Kiana continued:
“I have a dad who vanished on me when I was very small.
I’ve been travelling since — from Siberia, everywhere — trying to find him.”
“Every time I follow a lead, I show up just a little too late.
So frustrating…”
She clenched her fist in irritation, then pressed on: “Lately I tracked him to Chongkong City in the Far East.
I even met a kind teacher who helped arrange my enrolment at St.
Freya — so I was heading there.”
“Once I get out of this awful place and find my deadbeat dad, I need answers about why he disappeared.
And if he can’t give me a good enough reason — I’m never speaking to him again!”
Ema looked at her with worried eyes.
“Kiana-san…”
Yukino said nothing, but she was quietly taken aback — and a little awed.
Single-parent household.
Abandoned by her father.
And she crossed from Siberia all the way to the Far East alone to find him.
She’s superhuman.
Kushida immediately offered Kiana the kind of reassurance she’d care about most:
“I believe in you, Kiana-san!
You’ll definitely find your father!”
Natsuyū’s mind wandered.
Kiana’s father — Siegfried — was actually watching over her from the shadows this whole time.
Without that, a child couldn’t have survived travelling through that many countries alone.
I wonder how Siegfried will react when he realises Kiana’s disappeared.
Whether he’ll spiral, get hit full force by the consequences of his own choices, and spend the rest of his life desperately searching for the daughter he drove away.
That would be something.
Of course, the best outcome was finding the way home as fast as possible.
Kiana scratched her head and grinned, easy and bright: “Hehe — just call me Kiana.”
“I’m very strong.
If we run into danger, get behind me.”
“I have Honkai Energy.
I can’t explain exactly what it is, but it makes me stronger than a normal person — strong enough to fight Honkai Beasts.”
Natsuyū looked at the grinning Kiana and nodded quietly.
In her base state, Kiana could swing a baseball bat and cave in a Chariot-class Honkai Beast the size of a building.
Unquestionably the highest combat power in the group right now.
Push her far enough, and the Herrscher of the Void — the Second Herrscher, Sirin — sleeping inside her would surface.
At that point she’d have enough power to level everything in sight.
Of course, Sirin hated humans.
If she came out, Natsuyū’s group would probably be the first to die.
That said — the Herrscher’s awakening required Honkai Energy.
This wasn’t the Honkai world.
There was no Honkai Energy in the air, and even if Sirin could theoretically draw power from the Imaginary Space, the connection probably couldn’t be made here.
Kiana most likely can’t fully transform into a Herrscher.
With that reassurance quietly filed away, Natsuyū said aloud:
“If we run into monsters, we won’t leave the fighting to just you.
We divide and work together — no one carries all the weight, no one carries none.”
Kiana planted her hands on her hips and broke into a wide cat-like grin: “Now that’s what I like to hear!
You’re pretty good, handsome.”
Ema and the others didn’t know what a Honkai Beast was, but they understood the gist — Kiana wasn’t like them.
She’d had her power for a long time, and she’d fought real monsters with it.
Was she some kind of superhero hiding in plain sight?
Between the dependable Natsuyū on one side and the powerful Kiana on the other — a wave of relief swept through the group. This story is hosted at g.com.
Almost as one, all four girls turned to look at Natsuyū.
Ema said hopefully: “Your turn.”
Natsuyū nodded at her.
She smiled, a little shy.
“My name is Rurikawa Natsuyū.
Just call me Natsuyū.”
Ema’s throat bobbed.
“R-right — Natsuyū-kun!”
“Rurikawa?”
Yukino paused briefly, then: “Is that a noble family name from the Tokyo region?”
Kushida’s eyes went wide.
“Wait — Natsu— is Natsuyū from a noble family?”
“Fallen nobility,” Natsuyū said simply.
“Nothing to be impressed by.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a decent person.
That’s what the voice tried to lure me with, actually.
I saw through it — and still ended up here.”
Ema looked surprised.
