The Raven Dark Hero 31

Chapter 31 : Meaning in Life

TL:SummerPeanut

The other person at the party, Rumi, was actually Teaser, a member of Kuroyume and his fellow comrade who had fought alongside him the other day.

(What? Why? ...Huh? No, but her hair is a different color...)

Unable to sort out the situation, Kouki stared at Rumi with his mouth open.

"...what? Something’s wrong?"

"Uhm? Rumi-san, do you have an older sister?"

"Nope. And you don't have to call me by my surname."

Rumi took a sip of her juice and went back into her own world.

(It's the same person? But the color of her hair... But no matter how dense I might be, there's no way I could mistake her face for the same person yesterday. Also, her voice is exactly the same.)

For Teaser, he had the impression that she’s a cheerful and hyperactive older sister. But the current Rumi gives him the impression of a cool older sister instead.

(Come to think of it, Misako-san said she brought Rumi here because she was feeling down today...)

The same was true for Kouki. Moreover, unlike Kouki, Yoger and Mist had been long time friends with Teaser.

‘One thing to do!’ Thinking so, Kouki tried to change the mood.

"Let me borrow the remote control."

He plucked up his courage to get the remote control and turned on a song.

A light intro began, and everyone's eyes focused on the monitor.

"Masked Ninjas.”

A very popular tokusatsu ninja series that has been protecting the peace of the earth for a century. Kouki chose the opening song of that memorable first film.

Tsuyoshi Hattori, also known as the masked ninja, was turned into a modified ninja by the secret society Evil Kouga Village.

After that, he fights as a masked ninja to defeat the Evil Kouga Village and protect the peace of the world. But when his true identity is discovered, he is persecuted by the very people he was protecting.

Still, the Masked Ninja continues to hinder the Evil Kouga Village, and then disappear without a trace after destroying the antagonist.

"Attack~ Kouga~Vil~lage~♪ To protect the peace of the world~♪..."

The filths, similar to the masked ninjas, are persecuted by the world. But the filths too have their own beliefs and are living their lives to the fullest.

For some reason, Kouki wanted Rumi(Teaser) to hear this song.

Then, Rumi, who seemed to be pondering something, held the other mic and smiled at Kouki.

“"Ninja, shuriken! Ninja, ninja sword! Ninja, ninja, ninja, ninja♪..."”

And with that, the duet song ended.

"Ooooh! What's with you guys! You guys are in perfect sync just now!"

"Rumi-chan... you know quite a lot of songs..."

Takahiko and Misako applauded Kouki and Rumi in surprise. Mai's cheeks puffed out a little, and she was somewhat annoyed...

"I think I'm feeling a little better now. Thank you, Kouki-kun."

"No, really, it felt good to sing with you too!"

"All right! You know what, I think I'll go with another anime song too!"

Takahiko, who was getting into the swing of things, took the microphone. The song that was playing was the opening song of a national pirate anime.

(..eh? This is song is bad in more ways than one, isn’t it...)

"...this song was Yoger's favorite."

It was a murmur that wasn’t meant to be heard by anyone else, but Kouki certainly heard her.

(Yup, that seals it! This girl is definitely Teaser!)

Rumi stood up and forcibly smiled before opening her mouth.

“I'm sorry, but I need to go back now. Thank you for inviting me!”

With that, Rumi left the room.

Suddenly, Takahiko also stopped singing, and only the music echoed in the room.

"Huh? ...Did I pick a bad song?"

(That's exactly what I said!)

Kouki felt like he couldn't leave Rumi alone, so he left his seat. But Mai grabbed his hand.

"I think you should leave her alone. Rumi-chan has been a little strange today. Hey, Kouki, if you want, you can sing a duet with me too."

Mai looked up and stared at Kouki with upturned eyes.

(...Cute. What's with this girl! She's the neat kind but there’s sexiness in her... Mai is definitely cute. But...)

"I'm sorry. I only know songs related to heroes. See you next time."

He gently let go of Mai's hand and followed Rumi out of the room.

Takahiko stopped his performance and smiled bitterly.

"...... I guess I didn't choose the right song..."

But the expression on his face as he looked away from Kouki was somehow bright...

