"Uh? Ahem, haha... Anyway, are you all okay?"
He turned toward Silver Phantom and saw Sonoda Umi and the other two girls staring at him in a daze. Divine rubbed the back of his head, and an awkward laugh came from beneath his helmet.
Hearing Divine's voice brought the three girls back to their senses. Honoka Kosaka, the most excited and curious of them, spoke up.
"Wow, you're amazing! That monster really scared Honoka just now. I can't believe you defeated it all by yourself! And what are you wearing? Ah, that hurt! Umi, what did you do that for?"
Honoka Kosaka had been about to reach out and touch Divine's armor when Sonoda Umi gave her a sharp chop on the head. Honoka looked at Sonoda Umi innocently.
"Hono~ka! Is that any way to behave toward the person who just saved our lives?! And how many times have I told you? A girl should act like a girl! I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Divine. My childhood friend has been a nuisance."
After scolding Honoka Kosaka, Sonoda Umi bowed to Divine at a perfect ninety-degree angle and apologized.
"Uh, it's fine, really. You don't have to do that. I don't mind, so please stand up!"
Sonoda Umi's sudden bow had startled Divine so badly that all his drowsiness vanished. He hurriedly tried to reassure her.
"Is that so? Then thank you, Mr. Divine."
After thanking Divine once more, Sonoda Umi straightened up.
"Phew... That's good, that's good. Mm."
Divine breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his head and noticed Minami Kotori, the third girl. He froze for a moment, then chuckled softly as a thought crossed his mind.
Heh, I can't believe so much time has passed. The little girl from back then has grown up.
"Um, Mr. Divine, why do you keep staring at me?"
Minami Kotori's puzzled voice brought Divine back to his senses. He answered awkwardly.
"Uh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about something else. Oh! That's right. It's getting late, so you should head home before your parents start worrying. I should get going too. Phantom!"
Master, is something wrong?
Silver Phantom, now in motorcycle form, spoke to Divine.
"Of course something's wrong. I'm going home to sleep."
...Master, why are you so lazy? (;一_一)
"I do what I want~"
Minami Kotori—since I don't know her mother's name, I'll make one up for now—was feeling very troubled. Otonokizaka was due to reopen in a few days, but the school was going to be shut down. And a few days ago, one of its teachers had been murdered. With so few teachers to begin with, it would be even harder for Otonokizaka to find a replacement now.
"What am I supposed to do?"
Minami Kotori furrowed her brow and spoke with a troubled expression.
She glanced at the two framed photographs on her desk. One was her graduation photo from Otonokizaka. She stood there with several friends, including a stunning white-haired girl who was smiling at the camera beside her. The other photo showed a six- or seven-year-old boy with black hair and black eyes holding hands with a girl a year or two younger than him. The girl had grayish-brown hair and amber eyes. The white-haired woman and Minami Kotori stood beside them.
The person who could make the protagonist afraid
Her eyes filled with nostalgia as she looked at the photo of herself, her daughter, her friend, and her friend's son smiling at the camera. She gazed at the little boy in the picture, then remembered the figure she had seen that day. The furrow in her brow relaxed at once.
"Right. The subject they're short a teacher for is world history, and that boy should be old enough now. I just don't know if the person I saw that day was really him."
As she spoke, Minami Kotori picked up her phone, dialed a string of numbers, and held it to her ear.
"Flop."
"Mmm... haah."
In his bedroom at home, Senba Gari flopped onto his bed, then stretched contentedly. He spoke to Silver Phantom, who stood nearby in robot form.
"Phantom, tell me. What would you do if I weren't around one day?"
Silver Phantom's chest display changed to a puzzled expression.
Master, why are you asking that? [?__??]
Silver Phantom's question reminded Senba Gari of what Fenrir had told him before he used the Divine Fenrir form that day.
A few hours earlier, just as Senba Gari was transforming into Divine, Fenrir's voice suddenly came through.
[Kid, there's something you need to remember. I wasn't lying when I told you that you would become Mlortha.]
"Huh? But wasn't Divine created by Gaia?"
Senba Gari asked in confusion after hearing Fenrir's warning.
[That's right, but this might be a curse. When Gaia created Divine's Beast God Driver, something happened for reasons I don't understand. Every time someone transforms into Divine, a small amount of Original Sin Power—the power at the source of Mlortha—builds up inside the wearer. Once the Original Sin Power fills you completely, you'll become Mlortha, and you won't be able to control it.]
"I see. Is there any way to save me?"
At the mention of being unable to control himself, Senba Gari bit his lip, suppressing his unease as he asked Fenrir.
[I don't know. The first Divine never became Mlortha; he died fighting the Seven-HBrute, taking them with him. But you don't need to worry for now. Gaia implanted a power inside you that suppresses the Original Sin Power, so if you destroy the Seven-HBrute, perhaps you won't become Mlortha.]
"I see."
Master, what's wrong?
"Ah, it's nothing. You're a robot, after all, while I'm just an ordinary human. Humans have very short lifespans, you know. And I have to fight Mlortha, so I might die one day."
I see. But no matter what happens, when we first met, Master told me I was your family. I looked it up, and family is something very important to everyone. So if Master says I'm your family, I'll stay by your side for as long as you're still here. (???ω???)
"Haha, is that so? Thank you, Phantom."
You don't have to thank me. You'll make me blush. (＊／ω＼＊)
Silver Phantom's display changed. It covered its face with its hands and swayed from side to side.
"Blush, my ass! You're a robot! A robot! And your movements are making me want to throw up the midnight snack I just ate! Honestly, you've completely ruined the mood."
