Tatsuki: "So, do you need help?"
Yato, puzzled: "Are you a god too?"
Tatsuki shook his head and lightly raised his hand.
Empty!
An invisible ripple spread out, and the yokai's body suddenly froze in midair.
Startled, Yato hopped down from a street sign, studied the yokai, then looked at Tatsuki in disbelief. "Binding cloth? Are you a Regalia?"
"Also no. You can understand me as an esper."
Tatsuki eyed Yato with interest. "Aren't you going to kill this yokai?"
Yato hemmed and hawed. "An esper? You're so strong—you could just wipe it out yourself, right?"
That was a given, but Tatsuki was simply curious. "I'm curious how you gods kill yokai."
Since Yato was here… then the eight million gods of Noragami should be here as well.
He didn't think those so-called eight million gods were particularly strong—just a flock of weaklings. But he was very curious how gods purified yokai.
"..."
Yato hadn't expected that to be Tatsuki's reason for not acting.
After a brief silence, he gripped his short blade, gaze turning solemn.
He spoke softly:
"Feng Weiyuan Zhong—to the one who causes disturbance here, I, the god Yato, descend. Submit before the might of my Regalia; sweep away all filth and barriers—sever!"
A straight streak of light traced from his blade. With one cut, the yokai was cleaved in two—and then it dissipated.
Tatsuki: "Mm… a plain and simple slash."
Yato's power was, indeed, "to sever."
As the yokai died, the short blade in Yato's hand turned into a woman in white robes. She bowed respectfully to Tatsuki. "Thank you for your aid, Lord Tatsuki."
Though she didn't know who Tatsuki was, his peculiar power and timely help were obvious. Addressing him as "lord" fit proper etiquette.
"This is…?"
"My Regalia, Tomone," Yato said with pride.
"..."
Tomone only shot him a sidelong glare.
Yato had no idea Tomone was already preparing to jump ship.
"Tatsuki, the yokai's been cut down, so I'll get going. I really hope you'll still remember me next time."
Waving, Yato turned, hands shoved into his pockets, and walked away.
"I think I'll remember," Tatsuki replied, light as a breeze.
Yato's stride paused for an instant.
It was the first time someone had proactively seen him; the first time someone said they would remember his name. Yato's mood lifted.
Even if the person would slowly forget—that was the fate of a stray god.
"..."
Ai Hayasaka stared, unable to believe what she'd just witnessed. An esper, yokai, a god, a Regalia, a blade that turned into a person—one unreal word after another, now all come true!
Assuming she wasn't just hallucinating.
"Young lady, it seems you've been following me?"
Tatsuki's face suddenly appeared right before Ai Hayasaka. Her dainty body jolted in fright.
She forced out a dry smile, scratching her hair as if troubled. "Ahaha, I think I got lost and just sort of wandered here. Uh, mister, do you know the way out?"
Tatsuki didn't answer. Instead, he fixed his gaze on her eyes. While Hayasaka's nerves jangled—fearing he might kill her to silence her—he spoke in surprise. "You've awakened spirit sight?"
"Spirit sight?"
Ai Hayasaka instinctively puzzled over the term.
"You saw that monster and Yato just now, didn't you?"
Tatsuki's question struck straight at the contradiction in Ai Hayasaka's heart. How should I answer?
She didn't know if Tatsuki was deliberately fishing.
If she said she'd seen them, would he "clean her up"?
Ai Hayasaka knew all too well: only a corpse can keep a secret.
But Tatsuki just looked at her oddly and, speechless, snarked. "You're overthinking it. If I wanted to kill you, why would I talk so much? It's dark and deserted here—I could just beep-first-then-kill, then send your body to the moon so no one would ever find it."
"!!!"
Ai Hayasaka's eyes went wide.
Was he answering me?What did I even say just now? I was clearly only thinking it!
"That's right, I can hear what you're thinking," Tatsuki said.
"Huh?"
This time Ai Hayasaka let out an audible yelp.
Tatsuki remained perfectly calm. "You're Ai Hayasaka—today you're the maid of the Shinomiya household's Kaguya Shinomiya, but your true identity is a multi-faced spy."
"Oh, and today you're wearing black lace panties."
"!!!"
The moment Tatsuki stated her multi-agent identity, Ai Hayasaka's expression changed. Panic. Alarm.
A secret she'd kept for so long—exposed.
"Come on, it's not like I have any ties to the Shinomiya family. What are you afraid of?"
Tatsuki found it amusing. What, was he going to report her?
Ai Hayasaka's emotions snagged—and she was left speechless. On second thought… that did seem to be the case.
"But you and the Young Lady Kaguya…" She suddenly remembered Tatsuki might be connected to Kaguya.
"We did it. Not in love yet. Mid-strategy," Tatsuki said with utter seriousness—and shamelessness.
Ai Hayasaka was left with nothing to say.
