It had been a few days since the harrowing battle against Soter, who had kidnapped Amasa under the noses of everyone else. However, the worst part of that ordeal was the realization that perhaps there were more demons to be concerned about who had also come to Earth.

She wasn’t a fan of how he apparently stopped being his usual carefree self ever since telling him about it. As much as that personality annoyed her, something about his colder and serious side felt wrong. As if he was a different person now.

“So, are we not going to talk about it?” She asked once they were once again on their normal morning routine walk to school. “I know it’s pretty big business, but it’s not like I can pretend it’s not a thing.”

“It’s something only a knight like myself should be concerned about.” He replied. “Worry not, a fair maiden like yourself shouldn’t concerned yourself with matters such as this.”

“You don’t have to be disrespectful about it.” She got upset with his statement. While she was made he acted like that because she was a girl, to be fair she’d use that excuse to try and avoid danger. Unlike him, she had no magic nor physical strength to face off against anything a demon. “And stop calling me a maiden.”

“Right sorry.” He responded sheepishly. “My mind has returned a bit to Enatis upon seeing something that reminded me of it.” Though he would’ve preferred it to be something a bit more positive. Why did it have to be demons again? “A knight truly never rests, do they?”

“It kind of sucks, doesn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” He asked, bewildered to her stance on the situation.

“It’s just you. You’re the only knight here who can fight them… All Alone.” To her, that seemed so unfair. And not only that, but how did he contend with the idea that no mistakes could be made on his side. For if one were to occur, then an innocent life could be taken away. “You normally have a team, right?”

“You are correct.” He responded. “Back on Enatis, I am, but just one knight in an army.” Admittedly one very strong knight, perhaps among the greatest despite his age. Still, on Earth he only had a fraction of his power, but it seems this world’s influence also had an effect on others from Enatis. Soter was strong, he should be given his general status in the demon army. However, he also was nowhere near his true strength either. “But I’ll focus on what I can do, and overcome any challenges that face my way.”

“You really are too optimistic.” She replied. Somehow, despite seeming more serious, he also became stupider.

With that, the pair entered the school and resumed acting as if things were normal. There was no way they should be sharing important conversations about demons without people either learning the truth, or thinking they were weird with some odd kind of role playing.

Unfortunately for Tahiko, the only other person who knew about the truth didn’t seem particularly interested in talking with him anymore as lunch rolled around. He looked over at her desk, where she specifically maintained a lack of eye contact with him as she chatted with her friends.

“Did I something wrong?” He asked Amasa as they simply ate lunch at their desks. “Fukuna doesn’t seem to want to come over anymore.”

“I can only imagine why.” Amasa was happy to see that. Mainly because that meant not having to deal with that girl anymore. Though also because the reason she believed Fukuna even liked him had finally faded. Sure, it was nice he went about saving her life from that car, but he also had saved Amasa’s life too. So the feeling of being enamored had gone away by now.

Though she also knew that girl wasn’t stupid. Another reason was she likely came to the same conclusions as Amasa had done with the demon. That they was certainly more around like him after Tahiko. So for self preservation sake, it would be wise to stay away from him.

However, that wasn’t the only change in his relationships when it came to spending time with others. After school was finished, the pair ran into a certain girl who had grown a little fond of him.

“There you are.” Chisa greeted them by the lockers. “We haven’t talked in a while, so I wanted to check up on you.” Being students who weren’t in the same class, they didn’t have easy access in seeing the other. Not to mention that the girl wasn’t known for going out of her way in seeing people who were considering acquaintances. Which was pretty much the reason why she didn’t have any friends.

“I’ve done well for myself.” He replied as Amasa stayed out of this conversation. That girl wasn’t her friend, so she didn’t care that much for her feelings. “I assume you’ve been doing great yourself.”

“I have.” She answered, keeping to herself the concerns she had been feeling with him suddenly not seeing her often. The girl didn’t think she did anything to upset him, yet that’s the way it came across to her. “So um…” Which is what pushed her to say something she always had challenges in saying. “Um, are you busy after school?”

“Is there something you needed?” He asked, careful in choosing his words to not tip his cap.

“I was just wondering if… Maybe you wanted to hang out for a little bit?”

“Oh. I’m sorry, but there are some things I need to do.” His answer surprised Amasa a bit, as she listened in on them. That boy seemed to be pretty fond of that girl, and she was also aware he didn’t have any actual plans for the rest of the day.

“I see. That’s okay…” Chisa was disheartened to hear him reject her. She tried to keep her head from hanging too low from the disappointment. “Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure.” He smiled at her as she left, but even Amasa could tell it lacked the energy he had before.

“What was that all about?” She asked him as the pair began their walk home. “I thought you liked her?”

“I do.” He responded. “Ida is a nice girl, which is why I can no longer find it in my heart to continue to allow her near my life.”

“What?” She couldn’t believe it. That kind of talk sounded like it would’ve came from herself, not from that guy. “Come on, I know what happened to me was bad, but it’s not like you can just abandon all the friends you’ve made.” Weird, her internal mind didn’t understand why she was saying that. All of her complaints should make her happy to hear this, but the way he acted was wrong. It was as if the natural order of things was disrupted in some manner.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve been thinking about some things ever since that day.” He replied. Tahiko realized that most of his time so far on Earth had been messing around and having fun. The boy had talked about finding a way back to Enatis, but had done nothing to work towards that goal at all. “I’ve wasted a lot of time, and it’s putting people like you at risk.” Beside, he knew from the way she acted that the girl would be more than happy with that arrangement.

“I just don’t know if that’s the best thing to do.” She understood the logic behind it. The other girls could be put in danger because of their relationship with him. In Chisa’s case, she didn’t even know he was a knight from another world. However, that wasn’t like him to just abandon others even if he knew the risks they incurred. It was painfully obvious he was suffering putting himself away from others like she had done herself.

“You don’t really have much of an argument, do you?” He knew that she didn’t agree, yet was unsure as to why that would be the case. Is that not something uncharacteristic coming out of her, or was there something else? “It’s no matter, I know what I have to do in order to protect others. I don’t care about what happens to me.”

“…” She continued to follow in silence as they went about their casual routine back home as they always have. However, as much as she hated to admit it. She wished deeply that it truly could be back to that normal they had set for themselves before the incident.