With four new contacts for beautiful girls added to his phone in a single day, Taichi almost felt like his luck in romance was blooming.
Then Mordred delivered a reality check: "What's in it for them? Your common face? Your empty wallet?"
And just like that, he was snapped back to reality.
Feeling a bit stuffed after his big meal, Taichi decided to take a walk to aid his digestion. At the very least, his body needed to properly absorb all the nutrients from the meat and vegetables. At the same time, he could patrol for any injustices in the human world.
"Oh, it's Naruto-san!"
Dressed in casual clothes, Yui Yuigahama appeared on the path ahead, holding a dachshund on a leash.
"Yuigahama-san, what a coincidence," Taichi said, waving as a greeting. But his feet were already subtly inching backward. "I don't want to interrupt your walk. Bye now."
"Huh? I wanted to talk to you, Naruto-san," the socially awkward Yui said, a bit unwillingly.
"Woof? Woof woof woof—!" The dachshund seemed to sense something, wiggled its nose, and then tried to break free from its owner's grasp to charge toward the source of light and warmth ahead.
"Yikes!" Taichi's fingers tightened, and he instinctively took a half-step back.
It was a little embarrassing to admit, but as a child in his previous life, Taichi had been chased by dogs. He had developed a psychological trauma and, ever since, had a powerful urge to avoid all types of dogs, except for puppies. He couldn't even bring himself to get close to a chihuahua.
"Woof woof—" Sable, the dachshund, seemed to sense Taichi's rejection and whimpered, lowering its head.
"Naruto-san, are you afraid of little dogs?" Yui asked with a look of disbelief.
"I wouldn't say I'm afraid," Taichi said, awkwardly retracting his foot. "I was chased by dogs several times as a kid, so I have a bit of a phobia."
"Oh..." Yui felt at a loss for how to comfort him. After all, she loved dogs and couldn't understand why someone who had been chased by them wouldn't be happy about it, but instead be so scared they developed a phobia. It was the same way she couldn't understand how honor students' brains worked.
"Sable is really well-behaved and so cute," Yui said, clumsily trying to get Taichi to get closer to her dog. She said as many good things as she could about Sable.
But Sable immediately turned and proved her wrong. With a sudden dash, it slipped the leash from Yui's hand and pounced on a cat napping in a nearby flowerbed.
"Sable!" Yui called out her dog's name, her face flushed with embarrassment, trying to call the dog back. But Sable acted as if it didn't hear her, didn't turn its head, and didn't stop.
"...It's really well-behaved, huh?" Taichi's eyebrow twitched slightly.
Yui let out a nervous laugh and awkwardly scratched the corner of her eye. The kind of dog he was most afraid of was one that wouldn't even listen to its owner. If a little dog like that came at him, even the owner wouldn't be able to control it.
The cat resting in the flowerbed was startled, its fur bristled, and it jumped back, hissing and hissing to threaten Sable. Sable, startled in return, stopped and whined, spinning in circles.
What bad intentions could a little dog like Sable have? It just wanted to play with a cute little cat!
"Sable, don't be bad! You'll give Naruto-san a bad impression," Yui said, wrapping her arms around Sable and holding it close. She scratched its chin as she spoke.
"Woof?" Sable froze for a moment, then struggled to free its head from the overwhelming pressure, turning to look at Taichi, who was still standing in the same spot. Its black, gem-like eyes blinked.
"Damn it's cute! I want to pet it!" Mordred yelled in excitement.
"He is very cute. I can't understand why Taichi is afraid of dogs," Ultraman X said, also confused. "Even though you have my power."
Taichi could only respond with a dry laugh. Just as Taichi couldn't understand why someone with acrophobia would be afraid of heights, he felt that people who liked or weren't afraid of dogs couldn't understand why his phobia was so bad he couldn't even touch one. Humans can't truly understand each other! And if one of them isn't even human, it's even more impossible!
The cat ran away. It probably decided that it wasn't a match for one dog, and a two-on-one fight was an even more impossible victory. So, after a glance at the annoying dog and its owner, the cat turned and trotted away.
"Sable, I think you're disliked," Yui said, feeling a deep sympathy for her little dog, who was never well-behaved on walks. First, it was disliked by a person, and then by a cat. She hoped the little guy wouldn't get depressed.
"Woof, woof..." Sable saw that Taichi didn't have a positive reaction and heard its owner's adding insult to injury. It dejectedly let its head hang to the side. It was tired, so it wouldn't run anymore before going home. It had originally planned to mark its territory on this walk.
"Taichi! The satellites have a discovery! A monster is flying towards Earth from space!" Ultraman X suddenly announced with a serious voice.
In order to find the many monsters hidden on Earth and to defend against monsters from outer space, Ultraman X had already connected to the satellite channels of various countries.
"A giant monster? I finally get to see what you mean by 'monster'! Taichi, do your best! You can borrow my power anytime!" Mordred said. She wanted to be a pilot herself, and even if she couldn't pilot Ultraman X, a test run with Taichi's body was a good alternative.
"Yuigahama-san, you should take Sable home right away," Taichi said, looking up in the direction of the monster. Ultraman X's power assisted him with long-distance observation, and he could vaguely see the uninvited guest from space. "Danger might be approaching."
"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama looked at Taichi blankly.
"My ability allows me to sense malice from the outside world," Taichi explained, taking out his phone. "And right now, a great malice is rapidly approaching us from the sky... If I'm not mistaken, it's probably a great space monster. You should go home quickly to spare your family from worry later."
"Mon... monster..." Yui's hand slipped, and Sable fell directly from her arms. As a local from Chiba and one of the first victims of a monster's appearance, Yui's fear of monsters was immense.
Taichi instinctively reached out and caught Sable, saving the dog from a painful fall. He looked at the slightly trembling Yui thoughtfully. This girl should be able to understand his reaction to dogs now, right?
...There's a dog in my arms!
Taichi's face went pale. He placed Sable, who was struggling to get up and lick him, on the ground. He shoved the leash into Yui's hand, patted her on the shoulder, and turned to run.
He had to find a secluded place to transform! It was definitely not because he was afraid of the dog!