The Crisis World XX

Chap. 95: Black Rain Members Re-Grow!

The attack carried out by Astaroth really shocked one country of Japan. News on TV, internet pages, newspapers and even word of mouth were all about the attack.

Me and the others immediately left the scene to be undetected by the media and the police who were coming to the scene. Actually, this can no longer be covered up because of the enormous impact.

But Ishikawa-san made the decision that as much as possible our identity as Exception was not discovered by the people. Usually the one who handles things like this is Oita-san who avoids their questions for various reasons, but because she is no longer there so hiding is the most appropriate decision.

The media and police are the largest organization in Kuni no Hashira, Red Flame. People today trust Kuni no Hashira and Exception members more than the police who are considered slow in handling things.

Red Flame leader Kurayami Ryuzaki walked out of his room and was greeted by Hayashi who had been waiting for him. There was a faint commotion coming from the front gate of the Red Flame Dojo.

"Ryuzaki-san, they were waiting outside. Do I need to drive?" ask Hayashi.

"Media, huh? We have to be nice in front of the camera and not use violence. This let me take care of it."

"Good."

Ryuzaki walked towards the front of the gate where there were already many people waiting to interview him. And when the reporters saw Ryuzaki, they immediately crowded and tried to approach Ryuzaki to ask him some questions.

"Viewers, tonight we are in front of the Red Flame Dojo. Many people say that they are the ones responsible for stopping this monster incident in Tokyo."

Snap…

The sound of camera shots starts to be created when Ryuzaki comes out of the Dojo. The reporter was interested in his attention and immediately approached Ryuzaki.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Can I ask you something?"

"Please."

"Who is your name and what is your position here?"

"My name is Kurayami Ryuzaki and I am the leader of this organization called Red Flame."

"Kurayami-san! Are you responsible for stopping the attack a few days ago in Tokyo?" ask the other reporters.

"It was me and my men in Red Flame who stopped him, we tried our best to save the lives of the people of this city."

"Kurayami-san! Oh, kurayami-san! There are a few more questions!"

Ryuzaki continued to answer the reporters' questions properly and normally. So far the questions they've been asked are normal and nothing out of the ordinary, until one of the reporters asks something that makes Ryuzaki a bit upset.

"Kurayami-san! What about the victims of this attack? Don't you guys have superpowers, can't you prevent casualties?"

Ryuzaki then approached the reporter who asked about it. Looking at the reporter cynically, which frightened him a little, Ryuzaki then took the mic he was holding and started talking.

"Listen well, you idiot. Being given such great strength does not mean that I can save everyone. It's the same way you tell a doctor to cure an end-stage cancer patient and blame that doctor when the patient dies.

There was something that one could not achieve even with great strength. If you look at the statistics on TV about the number of fatalities, the city of Tokyo is only inferior to Kyoto which is indeed fewer citizens and there is someone great there.

But what I heard was that the man was dead …."

Ryuzaki played down his voice while saying the words that Oita-san had died with a sad look. After that, he answered the journalist's question.

"… We are not gods or anything like that. We have a great power destined to save the lives of the weaker ones. If you can't understand that, then you don't deserve to blame those strong people and you'd rather just die!

But even so, we will continue to protect this city from threats that may come in the future, we also regret the loss of life."

The reporters who were there fell silent listening to Ryuzaki's words. They were slapped by Ryuzaki's words as if asking them to introspect themselves.

"Kurayami-san! Miyamoto-san!"

Ryuzaki then returned the mic to the reporter and walked back inside. She doesn't want to answer any more questions, but there is one question that catches Ryuzaki's eye and becomes the last question of the night.

"Kurayami-san! Can you prove your strength? Here in front of the camera?"

Ryuzaki did not answer. He looked up at the cloudless night sky. The reporters who were confused with Ryuzaki could only follow him and then look up at the sky as well.

Baaaarrr…

"UWAAHH !!!"

Suddenly Ryuzaki let out a burst of fire from his hand with a size that was not too big but still shocked the reporters. No one thought that Ryuzaki would show it like before.

And after Ryuzaki demonstrated the ability of Exception, he immediately turned around and entered his Dojo again ignoring all the questions that were still being given by the reporters.

**

Piip…

Someone turned off the TV about the news from Tokyo reporting about the attack in Tokyo a few days ago, and the one who killed him was Ishikawa-san.

"It's cool, ending the interview in style" I said in amazement.

"What is so cool?" ask Herlin.

"of course! Hmm ... will I also be interviewed like that, huh? Then at the end of the interview I'll—"

"Not to fantasize. If there's any media coming in I'm gonna knock you out so you don't fuck around."

