magician, you know? And magicians do amazing things."
He snapped his fingers.
All of the zombies started to float.
They popped up from the ground like balloons, spinning around in the air and making weird noises.
The girl stopped crying and stared in amazement.
"How...?"
"Magic."
Then he snapped his fingers again.
The zombies exploded.
Well, since blood and guts would be traumatic for a little girl, they exploded into fireworks.
There were bright colors and flashes of light in the sky, along with the melodious sounds of explosions.
It was like experiencing a fireworks display during a festival.
This time, though, the fireworks were zombies disintegrating.
Well, that wasn't important now. It was enough to make the girl think it was eye-catching.
The girl watched with her mouth open as the dancing colors were reflected in her large pupils.
"It's... pretty."
"Right?"
Yuu lifted her up in his arms. She didn't put up a fight because she was still looking at the sky, where the last flashes of light were fading away.
He took another step and went back to where the girls were waiting.
Rei and Jin-ah came over right away.
Jin-ah reached out her hands to her and stroked her hair.
"Oh, poor thing... Are you okay?"
The girl looked at Yuu and then at each unfamiliar face.
"Ano~ Who are you?"
Yuu cleared his throat dramatically.
"I am a magician."
He felt two simultaneous pinches on his ribs. One from Rei and one from Jin-ah.
"Ouch!"
"Stop saying you're a magician."
"But I'm no different from one..."
"Yuu-oppa..."
From the way their expressions softened, however, they were grateful that Yuu had put on that show instead of a bloody massacre.
So, using fireworks to blow up zombies was the right call.
The girls thought it was really something that someone who couldn't feel emotions properly could be so considerate.
Rei knelt in front of the girl as her voice softened.
"Hello, little one. My name is Rei. What's your name?"
The girl hesitated, hugging herself.
"Alice... Alice Maresato."
"That's a beautiful name. Alice-chan, where is your family?"
Alice's eyes filled with tears again.
"Daddy is... Daddy is dead. We were running... looking for help... but the people in that house..."
She raised her trembling hand and pointed with her little fingers at the house near the courtyard.
"...they wouldn't let us in. They said there was no room. And then... then they stabbed Dad..."
Her voice broke completely.
"Ah."
Humanity at its worst.
Leaving a father and daughter to die because "there was no room." The apocalypse brings out the worst in people.
Jin-ah knelt down next to Rei to be at the same height as the girl.
"I'm so sorry, Alice..."
She hugged the girl gently.
"You don't have to worry anymore, okay? We'll take care of you. We'll be your new family."
Alice sobbed against Jin-ah's shoulder.
"R-really?"
"Really. And you don't need to worry about the monsters. We're very strong. We'll keep you safe."
After calming her down enough, Rei led Alice inside Ouroboros.
The little girl was clearly amazed by the vehicle. Her eyes widened when she saw the comfortable seats, the kitchen, the soft lighting, and everything else.
"Saeko-neesama, this..."
Saeko smiled gently.
"This is our mobile home. It's called Ouroboros."
"Ourom... That's a strange name..."
She bit her tongue.
Yuu sat down at that moment.
"Umu. It is a strange name, indeed."
Rei took Alice to the bathroom in the back of Ouroboros. Rei was bathing her, and the sound of running water was clearly audible. It was necessary because she was covered in dirt and blood.
Meanwhile, Yuu focused on making clean clothes for her. A white dress, stockings, and comfortable shoes.
They were little girls' clothes. It wasn't something he had created before.
Even if he was millions of years old, he never had a daughter.
The little girls' clothes disappeared from his hand as he decided to teleport them into the bathroom.
When Alice came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, she looked clean and radiant. With her pink hair, which was no longer dirty and shone softly in the light, it looked darker than Saya's.
Shizuka had made some hot soup in the kitchen and offered it to Alice.
"Here, dear. Eat."
Alice took the bowl with trembling hands and began to eat slowly.
All the girls watched her with gentle expressions.
Was this a maternal instinct? Yuu looked at the girls curiously.
It seemed that they all had it.
Even Saya, who was normally a tsundere, looked at Alice with concern.
Alice sat down on the sofa after finishing her soup while looking around with wide, astonished eyes.
"All of you... are very kind."
Hearing those words, Shizuka smiled.
"Hehe~ of course we are. We're family now."
Alice looked over at Yuu, who was sitting in the nearby chair with Yue in the chair next to him.
"Mr. Magician..."
"Just Yuu is fine."
"Yuu-oniisama."
She uttered his name timidly.
"...Did Dad become a star?"
The girls looked at Yuu, unsure how they should respond to Alice's innocent question.
Yuu could decide to tell the truth that the dead are simply dead and that there are no stars waiting.
However, Alice was a child. And children needed hope in a world without hope.
Yuu stood up and walked over to Alice.
He knelt down to be at her level.
"Do you want to see?"
"See what?"
He smiled and pointed upward, toward Ouroboros ceiling, which had become transparent.
The night sky was revealed above them. Stars at that moment shone brightly, and the crescent moon showed itself among the luminosity.
"Look over there."
Yuu pointed to an empty space between constellations.
And then he created a star.
In the cold truth of the universe, a new star was born.
It was a bright star, much brighter than the others.
And on its surface, engraved in light that only Alice could read, was her father's name.
[Tadashi Maresato]
Alice gasped. Her eyes moistened and tears spilled down her cheeks.
They couldn't be considered tears of sadness, because they conveyed happiness.
"It's... it's Dad!"
Yuu flashed a big, open smile.
"Yes. Now your dad is a star. And he will always be there, watching over you and protecting you from the sky."
Alice suddenly hugged him as she began to sob against his chest.
"Thank you... thank you, Yuu-oniisama..."
Some of the girls watched the scene with tears in their own eyes.
After Alice finally calmed down and fell asleep curled up on the sofa, with Saya sitting quietly beside her, the other girls gathered at the front of the Ouroboros.
Yue, who had been unusually quiet all this time, looked at Yuu with a thoughtful expression.
"Nn... Yuu..."
"Umu?"
She paused as her crimson eyes glowed.
"Yuu... let's have a daughter."
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