Astro was waiting for the men, but he got distracted by the sound of loud swallowing
.
He looked back at Akiko only to see her clutching the bread he'd handed her as if it were both treasure and trap.
"Do you need water too?", Astro decided to ask after a moment's pause.
"You're not fooling me," she said, squinting. "People don't just hand out food. Are you trying to fatten me up and eat me later?"
Astro blinked. "…What kind of stories have you been reading?"
Akiko took a huge bite, cheeks puffing out, then pointed at him with the bread. "The kind where creepy older guys hand candy to kids before chopping them up!"
Astro deadpanned. "Do I look like I have time to chop children? Do you know how much of a hassle that sounds?"
"Exactly what a kid-chopper would say!" she shot back, crumbs flying.
Astro pinched the bridge of his nose. "…I should've just let you kick me in the face."
That earned the first small laugh out of her. She covered her mouth quickly, pretending she hadn't slipped up. But the tension between them eased just a little.
"…So, you're really not gonna sell me?" she asked quietly.
Astro tilted his head. "What would I even get for you? Half a loaf of bread?"
"Hey!" She puffed her cheeks. "I'm worth at least two loaves."
Astro couldn't help it—he snorted. At least that kid knew her worth.
And that's when the air shifted. Three presences landed on the rooftop around them, breaking the moment. Their shadows loomed as their magic pressure spread, and Akiko quickly shuffled behind Astro, her mouth still full of bread.
The air on the rooftop grew heavy. Three figures had landed, their presence sharp, tense. Their eyes narrowed on Astro, ready to pounce at the slightest wrong move.
Astro raised both hands slowly.
"I'm not going to hurt her," he said evenly. "If you want to take the girl back, go ahead."
The men didn't lower their guard. One of them, broad-shouldered with a scar across his cheek, stepped forward. "We heard you knocked her unconscious. You expect us to believe you're harmless?"
Astro sighed. He didn't like wasting words, but he could feel their suspicion choking the air. Before he could respond, the little girl's voice cut through.
"Wait!" Akiko spoke up, clutching the bread with both hands. Her cheeks puffed as she swallowed another bite. She pointed at Astro. "He's strong. Way stronger than anyone we've met. We need him."
The three men froze. "Akiko…" one muttered, looking pained.
"She's right," another admitted reluctantly. "We're outmatched, and the Fogserpent won't stop hunting us."
Astro tilted his head. "Fogserpent?"
The scarred man finally exhaled and introduced himself. "I'm Kael. These two are Ryan and Darius. We're… caretakers, you could say." He glanced at Akiko. "The man she stole from… he's part of a dark guild. Fogserpent. Their master is Abel, a poison mage of terrifying strength. Even the local guilds avoid crossing him."
At the mention of Abel, Astro's expression shifted. His eyes sharpened. That stench… the one clinging to the man earlier. What he smelled was not only poison though.
"Well, tell me more…I don't want to boast about it, but as the kid said, I am fairly strong. I might be able to do something about this Abel."
'And I want to know the connection between the devil and that dark guild too.', Astro thought in his mind.
The men exchanged uneasy looks, but Kael gave a small nod. "Then follow us."
They led him beyond the bustling city, to an abandoned quarter where the streets fell silent. At the end of a broken road stood a crumbling church. Kael pushed the doors open.
The old church creaked with age, but it was alive with laughter, chatter, and the scuffling of small feet. Dozens of children filled the room, most no older than Akiko, though their ragged clothes and tired eyes spoke of hard lives.
"Akiko!" a group of kids shouted the moment she walked in. They swarmed her like bees to honey, tugging at her sleeves, asking where she'd been.
"I was out training!" Akiko boasted, puffing out her chest. "I fought a scary-looking guy and won!"
Astro raised an eyebrow. Really now.
The other kids gasped in awe, and a little boy asked, "Did you really beat him, Akiko?"
"Of course I did," she said proudly, then shoved the half-eaten bread into the boy's hands. "Here, I saved this for you, Riku. Don't tell the others, though."
Astro leaned against the wall, watching silently. He noticed the boy's skinny arms and how fast he devoured the bread. Akiko… she had made it seem like she was just greedy, but in truth, she had been holding onto it for someone else.
Another girl tugged at Akiko's cloak. "Akiko, play tag with us!"
"I can't, I'm super tired," Akiko replied dramatically, then shot Astro a sly look. "But maybe the scary guy can play instead."
All the kids turned to look at him at once. Their wide, expectant eyes nearly made him choke.
"…I'll pass," Astro muttered.
"Booo! He's scared!" Akiko teased, sticking out her tongue.
The children burst into laughter. For a moment, the church echoed not with sorrow but with the carefree noise of kids being kids.
Astro, arms crossed, tried to look unbothered. But deep inside, watching them stirred something in him. Memories of white hospital walls, sterile air, and Maria's hand holding his during endless treatments. How he used to sit by the window and listen to kids laughing outside, always wishing he could join.
He shut his eyes briefly. So this is what it feels like… being on the other side of the glass.
Akiko looked at Astro's expression for a bit.
'Alright, let's do it.'
