Although the members of the Akatsuki family were each more special than the last, they were also each more eccentric, to the point that normal people really couldn't stand their personalities.
Akatsuki Kojou was still better—he was just habitually lazy. But their parents were completely unreliable, having messed over their own son and daughter countless times.
With parents like that, it was no wonder that Akatsuki Nagisa had turned out the way she did, constantly worrying about this and that like a nagging housewife.
Feeling the hardship in the girl's life, Kaiser quietly listened to her complaints, allowing her to vent freely.
It wasn't until the food they ordered had all been served that Akatsuki Nagisa finally let out a long sigh and stopped talking.
"Sorry for making you listen to me complain for so long." Akatsuki Nagisa, seeing Kaiser had been silently listening all this time, felt both grateful and embarrassed, and spoke softly to him. "You must think I'm really naggy, right? Kojou-kun always says that about me."
It seemed this girl was at least self-aware about how much she talked.
"Not really." Kaiser shook his head, smiling calmly. "Being naggy also depends on who's doing the nagging. If it's a cute girl like you, Nagisa, I think there will be plenty of people willing to listen to your complaints."
"R-Really?" Akatsuki Nagisa's cheeks flushed slightly as she smiled shyly and said, "Actually, even for me, I don't usually talk this much, but I don't know why—facing you, Kai-kun, I just can't help but say a few more words."
This wasn't just an excuse.
Although Akatsuki Nagisa was very lively and cheerful, always wearing her thoughts on her face, having a personality that matched her outward appearance and loved chatting with people, she usually didn't speak ill of others.
She basically couldn't keep secrets, but when it came to truly important matters or ones closely related to herself, she would never speak carelessly.
For her to vent so thoroughly about her family to someone she'd only met twice—even for Akatsuki Nagisa, that wasn't something easily done.
But facing Kaiser, she couldn't help herself, which even she found puzzling.
"Maybe I just look easy to talk to." Kaiser glanced at the Dragon's Jewel within his body, which he used to increase personal charm, and said calmly, "Besides, we're neighbors. I'm in the same class as your brother too, so we'll be seeing each other a lot. It's only natural you'd want to talk with me a bit more."
"Kai-kun, you're really understanding." Nagisa let out a small breath of relief and smiled. "I thought for sure you'd want to stay far away from me after this."
"Like I said, not at all." Kaiser took a sip from his drink through the straw and smiled. "In fact, I'm quite happy. To have someone like you, Nagisa, who's willing to keep talking to me when I just arrived on this island, it's helped a lot in easing my uneasiness."
"Really?" Akatsuki Nagisa looked at Kaiser with sparkling eyes and said, full of hope, "Did I really help you, Kai-kun?"
"Of course." Kaiser smiled and nodded. "So you don't need to hold back. If there's anything you want to say, you can tell me."
"Don't be fooled by how I look—I'm actually pretty good at being a listener. My life experience is way beyond that of an average student."
Hearing this, Akatsuki Nagisa nodded repeatedly without a trace of doubt.
"Kai-kun really does seem dependable—completely different from my Kojou-kun. I really wish he could learn a thing or two from you." Akatsuki Nagisa said with heartfelt emotion, "If only Kai-kun were my brother too."
"Too, huh?" Kaiser looked at her teasingly and said, "You didn't say you wanted to replace Kojou, just that you wish I 'also' were…"
Didn't that mean, even though she kept complaining about her brother, she'd never actually thought of not having him?
"Well, he is Kojou-kun, after all." Akatsuki Nagisa smiled in complete contrast to when she was complaining. "Although he's lazy, his mind is unexpectedly sharp. He seems like he's always carefree and oblivious, but he's actually quite self-reliant, and when someone around him needs help, he always helps as much as he can. Even when he doesn't fully understand a situation, once something really happens, he always shows up at the most important moment."
"Usually it's me taking care of him, but sometimes, Kojou-kun also takes care of me, making me feel an incredible sense of security."
The feelings Akatsuki Nagisa held toward Akatsuki Kojou were not hate or annoyance, but more like frustration that he didn't live up to her expectations.
Just like many little sisters, she simply wanted her big brother to be a bit more capable, a bit smarter—that was all.
She wanted him to be more independent, so she wouldn't always have to worry about him, but she never disliked this brother of hers.
Because their parents were often away from home and had already divorced, the siblings had grown up relying on each other, so their bond was actually stronger than most sibling relationships, with almost no generation gap.
"Then Kojou-kun's pretty lucky, to have such a sensible little sister. It really makes one envious." Kaiser smiled and said, "When I mentioned you to him today, he also looked super nervous, afraid I'd snatch you away."
"He's just too dependent on me." Akatsuki Nagisa puffed her cheeks in mild dissatisfaction. "I'm not a child anymore. Why's he always worrying about stuff like that?"
"Maybe in his eyes, no matter how old you get, you'll always be the little sister who needs his protection?" Kaiser smiled calmly. "Just like even if he becomes an adult, goes into society or gets into college, in your eyes, he's still that unreliable brother who needs your care."
"Yeah." Akatsuki Nagisa sighed like a little grown-up. "I just hope he doesn't grow into someone like Gajou-kun—a messy playboy. Otherwise, his future kids will suffer just like I do."
"Isn't that thinking a bit too far ahead?" Kaiser said with a wry smile. "That brother of yours totally looks like a classic dense guy. He might just end up single for life."
"T-That's actually quite possible…" Akatsuki Nagisa started worrying again and muttered, "Looks like I'll have to properly teach Kojou-kun how to interact with girls, or no girls will ever like him."
The two of them chatted about Nagisa's family and herself as they ate. Their conversation and the atmosphere between them were very natural, like they'd known each other for a long time.
