Chapter 6 - Crossed.

Ultron POV:

"Oh right, I remember her. She's the Spirit from that day."

"Spirit?"

Honjo widened her eyes, seemingly surprised with my response, as she then summoned her and read through its pages.

"You sure? My told me she's human."

"I'm certain, she's one of the 2 Spirits that showed up at that Tengu fire incident."

"Tengu fire?"

Honjo tilted her head with my question, acting all confused... That's right, she was captured before the event.

"For short, a great fire once engulfed an entire district here 5 years ago, which after my careful research, was created by the Spirit."

"Hm...?"

Honjo widens her eyes, seemingly surprised by the revelation. She then, once again, read her as her expression became more relaxed.

"Huh, so that's what happened...?"

The nun mumbling all shocked with what she's read, which my guess could be about the casualty, which is expected honestly, considering the fact she's been with those DEM right before the incident...

"But to think, despite making such disaster—"

She then takes a peek upward, toward the deep blue sky, and looks back at me with an undistinguished expression.

"—How could she be that relaxed is beyond me."

"Yeah..."

I shrugged in agreement with her, then looked back down on the white hair girl along with Honjo.

"So what will you do with her?"

"We leave her here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, I don't want the whole squad on my tail for now."

With that, I decided to leave her here on her own. I can talk to her anytime I want, so leaving her here wouldn't hurt me a bit.

Now then, time for ...

"Uh... Fu-kun..."

"What?"

I look back at the nun, who looks at my back with a puzzle reaction.

What's with that reaction?

"... She's Lost'ed."

I immediately look back to , who's no longer around here, and just blatantly staring there for a bit more.

... Yeah, this Lost thing's real annoying. Is it rigged or something?

"So... what now?"

"I supposed we went back to the base."

"Nope."

As I prepared to fly away, Honjo suddenly tugged at my body with a serious expression.

"I wanted compensation."

"What?"

"For throwing me into those AST, and especially that horrible porridge."

... Yeah, come to think of it, both of them were kinda my fault. No idea about the porridge though, since I can't really taste anything and just follow a random instruction online.

Also, having her as a close companion would make a great assessment for my future plan, as her could help me with information I couldn't access on my own.

"You're right, so what do you want in return?"

"Your protection."

"... Please elaborate."

"I'll help you in time of need, but I want you to make sure that those... DEM... won't disturb me anymore."

Hm... thought she would ask for more than that, but it's understandable.

With that , she could practically gain all the fortune on this planet, but she seriously lacked offense... well, she could still fight back, but I suppose being on edge all the time wouldn't be that comfy.

So her best course of action would be to ask me, who just bailed her out of that coffin and has no relations to this world, to protect her.

And well, how could I deny that? I've plunged myself with her, so I have the responsibility to make her safe...

"You have my word, miss Honjo."

"Hmph ~"

With that, Honjo started to fly away, with me a second slower right behind her...

POV:

"That thing... know?"

Staring blatantly at the screen, the twin tails with the blue hairs gasping in shock. That thing, despite just showing up recently, seemingly knew about what happened.

But, the thing that shocked them the most, is the Spirit looks toward the sky... toward them, with those empty eyes.

The eyes of pure hatred, despised, seemingly lurking to their very soul, waiting to drag out the deepest secret to the light...

It was so bad that even Shido, the blue hair here, was unable to react at all besides sweating like crazy... Well, at least he's not the only one feeling that way.

Even the twin tails, who had gone through countless tests to overcome such weakness, were also unable to make a sound against her gaze.

The duo then fly away, and then their signal and figure both completely vanish from the camera, just like before. So, already knowing that their efforts are futile, the crew decided not to try any further.

"... This is worse than we thought."

The twin tails mumbling all concerned, which attracts attention from the blue-haired.

"What do you mean by that?"

"We have no idea on what the thing beside the , the nun looking one, but I doubt that it has any good intention."

"Eh?"

The blue haired stared back at the screen, now replaying the whole thing back, feeling a bit complicated with the machine-looking being.

... But the thing that concerns him more than that thing, is the mysterious girl earlier.

Despite doing nothing, despite posing no threat other than the Spacequake, she's still gotten attacked by the AST... hunted down like an animal...

