Narukami's POV

"I know but there's one thing. H-he discovered my identity," I conveyed the gravity of the situation as he replied with a 'how?'

"Well, Kiyoko accidentally called out my surname when she was gonna faint and... he found out."

"Oh. There's no way an ordinary would have figured out your identity under Amnesia's Obscure," he exclaimed. "And, Suzume-kun, please drive fast."

"A-Aye Sire," the blonde pilot stuttered as he spoke. He seemed too young and inexperienced for this job.

I glanced at the pink-eyed freak. He was dozing an ox, leaning on Sora's arm as if it were a recliner. He was sitting diagonally across me. 'What a shameless fellow! But is he alright? He spitted out a lot of blood back then. Whatever, he's my father's lackey so I don't care. But I still hope he's gonna be alright.'

The train of hateful thoughts came to a halt when I felt a nudge at my shoulder. It was Kiyoko. She had started to lean on my shoulder, which made my heart skip a beat. 

"Can you explain what happened while I was away?"

"Well, as soon as you went, a large scorpion, about three times larger than Mr. Petty appeared at the terrace of Botan's house."

"Who's that?"

"My best friend."

"Huh? I thought we were your best friends." He pointed at himself and Kiyoko with a disheartened look.

"Yes, yes. You both definitely are, but he and Akira are my best friends at school."

"Haha, I was just kidding. I know you are the most popular boy in your school. Obviously, you would be friends with everyone in your high-school, right? Also, is he your friend?" He looked at the clingy idiot beside him who was hanging to Sora's arm as if it were some kind of branch. "He kinda looks like the koala on your shirt."

"No, that idiot isn't my friend, nor do i wish to be friends with him. I am ready to be friends with the Devil but not him. He's so annoying and such a sour-mouthed fellow. I can't believe I was blessed by the bad luck to see him at places other than school."

The silence that followed after my rant was disturbing. Sora stared at me like he had seen a ghost or something for a while before letting out a tiny chuckle. "Hahaha, so he's that fellow that you told me about? I expected him to be some kind of gangster but I'm surprised to find out that he's so cute."

"Cute? What's cute about him? He looks like a leech now," I stormed. "Um, sorry. I lashed out."

"It's okay. I am just surprised to see such a not-so-Naru side of yours. You don't really express much anger unless it comes to your family. He really does influence a lot if he's able to bring out a different side of yours."

"Of course, he does. He was the one who antagonized my brother against me. He's my father's lackey. Not only that but also he humiliated me in public. He's always picking fights with me. He treats people like shit. He has ruined my love life. He's done so much that I just can't stop hating him."

I felt a tap on my shoulder as I saw Kiyoko laughing beside me with tears in her eyes. I felt relieved on seeing her awake. "You look so funny while complaining."

"What's so funny about this?" I asked her. "And you are alright, right?"

"I don't know. It's like you have become a completely different person. And, yes I am totally fine and healthy!" 

"Completely different person? What do you mean?"

"Let's talk about that later. Our station arrived," Kiyoko pointed towards the open door of the vehicle.

I looked towards the other side to see Sora trying to restrain his laughter. When our eyes met, he turned away to look at pink-eyes. "Who will carry him?"

"Not me," I replied instantaneously.

"Me, me, me," Kiyoko screeched. "I am the strongest, so I get to carry him."

"No me."

"Hey, but didn't you just say 'not me'? Wait could it be that you are a tsundere?" Kiyoko giggled. "Do you perhaps harbor feelings fo-"

"Don't complete that sentence. Even if I liked men, I wouldn't like that guy. I can't even stand him for a second!"

"That's exactly why I am going to carry him," saying so she effortlessly lifted him up in her arms and carried him in princess-style towards the stretcher. 

I clasped the hand railings supporting the steps that connected the vehicle and the terrain.

"Woah, they get along well. After a few more interactions, I am pretty sure they would start dating," Sora teased as he noticed my grip. "Woah, chill you're gonna break the railing. I was just kidding, you know two people aren't going to become a couple just because they met once. Romance in real life isn't like the ones you see in Shonen."

"Pfft," the blonde pilot snorted out water as he tried to cover up his laughter by looking down at the ground. I glared at him before walking away.

"Whatever, I don't care. I am pretty sure her taste isn't that bad." I marched towards the door, swinging my arms with full force, slashing the air as Sora socially distanced himself from me, for the sake of his safety.

