After putting the spaceship away, Takumi finally turned his attention to Hiromi and Megumi.
"Now we can have a proper chat, classmate Kato."
"Classmate? Are you my classmate?"
Hiromi pointed at herself, completely baffled. She didn't remember meeting such a handsome guy at any point in her school years!
If someone like this had been around, she would've fallen in love ages ago. Seeing her confusion, Takumi shook his head.
"No, I don't mean you, Miss Hiromi. I'm talking about your younger sister, Megumi."
That only made Hiromi look even more shocked and confused. "Younger sister? I don't have a younger sister!"
"Exactly. There's no one else here. Don't scare me like that." Yukino folded her arms, glancing uneasily at Takumi.
This place really was creepy as hell—dark, cold, and absolutely not somewhere a normal person should be.
"That's impossible. If Takumi-san says someone's there, then someone is there. We just aren't strong enough to notice!"
Asia immediately spoke up, firmly taking Takumi's side.
Listening to this borderline "follower" line from Asia, Yukino wanted to retort. But as she opened her mouth, she suddenly felt that Asia… kinda had a point.
"Could there really be someone?" She glanced around suspiciously, but no matter how she looked, she couldn't see anyone else at all.
Takumi stepped forward, extended his telekinesis to wrap around everyone, and flew them all out of the hospital to the roadside.
"Don't bother looking. You still won't see her. Her state right now is basically presence erased. You can't perceive her through normal means."
Hearing that, Hiromi and Yukino both found themselves believing it—at least seventy or eighty percent.
"So you're saying… I really do have a younger sister, and I just forgot her."
"That's right, Sis!!!" Megumi was so moved she was on the verge of tears.
It had been so long, but finally, finally, someone acknowledged her existence.
She stared at Takumi, heart full of gratitude and urgency. "Takumi-kun, is there any way… to turn me back to normal?"
"Mind if I call you Megumi and you Hiromi? If I keep saying Kato for everything, I'm going to mix you up."
"I don't mind!" x2
The moment he finished speaking, Megumi and Hiromi answered in unison. Both of them stared at Takumi, eyes bright with hope, waiting for him to offer a solution.
"It's not that easy, Megumi. This is actually my first time seeing a case like yours."
He poured a bucket of cold water over them right out of the gate, and Megumi's emotions immediately settled down.
She nodded slightly, expression serious. "I'm ready for that… As long as you can see me, Takumi-kun, that's enough for now."
Her voice was absolutely sincere, with a faint, special warmth to it.
Takumi's appearance had freed her from loneliness. Before this, she had genuinely wondered if she'd eventually go insane or kill herself from sheer isolation.
But now? She no longer worried—because Takumi was here.
Seeing how much she relied on him as her emotional pillar, even Takumi felt a bit embarrassed. After thinking quietly for a few seconds, he nodded.
"I'll do everything I can to help you, Megumi. You don't have to be afraid of that." He gave his promise, without trying to exploit the situation to toy with Megumi.
From a third-party perspective, though, the scene looked… pretty weird. Both Yukino and Hiromi were completely lost.
Only Asia was moved to tears, choking out, "Takumi-san, you're so kind. It reminded me of how I used to be…"
"No need to get that emotional, Asia… Tell you what—go patch Miss Hiromi up first."
Takumi immediately issued an order, redirecting Asia's focus. She hurried over, placing her glowing hands over Hiromi's minor injuries.
They were nothing more than scrapes from falling, not serious at all.
But as she watched the wounds rapidly close up, Hiromi's eyes lit up. "Amazing… As expected of your assistant, Master Takumi!"
She couldn't help firing off one question after another, wanting to know how Asia did it.
But as the would-be reporter barraged them with questions, Takumi paid her no mind. Instead, he activated his Emerald Eye to inspect the sisters.
Hiromi's status looked perfectly normal.
Megumi's, on the other hand, was a different story.
[Name]: Megumi Kato
[Level]: None
[Entries]: Presence (Purple), Protagonist's Halo (Blue)…
[Presence (Purple)]: An ability awakened by Adolescent Syndrome. Because it is currently out of control, it passively triggers at all times, making your presence extremely faint.
"Adolescent Syndrome… That counts too, huh." Takumi's expression twitched when he finished reading the description.
He tried condensing a Divine Envoy piece for Megumi, but it failed. Because her presence was too faint, the chess piece didn't even recognize her as an existing entity.
Simply put: Takumi could see her—but to every other existence, she couldn't even be observed, let alone touched or fused with.
"This is… a bit of a pain. Megumi, your situation is tricky. I'll have to think more about it."
"Dorami, got any insights?" Takumi turned to Yukino and tossed the question to her.
Yukino clenched her small fist, suppressing the urge to punch him. Especially after noticing how curvy Hiromi was, her mood took an extra downturn.
Her own figure was, at best, tied with Asia's but Asia looked younger than her, which just made it worse.
"Haa… haa…" After taking two deep breaths to calm herself, Yukino shook her head. "There isn't enough information. I'll need time to think this through. I can't come up with a good solution right away."
"Then there's no helping it, Megumi. We'll have to put this on hold for now."
"Mm, I understand." Megumi nodded, without a hint of complaint on her face.
Honestly, she was already plenty happy just not being completely alone anymore.
The next second, though, Takumi's gaze shifted to Hiromi. "In that case, Miss Hiromi, let's talk about my fee for today's job."
"Eh… o-okay." Hiromi suddenly had a very bad feeling—but she still braced herself and nodded.
By the time she finished hearing Takumi's quote, she nearly dropped to her knees.
A full five million yen! Was that a lot? In absolute terms, maybe not. As an intern reporter, Hiromi knew exorcism work didn't come cheap. And Takumi had genuinely saved her life just now.
The problem was… she didn't have that kind of money.
All her savings combined barely added up to two hundred thousand yen. Five million might as well have been a figure from another universe.
"Um… Takumi-kun, c-could I… maybe pay you later?"
After forcing herself to ask that, Takumi gave her a straightforward answer.
"Of course you can. But for safety's sake, I'll need you to use this chess piece."
He held out a Divine Envoy piece and placed it into Hiromi's hand.
....
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