final boss | kenma kozume

a sense of responsibility

Kenma woke up late that day, something unusual for him. Usually, he'd sleep early then wake up early to play video games. But this time, with her sudden arrival, all he could do was to try and keep her off his mind with his PSP.

The morning sunshine woke him up. The curtain was, for some reason, messily pulled to the sides. "It's too bright," he groaned as he squinted in annoyance.

After a few more tosses and turns, he knew he couldn't get back to sleep anymore.

"Wait. Shit. She's still here, right?" He suddenly remembered his uninvited guest.

He looked to the side of his bed but there was no trace of her. "Don't tell me she went out of the room again." He hurriedly got out of bed to leave the room but a piece of paper by his door caught his attention.

"Don't worry. I'll repay you. After that, we'll never cross paths again," he read. He reread the note again and sighed.

"She's too dramatic. I didn't let her stay out of kindness or whatever," he commented, shaking his head.

He stared at her handwriting, unawaringly admiring how beautiful it was. It was like one of those sample works shown in calligraphy workshops.

Afterwards, he folded the note and kept it on his pocket. "She'll be fine. She's a villainess," he mumbled.

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Shibuya
11:37AM

She had never imagined the other world to be this noisy and crowded. Everywhere she looked, she'd see a person busy with their own matters-- a businessman, a student, a traveler. Everything felt too new and different.

With every minute she spent standing on the sidewalk, she felt overwhelmed but then, excited. Unlike the gloomy and ghastly Moon Tower, this seemed like a whole new adventure.

"I never knew it was like this. The books never showed anything like this," she thought while looking up at the skyscrapers.

She went along with the crowd, planning to simply aimlessly wander around. She knew nothing about the street signs nor traffic signals. Wherever the crowd went, she would go too.

The video advertisements all around got her attention too. The noise was enough to distract her from the staring, not that she would care either way. Other than her casually wearing pajamas outside, her face was quite an eyecandy too.

"Excuse me," she heard a feminine voice behind. She immediately took notice and turned around, now on her guard.

"What?" she asked, trying to sound intimidating.

"I was wondering if you're interested in acting? I'm from-"

"Who are you?"

"I'm, well, I'm Shoma from CY Entertainment," she introduced, followed by a nervous chuckle.

"And?"

"And I was wondering if you'd like to do acting a try. Our agency handles actresses and actors," she answered and brought out a business card.

Wary and cautious, Kokoe simply looked at the card.

"Or are you already signed up in a different agency? We have partner agencies."

"Agency?" Kokoe repeated. That was a foreign word for her.

"Yes. So if you'd like to give it a try, feel free to contact me, okay?"

"I don't even know you," Kokoe blatantly said, giving the woman a weird look in the eye.

"Well, um, my details are in this card," she said, still waiting for Kokoe to take it. After a few more seconds of waiting, she grabbed Kokoe's hand to give it to her.

However, still suspecting the woman's intentions, Kokoe flinched. "What are you- What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

"Leave me alone before-" Kokoe continued, but paused.

"This is the human world. I'll spare her life," she thought.

"Just leave me alone," Kokoe said.

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Kozume Household
5:28PM

"Hey Kenma, didn't you suggest this game to me?" Kuroo, who had just came over, asked.

"What game?" Kenma didn't bat an eye, still focused on his game.

"The Soul thing. Everything's really terrible now," the older answered.

"Oh?" Now that got his attention. "It's bad?"

"Yeah. Everything's so glitchy now. I can't even log in."

"What?"

"Wait, let me finish this," Kenma said and hurried to end his game.

"Uh, okay."

Kuroo turned his phone off and peeked at Kenma's game. "Oh, a new game?" he mumbled.

"Not really," he said before the game was done. "Now, you were saying?"

"Ah. Right. The game you told me about, the Soul thing, it's really bad now," Kuroo said and turned on his phone again.

Kenma grabbed his and opened a browser app.

"No one can log in now. And even if a few lucky ones do, they say it's just a mess inside," Kuroo explained.

"Villainess Grunt is gone?" Kenma reads the internet articles he found. "Souls Quest Main Antagonist Removed from Game?"

"So she was kicked out," Kenma muttered.

"Who? What?" Kuroo raised a brow.

"Nothing. It might be a, uh, server problem," Kenma tried brushing it off.

"Uhuh, right."

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6:45PM

"Tetsuro-kun, aren't you staying over for dinner?" Kenma's mother said as the two went out from his room.

"Yeah. Why don't you stay for dinner?" his father added.

"Ah, I'll pass for now, auntie, uncle," he said with a smile. "My dad's looking for me now."

"Oh, I see. Take care on your way home."

"Thank you," Kuroo's voice was playful as always.

"See ya on Monday, Kenma," he added before heading towards the door.

"Bye," the blonde replied.

As soon as Kuroo left, Kenma walked towards the dining room, where his parents were already waiting.

"Speaking of dinner, next time, invite your Kokoe-chan too, okay?" his mother told him.

"Wh- What?" he mumbled.

"You always let Tetsuro-kun come over. I'd like to get to know your girlfriend too," she justified.

"Besides, what could go wrong?" she chuckled.

"What could go wrong with a villainess meeting my mom? Right," Kenma thought.

"Kokoe-chan seems like she's the type to be into fashion. Maybe we could go shopping together too," she kept on blabbering.

"I knew mom always wanted a daughter too," he reminded himself.

"Enough of that, let's just eat," his father intervened, much to his relief.

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After dinner, the same old routine followed. With Kokoe no longer staying in his room, he was convinced he could sleep in peace.

He looked at the floor where she slept last night. "Everything's back to normal now."

"I wonder where she's staying now though. She won't just let herself sleep on the streets," he thought before throwing himself at the bed.

He stared at the ceiling and its plainness. "And she won't be cold. She's invulnerable anyway."

"Right?"

There was this sense of responsibility he felt for her. He wasn't so sure why.