My Childhood Friend Tore a Monster Apart at an Ordinary Department Store
The text said she was coming my way, which was good news for me. So I decided to keep browsing the animals instead.
This time I found myself watching the cats. And watching them, of course, my 'friends' came to mind. That day had been the first time any of us ever manifested an ability.
'Children, today is an important day. Today we find out whether your abilities have bloomed.'
That was what the Director said as she gathered us all together.
'Good heavens… every single one of these children has the greatest talent we've ever seen…….'
That was what I overheard the adults saying. After hearing it, I went back and checked the documents recording us children.
Hinata: Vision. The world he perceives with his eyes is entirely different from ordinary people. He can read an opponent's weak points — in other words, their intentions — by sight alone.
Mizuki: Intuition. Her instincts alone are the best among the children. In addition, her physical capabilities have risen enormously. She looks pitiable, but she is extraordinarily strong.
Soma: Wildness. He is beast-like and destructive. Raised as a knight, he could well become a berserker instead. A natural-born talent for combat.
Shinichi: Extraordinary insight and observational skill. Unlike Hinata, he does not simply look — he reads and comprehends his opponent. A profession like intelligence operative would suit his nature perfectly.
Shiro: Crisis-detection ability plus composure plus cold precision — altogether rather cat-like. Grown up, she could become an archer, a true marksman.
Otonashi: Void Attribute. Beyond that, we were unable to observe anything at all. The strongest of the children. He must be sent to a higher institution for further examination.
Back then I couldn't understand any of it, but now I could grasp it well enough. If you wanted to call us monsters, then monsters we were, every last one of us.
I must have been watching the animals for a while, because at some point Peace and Flügel had settled in beside me, watching the cats too.
"When you look at them like this, cats really are such adorable creatures."
Peace chimed in right after Flügel.
"I concur with Flügel's assessment."
Yuzuru showed up late as well, strolling over to my side.
"There you are, Otonashi. You always zone out whenever you're watching animals."
"It relaxes me. Animals have that effect."
I said that and shifted my position.
"Anyway, we should go shop for clothes. That was the whole point from the start."
"Oh, right. We bought underwear and completely forgot the important part."
And just as we were about to move—
The peaceful air of the department store warped in an instant, and a grotesque presence burst forth as if detonating.
"Otonashi! Look out!"
Yuzuru's sudden shout made me duck my head.
—BOOM!
"What in the world is that……!"
"Why is a fragment of the Eldritch here of all places!"
"Flügel! Evacuate the civilians around us, now!"
A major disaster had unfolded in the space of a heartbeat, yet the people nearby didn't register the fragment at all.
Peace and Flügel, determined not to let any civilians come to harm, lured the fragment toward me.
Just as I decided I needed to buy time and began channeling mana into my right hand, a girl hurled herself at the fragment.
Mistaking her for someone making an utterly reckless choice, I moved to stop her — but watching the way she moved, I found myself rooted to the spot instead.
Her body shifted by the barest fraction. In the blink of an eye, her leg traced a clean arc and lashed out.
No flashy incantation, no grandiose ability manifestation. Just a single leg, controlling the flow of the air itself to strike the target's vital points with perfect accuracy — an attack of absolute, brutal efficiency.
She evaded the fragment's strike with the minimum possible movement, then drove in a lethal blow, and the Eldritch fragment shattered midair without even managing a scream.
It truly happened in the blink of an eye. So quickly, in fact, that whatever had occurred simply ceased to have occurred at all.
Thanks to Peace and Flügel, the people around us were hurrying along their way as if nothing whatsoever had happened, apparently unaware there had ever been anything to know.
The area around me had normalized as well, so I checked whether Yuzuru was unharmed. Thankfully, she was perfectly fine.
Just as I felt the knot of worry loosen and started toward her, that girl stopped me in my tracks.
"Um… are you alright…?"
Her voice was like clear stream water tumbling over pebbles — a bright, crystalline timbre.
At that sound — so achingly familiar, and yet a voice I had believed I would never hear again — my heart began to lurch in a ragged, irregular rhythm.
That voice, spreading as radiantly as sunlight on a spring day, stirred the tiniest ripple through the feelingless hollow inside me.
"I'm fine. And you are…?"
"I'm fine too."
Just then, Yuzuru called my name.
"Otonashi!! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
At the sound of my name, the girl's face twisted with astonishment.
"Y-your name is Otonashi…?"
I had no idea why she was trembling like that, but a question deserved an answer.
"Yes, that's right. I'm Shiota Otonashi."
At my answer, she threw her arms around me and held on tight.
"Um… excuse me??"
"Finally…… At last… I found you……"
"What do you mean……"
No. It couldn't be. There was no way I could run into one of the orphanage friends I'd been longing to see through sheer coincidence like this.
And yet, when I looked closely at the girl's face, I felt my lost emotions flickering back to life.
Ah… she was… the shyest of the six of us……
Never in my wildest imagination had I pictured that little girl from roughly ten years ago growing up into a beauty who could outshine kings themselves.
"No… no way. Sh-Shiro…? Is it really… is it really you, Shiro…?"
At my words, her face melted into an expression of pure confirmation — yes, it really is Shiro, I finally found him — and she clung to me tightly.
But at the same time, the women around me were all eyeing Shiro with tremendous wariness.
"Do you know how desperately everyone's been looking for you…? Especially Hinata and Mizuki, they……"
At Shiro's words, Peace and Flügel eased off slightly, but Yuzuru alone remained on guard.
"Ah — everyone, she's Shiro. She's… one of my dearest friends."
Only after hearing that did Yuzuru finally relax a little.
"A friend of Otonashi's… could it be……"
It seemed Yuzuru had finally put two and two together — that I'd had friends back in my orphanage days.