Kouki chased after Rumi. She's Teaser, no doubt. What had been a deduction turned into certainty.

(I can't say that I'm Bright, and I don't know what to do even if I go after her. But...)

But. Kouki had a lot of fun singing with Rumi. And the other day, as Bright and Teaser, they had fought together and lost the same comrades.

In Kouki's mind, Rumi was already a full-fledged comrade of his. If his comrades are having a hard time, he wants to help them even if it’s only a little. That's what he thought.

He left the store and looked around. He saw Rumi's back from a distance away.

Rumi was running. He would likely lose her soon.

(It can’t be helped. I’ll just use the new gift I got from Lieutenant Iori, "Silent Stealth," and the Speed Star.)

Silent Stealth. The ability to turn oneself invisible and reduce the volume of sound of the user.

This Silent Stealth is a perfect combo with Speed Star, and together they allow Kouki to move at high speed while hiding his figure. On top of that, it also has an extra effect that increases his sensing ability while the ability is activated.

However, if he uses an action-based ability such as Invisible Slash while it is active, the stealth will be broken and his figure will be visible again. However, normal attacks are fine.

He hid in the shadows of the building, taking care not to be seen, and activated his gift. He moved to a distance of about three meters behind Rumi at once before releasing his ability.

"Rumi-chan! Wait!"

Rumi turned around. Her face was painted with tears.

"Eh? Kouki-kun? ...Why are you?"

"Err, I wanted to talk to you a little more. Rumi-chan seems to like heroes after all."

"Oh, ahahah. Then let's take a break in the park nearby..."

"Sure!"

The two of them sat side by side on a bench in the park while drinking canned coffee. Although they might look like a perfect couple from other’s perspective, Kouki had no such intentions at all.

They remained silent, trying to find the right timing to talk with the other person.

(...It's all cool that I caught up with her, but since she doesn’t know that I'm Bright, I can't talk about yesterday directly...)

And as he was thinking about what to say, Rumi started talking first.

"...Actually, yesterday, close friends of mine went far away.... So I was a little blue today."

Far away... Rumi must have thought that if she said her friends were dead, it would be taken too seriously so she changed her words.

"Heh~. Were you all close?"

"I wonder, we went out together from time to time. The best way to put it is maybe ‘comrades’...?"

"Comrades huh...?"

Comrades. Kouki thought about the word "comrades". Putting it positively, it’s a relationship where they meet slightly less compared to friends. But the word comrades implied a bond that can’t be described superficially.

"I wasn’t able to do anything even until the very end. I was really angry and upset at how helpless I were... Ah, this must be quite the boring topic, isn't it?"

"No. I understand how you feel. I used to curse my helplessness until recently."

When he was still a non-gifted. That he hated everything and built walls, isolating everything away from him.

"But I think there must be some kind of meaning to be alive. Especially in this world where people can die at any time. But we're still alive. I'm sure there's a meaning to it because we're still breathing."

"...... Kouki-kun, you're ironically more philosophical than you seem."

"What? Ironman?"[1]

"That’s a person!"

We laughed at each other. I didn't expect Rumi to react to a story about a professional baseball player from more than half a century ago, but she did.

"Haah! After laughing so much, I feel much better! It's not really like me to be upset forever. Not to mention Yoger and Mist will make fun of me like this!"

(Hey, hey, don't mention the names...... Well, no one will realize it other than me so it’s fine.)

"I'm glad to hear that. I was actually feeling a little down today, but I think I'm going to be okay now too."

"Oh really? That must be the reason why we met today!"

"Oh? I-I guess so. Anyway! Let's go home. It's too much trouble to go back karaoke now."

"You might as well go back, you know? I'm sure Mai likes you, Kouki."

(.....I came here after rejecting her though. That's right! The next time I can set up another meeting with Takahiko again... Wait, no! I've got Fuuka!!)

And so, under the setting sun, the gaping hole in their hearts was healed just a little, and they found the motivation to live again tomorrow.

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TL’s note:

1. Should be Kinugasa. Baseball player that was known as Ironman. Doesn’t translate well with literal translation so I took my liberty to change the dialogue a bit. Basically philosophical and ironman homonyms.