Chapter 8

A/N: Managed to get more written over the weekend than I expected, so here's another one.

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"Nice to meet you, Ken-san! I'm Kaolla!" The girl happily introduced herself with a salute. 

The turtle sitting on Ken's shoulder saluted back.

"Hm, likewise."

"Can you put your shirt back on, please, Su?" Naru pleaded in an exasperated tone. 

Finally, Kaolla took the shirt and swung it over her shoulder. Then, she said, "He can't see me, so it's fine, right?"

"No, it's not fine, Su. A young lady should dress modestly," Naru retorted.

"Hmhmhm. You've said that before, but I don't get it."

"Su-chan," Grandma Urashima intervened, "At least for the time being, please go change into some normal clothes while we have a guest."

"Okay!" 

The girl then sprinted down the hallway while pulling splinters out of her whitish yellow hair. 

Sighing, Naru asked, "I'm sorry about that, Ken-kun. Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine. I got to hug you again and made a new friend," Ken replied while pointing at the yellow turtle with a green shell hanging out on his shoulder. He didn't bother mentioning that his nose actually felt pretty sore at the moment.

"Mu!" The turtle happily exclaimed while waving its front arms.

"What even is that turtle?" Naru grumbled. She conveniently glossed over the 'hug' part of his statement. Or, perhaps, she simply ignored it altogether.

"Who knows?" Ken replied while looking down at the dense symbols and lines around the creature.

Meanwhile, Urashima Hina quietly observed the turtle. When it looked in her direction, she simply shook her head and smiled as though it was just an everyday turtle one could find in a zoo.

"What happened here?" Haruka asked while walking back into the entrance hall.

"A little mishap. We can fix it later," Grandma Urashima answered.

"Uh-huh. Well, anyway," Haruka paused and looked at Naru before pointing a thumb down the hall and saying, "I put the futon in your room if you want to take your cousin there. Dinner'll be ready in an hour or so, too. Su wanted curry, so it's curry again."

"Thanks, Haruka. I'll make sure we're there on time," Naru replied. She then bowed slightly before dragging Ken away.

While passing by Haruka, Ken smiled at her and nodded to show his thanks as well. The action drew a raised brow from the woman. 

After Naru and Ken left the garden area, Haruka looked at her grandmother who also happened to be her adopted mother, teacher, and boss.

"Is it just me, or did it feel like he could see me just now through those bandages?"

"Who knows?" The old woman responded in a casual tone while maintaining a calm smile.

Haruka shrugged and decided to mind her own business by walking back outside to finish sweeping.

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"So, this is where you've been staying, huh?" Ken asked upon entering Naru's room. 

Sadly, he no longer had a turtle friend on his shoulder to join him in exploring the room since it flew away when Naru wasn't looking. The look on Ken's face at that moment would have been a priceless photo if not for the bandages.

"You speak like you can see it…"

"Haha."

Shaking her head, Naru explained, "Well, it's nothing special. There's a chair here, so you can sit here for now," Naru said while guiding his hand to the chair. 

Although the help was unnecessary, he accepted it nonetheless. 

After sitting down in the swivel chair, he started spinning in circles which made Naru anxious. Before she could comment on his antics, Ken asked, "Your mom said she's going to bring some clothes here for me, right? Think she can pick up some snacks and my headphones from my bedroom while they're over at my house? It didn't even cross my mind to ask when she mentioned it earlier since I had a lot on my mind."

"Uh, maybe? I'll text her." Naru responded while keeping a steady eye on her blindfolded cousin spinning around on her study chair.

While she texted her mother, Ken suddenly stopped spinning around. Due to the constant presence of symbols displaying the existence of the curse around them, his face stiffened. It was a constant reminder of the supernatural world he now lived in. Although he did not know how or why he ended up here, it didn't really matter in the end. 

For a few seconds, his sight lingered on Naru's outline. When she finished texting and looked up from her phone, she blinked a few times and adjusted her glasses.

"Why do you look so serious all of a sudden?" She asked.

"Just thinking I should exercise more in case I ever have to protect you again."

Raising her brows a little, Naru reached up and twirled one of her braids before saying, "Uh, thanks, I guess, but I don't think working out is going to help much against a gas explosion."

Rather than respond immediately, Ken focused his gaze on a certain blue symbol identifying the memory altering magic Rias Gremory casted. From what he could see, erasing this spell effect like he had done to the black magic lance yesterday would not strain his eyes as much since it was a far weaker spell intended only for normal people. However, a full day of pondering whether or not to remove the spell's effects still didn't feel like enough to swing his decision either direction due to the pros and cons of both. Without other urgent or direct worries, this issue now stood at the forefront of his mind.

Due to his silence, Naru fidgeted anxiously while saying, "I mean, if you want to work out, you should. It's a good thing. I didn't mean to tell you not to."

"Haha. You're good. I was just thinking about the incident a bit."

