You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!!

“This is”

“Excuse me, may I?”

Just as Hiroki was about to take the lottery ticket from his inner pocket, a voice came from behind him.

“…”

He thought, (Can’t the bank staff hurry up and talk to me? There’s no point in just staring at me.)

“Can you hurry up, please?”

“Huh!?”

The girl stepped back in surprise when hurried, but what did that mean?

(Who is she?!)

From the moment Shiori spoke to him, Hiroki hadn’t taken his eyes off her.

No, he had been analyzing her.

Then, having finished his analysis, he said, “Can you hurry up, please?”

This confidence. He was indicating he had the upper hand. Too strange!

He stepped back, readying himself.

Hiroki and Shiori were only three steps apart, at a very close range. If he let her take the initiative, she could surely attack. Why did he let her take the first move?

He intended to approach without raising any suspicion or hostility, catch her off guard, and use his combat power to overpower her and distance her from the bank staff.

But instead of being caught off guard, Hiroki had calmly analyzed the situation.

(Impossible!?)

No, she was being used.

In the current situation! Right next to Hiroki was a bank employee, and on the other side, Shiori. He was still hiding the weapon he was holding in his right hand.

What does it mean to take the initiative? He had already taken it!

If Shiori attacked, the bank employee would get involved.

He had planned to separate her from him immediately, but now he couldn’t do anything and ended up exposing Shiori.

(I can’t do anything now…)

An awkward atmosphere flowed between Hiroki and her.

The bank employee was silent, unsure of what to do.

(Why did she back off the moment I spoke? I don’t have the courage to speak again…)

He kept looking at the brown-haired girl in front of him, thinking.

(No, she spoke to me, right? That makes sense. But I don’t know her. Why did she talk to me… wait! Could it be!)

Hiroki realized something and gripped the lottery ticket in his right hand even tighter.

(Is it because of the lottery ticket!? No, impossible! How could she know I have a lottery ticket!?)

Believing that her purpose was to obtain the lottery ticket he held, Hiroki increased his caution towards her internally. The aspect of Hiroki named ‘Desire’ glared at her intensely.

It’s impossible she could have noticed. Even if she did, why approach at this timing? Unfathomable!

No, it’s different! She’s threatening! “If you don’t hand over the money you’re about to cash in, I’ll shout out loud here that you’ve won and make everyone aware.”

She approached just before the cash-in to catch him off guard and impair his judgment.

If she had contacted him later, it would have given him time to think. But on the spot, there’s no time for deceit or thinking. A complete calculation.

(Damn! What should I do!…)

Hiroki thinks hard, trying to find a way out of this situation.

Why did she know about the lottery ticket?

He hadn’t told anyone.

Then why did she approach him?

There’s no other reason than the lottery ticket.

It’s their first meeting.

She doesn’t know him.

(Ahhhhhhh…)

After sorting out the situation, Hiroki comes up with a plan and begins to mentally prepare for what he’s about to do.

(This is bad! This is bad! This is bad!)

Suddenly, he emitted a killing intent. The calmness up until now seemed like a lie.

(Why! Why all of a sudden!)

She wasn’t able to make a calm judgment. His killing intent, the glare in his eyes, the sound of him gripping something tightly in his right hand. Everything about him.

He had given Shiori time to think without doing anything to her. If she didn’t do anything, he would take action.

Shiori felt as if she heard that.

Then, the moment came that broke this frozen space.

Hiroki gathered all his strength and dashed off at full speed.

A sudden dash that left the reactions of the bank employee and Shiori behind.

Hiroki slipped past Shiori.

Yes. This was the solution Hiroki had come up with.

(She still doesn’t know who I am!)

For Hiroki, who doesn’t know the girl, there’s no reason for her to know him.

His face is hidden by sunglasses. Even if his photo is spread on the internet later, it won’t be traced back to him.

Thus, Hiroki’s conclusion was to “escape.”

Aaaaaah! Run!!

Hiroki felt a scream internally, as if spitting blood, while he dashed at full speed.

“Damn it…”

I’m going to die here.

Shiori murmured to herself, lamenting her inadequacy, the moment she saw his afterimage. She then imagined the future that was about to unfold.

The enhancement of her body wouldn’t be quick enough. No, he launched his dash so she couldn’t enhance in time.

He charged at her without even needing to use his combat power. If there had been just a little time for him to use his physical enhancement, maybe her powers could have helped.

He had snatched away even that hope.

Complete defeat.

Everything had been anticipated.

If she died, her subordinates, who were hidden in the ceiling, would be the only ones left.