"My name is Tokito Shiro, a friend of Otonashi's. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Shiro bowed gracefully to the women at my side.
The girl who had been clinging to me and on the verge of tears moments ago was gone without a trace; in her place stood someone with all the polished poise of a high-society aristocrat.
"The Tokito family… so that would make you one of the Six Great Families that represent humanity, alongside the Shiota family, wouldn't it……"
"That's right. We had ourselves adopted into the various families — every one except the Shiota — specifically to find Otonashi."
"I'll admit our Shiota adoption procedures are notoriously convoluted. But getting into the other great houses can't have been easy either."
"We put in that much effort, then. In any case, I'm truly happy to have found Otonashi. Thank you for raising him all this time."
She addressed Yuzuru with impeccable courtesy.
It was then that Flügel and Peace sent a telepathic message to me.
'Master, that woman — Shiro… I can sense an overwhelming presence radiating off her, exactly like yours.'
Flügel added to Peace's warning.
'She's right. If we pulled out our full divine authority we could beat her, but the way she erased that Eldritch fragment — so cleanly — her skill has been honed to a level where she could go toe-to-toe with us……'
Shiro had been the weakest among us. And now, this Shiro could stand against the Four Emperors?
"Things were so chaotic a moment ago that I never introduced myself. I'm Shiota Yuzuru, a teacher at the Academy. These two are Flügel of the Celestials, and Peace of the Beastfolk."
"And to introduce myself once more — I'm Shiota Otonashi."
"…Mm. I see… so that time really did leave its mark on you……"
"Hm? Leave a mark on what?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
Shiro broke into a radiant smile once more. But that bone-chilling bloodlust from moments ago, the one that had erased the Eldritch fragment without a trace…
…and that cryptic remark she'd just let slip — neither of them would leave my mind.
"I'd actually been wanting to dress Otonashi in something myself, personally. It's not quite summer yet, after all."
With that, Shiro brought over a leather jacket.
"Uh… Shiro, what on earth is that……"
"Tokito… that's……"
Even Yuzuru couldn't find the words to follow up.
But Peace and Flügel reacted quite differently.
"Shiro! That's perfect for our Mast— ah, I mean, that would suit Otonashi wonderfully!"
"She's right! Why, it brings a man of romance to mind!"
Peace and Flügel's artlessly innocent compliments briefly, bizarrely deflated all the tension hanging in the air.
Deciding I'd better at least try it on, I headed for the fitting room.
"Hmm… does this actually suit me……?"
I stepped out in the outfit and looked in the mirror. It clashed with my face somehow. In a word, it looked rustic.
"I-I'm sorry… Otonashi, I didn't factor in your face at all……"
Shiro apologized.
"Rustic looks don't suit you, Otonashi. You'd do better with softer pieces. Something like… a shirt with a more refined, restrained tone, say."
Even as she comforted Shiro, Yuzuru was advising me on styles that would flatter my features.
Feeling strangely ambivalent, I retreated into the fitting room once more.
"Otonashi, understated suits you far better than flashy. These cargo joggers let you move freely, so they'll be perfect for the field trip. Oh, and… what about these gloves? Something about them just feels right for you."
Yuzuru kept handing me clothes as she talked.
"…And since it's still cold — it is spring, after all — thin, layered functional fabrics beat heavy ones for now. Take this black slim-fit zip-up too."
"These are efficient. Good, I like them."
I draped the slim-fit zip-up over my shoulders and studied myself in the mirror.
A restrained black palette. A fabric built for movement. Even my face blended with the look without a hint of dissonance.
"And Flügel, Peace — you two need clothes as well. You got as far as picking underwear and just stopped, remember?"
Yuzuru took Peace and Flügel by the hand, expertly steering them toward the women's clothing section.
For the next five days and four nights of the field trip, we went through fitting after fitting, searching out everything we'd need to wear.
"Otonashi… you've recovered so much more of your emotions than before. It looks good on you."
Beneath the bright lights of the store, Shiro looked at me with none of the bloodlust from earlier in her eyes. Her hand reached out and gently smoothed my collar.
"Does it? Come to think of it, Shiro — do you go to the Academy too?"
"Mm, a different one, but… I'm glad I got to see you. If the chance comes up, should I transfer over there too?"
I froze for a moment at her suggestion. With transfer students pouring in two days in a row, the staff room was guaranteed to be in chaos, even today, on a weekend.
"Give it at least a month. Our Academy's taken in transfer students two days running and everyone's losing their minds."
"Hehe, understood. Then I'll greet you properly in a month."
"By the way, what brought you to the department store, Shiro?"
The moment I asked, Shiro hesitated — then her eyes went wide and she burst out laughing.
"Now that you mention it… I came here to buy something too… Oh! I was grocery shopping! Sorry! I'll go on ahead! Oh, and — here's my contact info."
She pressed a small card into my hand and vanished into the crowds of the department store without so much as a backward glance.
Reuniting with an old friend — it felt as though some corner of me that had been frozen solid was finally beginning to thaw.
Had this long-missed feeling really just rippled through my withered heart?
Perhaps this was what people called the emotion of longing fulfilled.
I ran into Shiro from behind by chance in the food section. Was fate really a thing that existed?
"Ah. We meet again."
When I spoke up with an awkward grin, Shiro turned, shopping basket in hand, and flashed me a radiant smile.
She looked exactly — to the very last detail — like the girl who had once basked in the sunlight with me in the orphanage's front yard, all those years ago.
Her footsteps, already turning toward the crowd, stopped once more — and on impulse, I opened my mouth.
"…Shiro. Someday, would you come over to our place and have dinner with us?"
At my offer, her eyes wavered, wide and unsteady, for an instant. Then a smile far warmer and deeper than any she'd worn before spread across her face.
"Yes. Gladly."