"Tch."

My hopes of appearing cool in front of the TV were quickly broken by Herlin. By the way a few days have passed after the terrible events that befell Kyoto city and now Ishikawa-san is asking all of us to gather on this night.

"Ishikawa-san, I have a question for you."

"What's wrong?"

"We'll be gathered here, but …."

"That's it, but why?"

"… But why are they here?"

I pointed to the two people who were not part of Black Rain. They were also not customers of Haiiro Cafe, they were both Nimis and Ardenter. The leader of their group had indeed managed to kill Herlin, but why did they come to gather here.

And the two of them just sat quietly while drinking the coffee served by Aiza-san. Besides why Aiza-san is also nice to them, is there something I don't know here.

"Read this."

Herlin gave me a piece of paper and wrote a handwriting that I seemed to know, this is Oita-san's handwriting. He seemed to know that something like this would happen, so he wrote a letter like this.

"Letter from Oita-san?"

"If you're reading this letter means that Astaroth has been defeated, that's great. Oh yes, about those two Assassins you can put them in the Black Rain organization. It's been a long time, dahadah dagar. Signed, Murasaki Oita."

I read the letter in my heart. And after I finished reading it I just sighed and slammed the letter onto the floor.

"What the fuck is this letter?! There is an emote love at the end of the letter! It's disgusting!"

"Calm down a little bit, Satou Iraya" said Nimis.

"How can I calm down?!"

"Did you remember how you first met us?"

"First time?"

I try to sharpen my mind a little to remember the past. The first time I met them was at the Mall, they blew it up to catch me back then, lucky that Oita-san came in on time.

"Time at the Mall?"

"really. That time without you knowing I made a deal with Murasaki Oita."

"A pact?"

"If he can kill our boss, then me and Ardenter will go into Black Rain."

"Re-really?"

"Unfortunately it's true" Ishikawa-san said.

I looked towards Ishikawa-san, she seemed to nod if the story told by Nimis was the truth. Then towards Herlin, he also did not seem to mind Nimis and Ardenter's entry into Black Rain.

"Herlin, is that okay?"

"If this is a decision Oita-san made, I will obey it."

I let out a breath. There seems to be nothing more I can do, Mei-senpai also seems to agree with this. Although actually this is a good thing anyway because the strength of our organization increases, but I am afraid that later someone will disagree if he joined.

Forgetting my wild thoughts earlier, I walked up to the two of them and they looked at me. I stretched out my hand and tried to repeat everything from the beginning, and it all started from self-introduction.

"Greetings, my name is Satou Iraya. I am an Electric Elemental and have a Spirit within me, I name that Spirit Cecilia."

The atmosphere was silent for a moment and somehow this room turned awkward. Nimis and Ardenter looked at me with strange, confused looks. Damnit damnit! I don't think I need to do this, I'm just embarrassing myself.

"Pfft …! Ahhaha …! You're funny too huh, Satou Iraya."

The awkward atmosphere was broken by Nimis with a laugh. He laughed as if the thing I did was laugh at him when I was holding my shame to death. Nimis then stood up from her seat and returned my hand.

"My name is Nimi—no, I don't think I need that name anymore."

"Eh?"

"My name is Nigiyaka, I am a fire Elemental. Hello, Satou Iraya. Or can I call Iraya-kun?"

"My name is Akihito, you can throw away Ardenter's name given to the boss and call me by that name."

They welcomed the awkward welcome I gave them. Thank goodness! I thought I was going to die of shame, and it looks like they've gone back to using their real names. I smiled hearing that.

"It's nice to meet you, Nigiyaka-san, Akihito-san."

"Yes." Yeah."

Sryig…

Suddenly Nigiyaka-san became on standby and was like she was about to face one fight. He took out a sword from inside his sheath and pointed it towards the entrance of the Cafe. All of us who were confused by it then asked him.

"Ni-Nigiyaka-san .. is something wrong?"

"Some one eavesdropped."

"Eavesdropping?"

"Ehehem ... as usual your instincts are sharp, huh, Nimis?"

Someone walked into the Cafe in a white robe that covered her entire body and I could not see her face clearly. But for sure I recognized the voice, the stranger then removed the head covering of his cloak and displayed his face and white hair.

"Why are you here, Caramel?" ask Nigiyaka-san.

"I take someone's appointment, that's all."

"Billing promises?"

"Eh?"

"Iraya, what are you doing?" ask Herlin.

They were all shocked as I walked over and protected Caramel behind my back. Right, this is the problem I was referring to. I still have an appointment with this kid. I didn't answer Herlin's question, but I wanted to explain what really happened to them.

