The Raven Dark Hero 94

Chapter 94 : Mission’s Over

TL:SummerPeanut

As Bright and Evil left the lab side by side, Teaser, Hannah, and Anna, who had been safely rescued, were waiting for them outside.

“Welcome back. Everything's going as planned over here.”

All the hostages who were still alive were rescued safely. That alone was enough for Teaser. In the laboratory, there were already scenes of torture in the name of material research when they entered. However, Teaser was not stupid enough to think that she could save them all.

That's why Teaser approached cheerfully, but the expressions on Bright and Evil's faces were somewhat unhappy.

“……What's wrong? Putting aside Bright, for Evil to be so gloomy as well?”

“Hmm? No, that’s not true? Al-, alright~! Come on then, time for the vacation I've been waiting for-！”

After regaining his composure, Evil thrusted his hands up to the sky with a big smile on his face. He hid the heavy atmosphere he had just been in.

“What a weirdo. Well~ then, that went a lot faster than I expected. Now that we've successfully completed the mission, let's take it easy for at least a dayー!”

Teaser stretched in sync with Evil.

“Ah, erm, thank you so much. Thanks to you, I was able to save my sister.”

Hannah bowed deeply to Bright. And so did her sister Anna.

“Thank you for taking care of my sister all this time. I'm Anna, Hannah's elder sister. Thank you very much for your help this time.”

“HYOOHー！Anna's just as cute as Hannahー! Oh, right! If you are fine with it, can you take me sightseeing tomorrow, how about it? I’ve been looking forward to seeing the sights in Germanyー！”

Even though it was their first meeting, Evil held Anna's hand and pleaded with her. But suddenly a rain cloud appeared over Evil's head.

“If you don't take your hands off Anna right now, lightning will strike…… ok?”

Fearful of Teaser's still eyes, Evil quickly removed his hand.

“Yes! I’ll let go! So please, get the lightning… GUGYAH!?”

Even though he had already let go of his hand, the lightning mercilessly struck Evil's brain.

“I'm glad you stayed away. As expected, We can't let Anna-chan get involved with this.”

In the end, Evil's fate was probably sealed when he grabbed Anna's hand.

Bright watched this usual exchange in silence.

This time, there were too many things he didn't expect. At any rate, he was able to get information on Revived Hunter, something he had always wanted yet didn’t even have any hint of it.

(If Revived Hunter doesn't activate, I'm gonna lose everything eventually……. I don’t want to believe I'm going to have to kill someone with my gifts to prevent that from happening……)

Teaser noticed a slight change in Bright; him being depressed though she would not normally be able to tell because of the mask.

“What’s wrong, Bright-kun. Did something happen?”

Teaser, who still refers to Bright with ‘kun’, called out to him; concerned about Bright's condition.

“……no, it's about Evil. I just thought he’s not learning from his faults as always... I'm a little tired today. I think I'll go back to the hotel first and get some rest.”

‘Just what happened in the lab that was enough to tire Bright out?’ thought Teaser as she looked closely at Bright. She could sense that his heart was not in the right place.

Then Anna who had no way of noticing such a change in Bright stood in front of Bright with a glint in her eye.

“Erm…… Thank you very much! Err…… you are the Darkflash Bright, right? I have all of your comics! If it’s ok with you…… may I shake your hand?”

Anna held out her hand as if looking at a star celeb.

“Ahh, I'm glad you're okay. Besides, Hannah's always been taking good care of me. If it’s just that, anytime.”

When Bright squeezed her hand back, Anna cried out in excitement. It seemed that she’s more sociable than her sister.

“Errr~, Anna-san, you're very proactive, huh.”

Teaser sensed something disturbing and consulted Anna’s sister, Hannah.

“Erm~, she’s not usually like that, but she becomes very proactive when it comes to things she’s interested in.”

“Could, could it be, she’s interested in Bright!?”

“I think it’s because Bright's manga is famous in Germany. I've written to her before that I often work with him in Kuroyume and she's been wanting to see him ever since……”

“Could it be that, she’s the one who asked Bright-kun to do this……”

“That’s not true, you know? I was worried about my sister but the only people I can talk to about it are Teaser and Bright……”

“I, I see……. But, it's just admiration, right? You know, it's like admiring an idol, right?”

“Yes. But…… Maybe if she saw Kouki’s face……  Maybe her admiration will turn into affection? …even more so because we've always had similar likes as sisters…”

Teaser couldn't hear the last part because her voice was too quiet but Anna was inputted into Teaser’s head as a person to watch out for.

