“Are you kidding me?! Aren’t you the one who looked at an Outer and said that cool ‘I’m gonna kill every one of you’ line?!”
“That was just... the heat of the moment...” Yuichi averted his eyes.
It was true that he wanted them to pay for what they’d done. He wanted to kill them all. But realistically speaking, Yuichi was just an ordinary high school student. He couldn’t just go around hunting down and killing Outers. All he could do was wait for them to do something, and then react.
“That’s so uncool, Yu!” Mutsuko shouted. “It’s the uncoolest thing I’ve ever heard! So, what, are you just gonna hand in your protagonist credentials? Snap out of it, Yu! Collect all the Divine Vessels and face off against the Evil God!”
“Protagonist, huh? Well, if being a protagonist means I’ve gotta say ‘yare, yare’ and keep on with this stupid nonsense game, then I’d rather be a side character!” Yuichi rose to his feet, glaring at Mutsuko.
“Fine,” Mutsuko snapped back. “Let’s set aside the Divine Vessels thing for now. But you went out on that search because you knew there was an evil presence in this town, right? What are you gonna do about that? Are you just gonna leave an evil god who says he’s gonna destroy the world at large?”
“I’m gonna leave it to the specialists! We pretty much know the Evil God’s deal now: what he looks like, what he wants, and where his shrine is. If I just tell Shinomiya about it, her people will know how to handle it!”
The young man who claimed to be the avatar of Nergal had said that if he went too far, “allies of good” would come to stop him. That meant that there were forces who opposed the Evil God. Plus, even though he had run several Divine Vessels Wars in the past, the world hadn’t been destroyed, which meant that those opposing forces must have known what they were doing.
Furu Shinomiya was the daughter of a shrine priest. She was also a monster hunter, and she said she’d petitioned their main association for help, so they could probably handle it somehow.
“Fine... forget you! Do whatever you want!” Mutsuko turned away sulkily, then stormed angrily out of the shop.
“Dammit!” Yuichi threw himself down in his seat.
“H-Hey... aren’t you gonna go after her?” Monika asked in concern. “I don’t know exactly what you were arguing over, but I don’t want to be the cause of a sibling quarrel...”
“It’s okay,” Yuichi said. “This wasn’t any of her business anyway. I’ll help you out with your friend, don’t worry. Just give your Divine Vessel to me for now. You’re okay with dropping out, right?”
“What will you do with it?” Monika asked.
“I haven’t thought about it yet, but we need to get rid of them.”
Monika still seemed a bit tortured about it, but at last, reluctantly, she handed the glass ball over to Yuichi.
The Evil God’s eye. Yuichi already had one, which meant that he had two now. Divine Vessels resonated to communicate their location to each other, which meant he’d have to get rid of them to drop out of the war, but at the moment, Yuichi’s mind was on something else.
It was on how mad his sister had gotten.
Is she really mad?
Well, knowing her, she’ll probably forget soon enough, right? he mused.
Will she? another thought retorted. Have you ever seen her that mad before? Maybe I should run after her and apologize...
But why do I have to do what she tells me to all the time, anyway?
That’s right. I’m in high school now. Why do I have to do everything my big sister tells me?!
Yuichi tried to build up his courage, but it was no use. He’d never gone against his sister before.
Unbidden, the memories of all the things she’d done in the past were starting to rise up inside him.
Yuichi felt a chill run up his spine.
“Excuse me... are you all right?” Yuri of all people asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Huh?” As he came back to himself, Yuichi realized he was cradling his head in his arms.
“Loathe as I am to simply mimic your sister, I agree that you were acting very uncool just now,” she said. “Why must I be saddled with such a hopeless boyfriend?”
“Shut up,” he said. “Besides, I’m not your boyfriend...”
But there was no force behind Yuichi’s words.