Chapter Three: The Stolen Narukami

"That looks beautiful too."

"Are we going out? Then I should change into something more suitable."

"Mm, of course. Mei looks beautiful in anything." Kiana praised her.

"Kiana is beautiful too."

Kiana put all the knives back, then found a towel to wipe away her sweat and waited for Mei by the door.

Before long, Mei arrived at the doorway in casual clothes and greeted her.

"Let's go."

Kiana reached out and took Mei's hand with practiced ease. "Let's go, let's go! I feel like I have such a huge appetite right now. I could eat an entire cow!"

Hearing that exaggerated comparison, Mei couldn't help smiling.

Whenever she was with Kiana, she was always happy and never thought about troublesome matters.

"No matter how many times I look up, I still find it strange."

Everything in this world was fine except for the strange starry sky. A black sun hung there, giving off no light at all. Although this world had light, it was not particularly bright.

The colors made people feel somewhat depressed.

"It has always been like this in Izumo." Mei didn't think anything was wrong. After all, Izumo had been this way for centuries. Still, hearing Kiana's comment, she patiently comforted her. "You came from another world, so it's normal that you're not used to it."

Kiana had told Mei long ago that she came from another world, but this was the first time she had heard the name of this planet.

"Izumo... Is that what you call this planet?"

The name felt vaguely familiar.

She was obviously an illegal resident. After crossing into this world, she had to support herself by working and earning money to obtain a legal identity, because she really didn't dare activate her system.

For the past few months, she had been working all over the place to earn money. Sometimes she worked part-time at convenience stores, and sometimes she relied on her extraordinary physical abilities to deliver food or take on commissions.

That kind of life was busy, but interesting.

The technology here was somewhat similar to Earth's. After discovering Raiden Mei, she had decided that this was a parallel world connected to Honkai Impact 3rd, and spent her free time pursuing Raiden Mei.

The reason...

Love at first sight was only one part of it.

Another reason was that she truly didn't know what else to do. She really didn't dare use the system that had brought her across worlds.

Since she was busy working to obtain an identity, she also didn't have enough money to buy herself a phone, so she actually knew very little about this world.

There were modern cities and Raiden Mei, so she had naturally assumed from the start that there was nothing much she needed to learn. This had to be a parallel world.

As for the starry sky...

It was normal for parallel worlds to develop differently. How many world bubbles had appeared in the Honkai Impact 3rd event stories?

"You didn't know?"

"I haven't really paid attention to it."

Kiana scratched her head awkwardly. She genuinely didn't care about this. Compared with information she would learn sooner or later, she was more interested in Raiden Mei, who had inherited the shrine and become a shrine maiden.

"The place we're in is Izumo."

"Izumo..."

So familiar.

She had definitely heard that name somewhere before. Was it from an event? No, that wasn't it...

"If you're curious, we can find somewhere to sit for a while, and I can tell you about Izumo's history."

"We can talk about that later." Kiana shook her head. She wanted to enjoy her date with Mei more. Pointing across the street, she said, "We're almost at the food street. Since we're right in front of all this food, why don't we stop talking about that?"

"I see... That's fine too."

After returning to the shrine, Raiden Mei planned to look up the historical records of Izumo and then let Kiana read the information, so that she could learn more about Izumo.

However, after Kiana's mention of it, and as she looked at the prosperous, peaceful, and lively streets, another lingering question arose in Mei's heart.

Was the world they lived in—the country of Izumo—really as simple as it appeared?

Father... and Kishin...

After her father disappeared and she inherited the shrine, Raiden Mei had secretly searched for the cause and truth behind his disappearance.

But she had found very few clues.

Ghosts and Kishin.

Her investigation had eventually led to legends. From the traces she had found, Izumo was actually not as peaceful as it seemed.

But she knew nothing more.

"Mei, Mei, try this!"

Kiana's voice pulled her out of her memories. She smiled and accepted the oden Kiana handed her. "Thank you."

"And over there! Look, it's so lively. It looks like there's a performance. Let's go take a look too!"

"Okay."

No matter what Kiana said, Mei responded to her, just as she had thought before.

Whenever she stayed with Kiana, she felt relaxed, and she was happy simply being with her.

Chapter Three: The Stolen Narukami

Going out for a stroll was actually nothing special.

Walking and stopping, eating and drinking.

But when she was out on a date with the person she had been looking forward to seeing, she could walk for as long as she wanted without ever getting bored. She would gain plenty of fun and happiness.

Kiana held the freshly developed group photo in her hand, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of her mouth. She raised the photo high and said, "When I get back, I'm going to find a frame for it and put it beside my bed, somewhere I can see it first thing every morning!"

"Huh?"

Mei also held an identical photo. She was equally pleased with the picture she had taken with Kiana and planned to keep it when she returned.

But what Kiana had said...

Put the photo beside her bed, somewhere she could see it first thing every morning?

"Wouldn't that..."

