Her small body suddenly fell to the ground, but before it could hit the cold floor, it was held in place. The strong arm was wrapped in bandages all the way to the tips of the fingers, and it hurt just by looking at it.

「Igh-! It hurts…… Not! It doesn’t hurt!」

There’s no way it didn’t hurt. Normally, he would be completely resting with bruises all over his body. Rintaro currently was, so to speak, like a man who had just been in a traffic accident and was now participating in an athletic meet.

Rintaro, however, gritted his teeth against the shock that hit his entire body and endured it with tears in his eyes.

「……Aniki……? Is it really aniki, ssuka……?」

「Yaa, I’m here to pick up the bad girl who didn’t go home on time, Samecchi. Let’s go home, the warm fireplace and mama’s stew aren’t waiting for you, but the dentist is.」

「Ugh- Ugh…… ANIKIIIII SORRYYYYYYYY」

Samecchi, who was crying to the point that her face crumpled, had her head held by Rintaro silently on his chest, while being patted.

Gogogogogogogogo……

But the emotional reunion was short-lived, as a vibrating sound that seemed to ring from the depths of the earth echoed through the dark cave.

「Senpai, please evacuate quickly! It’s going to collapse!!」

Kirika, who had finally caught up with the group, shouted at the entrance of the cathedral.

The huge black crystals had been serving as the “pillars” of the cathedral deep underground. With its disappearance, the ceiling of the cathedral began to collapse.

Debris rained down around Rintaro and the others one after another.

「Samecchi, can you stand up? We are going to run――Ouch!!」

「Aniki!?」

Rintaro fell to the ground with severe pain in both legs. The cost of his overexertion came back to Rintaro in the worst possible way and at the worst possible time. Samecchi rushed to lend him a shoulder, but her small physique was not suitable for lifting a grown man.

「What are you doing……!? If it’s just Samecchi, hurry up and run!」

「Samecchi won’t do that kind of thing, ssuuu!!」

With a loud vibration, a huge piece of debris fell off from the ceiling, falling in front of Rintaro’s eyes. The world moved slowly, as if in slow motion, and an absurd death loomed before Samecchi and Rintaro.

「Uwaaaaaaaaaaan! Anikiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!」

『What, yer brother seemed to hav a dark nature, his face ain’t my type. Na, Samecchi, wanna help yer brother?』

A clear female voice rang in Samecchi’s ears. The voice was clearly audible even through the rumbling of the earth, as if it were vibrating directly against Samecchi’s eardrums.

「Samecchi wanna help brother, ssuuu!!」

『Alright, Come, onee-chan will lend ya a hand.』

Immediately afterwards, “blood” surged through Samecchi’s body from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Her large, half-moon-shaped eyes were filled with black flames, and her tiny heart burned as hot as a coal-fired steam engine.

「Fuoooooooooooooooooooooo, ssuuuuuuuuuu!!!」

Rintaro, who must have weighed more than twice her weight, was lifted up with both hands, and with her tiny feet she stomped on the floor of the cathedral. The hard floor shattered like thin ice on a puddle of water, and Samecchi easily avoided the debris that poured down with her amazing steps.

「Saw it! Saw it, ssu!!」

Samecchi picked up not only Rintaro but even the stunned Kirika with one hand and escaped the collapsing underground cathedral.

…………

「Hm, ssu……?」

When Samecchi woke up, she was on a bed in the infirmary. The white curtains swayed, and Rintaro, who was sleeping on the bed next to her, woke up.

「Good morning Samecchi, Did you have a good dream?」

「Aniki……」

「You can continue sleeping, you are tired, aren’t you?」

Rintaro, covered in bandages, spoke softly to Samecchi. Rintaro was trying to put on a smile as best he could, but there was something about the tone of his voice that made it unclear.

A moment of silence enveloped the two of them.

It was Samecchi who broke the silence first.

「Aniki, Sorry, ssu…… aniki is in tatters because of Samecchi, ssu.」

Samecchi looked at Rintaro’s face and said the words she had been wanting to say. Rintaro silently listened to the words that Samecchi said.

「Samecchi thinks, Samecchi no longer has the face to meet aniki, ssu…… That’s why……」

「What, didn’t you run away because you didn’t want to undergo treatment for your cavities?」

Seeing Rintaro’s face, Samecchi finally remembered about the cavity. Then she started shaking on the bed.

「Sa-Sa-Samecchi isn’t afraid of things like drill, ssususu.」

「Please don’t run away again. I heard if you leave that cavity alone, you will die. Come on, say aan!」

Sitting on the bed with his aching body, Rintaro put his hand on Samecchi’s cheek. The determined Samecchi opened her mouth as requested.

「Aaaan.」

「Let me see, how big has Cavity-kun’s house grown?」

Rintaro looked into the mouth where the fangs were fully grown, trying not to spook Samecchi as much as possible. He could not believe his eyes.

「It’s gone……?」

「Fua?」

The back teeth, which had been chipped black, were smooth and white and shiny like ivory.

「Haa!? It’s true, ssu! Come to think of it, it doesn’t hurt at all, ssu!」

「Samecchi, where did you hide your cavities? Come on, show it, spit it out.」

While Samecchi was happy that her tooth had completely healed, Rintaro who was at a loss, held his head.

「What does this mean……? Are you saying that it healed itself naturally……?　No, it can’t be. If that were the case, Tagaraak wouldn’t have rushed us……」

While Rintaro pondered alone, Samecchi heard the voice of that woman.

『Mufufu, If ya hav’ me, somethin’ like cavities won’t exist at all.』

「The crystal person healed me, ssuka!?  Amazing, ssu!」

『is that crystal person me! Stop it, it ain’t a good omen. I don’t mind bein’ called “Onee-chan”.』

「That’s a problem, ssu. Samecchi has only one onee-chan, ssu.」

『What, ya already hav’ an onee-chan, huh. Let’s see, ya can call me “Hino-chan”』

「Hino-chan, ssune! Thank you, ssu, Hino-chan!」

Samechi thanked the invisible “Hino-chan”. Rintaro, however, looked at her with a questioning look as he replied in an innocent manner.

「Samecchi, who exactly are you talking to?」

「Huh? aniki can’t hear her, ssuka?」

「……Eh?」

Hino-chan’s voice, for some reason, was not heard by anyone else. Hino-chan whispered again in a voice that only Samecchi can hear.

『No good, Samecchi. My voice can only reach Samecchi, so if ya talk in front of other, they gonna think you are crazy, y’ know.』

「Awa, ssu! Samecchi wish you’d said that earlier, ssu!」

「What’s wrong, Samecchi, you must have hit your head somewhere…」

「It’s nothing, ssu! Samecchi is not crazy, ssuu!」

As Rintaro looked on in suspicion, Samechi wrapped herself in the sheets to hide on the bed.

---

<133: Waiting At The Bottom of The Earth
135: Death Metal Sentai Hell Romeo Five>