Senba Gari's mouth twitched as he stared at the expression on Silver Phantom's chest and its movements. He shouted at it in exasperation.
"Forget it. I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep."
He turned off the light and fell asleep at once. But just as he was about to drift off, his phone rang. He didn't want to answer, but it kept ringing, so he picked it up without even checking the caller ID and snapped at the person on the other end.
"Hello! Who is this? Do you know you can get reported for disturbing the peace if you call in the middle of the night?"
Minami Kotori had called because she needed to ask Senba Gari for a favor. But when she heard his angry voice from the other end, she never imagined the brat would dare to yell at her like that. A smile spread across her lips—a smile that would make Senba Gari shudder—and she spoke to him "gently."
"Oh my, Little Gari. Do you remember me? It's your Aunt Minami."
All of Senba Gari's anger vanished the moment he heard the voice on the other end. His sleepiness disappeared, and he nearly dropped the phone. He stammered into it.
"Ha, haha... S-so it's you, A-Aunt Minami. I was wondering who it was. Ha, haha."
"Oh dear, did I wake you up, Little Gari?"
"N-no, not at all! I'm wide awake now. What do you need, Aunt Minami?"
He hurriedly answered her, thinking, Oh no. It's Aunt Minami. I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead.
"Oh, I do have a 'little' favor to ask you, Little Gari. But it's late now, so let's meet at our usual place tomorrow. Bye."
"Beep, beep, beep."
"...Finally, it's over. That scared me to death."
After Minami Kotori hung up, Senba Gari lay back on his bed, looking as if he'd just escaped a disaster. Silver Phantom watched him and said in exasperation,
Master, is it really necessary to look like you just escaped the end of the world?
"Don't say anything. This is an embarrassing memory I'll never forget for the rest of my life!"
Senba Gari lay on the bed, close to tears.
A building suddenly collapsed!
Master! Master! Are you all right?
"Cough, cough... Phantom, I'm fine. I've just run out of spiritual energy and suffered a few injuries. I'll be all right after I rest."
Inside a collapsed commercial building, Senba Gari leaned weakly against a badly damaged wall, clutching his left arm as he spoke to Silver Phantom through his earpiece.
But what had happened? Let's go back to the day before.
"Creeeak—"
At 9:30 in the morning, outside the entrance to a café in Akihabara, Senba Gari had just dismounted from Silver Phantom in motorcycle form when Silver Phantom's voice came through his earpiece.
Master, what are you afraid of?
At Silver Phantom's words, Senba Gari seemed to remember something unpleasant. His body began to tremble slightly, and cold sweat broke out on him. (Seriously, what happened to you before, anyway?! (;一_一))
"N-nothing."
Is that so? ━┳━ ━┳━
"R-right, I should go in."
He pushed open the café door and went inside. A male server came over and asked,
"Welcome! What can I get for you?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm here to meet someone."
After sending the server away, Senba Gari looked around and spotted a woman with conspicuous grayish-brown hair. He walked straight toward her.
"Aunt Minami, long time no see!"
He reached Minami Kotori and sat down across from her without ceremony, greeting her.
"Hm? You're... Little Gari!"
Minami Kotori looked at Senba Gari, who had suddenly sat down across from her and greeted her, and asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I'm surprised you still remember me. By the way, how's Kotori?"
"Ah, while you were away studying archaeology with your father, she made friends with two wonderful children. She's very happy now. She'll be thrilled to hear you're back."
"I see. Looks like that girl can make friends even without me around."
"We have you to thank for that. When Kotori was little, she had a problem with her left foot, so people bullied her all the time. If you hadn't stayed by her side, she might have kept getting bullied."
(A little spoiler about how the protagonist met Kotori's family: Kotori's mother and Senba Gari's mother were childhood friends. They went to the same school from elementary through high school, and even lived in the same area after they got married. So, as you can imagine, when Senba Gari was eight, something happened and he went traveling around the country with his father.)
"By the way, have you been to see your mother since you got back?"
"Not yet. I'm planning to wait until things have settled down over the next few days."
A faint sadness showed in Senba Gari's eyes.
"I see. Also, I tried calling your father earlier, but couldn't get through. That's why I called you instead. What happened to him?"
Minami Kotori's question made Senba Gari's hand tremble slightly. He bit his lip, suppressing the pain in his heart, and spoke in a trembling voice.
"...A few months ago, we were doing archaeological research at some ruins when an accident happened. Everyone except me died, and my idiot father disappeared."
Seeing Senba Gari getting upset, Minami Kotori put a hand on his head and began to comfort him.
"Don't worry. Your father's missing, not dead. You should hold on to hope, right?"
Feeling the warmth on his head—or perhaps because Minami Kotori's comforting words were helping—Senba Gari moved her hand away and spoke.
"Honestly, Aunt Minami, I'm not a child anymore. You don't have to keep patting my head."
Seeing his reaction, Minami Kotori smiled.
"Oh my~ Is Little Gari acting tsundere~?"
"I'm not tsundere! Ahem... Anyway, Aunt Minami, didn't you have something to ask me? What do you need my help with?"
He yelled at Minami Kotori, then noticed the strange looks from the people around them and awkwardly sat back down.
"Hehe. It's nothing much. I just wanted to ask you to come teach at Otonokizaka."
"Oh, teaching? Wait, what?! Isn't Otonokizaka an all-girls' school?!"
Senba Gari looked at Minami Kotori in shock.
"That's right."
"No way! I'd rather die!"
Before you continue