She only felt her face grow warm and wanted to confirm it with Kiana. Kiana was always like this, saying things that made people overthink and misunderstand.

"Mei would do the same, right?"

She wasn't joking?

Mei felt her face grow even hotter. Wasn't that something only couples or family members would do?

Seeing a photo of Kiana and herself every morning... Thinking about it seriously, it didn't seem impossible. Even if it was only a photo, seeing Kiana's smile would make her feel relaxed.

"I'll put it somewhere safe."

I made progress again today!

Kiana's face lit up with a smile. She carefully put away the photo and was just about to say something else to Mei when bursts of thunder rolled across the perpetually gray sky.

The thunder was extremely loud. The instant it sounded, it drowned out every other noise. At the edge of the sky, flashes of blue-violet lightning could be seen shining through the clouds.

The thunder did not end after a single boom. Instead, it continued to explode without pause, as if a god who commanded thunder were furious.

"Mei?!"

The thunder was incredibly loud, nothing like an ordinary storm. Kiana's ears hurt from the noise, and everyone else in the street covered their ears in pain. Only Mei stood staring blankly at the lightning in the distance.

Kiana's voice was swallowed by the thunder. She anxiously shook Mei, finally pulling her out of that dazed state.

She looked at Raiden Mei with concern, her peripheral vision repeatedly drifting toward the horizon. Could this really not be an ordinary storm, but a supernatural phenomenon?

Mei seemed to be saying something, but Kiana couldn't hear her. Frowning, she shook her head and pointed at the people nearby who were covering their ears.

She couldn't hear anything.

Seeing this, Mei pressed her lips together and raised her head to gaze at the lightning on the horizon for a while longer.

She seemed to be thinking, but Kiana had no idea what was on her mind. After watching for several more seconds, Mei suddenly grabbed Kiana and ran toward the shrine without caring about her confused expression.

Had something happened?

Mei didn't look like something good had happened. Kiana followed her without holding her back.

She could feel how tightly Mei was gripping her hand. Mei's emotions were extremely unsettled.

Was it because of the thunder in the sky?

Why?

Kiana regretted not learning more about this world over the past few months. Otherwise, she wouldn't be standing here cluelessly making wild guesses.

That feeling...

There was no mistaking it.

Mei had sensed that something was wrong the moment she saw and heard the lightning in the distance. It didn't look like a naturally formed storm, and she had keenly sensed something familiar in that lightning.

Why did it feel familiar?

Mei gritted her teeth and ran toward the shrine as fast as she could. She had to verify her guess.

The thunder continued for a long time, but it gradually subsided. No, it wasn't subsiding—it was moving to another area.

Rubbing her ears, Kiana asked worriedly, "Mei, did something happen?"

"Sorry, Kiana, but I have to return to the shrine now." Only then did Mei release Kiana.

"I'll go with you!"

"...Mm."

Mei hoped Kiana would stay by her side. That was why she had instinctively grabbed her before leaving.

After crossing several streets, they finally ran back to the area where the shrine was located. Mei entered the shrine without saying a word and went straight toward the main hall where Narukami was enshrined.

However, when Mei, who had run back with all her strength to confirm something, stepped into the main hall and saw the completely empty shrine, her pupils contracted.

Narukami... was gone.

"What is this...? Narukami is gone?!"

Kiana, who had followed Mei for part of the way, also saw the empty shrine and couldn't help widening her eyes. She had pursued Mei for so long and had seen the Narukami enshrined at the shrine.

This Narukami had been enshrined by Mei's family for generations and had a history of at least several hundred years. It was actually gone?

Had it been stolen?!

Looking at the empty shrine, Mei instead calmed down. She stared at the sword stand where Narukami had originally been placed and walked toward the shrine step by step.

Kiana stood to the side, anxiously at a loss.

Was it because she had asked Mei to go out today, giving whoever coveted Narukami an opportunity to act?

She clenched her teeth angrily, her mood plummeting.

She was furious at the thief, blamed herself, and felt guilty and worried for Mei.

"I'll look around nearby. The thief might not have gone far!"

Thinking that the thief might still be nearby, Kiana angrily chased after them. Without waiting for Mei to say anything, she turned and ran out of the shrine.

The thief...

Mei's thoughts were a tangled mess. She didn't call Kiana back, because whoever had taken the sword would never remain here, and Kiana had nothing to fear if she encountered an ordinary person.

She walked to the shrine and searched for any clues that might have been left behind. At the base of the shrine, she found an inconspicuous letter.

She reached out and took it. Looking at the familiar handwriting, Raiden Mei's breathing grew heavier. "So you really have returned... Father..."

The hand gripping the envelope tightened involuntarily. She had never expected that her father had been near the shrine all along.

Narukami might not have been stolen just now.

The shrine was closed today and was not receiving worshippers. She had only come to the main hall once that morning. Narukami had probably already been taken by her father the moment she turned around.