Chapter 34: Request

-with Kotori and Natsumi-

"... Natsumi, it feels kind of nice to act like a mother, doesn't it?"

Kotori says with a sweet smile visible on her face as she takes care of dozens cursed children that they rescued outside the city. It's been 1 month ever since they came inside their respective dimension and ever since then, they have done nothing but rescue all of the cursed children inside the country, traveling in dangerous Gastrea infested locations just to search for them and bring them back to the temporary home that Natsumi built with her angel.

"Mother? They treat us like we're their big sisters Kotori... is it because of our stature?"

Natsumi answered before observing Kotori's petite and slender figure as she gazed at her own Loli body with grief.

"... One of the downsides of not having the natural aging function of the body..."

She said while groping her almost nonexistence breast with her bare hands before staring at Kotori's ample breast with jealously.

"Why are you jealous? You can change your physical body with your angel so don't complain since I'm stuck in this body forever"

Kotori who saw her jealous eyes said, hurting herself in the process with her own words.

"... but it's not my natural body. I don't think Lucias will like it if I disguise my real body from him"

Natsumi pouted while giving the children lining up in front of her with fresh soup that they bought with the use of the money from Lucias' credit card.

Kotori decided to just ignore her while wiping the face of one of the cursed children close to her.

"Natsumi... Are you sure that their is no cursed children left outside the city?"

"I'm pretty sure none are left... The only cursed children left are with the promoters but most of them are not treated kindly by their respective promotors... I think only Rentaro treats his initiator well"

Natsumi pondered as she tries to remember her expedition in the past month, but found that she already traveled across the country, and saved all the remaining cursed children that were not killed by their own parents.

"So... do you want to take them with us Kotori?"

"If possible... but I doubt that those old guys will allows us"

Kotori said in irritation as she remembered the conflict between them and the various heads of the security corporation inside the city from them gathering the cursed children and taking care of them by themselves.

"Tch... I hate those guys"

"Hmm.... What's that sound?"

Natsumi asked as she heard a sound of... a jet near their location.

"It's one of the flies that the government sent to get rid of us... Can you take care of that, Natsumi?"

Kotori says in a casual manner like this was a daily accurance for them as she got back to feeding the children inside the mansion.

"Alrighty"

Natsumi answered before hurriedly exiting the mansion with a playful smile on her face.

"You guys never learn, huh?"

Natsumi muttered as she saw a missile aimed at their house, summoning her angel to transform the missiles into small pebbles before it even hit the walls of their house.

"Now, it's your turn"

She said before using her angel to transform the pilot of the into a 3 year old child, surprising the pilot from the sudden change in his body causing the jet to lose its stability and crash 1 kilometer away from their mansion, creating a small explosion from afar.

"... So they didn't give up?"

A familiar male voice asked behind her causing her to turn her head and found Rentaro along with Enju, Tina, and Kisara Tendo standing behind her with a shocked expression visible on Kisara's face.

"Oh you're here!! Come come, I'm sure that the children will be really happy to see you"

Natsumi shouted in excitement as she pulled both Kisara and Rentaro towards their home.

"This isn't much but please accept it"

Rentaro offered a box of cake to Kotori as both Enju and Tina played with the other cursed children inside the mansion.

"Thank you and make yourself at home"

Kotori smiled at his direction before entering the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee for their guest while Natsumi sat down on the sofa opposite to them.

"Sorry for our sudden visit, Natsumi-san"

Kisara politely apologized as she slightly bowed her head at Natsumi's direction.

"No, it's ok. Sorry that you have to see... 'that'"

"It's alright, we understand the hardship that you experience everyday because of the opposition of the higher ups... Sorry for the trouble that we caused you"

"It's not your fault, Kisara-san"

Natsumi waved her hands to stop Kisara from bowing down in front of them while Kotori came back from the kitchen, carrying 4 cups of coffee on top of a tray as she sat down beside Natsumi on the sofa.

"So... I doubt that you came here to only visit us, what's your purpose for traveling to such a dangerous area outside the city, Rentaro-san?"

Kotori cut to the chase as she took a sip from her cup with a deadpan expression on her face.

"... We came to talk about the proposal you have us from before, Kotori-san"

Rentaro says while staring straight at Kotori's direction with a serious expression.

"So... What's your decision, Rentaro-san?"

"... We agree but... you have to fulfill one of our request"

"Help you? I wonder... is it related to the Gastreas that was able to infiltrate one of the monoliths?"

Kotori nonchalantly asked with a light smile on her face like their problem doesn't concern them at all.

"... So you already know"

"It was pretty easy to know when many of the promoters of different civil security corporation died there while investigating... but you blocked this news from the civilians so they wouldn't panic, isn't that right?"

"Yes... Kotori-San, I think you can already guess our request right?"

Kisara says while looking straight at her ruby eyes as the temperature around them began to rise, alerting everyone inside the mansion.

