Volume 1, Chapter 5: You'd Better Explain My Outfit First
In the end, Yusei's wallet did turn up.
To be precise, Tanaka Makoto was the one who found it.
It had fallen under a chair in the staff break room.
When the three of them hurried back to the supermarket, Tanaka Makoto was standing at the entrance, smoking.
The rolling shutter was all the way down.
Only the last glimmer of sunset remained, and the streetlights on both sides of the road were coming on one after another.
Tanaka Makoto saw Yusei running up and didn't say anything.
He just pulled the wallet out of his pants pocket first.
And gave it a shake.
Yusei's eyes lit up.
"Manager!"
Tanaka Makoto pulled it back.
"What are you yelling for?"
"That's my wallet."
"I know."
"Then give it to me."
"How much is in it?"
Yusei blinked.
"A little over seven thousand."
"How many bank cards?"
"Two."
"ID?"
"All there."
Only then did Tanaka Makoto toss the wallet over.
Yusei hurried to catch it.
"Thanks, Manager."
"Don't thank me."
Tanaka Makoto took the cigarette from his lips.
"Can't even keep track of your own stuff."
With that, his eyes went past Yusei to the people behind him.
Shuichi still had that half-dead look.
Asakawa Mio, on the other hand, was standing very straight.
It was just that her face didn't look good.
"Asakawa."
"Yes?"
"Didn't you go home?"
Mio paused.
"I forgot something."
Tanaka Makoto looked at her empty hands.
Then at Yusei.
Then at Shuichi.
"..."
Mio kept a straight face.
"I already got it."
"Uh-huh."
Tanaka Makoto didn't call her on it.
Sometimes the greatest virtue of a grown-up is knowing when to play blind.
He turned around.
"All of you, get lost."
"We open at nine tomorrow."
"Whoever's late cleans the bathrooms for a week."
Shuichi asked a question.
"Does that include me?"
Tanaka Makoto looked back.
"It mainly means you."
"But tomorrow's Sunday. We're not on the schedule."
"..."
The three of them left the supermarket.
It wasn't until they were a few dozen meters away.
That Yusei looked down at his wallet.
"Glad it wasn't lost."
Shuichi was walking beside him.
"There wasn't much money in it anyway."
"The point is the bank cards and ID."
"Report them lost."
"That's a hassle."
"That's why I don't use bank cards."
Yusei looked at him.
"Where does your pay go?"
"Onto a card."
"..."
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing."
Mio walked on the other side.
She hadn't said much since earlier.
Not until they reached the intersection.
When Yusei was about to turn toward the apartment, Mio turned the same way.
Yusei stopped.
"You live this way too?"
"No."
"Then you..."
Mio looked at him.
"We need to talk."
Yusei understood immediately.
"About what just happened?"
"What else?"
Her voice was very calm.
But Yusei couldn't shake the feeling there was some killing intent packed into those few words.
"Sure."
"Where?"
Mio looked along the street.
A convenience store.
A restaurant.
And a café that had only just reopened.
None of them would do.
Her identity had just been exposed; she couldn't pick some public place to discuss the fact that she could transform.
Yusei caught on too.
"Then my place?"
Mio was silent.
Shuichi stopped walking.
He looked at Yusei.
Then at Mio.
"First time inviting a woman home, and so smooth about it."
Yusei's face darkened.
"Shut up."
Mio shot Shuichi a glance.
"You're coming too."
Shuichi pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"You saw everything."
"I can forget."
"Then forget right now."
"Forgotten."
"..."
Mio stared at him.
Shuichi was completely unbothered.
"Really."
"What just happened?"
"The wallet turned up."
"Before that."
"Don't remember."
Yusei couldn't help it.
"Aren't you being a little too cooperative?"
A vein twitched faintly at Mio's temple.
"Both of you, come."
With that, she walked straight on ahead.
Yusei watched her back.
"Why does it feel like we're going to her place?"
Shuichi patted him on the shoulder.
"Have a little confidence."