“You pursue what’s right?
That’s exactly like my friend Shiro.”
“Shiro is — was — my closest friend, ever since we were little.
I never measured up to her in anything.
She was so popular, so well-loved, always fighting for justice, and she was student council president too… the more I talk about you, the more you remind me of her.”
Natsuyū shook his head gently.
“I’m not her.
Whatever version of ‘right’ she chases and whatever I’m chasing — they’re different things.”
Kiana tilted her head.
“Can you tell us about it?”
“Sure.”
Natsuyū spoke evenly:
“My father married into the Rurikawa family.
My mother died young.
He raised me as the family head, doing his best.”
“He was a prominent lawyer — spent his career going after bad people, doing the right thing.
He wanted me to be the same.”
Kiana caught his meaning, a flicker of envy in her tone: “My deadbeat dad and your good dad — no comparison.
You were inspired by him, huh.”
“Not exactly.”
Natsuyū looked down, adjusting his sleeve.
His fingertips brushed the inside of his wrist with quiet, habitual motion.
His voice stayed level:
“To be honest, I never really cared about any of that.
I just wanted to make a little money, coast through life comfortably, take it easy until the end.”
Yukino’s tongue was sharper than her expression: “As old nobility, aspiring to be a cushioned layabout is probably the most productive contribution one could make to society.”
Ema asked softly: “So what changed, Natsuyū-kun?
What made you want to pursue what’s right?”
“My father’s death.”
“—!”
All four girls went still.
Especially Kiana, who’d started the topic.
And Ema, who’d pushed the question one step further.
Three pairs of eyes filled with the same expression — a sharp, sinking guilt:
Why did I have to ask.
Natsuyū kept talking, and the four girls braced themselves and listened:
“About six months ago, someone broke into our home with the intention of killing us both.
My father, to protect me, brought the attacker down with him.”
Kushida spoke softly, following his words: “That person was awful.
Natsuyū — are you all right now?”
Natsuyū shrugged.
“I’m fine.
Don’t worry about me.
I didn’t even feel that sad at the time — I feel even less now.”
As a transmigrator, his relationship with the man had been more like deep mutual respect than true father-son love.
There’d been warmth, yes — but he’d never been able to see him entirely as his father.
What they’d had was closer to close friends.
“But — I should correct you.
The person who broke in wasn’t a bad person.”
“Huh?”
Kushida blinked, confused.
“I only learned the full picture afterwards,” Natsuyū said.
“A criminal organisation had gotten hold of my school schedule.
They used me as leverage to force my father into representing them — getting them off the hook.
He did it.
Used every connection he had and won them a clean verdict.”
“The person who broke in was a family member of one of their victims.”
“My father called it: ‘righteous retribution.'”
“He died alongside the intruder.
Before he went, he said to me: ‘Don’t keep looking up to your father — he made wrong choices.
He’s not worth chasing.
Go and find your own version of what’s truly right, Natsuyū.'”
“He was a bit full of himself, assuming I’d idolised him.”
A dry silence.
Kushida’s throat was tight.
She stared at Natsuyū’s calm face and felt, for the first time, genuine respect.
Hold on.
Do all of you have tragic backstories?
And Yukino probably has some awful hidden history too, which is why she’s like this.
Kushida glanced at Yukino with sudden pity, already completely off the mark.
Natsuyū said: “That’s why I started questioning what ‘right’ actually means.
And since it was his last wish — I want to find a real answer.”
“And there’s absolutely no question—”
His voice lifted slightly.
“—that whatever this place is, dragging us here against our will, without our consent, is completely and utterly wrong.”
“So we pull together, cut out the infighting, carry each other, find the way home — and leave.
Together.”
Author’s Note:
Woke up and checked the backend — the follow-to-active-reader ratio is a staggering 90%.
You’re all something else.
Nothing more to say.
Once things settle down, bonus chapters incoming.
Stay tuned!
To be continued…