"Tatsuki-kun!"
No sooner had he come home than Neko pounced on him whole. Tatsuki didn't resist, letting her nuzzle against him like a kitten.
"Cats really are sticky with you," Kanae covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"Tell me about it. She won't even change into a little cat and let me pet her," Eriri pouted for no reason at all.
"Neko is a person, not a cat. As for a little cat, aren't you holding Haru?" Tatsuki said with a wry smile.
"Meow!" Haru lifted his head from Eriri's arms.
"Tatsuki-nii, Aunt Sayuri said she saved dinner for you in the rice cooker," Chito piped up sweetly to remind Tatsuki.
Tatsuki smiled and ruffled her hair. "You've all eaten, right? Where's Sayuri—?"
Yuuri raised a hand. "We've all eaten. Aunt Sayuri and Sister Mine and the others went to Aunt Tamayo's to learn flower arranging."
Chito's face turned red as she nodded. "We'll play games a little longer and then head back. Mom Cocolia made us cake."
"Mom Cocolia?" Tatsuki was taken aback. Since when Mom Cocolia?
Yuuri beamed. "Uh-huh! Mom Cocolia said we could be her daughters. I'm so happy!"
So Cocolia really did like Yuuri and Chito—treating them completely as her own.
"Very nice. Go have fun."
"Mm-mm."
Kanae set the dishes out on the table. Tatsuki sat down; Neko sat right beside him, and Chinu and Abe no Seimei sat there as well.
He turned to look at the two. "You two want to eat as well?"
"..."
Abe no Seimei puffed out her cheeks—she couldn't eat at all!
Chinu narrowed her eyes and smiled. "I saw a certain custom on the computer and wanted to try it."
As she spoke, Chinu picked up the chopsticks, lifted a bite of food, and then—supporting the chopsticks with one hand—brought it toward Tatsuki's mouth.
"Ah…" Tatsuki blinked. Isn't this… feeding?
He glanced at Chinu; she merely smiled with narrowed eyes, giving nothing else away.
Abe no Seimei, however, sat off to the side huffing with anger, as if something had happened between her and Chinu.
Tatsuki couldn't be bothered with all that. If someone was going to feed him so he didn't even need to move his hands—great.
One arm enjoyed Neko's warm, human comfort; the other enjoyed being fed.
And Tatsuki, true to scumbag form, let his attention drift to the group chat.
Most importantly—there were newcomers again.
[Ding! Mumei has joined the chat group!]
[Ding! An Esper Who Wants to Be Ordinary has joined the chat group!]
Aqua: "Mumei, 'Esper Who Wants to Be Ordinary'—newbies—consider the Axis Church."
Momonga: "..."
Momonga: "Aqua really is fast."
Aqua: "Hmph!"
March 7th: "But she hasn't recruited a single believer."
Aqua: "..."
Another day of Aqua getting called out and stabbed in the heart.
Shinobu Kocho: "Newcomers, not going to say hello?"
Exusiai: "I'm more interested in that 'Esper Who Wants to Be Ordinary.' Such a long nickname—but it does mention espers."
Esdeath: "A world with special powers."
March 7th: "Kind of curious what the esper ability is."
Mikasa: "How do you obtain esper powers?"
Nami: "Emmm… you'll probably have to ask the chat group for that."
Mumei: "What is this thing?"
An Esper Who Wants to Be Ordinary: "..."
Tatsuki wore a helpless look.
He couldn't tell who either of them were just from the names.
…
Aragane Station.
A long stretch of iron rails ran on and on. Upon them stood a pitch-black train like a fortress, lacquered in darkness. People bustled all around it.
A girl walking along the crowded street suddenly stopped. Her hair was tied in two short braids with a yellow headband; she wore a Japanese outfit—red as the base with a raised obi, an orange obijime knotted in a butterfly, and a pink underlayer.
She had a small bell, a kendama with a red ball, and wooden clogs on her feet.
Most striking of all, a red ribbon was tied around her neck.
Her sudden stop drew the attention of the woman beside her.
"What is it, Mumei?" Horobi frowned.
"..." After a silence, Mumei shook her head. "N-no, it's nothing."
She resumed walking as usual. Horobi's frown deepened.
Mainly, she didn't understand why the Young Master had suddenly sent her—this bodyguard—to accompany Mumei on a mission.
And since a few days ago, the Young Master had become strange as well—obsessed with researching the Kabane and dispatching almost all the Hunters on tasks.
Mumei's doubts right now all lay upon the bizarre, invisible screen before her—seen by none and unspeakable to others.
…
In a certain room.
A boy with pink hair and green glasses, two odd ornaments stuck in his head, sat solemnly in a chair, deep in thought.
My name is Kusuo Saiki.
I am an esper.