Seeing that nothing could be hidden—down to even the color of her underwear being stripped bare—Ai Hayasaka drooped her face, raised both hands high, and decided to throw in the towel.
"I surrender. I admit I saw everything just now. Kill me or slice me, whatever."
I'm tired. Let it all burn!
"Oh. Then you saw it." Tatsuki merely nodded, making no move to act.
Instead, he kindly warned her, "Then you'd better be careful. Spirit sight isn't necessarily a good thing. If it's a yokai, fine; but if it's a vengeful spirit—don't answer when it asks questions. You'll die."
What could he do—he was just that helpful, a paragon of civic virtue.
"..."
Ai Hayasaka felt he was scaring her for his own amusement.
Since she'd chosen to lay her cards on the table, she might as well ask boldly. "Do these things exist in the real world?"
Tatsuki nodded, answering with surprising patience. "That's right. Vengeful spirits are exactly what they sound like. Yokai feed on negative emotions—and can amplify them until a person commits suicide."
"Gods and Regalia are the ones who eliminate yokai. That's about it."
"..."
Fine. As long as it was real, the rest followed naturally.
At the same time, a thought struck her.
Just now her negative emotions had exploded and she'd wanted to die—then after bumping into Tatsuki, she'd returned to normal.
He seemed to have pinched the air by her ear.
"You… saved me just now?"
"Oh, you mean that yokai on you. I saw your negativity was heavily affected, so I took care of it on the way. Don't mention it."
Tatsuki didn't care; a trifle—not worth bringing up.
"..."
Maybe it was nothing to him. To Ai Hayasaka, though, it had truly saved her life.
"Thank you."
Her life was as base and light as a feather, yet it could still be saved—unbelievable.
"Mm-hmm."
As for gratitude, Tatsuki wasn't the type to get fussy.
"If you've got nothing else, stop tailing me. I'm not a bad guy. Go home—it's late. Following me into a place like this, aren't you afraid I'll…"
Before he finished, Ai Hayasaka jumped in of her own accord. "Beep… then kill?"
"..."
Tatsuki's eyebrow arched. Good grief, this girl just says it out loud, huh?
"Actually, I have one more question."
By now, Ai Hayasaka didn't seem scared anymore, and spoke calmly.
"Ask," Tatsuki said. He wasn't short on time for a line or two.
"Will the Young Lady Kaguya have a baby?" Her eyes brimmed with curiosity. An esper's baby! Just thinking about it was thrilling.
Tatsuki pinched his chin and gave Ai Hayasaka a strange look.
Ai Hayasaka tilted her head innocently. "Huh? Didn't Tatsuki-kun do it with the Young Lady? She should be… you know… by now, right?"
"Tss!"
Tatsuki sucked in a cold breath. This maid actually dared say something so outrageous!
But he still answered with a straight face: "We did… hit the mark. But there won't be one."
Ai Hayasaka blinked her big, watery eyes. "Why not?"
"Because I'm an esper."
How could ordinary people imagine what an esper would do?
No sooner had Tatsuki finished speaking than Ai Hayasaka suddenly discovered she was back in her own room!
"This is your room. I found the location from your memory."
"It's late, so I just sent you back. I'm out."
With that, Tatsuki vanished.
"..."
Ai Hayasaka touched her desk and computer. "I really came back…"
"Ai!"
From the hallway, Kaguya called loudly. She'd come home and not found Ai; the other maids all said they hadn't seen her, so she was worried.
"I'm in my room," Ai Hayasaka answered from inside.
"Eh?"
Kaguya pattered over, pushed open the door, and saw Ai Hayasaka standing there.
"Did you need something, Young Lady?" she asked calmly.
Kaguya felt it was odd. "I could've sworn you weren't in your room just now."
"Maybe we just missed each other," Ai Hayasaka deflected smoothly.
Seeing Ai safe, Kaguya relaxed and let it go.
Suddenly, her nose twitched. She frowned slightly, sniffed as she stepped closer to Ai Hayasaka, and finally locked her gaze on her, almost interrogating: "Why do you have the President's scent on you?"
She couldn't be mistaken—that was definitely the scent of the President!
"..."
Ai Hayasaka griped hard in her heart.
As expected of the Young Lady who got thoroughly beeped by Tatsuki—she can even catch that faint trace of scent now.
She didn't panic at all, face serene. "I ran into the President by chance today and asked a question about club funding on a friend's behalf."
"I see."
Kaguya nodded. A perfectly ordinary reason. Having gotten an answer, she returned to normal.
"Then I'll go rest. Ai, you should sleep early too."
"Yes."
Ai Hayasaka dipped her head slightly and waited until Kaguya left. Lifting her gaze, her eyes shimmered.
Today, she had discovered an incredible secret.
Tatsuki was an esper—the truth of the world.
And the Young Lady Kaguya, who had been thoroughly beeped… and taught a lesson… by the esper Tatsuki.
Just picturing that scene, the corners of her lips unknowingly curled into a faint, delighted smile.
...
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