She had planned to create an opening in his defense for their sake, but it was futile.

He was far superior in both intellect and ability.

Shiori accepted her defeat, resigned herself to the future he was about to create, and closed her eyes.

Thud!

The sound of something colliding.

(…Huh?)

Shiori was puzzled to find herself unharmed.

The sound she heard from behind was something colliding.

She opened her eyes, which had been shut in fear, and turned around.

What is this?

Before Shiori was a scene where the man, who had just been about to kill her with murderous intent, was now pinning a man, armed with a bulletproof vest and a gun, to the ground.

A third party unknown to Shiori. Until now, she hadn’t noticed this armed man.

(Invisibility power!)

Shiori reached a conclusion. The armed man wasn’t a third party but the second party. And the man she had been dealing with was the third party.

The enemy organization had included someone with powers in this plan. “Invisibility” is one of the stealth abilities well-suited for covert operations.

The enemy organization aimed to neutralize Shiori using invisibility.

Though the source of the leak was unclear, the enemy organization, knowing the details of the operation, judged that if they could take down Shiori, the field leader, they could dominate the situation.

Shiori was a combat expert. Neutralizing her and taking the civilians inside the building hostage would have plunged the government, police, Self-Defense Forces, and combat school faculty into fear.

But that plan had failed.

Because of this third party.

A huge misunderstanding.

His sudden release of killing intent wasn’t directed at her but at the enemy organization.

He released his killing intent towards the enemy attacking from behind, circled behind Shiori to shield her, and neutralized the invisible enemy.

(Impossible! How, why, what’s going on? I don’t understand!?)

Shiori was overwhelmed with thoughts, yet she couldn’t afford to stop analyzing the situation. She couldn’t afford to stop. The thoughts were necessary for what was about to happen.

He wasn’t the enemy.

The real enemy was someone else.

He had protected her.

He had neutralized the enemy who was invisible.

This much she could understand.

For now, that was enough.

Who he was.

Why he came to this place.

Why he protected her.

What kind of abilities he had.

None of that mattered now.

What mattered was what she had to do next. Anticipating the unfolding situation, she released her inner powers while sending a grateful gaze to the man who had helped her.

Thud!

(What the!!!)

Hiroki yelled internally as he collided with something in what should have been empty space.

He was running at full speed, not slowing down, and had collided head-on with something invisible.

The impact caused pain from the collision and disoriented his body.

(Brace yourself!!!)

Hiroki exerted force in his legs, trying to regain his balance and prevent himself from falling sideways, ready to run again.

But his right foot, as if caught by something, halted, causing his left knee to hit the ground.

And as his torso, unable to stop its momentum, fell forward, he reflexively extended his hands in front of him.

His right hand grabbed something invisible, as thick as an arm, while his left hand pressed down on what seemed to be an invisible sphere, about the size of a soccer ball, onto the ground.

Now, Hiroki was straddling something invisible, grasping something unseen with his right hand, and pressing something down with his left hand.

(What is this! Am I touching something invisible?!)

Hiroki was frozen, unable to comprehend the situation. But the situation didn’t stop evolving.

Swoosh.

The something that Hiroki was pressing down began to show color. It was a man in a very rugged-looking outfit, a mix of black and gray.

What is this?

Hiroki decided to accept the situation.

He had run at full speed, collided with something invisible, pushed it down, and now a rugged man had appeared.

(Yeah, this is bad.)

He was lost for words, unable to understand what he was saying internally. But this was happening right before his eyes.

Twirling around…

The girl who had been targeting his money turned around.

(Hey, what’s with that look of observing something creepy! Don’t pry open your eyelids like that! I’m not gay, okay?!)

The girl looked at him with bright eyes, continuing.

(I would have preferred to push down a cute girl if I had to. But before I knew it, I was pushing down this rugged old man. I don’t even know what’s going on!!)

Hiroki kept shouting in his mind, trying to clear up the misunderstanding about himself.

It seemed like she could sense his inner screaming. She regained her composure and looked at him with sharpened eyes.

Her eyes held an apology and killing intent.

To Hiroki, it seemed like her eyes were apologizing for something.

(What’s with those eyes! Are you sorry for seeing me in a gay situation? No way! I love girls!!!)

And then, there was the killing intent in her eyes.

(What now! Are you saying I should apologize for showing you a gay situation! I didn’t make it happen on purpose!!!)

And she slowly approached him.

From her aura, Hiroki could feel her killing intent and determination. She seemed to be the absolute strongest person present.

(What the heck is going on!!!)

Seeing her approach, Hiroki screamed internally as much as he could.