CK 14

Chapter 14…

To Fight Together

Two Police Officers

This had turned into a problem.

I don’t know who called them, but the police had shown up and were now investigating the traces of the battle from earlier.

…Well, then again, ever since I came back to this city, I’ve gotten into fights all over the place.
It’s not exactly strange that the police would start digging around.

Anyway, I’d noticed the sirens in the distance just in time, so I managed to hide behind a public restroom.
But the problem was—what now?

While I was thinking, Yui, who was hiding with me, whispered.

“Hey! Why do we have to hide!? We didn’t do anything wrong, did we!?”
“We didn’t. But that’s not the issue. The problem is, we’ve got powers that could easily cause chaos in society. So it wouldn’t be strange if they locked us up for some flimsy reason.”
“What!? That’s ridiculous!”

If we were part of some official organization under the Association, maybe we could rely on special privileges or connections. But unfortunately, we had nothing like that.

Since we didn’t know what would happen, it was best not to get involved here if we could avoid it.

But even if we managed to slip away without being seen, we had no way of getting home.
They had cars. If we tried walking back, they’d catch up halfway.
We were completely stuck. What to do…?

That’s when an idea hit me.

Staying here meant we’d eventually be found.
In that case, it was all or nothing.

At the very least, I needed to calm Yui down, so I spoke.

“I thought of a way to get out of this. And a way home, too.”
“Really!? What is it!?”
“That.”

I pointed at a patrol car.
Seeing that, she asked in a trembling voice,

“You’re not… planning to steal it, are you? Because if so, I’m not okay with that.”
“Why would I do that? Of course not. We’re going to get them to give us a ride.”
“Eh… but how?”
“By making a deal.”
“With the police!? Are you serious?”
“Serious.”

I really was serious, though to be honest, I didn’t want to do this, and I was kind of scared.

But there was no choice.

I braced myself and stepped out from behind the restroom.

“Wait, Maa-kun!?”
“Come on. And don’t say anything about what I taught you, okay? It’ll just get messy.”

Half sulking, half nervous, Yui followed behind me.

Then one of the police officers noticed us and called out.

“You two, what are you doing out here?”
“Well, actually… we don’t have a way to get home…”

The officer looked at us, puzzled.
Then a man in a suit who looked like the one in charge walked up.

“I’m Maruoka from the Seiun Police Station. Kid… mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“You mean… about the monsters?”

The air instantly froze.
But Maruoka didn’t seem bothered and continued.

“So you already know. Makes this easier. You’ve been fighting those monsters, haven’t you?”

That was… unexpected.
Whenever I generated my Star Armor, I made sure to use recognition-inhibiting magic.
And yet, judging by this, they seemed to know my identity anyway.

…Still, that made things quicker.
“Yes, that’s right,” I admitted.

“But in exchange for telling you this, I have two requests.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“First, please give us a ride back to Seiun City. We really don’t have any other way home.
Second, when you do, don’t pull something like ‘taking us to the station under some made-up excuse and arresting us.’”
“You’re trying to strike a deal with the police?”
“Suematsu, enough.”

Maruoka frowned, thinking it over.

Please… let this go the right way.

Another suited officer had joined in at some point, staring at me, but I ignored it.

Finally, Maruoka spoke.

“…Fine. We’ll give you a ride. Suematsu, you’re coming too.”

With that, he headed to the car.

Thank goodness. Looked like we’d actually get home.
Relieved, I followed with Yui.

The car now carried two police officers and two high school students, heading down the mountain road.
The sun had set completely, but the city lights were growing closer.

I’d explained as much as I could—things I figured were safe to talk about.

The Zodiac Knights, the Taint, and the Fallen Stars.

And that ordinary police equipment couldn’t handle the Taint or the Fallen Stars.

After I finished, Maruoka spoke.

“But kid… do you really have to be the ones fighting them?”
“…What do you mean?”
“You’re still students. Protecting the world—that’s the kind of job adults should do.”
“Yeah! Students should be studying!”

