Before long.
Akasaka really did return.
He even had a French baguette tucked in his arms.
It was fresh food he had bought after selling all the scrap he had collected.
Panting, he ran up to Natsumi Kyouno, broke the baguette in half, and handed one half to her. "Here, eat. This is fresh food I just bought. Here's a bottle of mineral water too—it's freshly bought as well."
"Oh, right. Don't throw away the empty bottle after you finish drinking it. Remember to save it for me. It can still be sold for money."
Natsumi Kyouno looked up at Akasaka blankly, then finally smiled.
She took the clean bottle of mineral water he offered with one hand and the half loaf with the other. "Thank you~"
That was how they first met.
The two traveled together in France and spent a romantic stretch of time together.
That meant scavenging for scraps and sleeping on the streets...
During that time, Akasaka had been teaching Natsumi Kyouno the most basic common sense of survival, teaching her how to live in this world.
Even picking bread from the trash bins outside bakeries was something Akasaka had taught her.
Natsumi Kyouno vaguely remembered what Akasaka had said to her back then.
"Remember! The trash bins outside bakeries usually have their day-old bread thrown inside in clean garbage bags."
"That bread can still be eaten. It's just not very fresh."
Natsumi Kyouno nodded dumbly, indicating that she understood.
Then, for some unknown reason, Akasaka vanished from right before Natsumi Kyouno's eyes. It drove her into a breakdown for a long time. She searched everywhere, but she never found him.
By then, Natsumi Kyouno had already formed a deep bond with Akasaka. She had nearly undergone an immediate reverse Spirit transformation—what people commonly called falling