Chapter 22 I Have Always Been Here
Just when Nagi finally gave up her inner struggle, prepared to embody her persona of “yearning for the evil spirit,” and was about to speak to Kanade, the sky changed.
A sudden light shone into Nagi’s eyes, interrupting her words.
Nagi couldn’t help but turn her head, and Kanade followed her gaze.
—It was dusk.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the thin clouds, illuminating the two of them.
“Eh?” Kanade voiced his confusion.
Meanwhile, Nagi’s expression grew serious.
The starry night sky seemed to be eroded by some abnormal force at that moment.
The orange light spread through the pitch-black sky like dye, layer upon layer, gradually consuming the original color of the sky, resembling a modified painting.
Dusk was invading.
At some point, the presence of people around had vanished.
In this city shrouded in afterglow, it felt as if only Nagi and Kanade remained.
Dusk and night intertwined at this moment, completely breaking the boundaries of time.
The orange light spread languidly, gradually covering the entire sky, dyeing it with an indescribable bizarre hue.
“…..It’s, it’s mother’s priestess!”
Nagi heard a timid and faint voice from behind her.
Along with DD’s words, a cold wind mixed with a faint scent of incense swept in.
Two figures appeared faintly in the afterglow of the sunset.
The two “priestesses” walked toward them with their backs to the setting sun.
They wore white garments symbolizing purity, with fox masks on their faces. The masks clung tightly to their skin, as if a second layer of skin, revealing only a pair of dark eyes.
Their figures were hunched, their backs slightly bowed, arms crossed in front of their chests, with skin exposed from the sleeves covered in golden fur.
Every move they made exuded an unusual rhythm, this figure that seemed human yet not, like a blend of human and fox.
The shadows on both sides of the street seemed to twist and deform with their steps.
Presenting a bizarre and grotesque scene.
Why? Did the previous fake talisman expose itself so quickly?
Did they take me for a priestess? Are they here to abduct me for marriage?
Nagi thought to herself while quietly adjusting her stance, planning to protect Kanade behind her—
“Little Nagi, this way!”
But Kanade moved first, suddenly grabbing Nagi’s hand and pulling her to run wildly in the opposite direction of the priestesses.
“Wait, Kanade—!”
Nagi gave Garuda behind them a signal with her eyes.
The latter understood and spread his wings, flying into the bizarre sky.
The priestesses were targeting her; she had to get Kanade out of this “dusk” safely as soon as possible.
But she needed an excuse to make Kanade accept the current situation…
……
—Strange? Is this road that long?
After running for a while, Kanade realized they were on a street that would infinitely extend.
The buildings on both sides of the road continued to repeat.
The farther they went, the more distorted the shop signs became.
The text started to break apart, even twisting into bizarre symbols.
Nagi seemed to notice this too, suddenly starting to struggle.
“Kanade, let go of me! If you stay by my side, you will also be cursed…”
But Kanade’s grip on Nagi’s hand tightened instead.
—Is this what “hidden by the gods” feels like?
Kanade thought as he turned back.
The two priestesses seemed to have unwittingly fallen behind; their figures were completely out of sight.
“Kanade—!”
“I won’t! I absolutely won’t let go again!”
Kanade no longer remembered whether he had held Nagi’s hand back then in that dim room.
But at this moment, he would never let go.
“……I’m not the person you imagine, Kanade!” Nagi stopped, causing Kanade to stop as well.
“Little Nagi…”
“I’m just, just…” Nagi lowered her head, her frail body trembling.
“Just a harmful evil spirit!”
Kanade suddenly felt a stir within his heart, as if he had returned to that time.
Back to when he stood in front of Nagi, who was curled up in a room, worried she would harm others.
“Ah! I should have known! If I stayed next to Kanade, someday it would harm you like this! But—”
“But I… really, really want to stay by your side, Kanade…” Nagi’s knees buckled, and she knelt down, but Kanade quickly scooped her into his arms.
“I know it shouldn’t be this way; I have no right to be by the gentle Kanade’s side…”
“That’s not true!” Kanade held Nagi’s trembling body tightly.
“Little Nagi is kinder than anyone, smarter than everyone; it was little Nagi who saved the useless me! So little Nagi is not a harmful evil spirit!”
“But that’s not the real me—”
“It doesn’t matter!!!” Kanade’s voice drowned out Nagi’s sobbing.
“Even if I don’t know what the real little Nagi is like!”
“But in my eyes, little Nagi will always be the angel who saved me!”
“So! I will absolutely never run away from little Nagi again!”
“Kanade, Kanade, Kanade…”
“Yes, little Nagi, I’m here…” Kanade reached out and gently stroked the back of Nagi’s head.
He held Nagi, who was crying loudly, like that.
Until Nagi gradually calmed down in his embrace.
“I… can I really… stay by your side, Kanade?”
Nagi sat up from Kanade’s arms, raising her tear-streaked face.
“Yes, you can.”
Kanade reached out to wipe away the tears at her eyes.
“In the future… can I too?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I… one day might harm you?”
“That would be fine.”
“Even if I… am truly an evil spirit?”
“Ah, then, in that case…” Kanade recalled that manga.
“I might be the protagonist of that manga.”
Upon hearing this, Nagi finally revealed a long-lost smile.
“Little Nagi.”
“…..What?”
“Your smile really suits you better…”
“……Cute?”
“World’s number one cutest.”
Feeling relaxed, Kanade suddenly sensed fatigue coming from all directions; the scenery before him became blurry, and his head grew heavy.
“Kanade!?” Nagi gently caught Kanade, who was falling forward.
“…..I’m fine, just….. a bit tired…..” Kanade struggled to get up, but his weak body completely refused to obey.
“Then Kanade should rest well…”
“But…. we still…. escape…. this…..”
Kanade felt his eyelids growing heavier and his consciousness fading.
“It’s okay.” Nagi placed Kanade’s head on her knees, gently brushing his hair.
“So, Kanade, just rest well.”
“Little Nagi…..”
“Yes, it’s okay, I’m here, I will always stay by your side.”
Nagi displayed a gentle expression, quietly watching Kanade fall asleep on her lap.
“Next—”
Nagi slowly raised her head, her eyes, adorned with countless stars, focused on the figure of the priestess in white emerging slowly from the horizon.
The starlight in her eyes burst forth with brilliant radiance.
At that moment, on the orange sky, the stars reemerged.
“It’s time for the protagonist.”
