While Akuto was at dinner, Takashi sought out Aoi, who was eating in a side room.
"Aoi... Aoi... mother...?"
His voice trembled as he whispered her name.
She was alive. She was really alive!
"Hm? That voice... Takashi!"
"Takashi! How are you here?"
When they entered the Takagi estate earlier, the crowd had been too large for Aoi to recognize him among them.
Now, seeing her son alive, tears welled in her eyes.
After telling Shizuka briefly, she stepped outside with Takashi.
The moment she came out, Takashi exhaled in relief.
Sitting at the banquet table had been torment — Rei had been glaring at him with eyes full of crushing hostility.
"Takashi, are you all right? These past days, nothing happened to you?"
"I'm fine. I escaped from school, faced some troubles along the way, and eventually reached the Takagi estate." He simplified his story as much as possible, not wanting Aoi to worry.
"....."
Aoi's lips trembled. That explanation was far too "simplified." Was it just to keep her from worrying?
"And you, Aoi? How have you been?" Takashi asked back.
"I... I've been all right these past days."
She hesitated.
"All right" was an understatement. These days, she had for the first time known the joy of being a woman, of surrendering herself to a man, of loving that conquered feeling.
But those were not words she could ever tell her son.
"Then... why are you with this group? Did their leader personally bring you?"
"I... yes. It was their leader who brought me."
"That leader... it's Akuto-kun." Aoi spoke plainly.
"As I thought... I knew it!"
Takashi clenched his jaw, his eyes darting toward the banquet hall.
That bastard Akuto. Of course he was using Aoi to control him.
"Aoi, let's escape together. I've been ostracized here in the Takagi estate... I can't stay." He lied, hoping to coax her.
Seeing his fear, Aoi's tears slid free. She comforted him softly:
"Takashi, I know what you're afraid of. But don't worry. I've already spoken with Akuto-kun. He won't harm you."
"What?" Takashi froze.
"You... already spoke with him? That means... he's told you everything about me?"
His eyes darkened.
By the look of her, she didn't know Akuto had already killed him once. Or that he had become a zombie.
"Yes. Akuto-kun told me of your mistake."
"I persuaded him that if you return and apologize, then endure a few days of confinement, he won't pursue punishment further."
Before she finished, Takashi barked:
"Impossible!"
"I will never hand my fate to someone else's hands — least of all Akuto's!"
There was no way.
Akuto was too clever. He would see through what Takashi had become — an intelligent zombie.
"Takashi, please listen to me. Don't be stubborn. Akuto-kun won't hurt you." She pleaded with her eyes.
Her look left him torn between fury and helplessness.
"Aoi, how can you believe him?"
"But didn't he just prove it? He struck only Hirano, the betrayer. He didn't touch you. If he truly wanted you dead, would you still be here speaking to me?"
Her logic was sound, but Takashi refused to hear it.
"That's only now! Only today! Only because you're here! Who knows what he'll do once we're back?"
"I will never entrust my life to anyone else!"
"Takashi, you..."
She was at a loss. She didn't know how to persuade him.
In the end, they argued long without resolution, until Rei appeared and broke it off.
The contempt in her eyes as she left only dragged Takashi's mood deeper into the abyss.
...
That night.
Takashi planned to approach Aoi again.
His room wasn't like Akuto's group's, but it was on the same floor. Through the peephole, he could watch parts of their movements.
So he waited.
During that time, a stream of beautiful girls and graceful women walked past.
[That one... I've seen her on TV. They say she's a princess of the Imperial Family.]
[So those beside her are royal guards? But... isn't that Aunt Kiriko? Since when is she tied to royalty?]
[Hm? Why aren't they returning to their own rooms... why are they entering Akuto's?]
Yes. He hadn't seen wrong.
...
Inside Akuto's chamber.
Kaguya knelt on the floor, bowing respectfully before rising slowly.
"Does my lord find this gift to his liking?" she asked with a radiant smile.
"You mean them?" Akuto glanced behind her.
Two young women in police uniforms knelt demurely, heads bowed.
Normally, they would never kneel like this. But they had sworn loyalty to Kaguya. If even a princess knelt before Akuto, how could they do less?
Their tight uniforms and voluptuous figures strained as they sat pressed to their knees, making Akuto's gaze linger.
"Yes. They are my gift to you."
Kaguya traced her elegant fingers along Kiriko's cheek, making the policewoman shiver.
"Did not my lord bestow upon me a devil piece? After absorbing it, I too awakened an ability."
"I can sense souls."
"Once I awakened Soul Perception, I discovered something curious."
"My lord does not simply collect girls at random. Even before receiving your devil pieces, your chosen already had souls far stronger than the average."
"Your companions — whether Miss Rei, Miss Shizuka, or Chief Minami, or Officer Kiriko — all have souls exceeding ordinary humans."
[Rei and the others having strong souls is natural — they are the heroines of this apocalyptic world.]
[But why are my guards the same?]
Akuto had chosen his guards by looks and diligence alone.
Only afterwards did he realize they resembled heroines from other anime.
A chestnut-haired girl like Asuna... a white-haired one like Eriri... a cooking girl like Nakiri Erina.
[Could it be... precisely because they resemble heroines, their souls shine stronger?]
Was this... his own world's crossover blessing?
(End of Chapter)
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