"Someday it might really be."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just talking."
"Why are you being so cryptic today?"
Shuichi didn't answer.
He shoved both hands into his jacket pockets.
And slowly followed.
***
Yusei's place was right next door to Shuichi's.
The layout was basically the same.
But once you opened the door, it was a whole other world.
The shoes in the entryway were lined up neatly.
The living room floor was clean.
There was nothing on the coffee table except a remote and a box of tissues.
Two potted plants grew on the windowsill.
In the kitchen, you could even see a stainless-steel sink scrubbed to a shine.
Once inside, Asakawa Mio took a look around.
Then turned back.
Shuichi was deftly taking a pair of slippers out of the shoe cabinet and putting them on.
Mio asked.
"You come here often?"
Shuichi: "Occasionally."
Yusei put the groceries in the kitchen.
"Don't believe him."
"He has his own slippers at my place."
Mio looked down.
At the gray slippers on Shuichi's feet.
She was silent for two seconds.
"You two really are close."
Shuichi sat down on the sofa.
"We're not."
Yusei called out from the kitchen.
"You're not eating tonight!"
"Then I'll go home."
Shuichi stood up.
"Wait!"
Yusei poked his head out of the kitchen again.
"I already bought enough curry for three."
Shuichi sat back down.
Mio: "..."
She suddenly felt she might have come to the wrong place today.
A few minutes later.
The three of them sat down in the living room.
Yusei poured everyone a glass of water.
Mio didn't touch hers.
She set her phone on the coffee table.
The screen was already on.
It was that special black interface again.
Only this time, besides her own data, there was something on it that had never appeared before.
【Unknown connection persists.】
【Connection level: Undeterminable.】
【Authority source: Unresolvable.】
【External interference: Present.】
【Threat level: Unknown.】
Yusei looked at it for a long time.
"This app's pretty unreliable."
Mio looked up.
"It's never shown 'Undeterminable' before."
"So now's the first time."
"That's exactly why it's a problem."
Mio held out her left hand.
"What can you sense right now?"
Yusei looked at her.
"It works without touching?"
"I'm asking you."
"Oh."
He closed his eyes for a moment.
He didn't actually need to.
As long as he focused a little, that strange connection surfaced on its own.
Very faint.
But definitely there.
"Your left hand still hurts."
Mio nodded.
"And?"
"You're tired."
"And?"
"Hungry."
Mio blinked.
"..."
Yusei opened his eyes.
"Really hungry."
"Isn't that yours?"
"No."
Mio picked up her water glass, expressionless.
"Next."
Yusei kept feeling it out.
"Your power seems to have recovered some."
"Specifically."
"I can't really describe it."
"Heart rate?"
"Normal."
"Body temperature?"
"I can't sense that one."
Mio looked thoughtful.
Shuichi sat off to the side.
At some point, a bag of chips had appeared in his hands.
CRUNCH.
Mio and Yusei both looked over.
Shuichi froze.
"What?"
Yusei asked.
"Where'd you get those?"
"Under the table."
"Those are mine!"
"Now they're mine."
"You—"
Mio rapped the coffee table.
"Business first."
The two of them went quiet.
Mio stared at Yusei.
"Make me transform once more."
Shuichi stopped mid-chip.
Yusei was taken aback too.
"Now?"
"Yes."
"Haven't you already transformed three times today?"
"Four."
"And you still want to transform?"
"It's precisely because that power wasn't normal that I need to test it."
Mio said it as if it were obvious.
"If that state can't be controlled, it's more dangerous than the calamity beasts themselves."
Yusei frowned.
"You could barely stand earlier."
"I've recovered."
"How much?"
"Enough to test."
Yusei clearly didn't agree.
Mio could see it.
"I'm not asking for your opinion."
"But your power has something to do with me now."
"So?"
"So I have to take responsibility too."
They locked eyes.
The mood suddenly went stiff.
Shuichi lowered his head and went on eating chips.
As if he hadn't heard a thing.
A few seconds later.
Mio was the first to look away.