The younger officer turned around and said that, but I ignored him.

Since Maruoka scolded him by name—“Suematsu”—and he apologized, I figured ignoring him was fine.

Still, Maruoka’s words had a point.
But this wasn’t that kind of issue.

“You may be right. But Fallen Stars can only be fought by Zodiac Knights. And like I said earlier, the police can’t even take down the Taint.”
“You! You’ve been acting all high and mighty just because you’ve got some special power—!”
“Suematsu!!”
“…Sorry.”
“Well, it’s true, our guns didn’t do a thing. The kid’s probably right. But still…”

After that, the two officers fell silent.
The car itself was quiet—while outside, the city streets bustled noisily.

We’d asked only to be dropped in the city, but they ended up taking us all the way to a convenience store near Yui’s house.
Maruoka offered to drop us at her door, but Yui looked uncomfortable, so we declined.

He also gave us his phone number, saying, “Call if anything happens.”
I doubted I’d ever use it, but refusing wasn’t an option, so I took it.

After we got out at the convenience store, we started walking toward Yui’s house.
At last, Yui spoke in her usual tone again.

“That was a little scary, but… they were good people, huh?”

Good people? I wasn’t sure about that.

Still, they had listened to our requests and even gone beyond what we asked by dropping us so close.
In that sense, maybe calling them “good people” wasn’t wrong.

“…Yeah,” I agreed.
Yui hesitated, then asked,

“Do you think… maybe we shouldn’t be fighting?”
“Don’t worry about that. Like I said, I’m the only one who can fight the Fallen Stars. If I don’t, then who will?”
“Yeah… you’re right.
But you’re not alone anymore. I was chosen too. So I’ll fight with you.”

So it came to this after all.

…Though this time was almost accidental.
But with Yui’s personality, it might actually be easier to protect her if she stayed close.

Besides, since she was chosen, staying weak would only make her a target for Fallen Stars.

“…Then you’d better get strong enough to actually fight. I’ll train you from now on.”
“Okay!
…Oh, wait. Come to think of it, we never exchanged contacts, did we? That’ll be a pain going forward, right?”

True. We hadn’t.
We’d been in the same group during the field trip, but I’d avoided her back then instead of trading contact info.

But there was no point in being stubborn anymore.
So I pulled out my phone and brought up my SNS QR code.

“Sent! Thanks!”
“…Yeah.”

Yui’s house came into view. I used to come here often.
Back then, my old house was also nearby. Nostalgic.

…Though a few weeks ago I’d fought Taint around here, too.

I was about to say, “Well, your house is right there, so I’ll head back now,” when Yui turned to me first.

“Hey, can I make a group chat with the three of us? With Hii-chan too?”

I hesitated.

Yui had been chosen, but Hiyori was still just a normal student.
Involving her would be dangerous.

But ignoring Hiyori while talking normally to Yui because of that would be unfair.
And if I tried, Yui would definitely complain.

“…Do what you want,” I answered.

But she wasn’t finished.

“What about today’s group chat from class?”

I didn’t think I needed to join that one.
That group was just for today. No reason to stick with it afterward.

I was about to refuse—but then remembered Nagasawa’s invitation earlier.
…That group was basically like having two Yuis.

And honestly, if those two decided to add me on their own, it’d be worse.
Might as well just say yes.

“Whatever. Go ahead.”
“Got it!”

Yui laughed softly after hearing my reply.

…What’s so funny about that?
Well, not that I’ve ever understood her anyway.

The conversation had run its course, so I moved to say goodbye.

“See you. I’ll head home from here. I’ll contact you about what’s next.”
“Okay! Thanks for everything!”

She turned toward her house.

It had been a long day—in more ways than one.

But seeing Yui home safely, I finally felt a little at ease.

I was exhausted, and I’d used too much star power. I just wanted to rest.

She opened the gate and stepped onto her property.
Relieved, I turned to head back to my own place.

That’s when Yui’s front door flew open—before she could touch it.

And I knew then that going home to rest would have to wait.