After we finally got close enough to the creature we started to climb onto him. It felt weird to climb a humanoid being even though the being didn’t even care that we were doing it. As we were climbing them the body of the being began to shake. Shiro cried out and almost lost his grip but I quickly steady him. “Careful there. Don’t slip.” I continued to watch him as we continued to climb waiting until we got to a safe place that had solid ground.
“Thanks. It’s just. . . The closer we get. . . The texture of its skin, the tremor of its pulse. . . It seems so human in some ways. There are some giant Transients that are bigger than humans, but this is on an incomparable scale. There is still so much that exceeds my comprehension. . . in this world. . . and beyond. . .” We stop walking for a while as we look down on the destroyed city of Shinjuku. Shiro had a solemn expression as we just looked on silently. Shiro devils familiars appeared out of his books as they called out to him comfortably.
“H-Hey. . . What are you doing here? It’s not safe” Shiro tried to send his familiars away but they just stayed there as they tried to hug him. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I have you guys, after all.” Shiro smiled as he pet the heads of his familiars who all cried out happily.
I was looking at Shiro with a smile on my face as I saw him get along with his familiars. “They’re cute with how they worry about you so much.” The former familiar of Shiro appears next to me as they hug my leg rubbing their head happily into it which made me smile.
“Yeah, they worry about me a lot. I didn’t realize it because I wasn’t thinking straight for a while there. . . but they were looking out for me the whole time. I have a great deal to learn about Sacred Artifacts and the App itself, but I’m grateful. Because of this, I’m able to be here. . . by your side, Masato.” Shiro looked at me with a serious expression as he said this which caused my face to grow warm as I awkwardly broke eye contact with him.
We stayed there for a bit longer before we continued our journey to get close enough to the being. After a few more minutes of walking and climbing we finally got to the destination. “This is it, Masato. Once we touch it. . . We. . We just. . . k-kiss. A kiss is enough, right? I-I don’t mind. It’s my fault we’re in this mess, so. . . Then again. . . I guess. . . You’re not obligated like I am. If you don’t want to. . . I mean. . .” Shiro was blushing with a frown on his face as he avoided looking at me directly.
I put my hand on his shoulder causing him to look at me with surprise in his eyes. “I mean. . . Um. . . I’m lucky that I get to kiss a good person like you. I mean. . .Yeah. . .” My face felt hot as I scratched my cheek nervously trying not to look at Shiro whose eyes were getting wide.
“You mean. . . You really mean it, Masato?” I just stiffly nodded my head trying not to look at him directly as my face got even hotter. As I was losing myself to my embarrassment I ended up making eye contact with the being causing chills to go down my back.
“Aw crap! He saw us!” Me and Shiro froze as we looked at the being who was just silently looking at us. “Is he. . . looking this way?” We held our breath as we waited for them to do something when suddenly, the being’s eyes shifted. His human-like. . . Or, rather, his very human eyes. . . stops on me.
I could feel sweat appearing on my back as they just looked at me waiting for something to happen but with an uninterested expression his gaze ended up leaving me looking elsewhere. I could feel my legs get weak as I let out a breath.
“Are we safe?” As soon as Shiro asked that the ground began to shake under us again violently. “Urgh! Is he attacking us?!. . . No, he’s totally ignoring us! He was just shifting his body. We’re probably like ants to him But that tiny motion was enough to send chills down my spine. . .” I nodded my head in agreement as I tried to get my racing heart under control again after I nearly got scared to death.
“Are we doing this, Masato? Are we really going to take on something so. . . immense?” I could see Shiro's expression getting anxious again so I put aside my nervousness and smiled at him. “Since we are together, we can totally handle this. No problem!” I grab both of Shiro's hands into my own as I look at him with a sincere expression still smiling.
“Masato. . .! All right. Let’s do it, Masato!” As soon as Shiro said this the being shifted again and a bunch of enemies appeared out of the tear in space. They were coming towards us quickly so I got in front of Shiro quickly with my summoned sword in my hand.
“You got the rear and I got the front! Let's get rid of these enemies so we can get to the big guy.” As that was said I was running toward the enemies as I went to attack them first hoping to catch them off guard. I could hear Shiro behind me surrounding his familiars to support me in the fight which made me grip tighter on my sword.
