The heinous mysterious Death Green stepped onto the platform of the abandoned underground station, his cloak bearing the insignia of the Grim Reaper fluttered in the wind. His organic dragon-shaped mask glowed a poisonous green even in the dimly lit abandoned underground station platform.

With her trusted Victor Red kicked away, Asaka, in the flesh, faced off against Death Green alone.

Considering the brutal torture she had inflicted before, it would be difficult to resolve the issue through discussion. The fact that Death Green was fully armed from the get-go, leaving no room for argument, was clear evidence of his hostility.

「Death Green… So you were involved in this fraud as expected.」

「A fraud case? What’s that? Anyway, it’s probably that you got dumped by me so you went and messed with my subordinate (Samecchi). What a shameless older sister who has no integrity when it comes to her younger sister.」

「She is not my sister. I don’t know her.」

Although he had intended to provoke her, his unintended “big sister” statement being denied caused a question mark to appear in Rintaro’s head.

Then someone grabbed the hem of Rintaro’s cloak.

When he turned around, Samecchi was looking up at Rintaro with a tearful face. She looked just like a child about to be scolded by her parents after being caught playing a prank.

「Aniki…… came here to get angry at Samechi, ssuka……？」

「……Eh?」

「Because Samecchi is Damecchi(Hopeless-chi), samecchi is disowned, ssuka……?」

「Let’s calm down for a moment, Samecchi. I don’t understand what you’re saying, but there’s no way aniki would do something so horrible to Samecchi, right?」

Something horrible.

Perhaps triggered by that two word, another large tear spilled from Samechi’s eye.　

「Bieeeaaaaan! AANIKIIIIII!!!」

「Samecchi, what’s wrong? Look, onee-chan must also be worried too.」

「She is not onee-chan, ssuuuu! She is a stranger, ssuuuu!」

When Rintaro glanced at the onee-chan’s direction, Asaka herself reacted as if being ‘stranger’ was the most natural thing in the world. She no longer had the cold, torturer-like face he’d seen in the basement of the Narashino branch, but more like a stubborn child who’d been scolded.

「Samecchi hates mean onee-chan, ssu!」

「I am not your onee-chan. You were the one who brought it up.」

「Pieeeeeeeeen, ssuuuu!!」

Then, finally, Rintaro understood.

Ever since he saw the cardboard sword “Fukahiremaru”, he had a vague hunch that Samecchi was being concious of Minato and Kirika. The question was, why had she suddenly begun to feel competitive towards the two of them?

「Samecchi, did you have a fight with your onee-chan?」

Rintaro asked as gently as possible, and Samecchi answered while crying.

「Onee-chan is the one in the wrong, ssu! onee-chan who bullied aniki is not onee-chan, ssu!!」

「Onee-chan is not wrong. It was Saya who sent the letter of estrangement.」

「Did Samecchi throw something like that at her?!」

「Gyawaaaan, ssuuuuu! ! !」

Samecchi nodded her head vigorously while crying loudly. In Rintaro’s head, the reasons for this situation began to come together like a puzzle.

In the end, what was inside Samecchi was anxiety.

Her aniki, Kuriyama Rintaro, and her onee-chan, Samejima Asaka. Caught between the two people she admired, Samecchi impulsively cut ties with her sister and chose Rintaro.

However, this meant that the only solace Samecchi had left was the Ark Dominion, and by extension the heinous legion.

She once again came to the realization that the heinous legion was the only place left for her to belong.

However, at that time, Minato and Kirika’s presence suddenly increased. It was only natural that Samecchi, who called herself number two, would feel like her own position was being threatened in comparison.

That’s why she wanted a solid connection that couldn’t be threatened by anything. As a result, in order to protect her existence in the group, she was eager to achieve success, which led to this latest blunder.

「I see. So that means it’s my fault again.」

「It’s not aniki’s fault, ssu! It’s onee-chan’s fault for bullying aniki, ssu!」

Rintaro placed his hand on Samechi’s head and turned to Asaka. The cause of Samecchi’s distress was the conflict between Rintaro and Asaka, and by extension, between the mysterious being and the hero.

So there is no other way than to settle this.

「Listen, Samecchi. I know your sister bullied me. But please don’t blame her.」

「……Why, ssuka?」

「It’s just a little prank. As they say, the more you like someone, the more you want to tease them, right? Besides…」

Rintaro said this and held up his sword, which he pulled out from under his cloak.