"Ah, well," Naru shrunk back and sat on her bed. Hands stretched behind her to hold her weight in a way that made her admittedly large chest protrude more than normal, she somberly muttered, "It was pretty scary, but since we got through it together, it's not so bad. I do feel bad for the people who died, though. Nobody deserves to die like that."

"Yeah."

Ken's voice trailed off as he fell into his ponderings again.

'Got through it together, eh? Alright. I've decided. Two is better than one. Knowledge is power, and I can only do so much alone with that power.'

"Ah, sorry if I reminded you of Aunt and Uncle again."

"It's all good. It's better to remember them, anyway."

Thinking along the lines of getting through things together, or perhaps covering up a desire to not face this dangerous world alone, Ken asked, "Naru. If your memory of that situation was changed, would you want it to be brought back?"

Brows wrinkling, Naru responded, "That's a weird question, but I guess so. I wouldn't want to forget something like that even though it was a horrible experience."

"Good enough for me."

"Huh?"

The next second, Naru heard a popping noise in her head similar to when riding a plane during its ascent. Then, her eyes stared blankly at the wall for a few seconds.

Across from her, Ken massaged the bridge of his nose. Erasing the spell certainly proved easier than before but still irritated his eyes as much as getting sand in his eyes did back in that gray wasteland.

Naru blinked a few times. Finally, her consciousness returned to her. Then, she pulled her glasses off her face, narrowed her beautiful brown eyes at Ken, and asked, "What the hell was that?"

"Do you believe in supernatural things?"

"...Five minutes ago, I would have said I believed in it as much as anybody else." After saying that, Naru lowered her face into her palms, rubbed her temples, and whined, "What is even happening? I'm so confused right now."

"I'm guessing you can tell which of those sets of memories are real," Ken confidently assumed after reading into her current state again.

"I think so," Naru grumbled. She then raised her head and asked, "Are you a wizard or something?"

"No. I'm just able to see things other people can't. I can erase some weak spells, too, but it strains my eyes."

Instantly, Naru frowned and chided him, "Then don't do it. You should have left my memories alone. Hurting yourself for something so pointless isn't worth it."

"It is worth it. This way, our memories are the same, and I don't have to hide it from you. You're the closest person to me in this life, so how could I go on hiding it from you? The world is a scarier place than you might think, so I want to face it with you instead of facing it without you."

The last statement broke Naru's adamancy against Ken hurting his eyes to fix her memory. Her shoulders slumped a little upon remembering the loss of her uncle and aunt once again. Recalling her cousin's situation, she hopped to her feet, traipsed over to him, and hugged his head tightly against her chest.

"Ugh. Whatever. Stupid cousin. I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to hurt yourself for me, but I'll always be here for you no matter what, okay? I don't know much about magical things since I'm only good at studying. I only want you to be safe."

Grinning widely, Ken wrapped his arms around Naru's waist to return the hug and said, "And I'd be happy if both of us are always safe."

Trying not to blush as Ken pushed his head closer to her chest, Naru stammered, "Um, if you really want to get stronger, my tutor knows some martial arts. Although I don't know him very well, he taught me a bit, so I can ask him if he can teach you, too."

"Maybe. Haruka seems pretty strong too, though, so I might ask her to teach me some stuff, too."

"Eh? Haruka is? I mean, I guess she's kinda strong, but…" Naru's voice trailed off. Then, her eyes narrowed to slits that glared at her cousin's skull as if wanting to burn holes into his light brown hair while suddenly asking, "Wait, how'd you know that?"

Lifting his head a little, Ken answered, "Like I said, I can see things others can't."

"So you've been able to see this whole time? Even through your bandages?"

"Kind of, but it's mostly just outlines of objects."

All of a sudden, Ken felt Naru release him from the hug, so he also let her go. He raised a brow due to the change in atmosphere, though. 

Then, he saw her step over to her bed, grab a stuffed animal, and chuck it at him. He instinctively dodged the outline of a stuffed animal careening toward him. 

"So, you really can see."

"Not completely." 

"So you're saying you saw under Su-chan's skirt earlier?"

"Huh? No. Even if I could, I wouldn't care about a chi- owowowo!"

"Take this noogie like a man! Don't look up other girl's skirts!"

"Ow! Geez. So, I can look up yours then?" Ken grumpily retorted.

The next second, he heard fingers cracking.

"Say that again?"

"Hm. I don't feel safe anymore."

The next second, he wriggled away from her. A chase ensued. Even though his cousin was angry, Ken couldn't help smiling since he could tell she wasn't actually trying to hit him too hard. Considering she broke floorboards with her fist earlier, this was child's play in comparison.. 

Inevitably, though, the curse kicked in. Naru tripped on the stuffed animal she previously threw and fell right into Ken's chest. The two tumbled to the floor in a tangled mess.

Hugging Naru tightly to prevent her from swinging at him again, he asked, "Wanna just stay like this for a bit?"

"Can you let me hit you once first?"

Downstairs, a girl with long black hair trailing behind her raised her head upon hearing chaotic stomping on the upper floor. She adjusted her white kendo uniform on her shoulders while mumbling, "Is Su building something weird again?"