(MC POV)
Surprisingly, the Takeda boy was not waiting in front of our house the next morning.
Then again, his father's company did lose several billions last night so I doubt he's free to do whatever he wants now. The girls also snuck out of the house last night too, but I wasn't too worried since I had placed all that protection on them.
They did return safely so my worries were unfounded.
"Ready?" I asked, looking back at my group of girls.
All of them nodded at me with full-faced smiles, Cai Hong running up to grasp my hand in hers.
Seeing them in their school uniform really heals the heart.
The five of us made our way to school, this time without the extra burden following behind us. Everyone we passed by was sure to stop what they were doing to stare at us, most of the gazes directed at me were ones of jealousy though there were a few admiring ones thrown in the mix.
When we got to class, I noticed there was an additional table that was pushed up against mine, something that I do not remember being there before.
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Hold on… What am I talking about? Of course that was Cai Hong's seat, why would I think otherwise? It's completely normal for her to be seated beside me right?
Yeah… Of course it is, why did I think otherwise?
The moment we stepped into class, the girls inside started to scream.
"Ahhh! It's Cai Hong-chan!!"
"She's so cute!!"
"Please call me big sister!"
"How can anyone be so cute!!"
Yep, this is something that has been happening ever since my loli dragon decided to follow me to school so we were pretty much used to it.
Cai Hong would then hide behind my leg and peek at the girls shyly, her hands holding on to my trousers tightly.
She would then look up at me and go, "Papa… Papa…" which only causes the girls to gush even more over her cuteness.
Thankfully, my girls soon got them under control and ushered their classmates back to their seats, allowing me to bring Cai Hong to our seats.
However, I realised Nishimura, Maeda and Fujiwara were waiting for me there, the three of them looking quite nervous to see me.
"Onii-san? Could we talk for a moment in private?" The baseball ace asked.
Curious what they wanted, I agreed and told Cai Hong to be a good girl and wait for me in class. Her sisters would make sure she's safe without me there.
"Okies~ Cai Hong wait for Papa~" The little dragon assured me while giving me her cute wave.
The three of them led me out of the class and towards the stairwell at the furthest end of the building, where we would be able to see or hear anyone coming before they reached us if need be.
"So, what's up?" I asked, curious why they would drag me out here to talk.
Nishimura wrung his hands for a few seconds before sighing, "I suppose there's no easy way to ask this. Onii-san is an Origin Hunter too, aren't you?"
I blinked at him before mouthing a very eloquent, "What?"
The three of them shared a look, as though suddenly unsure of themselves.
"Origin Hunter," Fujiwara repeated. "You fought those End Shadows yesterday, didn't you?"
Yesterday? What did I do yester-- Oh. Oh right. I helped them fight those black monsters on the way home. How did I forget that?
I nodded my head, "I did fight those monsters yesterday, but this is the first time I've heard of the terms 'Origin Hunter' and 'End Shadows'. Is this some kind of secret cult or something?"
Fujiwara chuckled, "I wish we could say it was that simple, Onii-san. You do know there's a hidden side to this world, right?"
Hidden side? Isn't this place just my… My… Eh? What did I think this place was again? This is… My reality, isn't it? Yeah… That's right. But what could she mean by that? A hidden side? What is she talking about?
Since I wasn't sure what she meant, I simply shook my head and gestured for them to explain.
"It might be a bit unbelievable, but there's monsters in this world, Onii-san."
I snorted, "Nishimura-kun, have you seen Manami and Cai Hong? I'm not born yesterday, you know? I know there's other species instead of just humans living in this world."
He nodded, "Of course, everyone knows that Onii-san. The monsters I'm talking about aren't related to those though, they come from another Plane of existence entirely."
I gave him the look that told him I have absolutely no idea what he was saying.
The baseball ace scratched his head, "Err… I guess you can say that they are like aliens? Something like that. The point is, Onii-san knows what happens when they appear right? The thing where everything else being frozen in time and stuff?"
I nodded, it's not like I have memory problems after all.
"We don't know why but when they appear, this happens and some people won't be affected by it like us," Maeda pointed out, gesturing to all of us. "They feed on people like us but we aren't without protection too."
I chuckled, "Like that magician, knight and archer getups you guys were sporting yesterday?"
Fujiwara grinned, "Yep. Those were our Origin Gear! Anyone who has been touched by the End Dimension can manifest it!"
"End Dimension? Origin Gear?" I parroted, even more confused.
"End Dimension is the name of the Plane that we get dragged into when those End Shadows appear. Origin Gear are just the equipment that we are able to manifest to fight them," Nishimura explained.
I frowned slightly, feeling that there was something that didn't add up but I couldn't put my finger on what. Like there was something missing in the puzzle and I couldn't see what it was for some reason.
Shaking away the feeling, I looked back at the three 'Origin hunters' in front of me, "In that case. Why did you call me out here?"
Maeda poked her fingers together, "Well… I think Onii-san saw how outmatched we were yesterday so we were hoping that Onii-san could help us when such a situation happens again…"
Fujiwara clenched her fists in front of her, "Onii-san is so strong too! Those things stood no chance against you! If we could have Onii-san fighting those things alongside us, we wouldn't need to worry anymore!"
I smiled at them, "Well… It's not that I mind, but you do realise I have other responsibilities right?"
Nishimura clasped his hands together in a prayer, "We don't need Onii-san as a permanent member of our team, but maybe just help us out when we get stuck with tough opponents?"
Well, I suppose if it's just that much I wouldn't mind. Tsuki would be sad if her friends died after all.
"I suppose I could--"
Before I could finish my words, the world changed again and we were shifted to the End Dimension.
In front of me, the three classmates of mine were dressed in their Origin Gear, similar to what I had seen them in yesterday.
Well… I guess I'm dragged into this whether I like it or not…
Hmm… I just noticed that the moon is out even though it's supposed to be daytime… What's more, it's also red in colour…
That should be significant… Right?
