189. Black Bullet : Discussion With Aika and Ravel About the Future.

After attending the meeting, Kaito then decided to visit the base to meet Aika and report on all that had happened in the meeting. Getting Aika's location in her room at the base through the chat group, Kaito then used teleportation and immediately appeared in front of Aika directly with Midori.

"Oh, Kaito? Is it done?"

"Umm... Good afternoon, Aika."

"G-Good afternoon, Aika-sensei!"

Both Kaito and Midori greet Aika who is sitting relaxed in her office chair in a modern-style room, then Aika who has been waiting for them greets them back.

"Good afternoon, Kaito, Midori-chan." Aika said and then smiled kindly at the little one, "Midori-chan, I am sorry, but can you let me talk alone with your master?"

"Play with your friend here, Midori-chan," Kaito ordered with an apologetic look. "I am sorry, but I will treat you to an ice cream later."

"Y-Yes!"

Fortunately, Midori understood the situation and quickly got out of the room. She doesn't want to get the bad side of Kaito and honestly get out of the room, even though she is curious about what they are talking.

...

After ensuring Midori left the room and even the building, Aika told him to sit down and asked, "Anyway, how's the meeting?"

"Fundamentally, nothing changed despite our interference." Kaito, who took a seat on the sofa, nodded at her, "The only thing I notice is that the clown and his initiator seem to know and be wary of me. He even predicted the fight between us and prepared a smoke bomb for us to escape."

"Interesting development." Aika raised her eyebrow with interest. "Does it mean Tendo Kikunojo is aware of your existence?"

"That old man... Definitely." Kaito shrugged casually, "I am part of his granddaughter's employee, after all."

Kaito wouldn't be surprised if the reason why Hiruko Kagetane knew his existence and was prepared came from Tendo Kikunojo himself. It also doesn't help that he is quite popular in Tokyo right now, thanks to his very high IP rank.

...

"Then, since the plot has not changed drastically, I guess we need to be prepared to fight Scorpion later..." Aika joked with a casual tone, "What do you think we should do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let the protagonist save Tokyo like in the Original, or should we take care of it?"

"Let's see... if the plot doesn't change, let Rentaro do it, saving Tokyo from Scorpion~"

Kaito commented as he poured himself some tea to drink. "However, if there are any changes to the plot we know, especially if it's related to Est's soul fragment, we will take action because it will be too dangerous."

*Sip*

"I see... You can't let Tokyo be destroyed, right?" Aika teased, "Even though you often complain about the many crimes there and how many people you punish every day."

"Yes."

Kaito admitted frankly, putting his tea on the table, "Although I don't like how many evil people there are, it can't be denied that there are many people there who just want to live in peace and don't want to oppress the cursed children."

"They were just don't care or simply afraid to speak up."

"I am glad you didn't have blatant prejudice for all Tokyo Area citizens."

Hearing Kaito's rambling, Aika agreed with Kaito's idea and said, "Alright then, we'll stick to the idea of ​​not interfering in this world's affairs as much as possible while also still saving all cursed children in this world as much as we can."

"Indeed." Kaito nodded in agreement and suggested, "When we finally find Est's soul fragment, finish the portal and evacuate most of the cursed children in this world, that's the time when we start cleaning, eradicate all Gastrea creatures in this world."

"Oh? Can you tell me the reason?"

"While this world itself were suck, you can't deny that Gastrea virus existence itself was the root cause of every problem, including the cursed children situation."

...

After living in Tokyo for weeks, Kaito could understand how this morally corrupt and insane society came to be. Basically, many humans lost their loved ones to Gastrea creatures, but they were too weak and afraid to take revenge on those creatures directly. Thus, cursed children became their targets for venting their anger, and while that was clearly wrong-- for people who had gone mad from losing their loved ones, they were clearly not thinking straight.

Kaito knew this because he had felt how depressed and miserable he was when Kaito realized he lost Est back in the moon world--- yet he couldn't be angry at anyone because the main culprit was his cursed bad luck. Luckily, Est could be saved, otherwise... Kaito knew he might have chosen to kill himself out of guilt.

Because the root of this crazy society is the Gastrea virus, to change this world for the better, they must eradicate it so that the hatred towards cursed children can at least be stopped. As long as there are still Gastrea creatures in this world, humans who keep losing their loved ones to those creatures will continue to hate cursed children because it is the easiest way to vent their anger and seek revenge.

...

"You're right, Kaito. Same with the case of Exodus and Genesis Tree in my world; as long those factors are removed, everything would be back to normal."

As someone who comes from a world with apocalyptic problems too, Aika wholeheartedly agreed with Kaito's opinion and then commented, "We're on the right track now, and honestly, with Manaka working hard for us, I'm sure we'll find the Est soul fragment soon."

