Starting with Firefly, Speedrunning Through Worlds Part 12

Firefly stood up. She neither greeted her with a cold face nor brought up the fact that she had saved her before; she simply spoke to her kindly.

How should she put it? Out of the entire Kamen Rider Geats series, Kurama Neon was actually one of the slightly better, more normal ones.

Mainly because she was not that deeply tied to the main plot, so her character had not been butchered to an outrageous extent.

The only thing that annoyed her a little was what she had said to the panda who had nearly killed her mother.

Although it had left her utterly speechless at the time, compared to Geats, Buffa, and Tycoon—the absurd Goddess of Creation with her insane double standards—she was already pretty good.

And now, Firefly was even more composed.

"Of course. Neon's great escape won't stop."

Kurama Neon answered as if it were only natural.

Then, as though she sensed something, she turned to look behind her. Sure enough, those bodyguards had caught up again. Kurama Neon immediately tensed up.

"Oh no, they caught up again!"

With that, Kurama Neon took off running again.

Firefly had not paid much attention at first, but the next moment, Neon grabbed her wrist and dragged her along with her.

She even abandoned her umbrella and kept running through the rain, though it was not raining heavily.

Firefly was a little caught off guard.

Run if you want to run. Why are you dragging me along...

But when she saw Kurama Neon's anxious expression, she hesitated and said nothing more.

Having seen the story, she naturally knew why Kurama Neon was so determined to escape her family.

Her mother's suffocating need to control her had made her desperate to get away. Firefly could actually understand those feelings very well.

Sometimes, parents were unreasonable, yet convinced that it was love. That was truly painful and tormenting.

Because she had experienced it herself.

"Do you want to get away from them for good?"

Firefly let herself be dragged along as they ran. Kurama Neon was already panting heavily, while Firefly looked as though nothing had happened.

"O-Of course."

Kurama Neon answered between heavy breaths. That family only made her want to run away now.

"I understand. Then come with me!"

At that moment, Firefly grabbed Kurama Neon's wrist in return and led her into an alley, then directly disabled every tracker on her.

After weaving through countless turns for who knew how long, Kurama Neon could no longer keep going. She slumped weakly against the wall and dropped onto the ground.

"I... I really can't run anymore."

Her legs no longer felt like her own. She had run away often before, but never like this.

"They probably won't be able to find us here for now."

Firefly glanced around, making sure those people would not catch up again.

As for what came next, Kurama Neon alone naturally had no way of escaping the Kurama Conglomerate's watchful eye as long as she remained in this world.

But with Firefly's help, things were different.

With the system's abilities, even the Desire Grand Prix organizers and the Goddess of Creation could not lock onto her location. The Kurama Conglomerate had even less chance.

Unless she got herself killed.

"Turn off your streaming device. If you're just trying to make an entertainment show, or you want them to find you, then pretend I never said anything."

Noticing the streaming device in Kurama Neon's hand, Firefly could not help thinking how persistent she was to still be holding onto it after getting this exhausted.

But using a streaming device to expose her own location was just too stupid.

Sparkle's Mask

"Oh, right, right!"

"I was running so urgently that I forgot! I'll turn it off now."

Hearing Firefly's words, Kurama Neon came to her senses. Although her running-away-from-home show looked like some child's game, she truly wanted to escape her family. Naturally, it was not as Firefly had said.

"Alright, everyone on Neon TV, that's all for today. Wish me luck in finally getting away from them and succeeding in running away from home this time!"

"Bye-bye! See you next time!"

Kurama Neon aimed the camera at herself and adorably greeted her viewers as she explained the situation. Only then did she turn off the streaming device in her hand.

To her, the encouraging and supportive comments from her channel's fans were also crucial to giving her confidence.

Making money was secondary; she did not need to rely on this to earn a living. She simply liked the strength she received from her fans supporting and cheering her on. At home, she felt utterly useless. Only through her streaming fans could she regain some confidence.

After putting down the device, Kurama Neon completely melted into a limp heap on the ground, her back against the wall. She could no longer care about maintaining the image of a refined young lady.

She was completely exhausted!

"Um... aren't you tired? We've been running for so long?"

Panting, Kurama Neon noticed Firefly beside her. She herself was utterly exhausted, but Firefly seemed completely unaffected.

"I'm fine."

The girl shook her head.

Even without transforming into Sam, her physical abilities surpassed those of ordinary people—especially after being strengthened by the power of the Path of Destruction.

"I'm really sorry about earlier! I just instinctively dragged you along and ran. You didn't even need to run away with me..."

Kurama Neon finally realized that dragging Firefly along while she fled seemed rather inappropriate. She was the only one the bodyguards had been chasing.

It had nothing to do with this silver-haired girl.

Realizing that made Kurama Neon feel a little embarrassed.

She had made the other girl run so far.

Though afterward, Firefly had been the one dragging her all over the place, and she no longer even knew where they were.

"It's okay."

Firefly shook her head. She had not minded at all.

In any case, she had yet to settle on a place to live. She could go anywhere; it made no difference.

Besides, since she had promised Kurama Neon that she would gain her freedom and no longer be troubled by her family, even if only temporarily, she would keep her word.

"If you've rested enough, let's keep going. This place may not be completely safe."

After a short while, seeing that Kurama Neon had recovered, Firefly spoke again.

She had streamed while running all the way here. Although she had helped conceal them, it was not foolproof. They still needed to leave.

"Huh, we still have to run?"

Kurama Neon slowly got to her feet, feeling a little numb.

"We don't need to be as rushed as before. We can just walk slowly."

"I'll say it again: if you really want to escape, then keep going. Otherwise, forget it. Pretend I never said anything."

Kurama Neon still had the mindset of a conglomerate heiress. Though she was far better than many spoiled and willful young ladies, she still retained some pampered habits.

But thankfully.

Hearing Firefly's words, and for the sake of leaving her family behind to gain that precious freedom, she endured her physical discomfort and continued fleeing.

"By the way, I still don't know your name."

"I'm Kurama Neon. You should know that already, right?"

Kurama Neon followed Firefly without knowing where they were headed, yet for some reason, she trusted that Firefly would not harm her.

And along the way, they really had not spotted those bodyguards again.

Looking at the girl before her, who was even cuter than herself, she found herself filled with curiosity about her.

"Firefly."

"My name."

Firefly's voice was sweet, like a piece of honey candy melting in one's mouth. Even Kurama Neon could not help spacing out slightly when she heard it.

"Firefly? What a lovely name..."

"That should be far enough. Those people probably won't come looking anymore."

When they reached the outskirts, Firefly stopped walking.

As long as she was with Kurama Neon, it would be difficult for the Kurama Family to find her. Without her, however, given the strength of the Kurama Conglomerate, Kurama Neon would be caught and brought back no matter how far she ran.

So there was no point in going too far. This was far enough.

"They really didn't find us."

"Did this grand operation to run away from home actually succeed?"

Only then did Kurama Neon come to her senses and look around. So much time had passed, yet no bodyguards had come after her!

Could her long-standing run-away-from-home operation, which had failed who knew how many times, really have succeeded just like that?

It even felt a little unreal to her!

"For now, it has succeeded."

"But you understand the strength of the Kurama Conglomerate yourself. As long as you remain within their sphere of influence, it's almost impossible to completely escape their notice."

This was a modern world. As long as one left traces behind, they could easily be discovered.

After all, it was impossible not to live.