Of course, Kaiser wasn't just casually chatting—he wanted to gather intel on the Akatsuki family through this method and see if anything differed from what he knew, to determine the reason why Akatsuki Nagisa and Kojou's fate had changed.
Unfortunately, from their conversation, Kaiser had basically confirmed that Akatsuki Nagisa knew nothing about the Blazing Banquet, let alone the Fourth Progenitor.
She likely had no memory of becoming the twelfth vessel that led to becoming the Fourth Progenitor, nor any recollection of actually becoming the Fourth Progenitor.
In Akatsuki Nagisa's understanding, she was simply an ordinary person.
She might have once been extraordinary, possessing the qualities of a high-level spirit medium and being a hyper-adaptive type. In the past, she had helped her grandmother and father with work, using her spirit medium abilities and hyper-adaptation to locate buried ruins or decipher unreadable ancient inscriptions. She'd even been commissioned by universities and institutions for various volunteer projects. But according to her, she had lost those abilities at some point.
So in Akatsuki Nagisa's mind, she was just an ordinary middle school girl, not even fifteen yet.
As for the Fourth Progenitor, the Blazing Banquet, or the twelfth vessel—she knew absolutely nothing.
This was the information Kaiser had obtained by probing her indirectly.
Even though he couldn't read minds, judging from Nagisa's cheerful and lively demeanor, he was eighty percent certain she wasn't faking.
Kaiser again used the special vision granted by the "Warrior" incarnation to observe her, but still couldn't see the shadow of the world's strongest vampire on her, nor even a trace of the twelve calamity-class familiars said to strike fear into countless hearts.
This made Kaiser involuntarily doubt again.
"Did she really become the Fourth Progenitor?"
Kaiser was completely confused now.
However, he wasn't in a hurry.
"There's still time. I'm not in a rush anyway. At worst, I'll just stay in this world a bit longer. Sooner or later, the truth will come out."
After all, Itogami Island had a tumultuous future. With the title of the Fourth Progenitor, plenty of people with ill intent would come sniffing around. It wouldn't be hard to uncover the secret hidden within Nagisa.
"Well then, let's take it slow."
With that thought, Kaiser didn't know that the opportunity would arrive very soon.
......
"Ah! So full!"
About an hour later, Nagisa walked out of the family restaurant, looking completely satisfied.
"As expected, the food at this place is the best! I really want to ask the head chef for tips, see if I can recreate it at home."
She walked ahead while expressing her thoughts.
"The taste really was great." Kaiser walked beside her and said with a smile, "Though I wonder—how does it compare to the food you make, Nagisa?"
"Me? There's no way I can compare!" Akatsuki Nagisa quickly waved her hands. "I can only make ordinary dishes. How could I possibly match the professional meals made by a trained chef?"
"Whether that's humility or not, I'll find out next time I get the chance to taste your cooking." Kaiser continued walking without looking back and said, "Don't hold back on me then, okay?"
However, that comment received no response from Nagisa.
"Nagisa?"
Kaiser turned his head in confusion, only to see that Nagisa had completely changed expressions.
"Kai-kun…"
She had just been all cheerful, but now her face had gone pale for some reason. Her whole body trembled slightly, and she slowed her steps, hiding behind Kaiser, looking terrified.
She unconsciously reached out and grabbed his clothes like clutching onto her lifeline, making it very clear to Kaiser that she was afraid.
And the cause of that fear was already approaching.
Two men with extremely rough appearances.
"What're you looking at, brat?"
"Stare at us again and we'll teach you a lesson!"
They looked and acted like gangsters—not only were their looks brutish, but their tone was also harsh, with tattoos all over their bodies. One glance and you'd know they were trouble.
The pedestrians around kept their distance. Although their fear wasn't as intense as Nagisa's, it was still present to some extent.
And it wasn't just because these two looked like yakuza.
It was because they wore metal bracelets on their wrists.
That's right—Demon Registration Certificates.
These two were demons.
"Kai-kun…!"
Seeing the two men with Demon Registration Certificates drawn by her reaction and approaching with amusement, Nagisa let out a short scream.
She was scared—terrified. Her fear wasn't something normal, but rather like an old trauma being cruelly unearthed, to the point she was nearly losing her mind.
"This is…"
Kaiser's eyes narrowed slightly. Unconsciously, he reached out and grasped the hand that was clinging to his clothes.
At this point, the two demon men had already approached.
"Hey little missy, you seem really scared of us, huh?"
"No need to be—it's not like we'll eat you or anything."
Noticing her unusual reaction, the two looked like they'd found a new toy. Instead of backing off, they drew even closer, grinning wickedly.
"Don't… don't come any closer…!"
Nagisa clutched Kaiser's hand tightly, her face growing paler and her body trembling even more.
"Hey, hey, hey. That's just rude, isn't it?"
"What are you so afraid of? We're actually really nice guys, you know?"
The two demon men tried to get even closer to Nagisa, continuing to tease her.
But Kaiser had already pulled her into his arms.
"Let me give you two a piece of advice."
Holding the trembling girl, Kaiser spoke expressionlessly.
"While I'm still in a good mood—disappear. Now."
Those words shifted the demons' attention to Kaiser.
"Huh? Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"Just a student, getting cocky?"
Their attitudes toward Kaiser turned nasty, clearly provoked.
"Don't think just because we're wearing these we won't lay a finger on you. You damn human brat—don't get ahead of yourself!"
One of them even reached out to grab Kaiser's collar.
Kaiser watched the scene unfold, unmoved.
Within him, an overwhelming surge of spiritual power began to stir.
"NO!!!"
Just as the man's hand was about to touch him, just as that spiritual power within him was about to erupt, the girl in Kaiser's arms let out a scream.
"BOOM!!!"
In an instant, heaven and earth changed color.