"Chill, Naru, you are gonna end up killing someone. You don't want to earn a bad name for yourself, right?"

I stood near the door as it opened up on its own. Kiyoko came rushing towards me. "Yo, our manager is asking for an explanation! Please come quick, you too!"

"Okay," I nodded as a sense that something would unlucky was going to happen started to haunt me.

"Well, if it isn't Kagura and the rest," our team's manager spoke with a creepy grin, as a chill went down my spine. She placed the coffee she was drinking back on the table, while she lightly tapped her fingers, demanding an explanation.

'I don't know what I did, but I am sure I messed up real bad. This is the first time this is happening. So, it must be because of that guy's presence.'

"I can't believe you three... wait not you, Kiyoko. You can take this certificate of graduation with you and say goodbye to your teammates, dear," she spoke while handing out the certificate to her. "You are now an officially independent hero. You have been promoted to the A3 class, Group #43."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"No, madam. I don't want any promotion if it's not with these two. We are an inseparable team," Kiyoko strongly rejected the proposal as I heaved a sigh of relief.

"What are you sighing for, Kag-ura?" The stress on the last syllable was the measure of her annoyance. "And Kiyoko, this isn't a choice. There's a vacancy that we need to fill up in the upper teams and it's a necessity for you to leave the team. You can either accept it or leave the HQ once and for all. As much as I hate to say it, you have to leave."

"Kiyoko, accept it. Please," I begged her. I didn't want to part with her but the hero agency was her only source of income. So I had to act. Acting was the only way, you can make others happy. "Besides, we can still meet once in a while."

"O-Okay, but can we hug for the last time?" She asked. Her tears looked like the dew drops on a young leaf.

"O-Of course..." We occupied the corners of an imaginary triangle, as we adjusted our heights for a group hug.

"I am so glad we met. I hope we can continue being the best of friends," she spoke, her tone shaking with sorrow.

"Now, you guys are making me feel bad. But you know these are orders from the boss and we have no choice but to comply with them. I am sorry. But aren't you two in the same grade, so won't you still meet at school?"

"What about me? I can't even meet her," Sora complained. He was in a fashion designing college and he had graduated from school two years ago. He was three years older than us.

"Oh dear goodness, you can still meet her. You all are literally living in the same city and working at the same workplace.

"Bye, I guess," Kiyoko took the certificate and left the room in dismay. "One thing madam, would there be girls in my team, this time?"

"Yes a girl and a boy! Basically the girl and you'll be the primary fighting group as the boy is a healer."

"Oh, that's cool, I guess," Kiyoko spoke with a straight face, before leaving the  room, once and for all. No, wait she came back, once again. "Uh, bye guys. Hope we can meet each other again."

"Okay. Now, that she's gone, let's talk about you two," she booted on the computer as she emptied the coffee cup. "Hey, Sora please throw this into the bin."

She handed over the cup to him as he obeyed her.

"Okay, now let's talk about today's star of the show, Kagura Narukami aka Samuraiden. You did four things wrong. First, you got your identity leaked to a random civilian. Don't worry much about that as Miss Amnesia will take care of him."

"No, madam. It wasn't my mistake." It was actually Kiyoko's mistake but if I said anything more than that her promotion could get hampered.

"Shut up and don't interrupt me again. Second, you literally blew up the electrical supply of an entire street influenced by your romantic feelings for Kiyoko."

"I d-don't have any f-feelings for her. It's just a feeling to protect one's companion." No way Madam Yui knew about this. Not even Sora knew about this. Wait did he? So is it possible that even Kiyoko knew about this?

"Atleast, learn how to come up with good lies. Your face has become red just like the tomato that I stamped on my way here. Well the third thing is that, you blasted one of the aerial cells that was on its way. That was why the arrival was late."

"W-What?" Seems like I scolded him for no reason at all.

"And fourthly, you caused a lot of casualties. And wait there's one more; you neglected to take care of the victim because of your childish rivalry."

"Um, so am I suspended?"

"Yes, what else do you expect?" She replied coldly. "And Sora, you were late for duty multiple times including today and you know, you-"

"Are suspended?" Sora asked.

"No, you have to assist Kagura."

"In what?"

"In the TVRP!"

"TVRP???" We both squealed in confusion. "What's that?"

"The Villain Redemption Project."