"Actually …." I also started telling stories.

**

Some time ago while I was being tied up in the ruins of the church that night, I had a chat with Caramel trying to seduce him so he could untie this.

I could see the glare of grief emitted by Caramel as he recalled about his past and his current story. And this is my chance.

"Hey, Caramel. Listen to me carefully.”

"Hn?"

"What if we make a deal?"

"A pact?"

"Right, if you let me go now, I will defeat Astaroth for you and give you a new home."

"Me-Beating Astaroth? You mean boss?"

"Yes. If you untie me now, I promise to untie you with that fucking Astaroth. You said you were lonely, right? I will give you a home and a true family meaning."

"You …."

My words can paralyze his heart. I also don't know, after all, this is the only way I can do it because the path of violence is no longer hopeful. I waited for Caramel's answer who was still surprised by my statement.

And he laughed at her. Very satisfied as if to consider ridiculous my plan. It doesn't work, yeah.

"Huh ... You really comforted me, you know? Defeating a monster named Astaroth was not as easy as saying it. Then what if you fail?"

"I-I won't fail!"

"really? From your point of view you've been doubtful, can you really defeat him?"

Caramel has a point too. All I know is that Oita-san is on par with her, whereas I am here talking nonsense about defeating her alone. When I was confused, Caramel spoke again.

"really, huh? You really gave me high hopes."

"Ca-Caramel?"

Praanck…

The cube handcuffs that sealed my hands suddenly broke into pieces and both of my hands were able to move freely. I checked once again whether this was a trap or not and after checking it, my hand was completely free.

"What are you doing?" my many.

"If you lose, we'll both die. But for example, there is a miracle …."

Caramel walked over to me and touched the tip of my nose with her index finger. I still can't believe that I actually managed to be free this way. Nah! This is not the time to be amazed, fool! I need to get out of here and help the others.

"What else are you waiting for?!"

"Eh?"

"I've let go of your seal, now get out of here and beat up my stupid boss!"

Caramel smiled as she kept her index finger away from my nose and let me through. I smiled and without further ado darted away leaving Caramel alone in the room.

"I'll go first."

He did not answer my farewell. And right now there was only Caramel alone in that room, a dark, cold, quiet room. In the silence of the room and the sound of fighting outside, Caramel took a white robe hanging in the corner and put it on.

"For example there is a miracle and you win …. I want you to show me what 'family' is, Satou Iraya."

Caramel then left the ruins of the church and joined the other refugees to go to a safer place.

**

I also finished telling the story. Even though my story is finished, the others still have not relaxed their cautious attitude towards Caramel. I actually understand why they're acting that way and now it's my job to convince them.

"… That's the story."

"So you're saying he just let you go? I can't believe it" said Nigiyaka-san.

"Why?!"

"From the beginning of meeting him, I always knew that he was a good con man with his face and attitude. Don't you ever experience it yourself?"

Nigiyaka-san made me remember my first meeting with Caramel. It was true that he could change his nature to 180 degrees. But I can't believe that the glare of her sad eyes was also a hoax.

"That's .. it's true, anyway."

"Then there's nothing to talk about anymore."

"But if he doesn't get me out, you could all be killed that night."

Nigiyaka-san was speechless because the statement I gave was true. If I'm still on the seal, we might all die from the Astaroth meteor. Since he thought solving this problem with the violent path could not, Nigiyaka-san then asked Herlin.

"What do you think, Ririsaka Herlin? What are you gonna do?"

"I will definitely reject it."

"Herlin!"

"But if he hadn't let go of Iraya back then, I might have died."

Herlin could not take it for granted to Caramel because he indirectly saved his life at that time. So Herlin could not decide in a hurry.

While I was still confused then looked towards Caramel. He smiled when I saw him. She's not helping at all, woi! Help me a little cake!

"I was expecting it not to be that easy" Caramel whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I'm still waiting for your promise, Iraya-kun. You're gonna give me a home and show me what 'family' means to me, right?"

Hah .. He's making me even more depressed. But a promise is a promise, as a man I have to keep my promise no matter what. I tried to convince the others in other ways, this time I had to succeed.

I then cut off the conversation of Herlin and Nigiyaka-san who were getting heated up. This is a problem I made myself anyway, so inevitably I have to solve it myself.

"Related to want help?" cecilia suddenly said.

"No thanks, this time just let me be alone."

"All right then."

"Herlin, Nigiyaka-san."

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?"