Telepathy, psychokinesis, x-ray vision, precognition, teleportation—there's no power I don't have. If I really wanted to, I could destroy the world in three days.
If you think that makes me the happiest man alive, you're wrong.
I am, frankly, the most unfortunate man alive.
Accomplishment, excitement, surprise, tension—I've never felt any of them.
Not only anger or sadness—even joy and happiness are absent.
That has been my life until now.
But at this moment, everything is different.
The world that had rewound time again and again has, this time, changed.
Something called the Apocalypse Chat Group has invaded my world.
Just now, he had used many esper abilities—even removed his limiter to test it.
And yet he could not discern its fundamental nature at all.
For the first time in ages, Kusuo Saiki's lips curled into the faintest smile of excitement.
It meant it was unknown!
…
Mumei: "Are you humans?"
Saeko Busujima: "Oh? Sounds like your world has non-humans."
Aqua: "I'm a goddess of water, not human."
White Blood Cell: "White Blood Cell."
Platelet: "I'm a Platelet! Hehe."
Tushan Honghong: "I'm a fox spirit of Tu Shan?"
Emilia: "I'm a half-elf."
Mumei: "...I don't understand any of this."
Vivi: "Haha, that's the chat group for you—very fun!"
Silver Wolf: "Newbies, can you change your names? Especially that 'esper' one—that handle is way too long!"
Kusuo Saiki: "..."
Silver Wolf: "Oh? You're the esper?"
Kusuo Saiki: "Yes."
Chito: "So cool!"
Kusuo Saiki? Tatsuki already knew which one that was—the natural-born esper.
A natural-born esper who was troubled by his powers—Kusuo Saiki. No wonder the nickname was "An Esper Who Wants to Be Ordinary."
As for the other one—
Mumei: "My name really is Mumei. I'm a Kabaneri—not exactly human."
Seitenshi: "Your name is just 'Mumei'? How strange."
Tatsuki's eyes gleamed.
The terms "Mumei" and "Kabaneri" let him confirm the newcomer's identity again—Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.
Mumei: "What exactly is this place?"
Tatsuki: "Mumei, Kusuo Saiki, this is the Apocalypse Chat Group—a chat where people from worlds facing Apocalypse exchange and help one another. You can check your Apocalypse info via the personal info function."
After a lull, Kusuo Saiki spoke first.
Kusuo Saiki: "Future Apocalypse (4 stars). That's how it shows."
As expected, Tatsuki thought. If he remembered right, the world's end in Kusuo Saiki's world was caused by a volcanic eruption.
He didn't exactly understand how a volcano could directly destroy the Earth—and how Saiki, who could travel through time, initially couldn't stop it but that "4-level Apocalypse" further supported his guess.
A level-4 Apocalypse indicates a calamity that engulfs an entire planet's biosphere yet does not annihilate the planet itself.
Mumei: "The end of the world… my world is already a Apocalypse."
Nami: "Sounds like things are pretty bad over there."
Mumei: "The whole world is Kabane."
Kisara Tendo: "Tell us what kind of Apocalypse your world has?"
Mumei: "Future Apocalypse (4), Anomalous Apocalypse (5-star)."
Bronya Zaychik: "Does that mean… two Apocalypses?"
Momonga: "Tss—Isn't that the treatment reserved for big shots?"
Nami: "Tatsuki's side has three 12-star Apocalypses, y'know."
Reinhard van Astrea: "Is this the first time a world's encountered two world Apocalypses?"
Tatsuki: "Indeed, the first besides me."
Tatsuki: "The existence of the Kabane should be the 'Future Apocalypse.'"
Mumei: "You know about the Kabane?"
Mikasa: "What are Kabane?"
Tatsuki: "A kind of monster very similar to ordinary zombies, yet stronger than them."
Tatsuki: "Undying, covered in an iron-like hide—so long as the heart isn't destroyed, they won't be eliminated; those infected become new Kabane."
Saeko Busujima: "That's a lot like Deadites!"
Tatsuki: "Yes, but the Kabane are more agile and can evolve to a certain extent."
Mumei: "Who are you?"
Tatsuki: "As you can see—the administrator of the chat group."
Mumei: "If we truly come from different worlds as you say, how do you know of the Kabane?"
Tatsuki: "No comment."
Mumei: "..."
Esdeath: "Heh. Without overwhelming strength, trying to pry open Tatsuki's mouth is overreaching."
Momonga: "Well said! Our big shot is a big big big shot!"
Kusuo Saiki: "How strong counts as strong?"
Momonga: "Easily destroys nations."
Exusiai: "Heh, your intel's out of date. Tatsuki can destroy a planet now."
Tatsuki: "Ever consider it might be star systems?"
Momonga: "???"
Silver Wolf: "???"
A string of question marks scrolled by.
...
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