「I’m also going to bully onee-chan starting now.」

The green lines running down the pitch black blade glowed faintly in the dim light. The sight had too much killing intent to be labelled as joking around.

Opposite her, Asaka just stood there, not even taking any stance.

The distance was about ten meters. With the performance of the Death Green Suit, it was a distance that could be covered in the blink of an eye.

「Are you done talking?」

「I am about to end it now.」

Killing intent swelled from inside the green suit, tingling the skin of Asaka and Samecchi.

The stagnant air underground was as tense as the freezing cold of Siberia. The next moment.

「Do it, Mayuzumi!」

「Yes!」

「!?」

Behind Asaka, who had turned all her attention to Death Green in front of her. Several ropes thrown from the darkness hit Asaka with precision.

Silver-white hair sways in response to Rintaro’s call. The one controlling the rope was Mayuzumi Kirika, who had been lurking in the darkness, concealing any sign of her presence.

It was a surprise attack to catch the enemy off guard. Kirika had already boarded the same train as Rintaro.

They used the heinous mysterious Death Green, the king, as a decoy, and an ambusher named Kirika to take down the enemy’s king. He had actually planned to use this tactic against Victor Red, but he is always cautious, even when his opponent is a non-combatant staff officer.

A black painted rope clinged to Asaka’s body to blend in with the darkness.

「Wahahahaha, here’s your payback! I’ll take you back to the base and make you cough up all the classified information! Go on, tie her up, Mayuzumi!」

「Understood!」

When Kirika pulled her arm, the rope wrapped tightly around Asaka’s body as if it were a living thing with a will of its own.

――or so it seemed.

「Huh?」

Kirika, who was controlling the rope, wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Rintaro’s eyes widened beneath his mask as well.

「Thank you for your hard work. It’s been a while, Mayuzumi-san.」

The rope fell to the ground without catching anything.

They couldn’t have seen wrong. The rope that had captured Asaka had slipped right through her body.

「This is a hologram. I am not here.」

As if taking no notice of the surprise attack, Asaka in the stereoscopic image said so without losing her poker face.

It is only natural, when you think about it. No matter how much of a former hero she may be, a non-combatant who now holds the title of Chief of Staff would not show up at a place where there would be a direct confrontation with a mysterious being.

「Do you understand?」

「Yeah, I think you have a really good personality.」

Saying this, Rintaro took a few steps forward and touched the “thread” that had been stretched between the two of them.

A thin thread-like object separating Rintaro and Asaka that blended into the dimness of the underground. Of course, it was no ordinary thread, but a wire made of special fibers that could cut through anything.

「If I had attacked you with my sword, would I have been the one to be torn to pieces?」

「Oh, you found out. What a shame.」

Even though the trap was detected, Asaka did not raise an eyebrow, as if it was only natural. Victor Red was probably the one who had set up the 3D images and traps, but it seemed as if she hadn’t had high expectations to begin with.

She wouldn’t even let him settle the matter, let alone a clash of swords.

To Rintaro, it seemed as if the woman named Asaka was saying that.

「Anikiii……」

Perhaps relieved that their “play” had been averted, Samecchi gripped the hem of his cloak tightly again. Realizing that they couldn’t settle this there and now, Rintaro kept his gaze fixed on the 3D image of Asaka and gently patted Samecchi’s head.

「Samecchi. As expected your onee-chan really has a bad personality.」

At that moment.

「Waaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!」

A hot voice echoed from the depths of the darkness.

The chilled underground space’s temperature raised as if it were midsummer.

「You said Asaka-san has a bad personality didn’t you! I can’t just stay quiet after hearing that!」

A man with a red mask and a fighting spirit. He was Kurenai Retto, a.k.a. Victor Red, who had just been kicked by Rintaro and blown off to the edge of the platform.

「What, you’re still alive after that. Sorry, but you aren’t wanted here right now.」

「Standing in the way of evil even when not called upon. That’s what a hero is! Death Green, take back what you just said!!」

「……What are you talking about?」

It was fine to make fun of him. However, Retto clenched his fists, as if to say that he would not tolerate anyone making fun of his boss.

「Listen to me carefully! Asaka-san may look cold, but she is a very kind person! The other day she made me a home-cooked meal for the first time in a month!」

「Kurenai-san.」

「It was delicious, the cup noodles Asaka-san made for me!」

Retto grinned from inside his red mask and gave a thumbs up at the 3D image of Asaka.

