She's Protecting Her.

"Ah that's what I call partying!" She exclaimed while lowering her sixth glass of beer. 

Takao tried to hide a grimace behind an awkward smile. 

He had let himself be dragged along by the young woman without even being able to protest, and now they were both sitting at the counter of a small neighborhood bar. 

"You have already drunk enough, haven't you?" Asked he a little unsettled. 

"This? Drinking enough? I'm just getting started!" Exclaimed she, laughing loudly. "It's been several days since I've been able to go out, so I'm taking advantage of it!" 

"You may have a hangover tomorrow ... " He tried to convince her. 

"Not my problem, tomorrow I'll be gone," she said nonchalantly. 

Again this strange formulation... What did she mean by that? 

He had tried to get her to spill the beans before, but all he had gotten was that she was Shinohara Nana, not Shinohara Hana. 

"Can you... can you tell me what's going on?" He asked doubtfully. 

"Mister! Another beer please!" She exclaimed. 

Takao quickly put the palm of his hand on the empty glass of the young woman. 

"We'll stop here for tonight!" He hastened to say to the employee behind the bar. 

The young woman threw him a glance full of reproaches, before finally admitting defeat by slumping back on her chair. 

"Well, what do you want to know?" She asked with a dejected look. 

Takao swallowed. He really didn't know what to think about this situation anymore. 

At first, he had met Shinohara Hana, a reserved and rather shy woman, that very morning. And now, he was facing Shinohara Nana, a person full of energy and more than extroverted. 

The point of change, between these two individuals? In the space of a few minutes, during a team dinner. 

It had been far too sudden for him to really know what had happened, so he was more than curious about tonight's events. 

"You're Shinohara-san, but you're not her either, right?" He finally asked as he glared at her. 

"Correct," she replied as she opened the first button of her shirt. "And You, you don't seem to be a mere recruit like Hana, right?" 

He pouted. 

Maybe the young woman had figured him out, but he wanted to know more first before he said more than was necessary. 

"In that case, what is your relationship with Shinohara-san?" He asked without looking away. 

The woman named Nana began to smile, this time with a mischievous expression, before leaning slightly towards the young man. 

"Oh, that's an interesting question you've got there..." She declared. "But if I answer you, will you tell me who you really are, too?" 

Takao remained forbidden for a moment, not knowing what to decide. He knew that his curiosity could get the better of him at any moment, so he didn't expect the young woman to add anything else behind her proposal. 

"I need to know... If Hana can have allies in her workplace," she said, leaning back against the back of her chair again. 

"Allies?" He repeated a little confused by the word used. 

Nana then nodded slowly. 

"If I had to answer your question, I might say something sensible and down-to-earth, like 'I'm a secondary personality,' or something like that..." She explained. "But if I had to choose something more poetic and closer to reality, I would say I am Hana's guardian angel..."

"A guardian angel?" He wondered. 

"For reasons that are strictly personal to her, Hana needs someone to watch over her." Said Nana, "And when the need arises, I appear."

"Wait..." he stopped her as he felt a headache begin to pound at his temples. "Are you telling me that this young woman has a secondary personality, and that personality is you?" 

"What, you find that hard to believe, is that it?" She mocked him with a sneer. "Yet, there are not a thousand possible solutions to what happened tonight, right?" 

"It is... True..." He conceded. 

There was indeed no other possible explanation. 

Takao was facing a person he knew, without really knowing her. 

"And so, who are you exactly?" She asked without further ado. "You don't look like a guy who's going to be an intern for a year..."

"No... I'm not..." Takao sighed, "But before that, I have something to ask you. Do you and Hana-san share the same memories?" 

"Not really, no... We are like two separate people, each with our own memories..." Nana said thoughtfully. 

"In that case, she'll be completely unaware of what happened tonight, since you appeared?" Insisted Takao. 

"I guess so... Why is that?" She replied. 

He blinked a little, momentarily embarrassed, then decided to explain to her the reason behind his question. 

"To tell the truth, I've only just returned to the country," he said half-heartedly. "I'm currently the director of the Natural Disaster Department, and I don't plan on staying long."

"Oh, you know some nice people in that case, if you've already managed to land a job like that so quickly..." She said thoughtfully. 

"Like I said, I don't want to drag it out..." He repeated to continue his previous explanation. "Also, I'd like Hana-san not to know who I really am. It's been a while since someone talked to me without ulterior motives, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Um, I see..." Said Nana while staring at the menus hanging on the wall next to them. 

They both remained silent for a moment, only the sound of the dishes being cleaned and put away, as well as the few muffled discussions of the other customers interrupting this empty moment. 

"In that case, let's make a deal." Nana proposed, "I won't tell Hana anything about you, and you'll pretend you don't know I exist. How does that sound?" 

The deal was pretty simple in Takao's eyes. 

However, something kept bothering him somewhat about it all. 

"I feel really pathetic," he finally said. "I wish Hana and I could become friends, but I feel like I'm lying to her, pretending you don't exist..."

Nana then leaned against the wooden counter of the bar, a downcast expression on her face. 

"Ah, if things were that simple..." She sighed. "But trust me. Hana doesn't like this situation, not by a long shot. So if she finds out I've been acting up again..."

Takao then slammed his right fist on the counter, before planting his left hand against his mouth. The sudden gesture startled the young woman. 

"Shit..." He let out. 

"What?" She asked anxiously. 

"You... Do you realize what you've done?" He said slowly, finally realizing what a mess they were both in. 

"What? What have I done?" She asked. 

"You... You assaulted one of Hana-san's colleagues..." He added. 

He expected the young woman to be as worried as he was, but against all odds, she began to laugh loudly. 

"What? That? This guy was a real pervert! Self-defense!" She defended herself. "Besides, I'm absolutely sure that no one from Marline could have seen what happened, except for you!"

Takao then began to think quickly, taking in all the information he had about the incident. 

That's right, he was the only person from Marline outside at that time. So that ruled out other possible witnesses. As for this man, Kubo Touma, he had sensed that something was wrong. 

"Wait... How can you be sure that this guy was after you... Or Hana-san?" He asked suspiciously. 

She slowly straightened up, and while crossing her arms, gave him a frank look. 

"I told you already, didn't I? I'm Hana's guardian angel. The condition for me to appear is that she must be in danger."