“OuchOuchOuch…… hey, why am I getting struck by lightning just for holding her hand but it’s fine when Anna’s holding your hand?”

When Evil regained his consciousness, Anna was happily holding Bright's hand in front of him.

“Hmm? Isn’t it because of your personality?”

“Kill! I'm gonna kill you myself!”

Evil pounced on Bright. The scene somehow returned to the usual peace, and Teaser patted her chest a little.

――The next day.

“Thanks for your help yesterday. As expected from the Kuroyume Numbers.”

Takahiko had visited Buchwald to report on the success of his mission. In case you were wondering, Kouki did not come with him.

It's not only this time that Kouki didn’t come to report his mission completion. Basically, Kouki usually participates in the mission itself but leaves all the preliminary meetings and post-mission reports to Takahiko.

“Thank you very much. But the director of the institute, Dr. Strohm, got away. But I think that the importance of that laboratory to Core is low, isn't it? It's true that Dr. Strohm's experimental subjects were exceptionally strong but considering the security of the institute, I don't think he considered it an important base.”

From the moment the deadliest German duo was there, Core believed they had put enough effort into security. Unfortunately, Takahiko didn't see them as a threat at all.

“Hmm, as expected from the God’s Eye’s user, Evil. In this case, Core already claimed that the laboratory itself was a facility that had nothing to do with the headquarters. They are claiming that it was Strohm's own initiative.

In fact, I'm quite confident that it was just a facility for Dr. Strohm to do his individual research freely……”

“If there wasn't some kind of profit to be made, they would have shut down the institute long ago, so the head office must be making a profit…… Or maybe they were planning to, but the point is they decided to cut their tail.”

“I think so. At least if we had been able to catch Strohm, we would have been able to get him to talk……”

After all he couldn’t just say that he actually let him go on purpose, Takahiko finished his report safely and left Buchwald's office.

――At that time, Rumi, Hannah, and Anna came to Kouki's room at the hotel to invite him to go sightseeing……

“I think I'll pass? Somehow…… I'm still a little tired.”

“For Kouki to be this tired, was yesterday really that tough for you?”

“Hmm? Well, there are various things. I need to take some time to think...”

The hotel room prepared for the members of Kuroyume this time was a spacious and beautiful room. The treatment they received was as expected from the government to special guests invited to complete a difficult task.

Rumi and Hannah were sitting on the three-seat sofa, and for some reason, Anna was with Kouki sitting on the other sofa facing them. On the table, there were cups of coffee brought by the table service staff in the same number as the people sitting there.

(With that being said, Anna-san, why are you sitting next to Kouki as if it's natural! I knew it was bad because her eyes started shining the moment she entered the room.)

As Rumi complained in her mind, Anna's expression changed to that of a maiden in love the moment she saw Kouki's bare face. In fact, Anna had met Kouki in his bare face state during the laboratory but at that time she seemed to be unstable due to her being kidnapped and did not recognize him.

“But that’s-! Come on, let's go! I want Kouki-sama to know more and more about the beauty of this city!”

Anna snuggled into Kouki's arms; her eyes moistening. While feeling jealous herself, Rumi knew she would never be able to get him to spoil herself like that.

Then Anna suddenly stood up and held out her hand to Kouki.

“I mean, he’s wonderful as Bright but he's even better with his real face…… If you don’t mind, we can start being friends! Or if you want, I can also start with being your girlfriend……”

(Ehhh!? A confession out of the blue!? What's wrong with this girl!?)

While Rumi was upset, Kouki grabbed Anna's hand and held it back as if accepting it.

“Eh………? Wait, Kouki?”

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Rumi? You look like a pigeon who's been hit by a peashooter.”

“Eh…… erm…… Hannah, wait. Your big sister, I think there's something a little off about the distance, don't you?”

Rumi whispered to Hannah in an attempt to get her to help him. Then she sipped her coffee to calm herself down, nodded vigorously, which was unusual for the quiet Hannah, and gently grabbed Kouki's arm on the other side of Anna's……

“Kouki…… can’t you be…… with me?”

Rumi blew out the coffee she was drinking.

(Why are you joining in too?! I mean, it couldn’t be Hannah, with Kouki… she also?)

While Rumi was spewing out her coffee, Hannah was resolving herself.

(I knew it, big sister, you… with Kouki… also. I can't lose. Rumi's rooting for me too!)