「All you have to do is add hot water. That’s not home-cooked meal…」

「Well, please, Mayuzumi, why don’t we hear him out a bit more.」

Rintaro held back Kirika who tried to step in to stop him. As if urged to continue, Retto continued.

「Asaka-san is also good at singing! I can hear the anime opening theme every night from the bathroom! There’s no way someone with a bad personality could sing that beautifully!」

「Kurenai-san」

「I give you a DAM score of 100, Asaka-san」

「That’s not true, ssuu!!」

It was her own younger sister, Samecchi, who attacked Retto, who was trying to praise Asaka.

「Because onee-chan was embarrassed to spin the gachapon herself, she gave money to Samecchi to spin it for her, ssu! onee-chan has a bad personality, ssu!」

「So what?! I’m the one who’s been spinning the gachapon recently! Asaka-san, just let me know anytime. I’ll be happy to spin it! I love spinning the gachapon!」

「Kurenai-san, it’s time…」

The rivalry between Retto and Samecchi continued to heat up.

「Onee-chan once was so afraid of cavities that she brushed her teeth too much and got mouth ulcer, ssu!」

「What, just that much! Even just the other day, She was getting otitis media from cleaning her ears too much! Asaka-san being a clean freak is the high point!」

「Onee-chan’s cooking was so bad that the police came to the apartment, ssu! It was even written in the newspaper that there was a strange smell, ssu!」

「Hahan! If that’s the case, then the police came yesterday when she dropped the futon she was trying to dry! The police are a bit on edge these days. Right, Asaka-san?」

The more heated their discussion became, the colder the air underground grew. To Rintaro, it seemed as if Asaka’s condition was getting worse and worse in inverse proportion to the increasing heat.

「Onee-chan insisted that she’s the master of love, but Samechi knows that she’s actually never had a boyfriend, ssu!」

「That much is fine! Asaka-san is that serious and dedicated to her work! It’s fine for your work to be your lover, Asaka-san! Even now you don’t have any interest in men! Right!」

「Onee-chan doesn’t have any friends, ssu! She has a bad personality so everyone hates her, ssu!」

「Ha, you’re so naive, Saya-chan. I’m her friend! There you have it, I’ve defeated you! Completely defeated you! Asaka-san, don’t worry. As long as I’m around, you’ll still have some friends! Because I really like you, Asaka-san!」

「Kurenai-san, please retreat.」

At that moment, a message arrived on Rintaro’s phone. The sender was Colonel Usanyi-chan.

『I, have succeeded in recapturing our ally.』

Apparently, the captured Nyanzo and Negadog were rescued safely.

That was certainly true, as the Chief of Staff, who should have been the brains behind Hero Headquarters, was currently holding her head and looking bitter. There was no way the Hundred Beasts Legion would fall behind with Hero Headquarters’ chain of command in disarray.

「Gununununuuuuu!」

「Mugigiiiiiiiiiiiii, ssuuuuu!」

「……Please withdraw immediately, Kurenai-san. This is an order from your superior. The operation has failed.」

「Eeeeeeeeeeeeeehh!?」

Retto, who had been competing with Shark like a child, was surprised and came back to his senses.

The order to retreat from Headquarters meant that sooner or later, there was a possibility that mysterious beings would invade this abandoned station as well. As expected even someone like Retto seemed to understand the situation he found himself in.

「Apparently so. Thank you for your hard work, Victor Red. You can go home now.」

「D- Damn you Death Green! Not again!」

「Just to let you know, I haven’t done anything this time. I’m about to… though?!」

Rintaro kicked a small machine as he said this.

A 3D projector installed to project a three-dimensional image of Asaka was thrown onto the tracks with the image output.

At the same time, as if on cue, subway headlights illuminated the dark platform.

「Dangerous, Asaka-san!」

「Kurenai-san, this is a hologram!」

「Oh riiiiiiiight!! Buberah!!!」

Retto instinctively jumped in to help, but was hit by the subway train heading south towards Hatagaya.

Even Retto would not be safe if he were to be hit by a train. With this in mind, Rintaro looked back at Samechi, whose mouth was hanging open.

「We’re retreating too. Let’s go home, Samecchi.」

Samecchi timidly placed her hand on his outstretched hand.

Rintaro grinned under his mask and pulled the little girl’s hand and ran off.

Continuing on and on, into the darkness underground.

---

<206: Abandoned Underground Station
208: If You Want to be Loyal>