Varia's Chained Cloud (Nanbaka x OC x KHR)

Breakout 31

Jyugo smirked.

Kiji pointed an accusing finger at Hajime. "Hold it! Why did that kid get like that again?! What's the meaning of this?! No way! I don't want to go through a huge strife like that again!"

Hajime walked forward stretching his arm. "...Geez. He's such a pain each and every time."

"Don't you dareeee!" the three supervisors yelled and tackled him to the ground.

"OWWWW!" Veins popped from his head and neck as he got up and angrily glared at the trio. "The hell are you doing?!"

"That's our line!"" Kenshirou, Kiji, and Samon yelled back, irk marks on their heads as they pointed at him, recalling the days they had to cover for Hajime. "Whose fault do you think it is that we had such a bad experience last time! Do you want to be put under house arrest again!"

Hajime paused, sweat rolling down his face as he put a hand to his head.

Nightmare revived.

"Noriko, can you see it?" Enki asked and the woman beside him nodded.

"Yes... I can't see it clearly, but I feel a presence that is different from before... It certainly does feel as if it's not a human presence," Noriko answered. "I can see another existence inside that inmate."

'So she can understand Elf's presence, just like I thought. Because she is someone who can use Doukidoukon and assimilation techniques, she can tell when there is another existence inside of someone. It's precisely because she has the power to attune and assimilate others' vitality and willpower to herself that she can clearly recognize when another existence is lurking within them more than anyone else. Noriko is probably the only one who can confirm their existence. She is an existence that can distinguish between humans and monsters.'

'The reason she couldn't recognize #15 and Elf's existence right away was probably because she's using Houdzuki's body. By using other peoples' bodies through that art, the user's power is consequently halved. Was she unable to distinguish those whom Elf was lurking within due to her power becoming unstable? Even so, it's weak compared to before, Noriko's current power has grown exceptionally weak. And when she saw #15, she remembered something. If Noriko has had some connection to #15 and Elf in the past, then she might have been drawn here. Is the existence that you call evil... myself or #15?'

Hajime stepped forward. "Hey, what did you come here for? Are you thinking of running away again?" he asked as Jyugo's blade becan to glow. He clenched his fist. "Answer me. You should have gotten your chance. Or are you going to throw everything away again?"

Jyugo brought his blade back and Hajime began to throw his fist forward, but...

Instead of a blade, Jyugo held out his hand which held handcuffs. Hajime stopped, staring at him as the blade disappeared with glowing red and white particles.

Noriko's violet eyes peered at Jyugo. 'The other presence... disappeared.'

Enki leered. 'Did he suppress him?'

Putting his hands in front of him, Jyugo looked down. "I'm here because I want to be!" 'I want to start over here with them. I want to go back to how it was. I don't want to destroy everything. And I want to proudly face myself... I thought I could do that here.'

Looking up at Hajime, they stared at each other for a few moments before the guard turned away, hands in his pockets. He grinned, looking over his shoulder at Jyugo. "Good."

Akiri listened to Noriko's words about Elf and Enki. Hearing Noriko's words made her respect the woman. In a way, they were alike.