"I know that my request is selfish, but for the time being to put it in Black Rain I think is the best option. In addition to adding to our strength, I also want to give her a home. The house that I had destroyed earlier, I just wanted to give him a place to go home. I beg you all!"

I bow my head to beg. But Nigiyaka-san still insisted on refusing my request, saying that it was another matter and could not be related to Caramel's acceptance of Black Rain.

Prooque…

"Alright, well, it's not good for a fuss inside the Cafe like this."

Suddenly Aiza-san clapped her hand once and the commotion instantly disappeared instantly. Aiza-san was indeed great, but she did not stop there, she then walked over to Caramel without any fear.

"Yuuki-san, don't—!"

"It's okay Herlin-chan, I'm fine. Your name is Caramel, right?" aiza-san asked Caramel.

"true."

"Do you have no place to go?"

"Iraya-kun said that he could find a place for me to go home. I just came here to collect his promise."

"Oh, yeah."

Aiza-san then turned around and faced towards all of us and wanted to talk something.

"I think it's okay if he goes into Black Rain."

"What?!"

"Iraya-kun, you'll be watching him, right? He said you'd keep your promise."

"Of course, I'll take responsibility if he does something later."

"Then there should be no more problems. Isn't that right, Ishikawa-san?"

"Y-Yes that way, after all if he does trouble, he himself will not be able to be strong to face all of us. So as long as I'm under Iraya's supervision, I don't think there'll be any problems."

I don't know why it went so well. Aiza-san could easily make us agree. Although at first Nigiyaka-san and Akihito-san still could not take it easily, but they would immediately execute Caramel if he did anything later. It turned out that their Assassin's soul still existed.

But even so, one problem has now been solved. I don't know what's going to happen but for now I want to go home and sleep.

"Oh yes, Caramel-chan. Do you have a place to sleep? If there's no you can—"

"Ah, just calm down. I'll sleep at Iraya's place from now on."

"True, he'll sleep in my place. Eh? Eh?!!"

Caramel again said something stupid in front of everyone, especially Herlin. I don't know what kind of reaction he's going to have when he hears that, but I'm sure it's not good.

"Banshee …."

"The reaction is too extreme, woi! Relax, Herlin. Caramel's not gonna do anything weird, is it?"

Caramel did not answer and just smiled which made it an ambiguous answer and made it have a thousand meanings.

"You're not gonna do anything weird, are you?"

That night I saw Banshee who was in a state of anger and made me almost fly to heaven.

**

Tap…

"Welcome to my house."

I was finally able to go home, but this time I had a guest. With a little coercion and deathly seduction, Herlin finally agreed that Caramel would stay in my house. Actually Aiza-san advised Caramel to stay in the orphanage, but Herlin also rejected her.

"So this is your house?" Caramel watched my house for a long time.

"What are you waiting for again? Let's go in."

We both went inside. The condition of the house is neat even though the condition is dark because the lights are turned off, most likely after cleaning up, Tetsu immediately went to sleep.

"There's nothing special here, but since I have an empty room so you can wear it. I'll show you your room."

"Good."

We both went up to the second floor, next to my room was my mother's room which had not been occupied since her departure. So Caramel will be occupying it from now on.

"Whose room is this?"

"This is my mother's room, now this is your room. Wear it as you please as long as you don't make a noise."

"I understand."

I left him and walked to my room because I was tired of going to bed. While Caramel was still going around her new room and checking it out for quite a while.

The room is quite ordinary. Consisting of one large bed, then there is a wardrobe and also a dressing table. In addition there are several other small tables to put family photos on it. Caramel then saw one of them where there was a picture of me with my mother, filled with happiness in the photo.

"Caramel."

"A-What's wrong?"

He seemed to be surprised because I called out to him suddenly from behind. Then I realized he was holding one of my pictures with my mom.

"If you want to take a shower, here's a change of clothes for you."

"Thank you."

"What's wrong? The photo …."

Caramel looked back at the photo.

"So he was killed by Delta, huh?"

"Yes, that's what keeps me on this side of the world. To avenge his death, but who would have thought that Delta was my own classmate."

"Then what are you gonna do? Would you just let him live?"

"Of course not, but I don't know either. He's not someone I know anymore."

I still remember Hasuki-san's hateful and envious look that night. But I soon forgot about it and cut off the conversation tonight. I'm too tired for that kind of talk.

"Hoaamm .. I went back to my room first, I was sleepy."

"All right, good night."

"Yes, yes."

After I got out, Caramel put the photo in its place and saw the clothes I gave her.

It was Herlin's shirt that I forgot to return when it was raining first, for now I'll lend it. Caramel changed her clothes and closed her eyes.

Seriate