"Only the transformation."
"No fighting."
Yusei thought about it.
"Fine."
"But the moment anything goes wrong, I'm stopping it."
Mio nodded.
"All right."
She got up.
Walked to an open spot in the living room.
She raised her right hand.
Blue light rose from beneath her feet.
This time there were no monsters.
No fighting.
No chaos, either.
So Yusei finally got to see the whole transformation clearly.
Her black hair turned pale blue from the roots.
The strands lengthened rapidly.
All the way down past her waist.
Her everyday clothes dissolved into points of light.
And then—
New battle attire was built along her body.
First came a white top that hugged her waist.
Both shoulders completely bare.
Her neck wrapped in a collar of interwoven dark blue and gold.
Large openings at her sides.
Below that, it joined into a high-cut dark-blue battle garment.
Two short white tails hung from behind her waist.
They didn't cover much.
If anything, as she moved they made the long lines of her legs stand out even more.
Silver-blue over-the-knee battle boots rose all the way to just below her thighs.
On the outside of her left leg, a ring of pale-gold lines flowed slowly against her skin.
Pale-blue hair settled.
Mio opened her eyes.
The living room suddenly went quiet.
Yusei looked at her.
Mio looked down at herself too.
Three seconds.
She looked up.
"..."
Yusei very consciously shifted his gaze to the wall.
"Looks really nice."
Mio's eyes slowly narrowed.
"Did I ask you whether it looked nice?"
"No."
"Then what are you looking at?"
"I can't exactly close my eyes."
"You can."
"..."
Shuichi was sitting off to the side.
He offered a very objective assessment.
"Better than before."
Mio turned her head.
"Better how?"
Shuichi glanced at her waist.
Then at her legs.
"At least it's memorable."
The air went silent.
The corner of Yusei's mouth started to twitch.
A vein seemed to pop out on Mio's forehead.
"You two."
"Hm?"
"Do you think I don't dare hit you right now?"
Shuichi thought about it.
He handed the chips to Yusei.
"Hold these."
"Why?"
"Easier to run."
Mio took a deep breath.
She didn't hit anyone.
Because she knew it too.
This outfit really did have a problem.
It wasn't ugly.
Quite the opposite.
It was too eye-catching.
The old combat suit had been form-fitting too, but at least it had armor and functional parts.
Now...
Mio glanced down at her side.
"Why is this part gone?"
Yusei answered at once.
"I didn't do it."
"I didn't ask you."
"You've been looking at me this whole time."
"Because the ability is yours!"
"But the outfit comes from your own power."
Mio was silent.
That logic...
Actually wasn't wrong.
She looked down at the ring of gold lines on the outside of her left leg.
"This wasn't here before."
Yusei noticed it too.
"It's like the one on the lance earlier."
Shuichi chimed in.
"The contract left that."
Mio's head whipped around.
Yusei looked over too.
Shuichi: "..."
The living room went instantly silent.
Yusei slowly narrowed his eyes.
"What did you just say?"
Shuichi bit into a chip.
"Just a guess."
Mio stared at him.
"How do you know it's a contract?"
"TV shows."
"Which TV show?"
"That's how it always goes in shows like this."
"..."
Mio looked at him for a long time.
There wasn't a single crack in Shuichi's expression.
In the end, she looked away anyway.
"Forget it."
This guy was definitely hiding something.
But now wasn't the time to ask him.
Mio turned back to Yusei.
"Try it."
"Try what?"
"Earlier, you made me release my transformation."
Yusei understood immediately.
"Now?"
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
"That's the whole point of confirming it."
Yusei nodded.
He looked at her.
Sure enough, that feeling appeared again.
He could clearly sense that Mio was in a transformed state right now.
He could even faintly touch something like a switch.
"Release."
SNAP.
The blue light dispersed instantly.
Mio returned straight to normal.
She stood where she was.
Her face was even more serious than before.
"Again."
"Again?"
"Confirming it once isn't enough."
She transformed again.
The evolved battle attire reappeared.