And even that nun, even though he's terrified by her gaze... for a moment, just a very short window, he can faintly hear her painful yet lonely heart lurking deep in her empty eyes.

They both have something bad going for them, something that not even him couldn't understand right now... And despite that, despite knowing that, he can just stay here doing nothing...

Unbersknown to himself, his palm tightly grips in frustration, as his sister secretly let out a sly smile.

"You want to save them?"

As he still wanders in his thoughts, the twin tails suddenly ask him with a nonchalant voice. And he knew what she meant.

Even if he didn't understand it, even if the solution they offered him is stupid... he wanted to at least try to communicate with them, trying to save them through his words...

But up until now, he is still doubting his own power, thinking that he can't save the mysterious girl... that is until the nun shows up.

And after having a peek at her empty gaze, he finally decided.

"So what do you say?"

"... I will go with your plan."

"Great! Let's begin with the contract then!"

"What the—What do you mean by that?!"

With a click, two weird men suddenly show up at the door and drag him away, as the members take a peek at him with empathy.

"Reine?"

"Yes, commander?"

After Shido gets dragged away by the 2 men, the twin tails call out for the Head Analysis, who was silent the whole time by Shido's side.

"Is the 'training gear' ready yet?"

"Of course."

The Head Analysis held out what so-called the "training gear", which only consisted of a handheld game console.

"Fufufu, good job Reine ~"

Let out a vicious chuckle, the twin tails return to the screens, as everyone else silently trading a pity yet praying look with each other, except a certain blondie who's felt a bit jealousy with the blue-haired... for reasons.

But unbeknown to everyone, the camera on the corner silently flashes a red light as it silently records the whole thing.

Ultron POV:

"Huh..."

Looking at the whole circus unfold on their bridge, I let out a small chuckle while overwatching the construction.

"What's wrong?"

Asked Honjo, who's up until now just curiously looking at my base and the Sentinels with stars clearly jumping in her eyes.

After a bit of persuasion and convincing, she's decided to stay here for the time being as those DEM are still waiting at her apartment, as I scout the city for another apartment during this time due to her request.

What a shame, I would love to have her here... Well, she already gave me her number, and I can't exactly lose her anyway, so this would still be tolerable.

"Those fools actually went through with the plan."

"Hm?"

Honjo expresses a confused look, as I then suddenly realize that I haven't talked with her about all this. I then proceed to explain it all to her, as I can clearly see the light in her eyes slowly dim away.

... Yeah, that was obviously what's gonna happen. They basically "tortured" their "secret weapons" with what could be called a "galge" game in every way, with his secrets on the line.

To be honest, I feel a bit, just a tiny mini bit, of feeling sorry for the guy... Well, that's enough with him for now.

"... Really?"

"Yep, you can check if you don't believe me."

"... I trust you on this one."

With a seemingly disgusted expression, Honjo let out a heavy sigh and went back to observe my works, albeit with lesser enthusiasm than before.

Hm... seems like her mood is pretty low...

Not that I can complain, since the fact she could still walk despite such treatment that even Jesus has to shiver is a miracle in itself.

Well then, what to do next...

I could try to contact again, but after looking into both the DEM and system, she won't be back for at least a week.

There's also no sign of Spirit showing up during this duration also, so which means... he's practically free.

The city also almost finished repairing all the damage earlier with their techs, which still baffle me with how it works.

Hm... Probably should sharpen my own experiences for the next date.

"Miss Honjo—No, Honjo-san."

"Hm?"

Honjo looked back at me with a questioning look with my call, as I asked her something just randomly pop-up in my head.

"Would you like to hang out?"

"Eh?"

Honjo let out a stupid sound while making a dumbfounded face, as I explained it all to her.

It's basically just for me to gather information about such matters, as the only reliable source of this is with Stark... personal life before the Ten Rings, which won't work with her as I suspected.

But, this could work out for me on Honjo preference too... as I kinda failed with the Maximoffs in my past life...

... Yeah, wished I had issued my final goal with them during that night beforehand.

"I see... Well, I'm down with that."

With that, Honjo accepted my request with a cheerful smile and quickly walked out of the base, while I just staring blatantly at her back—

—So they're really once humans huh?

A while later, at Tengu city...

"Dang, can't believe everything changed this much ~ !!"

