244 Puppet ; Brief Appearance

"Yoshinon? Who is that?" I ask in a low voice.

"Yoshinon is… my friend," she responds meekly, as I feel a chilling cold at where Yoshino is clenching my clothes.

Friend? Could it be another spirit? I don't recall seeing her with anyone, and even if I didn't, AI would inform me about the Code waves.

After taking a moment to deliberate on the matter, an odd notion appears in my head.

It can't be… right?

"Hey, Yoshino. Is the friend you're speaking of the white puppet you wore on your hand?"

Instead of giving me an oral response, Yoshino just nods her head once.

"Alright then," I say with a smile, "Let's look for your friend."

Having said that, I begin to float down to the wet ground.

I hadn't noticed it earlier due to the intensity of what was going on, but it's raining right now, and it's a relatively heavy one compared to the light shower from the other day.

With such thoughts swirling through my mind, I land on the ground and set Yoshino down before using my senses to look for the puppet.

Fortunately, after looking around for about a few minutes, I locate it.

"Yoshino," I call out to the little girl who has been nervously standing in place the whole time I was searching.

A little startled, Yoshino looks at me with a sad look on her face.

"I found your friend," I say before beckoning to her to move closer.

Doing as I instructed her to, I scoop her up into my arms before dashing toward where the puppet has fallen.

Due to my abnormal speed, I reach my destination in less than a second.

Using Telekinesis, I lift the slightly damaged puppet and bring it over to Yoshino who hastily takes it and puts it on her left hand.

"Hehehe," an odd reaches my ears, surprising me a little.

The next thing I know, the puppet is close against my face as its mouth moves while the odd voice reaches my ear once again, "You are you the one that helped Yoshinon, huh? You do not seem like a bad guy, Shido (Shido-kun)."

Despite being a little perplexed about the situation, I don't lose my composure and state, "Of course."

"Why did you save Yoshinon?" the rabbit puppet's mouth continues to move as the voice asks.

"Obviously, because I couldn't let you suffer despite you not wishing to fight."

"Is that the only reason?"

"No," I respond while casting a glance at the little girl's mouth that is slightly open but remains unmoving, "It's also because I wanted to take you home with me."

"Iya~ How perverted. What could Shido want to do with Yoshinon?"

"Take care of you and protect you from those wishing to hunt you," I respond, deciding to ignore most of what she just said.

At this moment, Yoshino jumps out of my arms and begins to skip around for a minute or so before responding, "Very well, Shido. Yoshinon will go there."

Beaming a smile, I begin to ruminate over what just happened.

First, there was a sudden change in personality and voice that occurred as soon as Yoshino put on the puppet. Does she have split personalities, with the more upfront one appearing when she wears the puppet?

Secondly, would be the fact that I invited her over to my home. This could possibly cause me some trouble, but that's better than her being hunted for no other reason than being a 'spirit'.

{WARNING: Binary Factor detected. Threat level: 4}

What?! A binary factor with a threat level of four? Where is it?

{To Father's left.}

Looking over in the direction specified by Irene, I notice that there is nothing but empty space and a few buildings in the distance, so I use Clairvoyance to check the buildings out.

The next thing I know, I am inspecting a black-haired girl wearing a black and red dress, who is standing on one of the buildings.

The girl in question has a wide smile covering her lips as she looks in our direction with the tip of her right index finger pressed against her jaw.

Before I can get a good grasp of the girl's details, a dark circle forms below her feet she sinks into it.

{The Binary Factor has left the area.}

How odd… It seems like she didn't wish to pick a fight this time.

Nevertheless, what kind of being could create a Binary Factor with a threat level of four?

"Shido, are you going to stand there like that forever?" a mocking voice interrupts my thoughts.

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I look over at Yoshino and say, "Alright then, let's get going."

---

"So," Kotori, who is sitting on a sofa opposite to the one I am sitting on, says, "Do you mind explaining what happened back there?"

Yoshino, who is obediently sitting beside me gazes at me with an impassive look on her face.

The one that seems to be the most on edge is none other than Tohka who is sitting beside Kotori with a slightly anxious look on her face.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I suddenly received memories regarding some superpowers and just made use of them?"

Hearing my query, Kotori adopts a solemn expression as she takes a few seconds to think before responding, "Normally, I would pass that off as an absurd lie, but I can see how it could be the truth in this case."

"I don't know what's going on," I say while looking at the ground, "But, whenever I think of a spirit being unjustly attacked, I feel a rush of adrenaline in my body as memories regarding various powers appear in my head.

"Is that so?" Kotori says with squinted eyes, "What powers do you know of right now?"

"Telekinesis," I say while telekinetically lifting the TV a short distance away from me, "Healing and flight."

"Do you have any memories regarding a power related to fire?" she continues as a strange glint shimmers in her eyes.

Huh? She took the initiative to ask me about an ability? That's rather suspicious. Does she know something? Anyway, I can just pass this question off easily.

"I don't know," I say without any change in my expression.

"I see," Kotori says before leaning back with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

A few seconds later, Kotori recollects herself and says, "Shido, I need you to do your work, after all, we can't let the rain persist."

Understanding what she's getting at, I nod my head and turn to face Yoshino before asking, "What do you think of staying here from now on?"

"Are~? Does Shido like Yoshinon so much to the point wanting to keep Yoshinon here?"

Deciding against responding to her words, I simply slide my hand under her hoodie and gently pat her head.

"Hey, Shido!" Tohka hurriedly exclaims with a pout apparent on her face.

"Is something wrong?" I ask while turning my head to face her.

"Eh… no. It's just…" her words trail off as she seems to not realize what she wants.

Nevertheless, I understand her sentiment, after all, it's quite apparent from her actions and the timing.

"Tohka, I want to have a talk with you later. So, head over to my room when it's time to sleep?"

My words result in drastic reactions from three girls present.

"Oh my, how bold," Yoshino says while the puppets mouth flaps.

Tohka's face is flushed in red, while Kotori has a slightly distraught look on her face as she hastily says, "Hey, what are you planning to do?!"

"What do you mean?" I reply in a nonchalant tone, "I said I wanted to talk to her. What else would I want to do?"

Having said that, I get up from the sofa and make my way to the kitchen to prepare a quick snack.