In Hannah's mind, she believed Rumi knew about her feelings for Kouki and was always there to encourage her. It was true that Rumi had introduced Kouki and Takahiko to the shy Hannah and had encouraged her to take the initiative in getting involved with them though.

“……I-, isn’t it just wonderfulー, Kouki. So popular. I can't believe these two lovely sisters asked you out. And, I can't believe you accepted Anna……”

At Rumi's sarcasm, which was beginning to set in her still eyes, Kouki had a troubled look on his face.

“Hey, Rumi, are you not forgetting one thing? I don't understand a single word in German. What is it? I told Anna I'd shake her hand any time yesterday, so I did. Is there anything amiss?”

Rumi patted her chest as he said that.

(Hmm? But it doesn't change the fact that under these circumstances, these two sisters are showing you their goodwill…… GGRRRR……)

As they were having this sitcom, Takahiko who had just returned from his report vigorously opened the door to Kouki's room.

“I’m backー！ Come on, partner, let’s go play…… EH, what the hell is this situation!? Why are you being held from both sides by Anna and Hannah!?”

“No, I don't understand German either so I don't really know what's going on……I think she wants us to go sightseeing together.”

Takahiko stared at Rumi. She had a very cold expression but he could see her eyes were burning with melancholy.

(Ahh~ my partner, what a sinful bastard you are……)

At any rate, Takahiko sat next to Rumi and they discussed their future plans once again. However, Kouki……

“Nnn~……I'm not really in the mood, to be honest. If I go out with you guys now, I'm not sure I'll be able to entertain you, and more importantly, I'm not sure I'll be able to enjoy it myself. It would only be a nuisance for you to be with me like that right?”

Kouki replied quite calmly.

……From Rumi's point of view, Anna and Hannah were superbly beautiful girls. They had the cuteness of Western-style dolls which was absolutely impossible for Japanese people to have.

And yet, he didn’t even give a glimpse at the temptation from such beautiful girls. Rumi was relieved in some respects, but other concerns came to mind.

(I knew it…… Kouki changed. No matter how much you matured, how much can a person change in a year? It's true that after what happened with Fuuka, he lost interest in romantic affairs, but compared to before, his emotions were too weak, aren’t they?)

“So, I'm sorry, but you guys are on your own for sightseeing.”

Even though he was sandwiched between two beautiful girls, Kouki didn't feel like changing his opinion at all but Takahiko spoke to him as if to admonish him…….

“Hey, Kouki. I know what happened yesterday. So let me say this. The old you would have pretended to be cool but on the inside, you would have been upset and you wouldn't have had such an open-minded attitude.”

“……”

Kouki fell silent. As Rumi watched the two of them interact, she realized that there was something important that had happened yesterday that only Takahiko and Kouki knew about.

“Don't be so hard on yourself. At times like this, we need to remember the past and enjoy it to the fullest, isn’t that right?”

Rumi had a feeling that Takahiko's words meant more than just words now.

Kouki, too, had something to worry about just like what Takahiko said. The negative effects of Revived Hunter: losing senses and emotions. Until yesterday, he was completely unaware of the emotional side of things. Looking back, Rumi had been pointing out the changes in his emotions for quite some time. He was worried that all of this was not the side effect of his gifts.

Of course, he was going to resist it. Still, there was no way he could be in the mood for sightseeing since the side effect was definitely eating away at places he wasn't even aware of…….

“……Alright, fine, I’ll go. ……okay~, let's get back on the track and have some fun!”

So, he chose to act against his feelings as what Takahiko said. Or so Kouki reminded himself that way.

“All right, well, let's all go sightseeingー！”

Rumi was somewhat disappointed with Takahiko's success in luring out Kouki who hadn't bothered to show any reaction when they had asked him, but she also felt a sense of resignation, wondering if she, Anna, and Hannah's feelings were no match compared to the friendship between men.

(But…… Well, whatever. As long as Kouki is feeling better, that's for the best.)

……However, Takahiko had mixed feelings in his heart.

(What I can do now……. The only thing I can do now is to treat him as I always have……)

“Good, good, because if Kouki didn't go, Anna-chan and Hannah-chan would also don’t want to go……. Kuh kuh kuh.”

“That's disgusting……. I knew it, Takahiko is still Takahiko.”

“Well, it's the usual. Come on, if we're going to go, let's get going quickly.”

Takahiko forced himself to grin in his usual light-hearted way, and Rumi reacted to it. ……Such a usual scene certainly warmed Kouki's heart.

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