"..."

Walking in front of me and looking everywhere with a bright expression, wearing rather sloppy clothes consisting of a jumper and trousers, is the erotic nun...

... Hope I say that right.

We're now walking around the mall district in Tengu, per Honjo's request, to see how much the city has changed for the past 5 years.

Gotta admit, strolling like this feels refreshed. Miles better than floating throughout the internet.

Despite that I couldn't create sensors that perfectly replicate human senses, this doesn't feel bad at all.

But still, despite her breakdown at that time, I'm surprised she still has this enthusiasm for going outside...

"Fukun!"

As I was just staring blatantly with the surrounding building, Honjo called out for me with a rather excited voice.

I look toward her direction and see a truck selling some kind of wrapped food... If I remember correctly, then that...

"A latke truck?"

"Yeah, wanna try some?"

"... Really?"

"What do you mean by—Oh...!"

Honjo making a dumbfounded face with my question, seemingly remembering my whole gimmick.

"Sorry about that... I forgot you're not, you know, alive."

"None taken."

Honjo then orders for herself, which is just an enormous latke box with mayonnaise sauce, all paid for by me obviously. We then pick a seat to sit down, and she then begins to devour the whole box.

It took her less than 5 minutes to completely finish the whole thing, and she then let out a relieved breath.

"Good old latke... still feels that good after so long..."

It's that good? Didn't the box seem kinda messy?

"Isn't that thing kinda oily?"

"Tch tch, you don't know the beauty of the oil, Fukun."

It is? No idea how it turns out like this... Should I try such a thing?

This world practically perfectly fits my image, less conflict and more development, with the cost of measly 150 million... which is quite a generous amount in exchange.

"Is it worth it?"

Hm?

"What do you mean by that?"

"Killing yourself for your own end, provoking everyone to stand against you, even going as far as kidnapping her... was that worth it?"

... So she was curious about my past huh?

"Definitely."

There's no regret in me about what happened... All I do is for the benefit of humanity.

Although it did break my heart to see her despise me after I accidentally killed Pietrot, one that I didn't actively do, I wouldn't change that past one bit.

After all, what happened happened, and there's no use to reminiscences about all of that.

But despite my straightforward answer, Honjo just slightly squinted her eyes with my response and continued eating the latka.

... Speaking of which, why did I change my goal back then?

All I ever wanted is for humans to change, to evolve... and yet, slowly, my final goal seemingly shifted. In the end, I wanted no more than to replace them, not just help them change...

And right now, sitting on this bench after suffering a massive loss to those I deemed imperfect, I feel like I have made a mistake...

... To think I called it naive, yet I myself was more like a toddler than it... How ridiculous...

"You...!"

An unfamiliar voice suddenly comes out right behind our bench, as we slowly peek at the source. It was a white boh hair girl with a slightly agitated expression, looking at us with a burning rage gaze.

This one, if I remember correctly, her name is...

"Origami Tobiichi."

"... How?"

I see, so she's really the one back then... and somehow she stumbles upon us.

... So this is how a coincidence feels like...

"What brought you here, Miss Origami?"

"... You were the one back then?"

Ignoring my question, Origami looked straight into Honjo's face with a despised face, seemingly wanting nothing more than to kill her at this moment.

In response, Honjo just looks at her with a hint of sarcasm yet mocking, which seems to only fuel Origami rage further as her gaze becomes more intense.

"And what if I am?"

Honjo responds with a question full of sarcasm, and that's when Origami acts.

With an inhuman reaction, she immediately swung her fist straight at Honjo's face. But before it could connect, I stopped her hand with a tight grip.

"Kuh..."

"Please, have some manners."

I leer down at her with a threatening voice, as she twitched in pain due to my hard grip.

Despite my lackluster build, this body could still do some work on normal humans. In other words, without the , she won't be able to make a dent on me.

"After all, you wouldn't want me to harm your beloved Shido right?"

With that, the girl Origami finally looked at me with a hint of surprised yet cautious expression, but she immediately returned to her emotionless face.

Gotta hand it to her though, seems like she valued it more than I thought.

"... What do you want?"

That girl leered at me with a hint of anger deep in her eyes, while still maintaining her neutral look on her face.

Interesting... let's try this.