"You're quite shameless to ask for our aid when the government wants us dead when we did nothing wrong, Kisara-san"

Kotori said in an angry tone as the table, and sofa that they were sitting on began to burn to ashes from the sudden spike in temperature at their location.

"..."

Kisara stayed silent she knew that they were unreasonable for requesting both of them to aid them in defending the city... She knew that the higher ups wanted both of them dead because of their unexplained and limitless power... They all fear both of them... that's why they want to get rid of them to remove any potential threats to their and the city's safety.

"Kotori-san, we didn't come here to request both of you to protect them but... please help us defend the city... Not for them but for the citizens"

Rentaro says as he tried to convince them, ignoring the intense temperature that was slowly burning his skin, performing a seiza on the ground.

"Then... what if we want to get rid of them as an added condition from your unreasonable request, what would you do Rentaro?"

Kotori asked while looking down at the kneeling man on the floor as she crossed her hands on her chest.

"Do whatever you want with them, whatever happens next is our responsibility, Kotori-san"

Kisara answered as she gazed at the pair with a serious expression on her face.

"Hmm? Our actions will definitely place a large toll on the city Kisara... will you still hold true to your words even if that happens?"

"Yes, as I said, we will take care of everything that happens next, their power is irrelevant if the city is destroyed by a level 5 Gastrea"

"You're... insane but I like it"

Kotori grinned while reducing the temperature around them, earning her a sigh of relief from both Rentaro and Kisara as they relaxed their tense shoulders from her sudden display of power.

"Sure, we'll help you out, don't worry killing those guys will not really benefit us that much, I just wanted to test both of you... but I want you to fulfill our side of the deal"

"We already discussed it with the other civil security corporation presidents, they agreed in giving all of the cursed children that is in our hands to you... Rentaro and I has also discussed the second condition, we decided that we will agree in being a member of your faction"

Kisara stated while taking out a contract from her bag and placing it on the half burnt table in front of them.

"A contract?"

"Yes, we need it as proof that both party will fulfill their side of the deal" 

"You do know that this contract is irrelevant to us because the court and the law is not something that can restrain us"

Kotori says while tapping her fingers above the piece of paper on the table.

"We know... This is not for us but for you so that you can trust us. This contract will serve as a proof that we wholeheartedly agreed with being under your control"

Kisara stated as she took out a pen before placing it in front of Kotori.

"If you don't want to sign the contract then do so. It's your choice if you want to or not, as long as you fulfill our side of the deal, we don't care what you do to us... also it's just to assure ourselves that you will keep your word"

Kisara says as she pulled Rentaro to sit down on the sofa beside her.

"You're quite smart, Kisara"

"Thank you for the compliment"

"Sure, we'll sign the contract if that's what you want"

Kotori immediately took the pen before signing the contract without any hesitation with a genuine smile on her face.

"Thank you, Kotori-san. It's a pleasure to be working with you"

Kisara smiled at her direction as she stretched out her hand in front of Kotori.

"Is this a business partnership?"

Kotori teased but still shook her hands, sealing the deal between them.

"Then... We need to go since we still need to start the meeting of about how we should deal with the Gastrea, I'll send you all the details about the meeting if you don't want to go"

"I'll take you up on that offer, Kisara"

"Then, can you please take care of Enju and Tina while we're at meeting?"

"Sure, I'm sure the children will be happy having them here"

"Thank you, Kotori-san, Natsumi-san"

She said while holding Rentaro's hand as they left the mansion, leaving the glaring Enju and Tina behind with them.

"... We might die from this, Kotori"

Natsumi says while staring at Kotori, but unlike her words, her expression contains no anxiety nor fear... like she already expected this to happen.

"Even though we're powerful, their numbers are not something both of us can handle alone. They can easily exhaust us with their numbers and kill us when they see this opportunity"

"But you still accepted..."

"Sometimes we have to take risk to achieve our goals, Natsumi... even if it involves gambling our lives"

-meanwhile close to the city of Tokyo-

"... The coast is clear, Najenda"

Akame reported while wiping off the purple blood from her new Murasame that she received from Lucias before they we're sent to this dangerous dimension to help Kotori and Natsumi with their quest.

"Good job..."

Najenda muttered while observing the pile of Gastreas in the area.

"This place... makes what we've been through look like child's play"

Leona who walked closer to their direction said in ridicule as the blood from the Gastreas that she massacred dropped on the ground every time she takes a step.

"Indeed... that's why everyone be careful, we need to wait for Schwi to return along with the Ex-Machinas to locate both Kotori and Natsumi inside the dimension... but it is surprising to see the reason why Lucias sent the entire revolutionary army along with the Ex-Machinas, and Flügels inside this dimension"

She muttered before hearing a soft and feminine voice speak above their heads, causing the 3 of them to look up towards the source of the voice.

"According to Master, this place is as dangerous as our dimension, that's why he sent his most powerful army to this place because, those monsters can potentially kill us all with their numbers alone"

Jibril who flew down to the ground said as she gazed around the place with curiosity visible in her eyes.

"Let's hurry up and finish this" (Najenda)