This time it was even faster than before.
"Release."
SNAP.
Back to normal.
"Again."
Yusei frowned.
"Aren't you tired?"
"I can keep going."
"No."
Mio looked up.
"Why not?"
"I can feel it."
Yusei pointed at her.
"You're more tired now than before."
Mio was silent.
"So that's it for today."
"It's my own body—"
"It's your body, and it's your call."
Yusei cut her off.
"But right now you're not testing your own ability."
"You're testing mine."
"So I have the right not to cooperate."
Mio was taken aback.
On the sofa, Shuichi glanced up at Yusei too.
That was actually well said.
Mio clearly still wanted to continue.
But in the end she didn't say anything.
She sat back down on the sofa.
"Fine."
Yusei let out a breath.
"That's more like it."
Mio looked at him.
"Don't get smug."
"I'm not smug."
"Your face."
"Since when do you say that one too?"
"Just picked it up."
Shuichi lowered his head and laughed.
***
Half an hour later.
The curry was ready.
Mio hadn't originally planned to stay for dinner.
But after Yusei had called her "really hungry" so accurately, leaving now would have been a little strange.
So the three of them sat down at the dining table.
Yusei served the rice.
Mio picked up a spoon.
Shuichi had already started eating.
Yusei set the pot down.
"Can't you wait until everyone's sitting down?"
"Hungry."
"Asakawa's hungry too, and she hasn't touched anything."
Mio was just about to say something.
When her stomach, very unhelpfully, let out a growl.
"..."
The table went silent.
Shuichi looked up.
Yusei tried very hard not to laugh.
Mio kept her head down.
Her ears slowly turned red.
"Eat."
She said.
Nobody dared say another word.
Halfway through the meal.
Yusei suddenly stopped.
He looked down at his hand.
Shuichi asked.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's weird."
"What?"
Yusei made a fist.
"My body feels really light today."
Mio looked up too.
"Since when?"
"I don't know."
Yusei thought about it.
"Maybe since the parking lot."
He reached across for a drink at the other end of the table.
His arm bumped an unopened can beside it.
The can rolled off the edge of the table.
Yusei grabbed for it on reflex.
SMACK.
He caught it cleanly.
The movement was so fast that all three of them froze for a moment.
Yusei was the most surprised of all.
"Did I just..."
Shuichi looked at him.
"Fast hands."
"It's not just that."
Yusei looked down at the can.
His thumb pressed on it without thinking.
CRUNCH.
The metal casing caved in with a dent.
Yusei: "..."
Mio: "..."
Shuichi: "..."
Yusei slowly let go.
The can now bore an obvious thumbprint.
"Is this thing just badly made?"
Mio reached out and took it.
She pressed down hard.
It didn't budge.
Then she set it back down in front of him.
"Say that again."
Yusei was silent.
Shuichi lowered his head and kept eating curry.
But the corner of his mouth moved very slightly.
Just as he thought.
The connection wasn't one-way.
Mio kept looking at Yusei's hand.
After a moment.
She slowly spoke.
"You make me stronger."
"And you've gotten stronger too."
Yusei looked down.
At his own palm.
For the first time, he truly realized.
What had happened in the parking lot.
Might not have been a simple ability awakening at all.
That invisible thread.
Was still there.
One end connected to Asakawa Mio.
The other end—
Connected to him.
And it seemed to be changing both of them at the same time.
The table was quiet for a few seconds.
Shuichi suddenly pushed his empty plate forward.
"Another bowl."
Yusei looked up.
"Didn't you just say you had no money?"
"What does that have to do with eating?"
"Everything!"
"I'll pay you tomorrow."
"That's what you said yesterday too!"
Mio sat to one side.
Watching the two of them start bickering again.
She was silent for two seconds.
Then suddenly lowered her head.
The corners of her mouth curved slightly.
At least for now, it seemed.
This "connection" that had suddenly appeared in her.
Didn't seem to be all that bad.
Of course.
If that outfit really was Yusei's doing, that would be a different story.