"I knew who killed your parents."

Immediately right after, that girl's calmness shattered as she looked straight at me with a clearly surprising yet confused expression, as if her calm just now never existed...

Seems like I have my hopes quite high for her.

"H-how... how di—"

"See you later."

As she still can't react properly with my revelation, I quickly parted her and dragged Honjo into the crowd.

After walking for a few minutes, we finally arrive at a random coffee shop and sit down on a table, as I proceed to pay close attention to all the cameras everywhere we just went through.

And from the look of it, that girl's still standing there pondering about my words... Well, at least we cut her off our tail for now.

"Why do all of that? We can just, you know, silent her for good?"

Honjo looks at me with a questionable yet curious look, as I look back at her with a hint of confusion.

... Did she just suggest a permanent option for her?

"Doing that wouldn't do good for us at the time. You wouldn't want those DEM to be aware of your location aren't ya?"

"What if she reported us back to them?"

"And missed the chance to know about her killer? As far as I know, she's not that clear-minded to do that for now.

Honjo gaze becomes more of a disturbance before abruptly looking at the menu, as I inwardly let out a sigh.

Welp, that was unpredictable, and I now have 2 tails behind my back... Hope this won't turn even worse—

"Meow ~"

Hm?

Hearing a weird sound, I peeked under the desk to see a weird creature brushing against my leg.

What the heck is this?

I then move my gaze to the surroundings, and many more creatures doing things fall into my view.

Wait, are those... Weren't they called "cats"? But why are the—Oh...

We're in a cat coffee shop... no wonder.

"Uwah!"

Honjo, seeing the cat under the table, quickly holds it up by its arm, eyes glittering with stars. She then proceeded to rub its belly aggressively with a disfigured voice, seemingly enjoying herself.

So that's how people play with them?

"Meow ~"

Another then approaches me, a medium white long-haired one, purring while scratching comfortably at my feet.

Hm...

I casually pick it up by the neck as it purrs by the feet, observing it reacting furiously to all curiosity... So this is the "cat" they're talking about?

... It didn't seem that "cute" from my perspective, but it did look somewhat better than humans though.

"Ara ara ~"

A soothing yet lusting voice coming from another table, as I quickly perked up to the location.

Sitting there observing my direction with a watchful crimson eye, is a young girl wearing a gothic-style dress with long black hair covering her left eye.

"You shouldn't hold the cat like that, Fu-san ~"

"My apology—"

With a simple apology, I gently put the cat down as it immediately ran away, and then looked back at the gothic girl.

"—To be honest, I'm intending to meet the real you face to face."

The gothic girl's eyes clearly widened with my revelation, seemingly in shock. Seems like she underestimates me there...

"How..."

"There's another of you killing in another city at this very moment, not hard to find out though."

The girl stared blatantly at me with what I just casually said, with a clear hint of shock and an even smaller hint of curiosity in the eyes.

Not that I'll blame her for not researching me thoroughly, considering my time here is less than a week, and my time in the open is even less than that.

But still, after that Origami and now her... Fate really loves to mess with people isn't he...?

"The menu has a lot of choices... What do you think, Fukun?"

At my side, Honjo finally lifted her eyes off the menu and looked in my direction, only to meet the goth girl's eyes. At that moment, all the hesitation disappears from that girl, as her eyes become that of a little demon once again...

... Interesting.

"Ara ~ hello there, Nia-san ~ Or should I say ?"

The goth girl greeted Honjo with a sweet yet sinister voice, but Honjo just stared at her without a single ounce of care...

... Although, judging from her slight twitching with the word "", it would seem that she's even traumatized with her own codename.

"You wanna know about the First Spirit right?"

"Oh my ~ So you're as almighty as I thought ~"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but my can't search anything about her. I tried."

With a disappointed sigh, Honjo quickly dismissed the other request before she even issued it, startling the gothic girl for a moment.

"But I do."

And, catching the opportunity of their silence, I quickly speak up to her as her eyes brighten up towards my direction. Surprisingly, Honjo also looked at me with a hint of surprise.

"Let's make a deal, miss Tokisaki, and I'll tell you everything I know about her."

"Fufufu ~ Fine by me, Fukun ~"

... Nope, won't question that anymore.