???

Hearing Aika praise Manaka, her competitor out of nowhere, Kaito couldn't help but be surprised and asked, "Manaka works?"

"She is amazing, you know? She meant it when Manaka stated she's willing to do so much for you."

After that, Aika explained that yesterday, Manaka decided to summon a lot of servants to this world to help those who want to collect all the cursed children that could be saved. She, alongside her servants, then goes to various parts of the world to secure the cursed children, which will later be collected together in this base after successfully finding all the Est soul fragments in this world.

...

"Wow... I didn't expect her to do that. I thought she was bluffing when we were reporting in the chat group yesterday."

Kaito scratched his head in confusion. "Summoning hundreds of servants? We are not trying to fight Goetia, right? How the fuck Alaya in that world also agreed to her too? Isn't that mean Manaka by herself, equal to an army of Servants and BEAST?!"

Hearing Aika's explanation, Kaito admitted that he was amazed by Manaka's very direct actions and felt how strong her love (obsession) for him was, making him happy and confused at the same time.

...

"It is indeed crazy... I admit, among everyone around you, Manaka undoubtedly has the highest obsession with you, Kaito."  Aika warned seriously.

"I-I know." Kaito nodded nervously, "Well, regardless of her dangerous attitude, it's undeniable she did so much for our goal."

"How about me, Kaito?" Aika teased, "I also help you a lot too."

"Ah! O-Of course you too!" Kaito wryly smiled, knowing Aika might be jealous, "And everyone, since we work together to save Est!"

...

After that, Aika and Kaito continued to talk about many problems at the base and about their ideas, such as the portal construction process, the allocation of cursed children later and most importantly, Minaka's progress on the Gastrea virus vaccine.

Fortunately, Aika reported the good news, that Minaka (the main Sekirei villain) had succeeded in making a vaccine prototype that could eradicate the Gastrea virus in the body, but this result was not as expected because after the test results, the samples would also lose the "superpowers" they got from Gastrea.

However, Minaka insists on fulfilling Kaito's expectations within the next week, making a vaccine that eliminates the bad side effects of the Gastrea virus and keeps them having superpowers to protect themselves.

Knowing this information, Kaito admitted that he was also very impressed with Minaka's hard work and did not regret recruiting him to work for them.

>>>>>

After finishing talking with Aika, Kaito decided to visit the cursed children's dormitory (in the form of a 50th-floor tall apartment) in this base to see the condition of Anna, the cursed child he saved yesterday. Among all the cursed children he has been saved in the Tokyo Area, Anna's condition is easily one of the worst, since she has received a lot of beatings with a hole wound because she got nailed on both her arm and leg.

The moment he entered the building's doors with Midori, however, he was immediately swarmed by dozens of cursed girls who were here expressing their gratitude and love (most of it Kaito personally saved)-- filling the wide lobby and making it difficult for him to even move since everyone was holding his leg and arm.

Due to his gentle action of saving a lot of cursed children and sometimes playing with them equally (with clone) and treating them with new toys or food every time he visits, Kaito's reputation among the cursed children is undoubtedly the highest among everyone in the chat group, thus the source of members mocking him as a loli harem king.

He doesn't want such a dangerous title, though, but it can't be helped when a lot of cursed children also clearly expressed their love for him!

...

"Kaito-sensei, are you here to play!?"

"Kaito-sensei, I like you!"

"Kaito-sensei, I want to be your partner too, like Midori-chan!"

"Kaito-sensei, I want to be your bride!"

"Kaito-sensei, let's play together!"

"Kaito-sensei, I want a new toy!"

Hearing all the words of the little girls around him, Kaito felt sweaty, especially since some of them said quite dangerous things. "Everyone, calm down..." Kaito smiled kindly at them. "I will give everyone new toys to play with, but for now, can you let me visit one of your new friends, Anna?"

...!!

"Ah. The new girl... Anna... She is in Ravel's sister's room."

"Yeah, she got it pretty bad... no wonder Kaito-sensei would visit her."

"Kaito-sensei, you came for Anna-chan?"

"Kaito-sensei. The new girl is in the infirmary and getting treated by Ravel-sensei."

...

Hearing Kaito's words, all the cursed children in the area immediately answered Kaito while also showing the direction. As fellow cursed children, they also knew the condition of their new friend yesterday when she was rescued, and it was indeed quite tragic.

"Thank you, Everyone." Kaito replied and promised, "After this, I promise to play with all of you and give you new toys."

"How about it?"

""Thank you, sensei!""

Hearing the promise made by Kaito, the cursed children who heard it became excited and even escorted Kaito to Anna's room to receive intensive care from Ravel, who was on duty as a medic in this place.