"Alright, everyone, we're playing hide-and-seek!" Akiko announced, standing on top of a bench like a commander rallying her troops.
The kids cheered in unison. Astro, sitting cross-legged in the corner with his cloak draped around him, narrowed his eyes.
"I thought you said you were too tired to play," he muttered.
"I am," Akiko said with a straight face. Then she pointed dramatically at him. "That's why you have to be 'it'!"
Every child in the room turned toward him like he'd just been sentenced.
"…No," Astro replied flatly.
"Scared you'll lose?" Akiko teased, sticking her tongue out.
That did it. Astro's eyebrow twitched. "Fine. But don't complain when I win."
He closed his eyes, covering them with his hand, and started counting down.
"Ten… nine… eight…"
The church exploded into chaos. Little feet scrambled everywhere—under tables, behind pews, into cupboards. Akiko, instead of hiding properly, just ducked behind a curtain with her shoes sticking out.
When Astro reached one, he opened his eyes. His Devil Slayer senses immediately lit up—he could smell each child, hear their rapid heartbeats, feel the tiniest shift in air.
"…This is going to be too easy," he sighed, walking straight to the curtain. He yanked it open.
"Eek!" Akiko screamed, hopping out. "You cheated!"
"You didn't even hide properly," Astro deadpanned.
"No, you used some kind of magic sense. Don't lie to me, Kael does it too when playing with us.", Akiko exclaimed.
Kael, who was watching this from outside the window, decided to slip away peacefully.
Astro didn't bother arguing with Akiko, he became the 'it' again.
Round two began. This time, the children were more creative. One hid inside an empty barrel, another stacked chairs around himself, and Akiko climbed up onto the rafters like some sort of cat burglar.
Astro searched slowly, pretending to struggle. "Hmm, where could they be?" he said loudly, walking past the barrel on purpose.
Giggles slipped out from inside.
"…Could it be… behind the pew?" he wondered dramatically. More giggles. Finally, he spun around and tapped the barrel. "Found you."
The boy inside popped out, pouting. "You weren't supposed to know!"
"Next time, don't laugh so loud," Astro replied dryly.
Meanwhile, Akiko hung upside-down from the rafters. "Bet you can't catch me up here, scary guy!"
Astro looked up, unimpressed. "You're going to fall."
"I am not—whoa!" Her foot slipped, and she tumbled. Astro caught her effortlessly with one arm, setting her down like she weighed nothing.
The kids erupted into cheers. "Astro's the best seeker ever!"
Akiko puffed her cheeks. "Tch. You're no fun, scary guy."
Astro gave her a rare smirk. "Admit it—you lost."
For the first time in years, he realized he was… actually enjoying himself. Surrounded by laughter, the heavy memories of hospital walls and solitude felt a little lighter.
The church grew quiet as the younger children were ushered to bed. Astro leaned against the cool stone wall of a hallway, waiting for Kael to finish tending to the others before their meeting. That's when he noticed Akiko lingering by the doorway, hugging a worn pillow to her chest.
"You're not asleep yet?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Akiko hesitated, then padded over, looking unusually small in the dim torchlight. "…Can we talk? Just for a little bit?"
Astro shrugged. "Sure."
They sat on the back steps of the church, the night breeze rustling Akiko's unkempt hair. For a while, she stayed silent, fidgeting with her hands. Then her voice came out in a whisper.
"I… didn't steal that man's groceries because I was hungry."
Astro glanced at her but stayed quiet.
"My parents… they're gone. Sold off by debt collectors. I ended up in the hands of Fogserpent." Her voice trembled, but her eyes stayed hard. "They… they experiment on kids like me. They use us for their jobs, and if we're too weak, we disappear. I only escaped because Kael found me before it was too late. But they don't stop. They'll never stop. And one day… they'll come for this place, too."
Her eyes glistened as she finally looked up at him. "You're strong. Way stronger than Kael, or Ryan, or anyone here Right? If you wanted, you could wipe them out. Right? So… please. Save us."
Astro studied her quietly. The desperation in her voice was real—but so was the push, the way she was trying to tug at his sympathy. He wasn't dumb enough to miss it. Still, he didn't call her out. Instead, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and his lips curved into a grin—not mocking, not cold, but steady.
"Listen, Akiko. I don't make promises lightly." His purple eyes gleamed faintly in the moonlight. "But when I do—when I say I'll take down someone—then no devil, no god, no fate in this world is going to stop me."
Akiko's breath caught.
"I'll crush Fogserpent," Astro said, his voice low but unshakable. "That's a promise you can carve into stone."
And with that, he stood, dusting off his cloak. "So relax. Have a good night's sleep."
He left her sitting there, his footsteps fading into the church halls.
Akiko hugged her pillow tight, guilt flooding her chest. She thought about how he had healed her without hesitation, fed her when she was starving, laughed and played with the children like he belonged here.
She felt like she was a terrible person for forcing someone to go on a deadly battle . She is possibly no better than the dark guild members that haunts her dream.
Her throat tightened. Tears welled up before she could stop them.
"…Idiot… why are you so kind…?"
Under the pale moonlight, Akiko buried her face into the pillow and cried, the sound of her sobs muffled but raw.