>>>>>

Arriving at the infirmary where Ravel was living, Kaito found a large room full of partitions and beds, like an emergency room in a hospital, complete with medical equipment. Because many cursed children were rescued in poor physical condition, this room was never empty and always filled with patients. This room was also a place for cursed children to take refuge and confide when they had nightmares... with Ravel listening to their problems.

Seeing his arrival in the infirmary, Kaito was immediately greeted by Ravel, which currently wearing a white doctor's uniform... giving her a reliable adult vibe despite her childish face.

"G-Good afternoon, Kaito-san!"

Fascinated by what he saw, Kaito held his chin and said, "Good Afternoon, Ravel-sama. You look really good in that uniform!"

...!!!

"Eh...? I-Is that so?!" Ravel stuttered a little bit, "A-Anyway!! You must be looking for Anna-chan, right? Come here."

Ravel then led Kaito to the partition where Anna was being treated, opened the curtain, and found the pink-haired girl sleeping with a pale and uncomfortable expression on her face. There are also clear tear marks around her eyes, indicating she's just crying a lot before falling asleep.

On her hands and feet, there was a scar from a nail hole... undeniable proof of the hellish experience she had experienced before meeting Kaito.

...

"Anna-chan is sleeping now, but she had a lot of nightmares because of the suffering she went through..."

Ravel explained in a depressed and annoyed tone, "Apparently, she had been beaten for an hour before you came; this girl was very strong to endure pain and suffering for that long before you saved her."

"Really...?? If I had known that, I should have made them pay more for what they did."

Kaito gritted his teeth in anger while clenching his fist. He remembered why Anna got tortured like that: because the thugs said cursed children were hard to find now, indirectly because of Kaito's action in saving many cursed children in the city.

So indirectly, Kaito felt like he was the one who caused such severe suffering and regretted that he didn't come sooner to save Anna.

...

"Kaito-sama, calm down." Midori felt Kaito's mood, immediately hugging his arm tightly, "I-It's not your fault!"

...!!!

"Thank you, Midori." Kaito quickly calmed down, then sat down next to Anna's head while patting the pink-haired girl's head kindly and slowly-- while also activating his healing props. Her expression visibly got better thanks to it, but it's clear the girl is still very weak right now.

"Ravel-san, thank you for taking care of this girl."

"No... I should be the one thanking you, Kaito-san." Ravel shook her hand and smiled sweetly, "Anna-chan told me how grateful she was for you to save her. She thought that she would die there."

"Yeah, I'm also glad that I was able to find her that day."

"Honestly, Kaito-san... since joining the chat group, I didn't know what I wanted to do in the group, but after spending time becoming a medic staff here and taking care of the cursed children, I know what I want to do right now."

???

"Hmm? But in the original plot, you know you had the talent to become the strategist, right?" Kaito commented.

"But there's already Aika and Manaka in your peerage, and they are way smarter than I am. " Ravel then stared at him seriously and stated, "I want to take on the role of 'supportive healer' in your peerage, Kaito-san."

...!!!

"A healer... it is a good idea..." Kaito quickly approved her goal and commented, "That would be great for the dynamics in my peerage later."

Aware that many of his peerage members consist of attackers and none of them are supportive role, Kaito is grateful that Ravel is willing to take that role because it would solve the dilemma in his peerage. Ravel herself is already taking this role by providing Phoenix Tears for everyone to use-- albeit not directly healing everyone.

If she could get Asia's sacred gear, Twilight Healing, it would be perfect for Ravel's role. Kaito didn't mind buying it in the chat group for her as long as Ravel is happy and willing to do it.

...

"Are you sure, Ravel-sama?"

"Umm...!! I promise to be a good healer!" Ravel was determined to make herself useful to everyone. "Everyone help me a lot, I also wanted to do something that could help everyone!"

"If that's the case, I'll be willing to support you." Kaito promised, "If you want to become a healer for real, a sacred fear, Twilight Healing is good for you. I am also willing to create another healing prop for your use, Ravel-san?"

"Really?! But don't you need points too?"

"I do. But I think it's worth it if I can use points to help you, Ravel-sama~ You are my life savior after all, and my life is priceless." Kaito promised seriously, looking at the girl whom he was always grateful for what she did for saving his life.

If Ravel wanted to become a healer seriously, Kaito wouldn't mind funding and investing in her directly because, in the end, it would only benefit his peerage as a whole. Besides, Kaito felt that doing something like this was something he at least should do for someone who saved his life.

...

After that, Kaito said goodbye to Ravel and then fulfilled his promise to play with all the other cursed children that has been waiting for him-- spending the rest of the day playing with them, as he was unable to reject them.

With such an attitude, no wonder Kaito has become the most favorite member in the chat group, although that doesn't help with every chat group member's allegation that him being a lolicon.