The sun blazed brightly, its morning rays piercing through clouds, while sparrows chirped and played on the branches.
Stepping out of the cramped, sweaty-smelling train, Satomi Rentaro was immediately dragged into the toy store by an eager Aihara Enju. This store occupied an entire floor of a major electronics and appliance mall, impressively large in scale.
It was a holiday, so the store was bustling with people, many of whom had come with their whole families.
As soon as they entered, Enju pulled Rentaro straight toward the "Tenchu Girls" section. Rentaro vaguely remembered—yesterday Enju and her classmates had been talking excitedly about this anime.
"What's this anime about?"
As soon as he asked, Rentaro regretted it. He clearly wasn't interested, yet he'd still asked—and sure enough, Enju's eyes immediately sparkled, and she began proudly introducing the anime's plot.
The story roughly went like this: A girl named Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshiko (a magical girl), seeking revenge for the murder of her foster father Asano, gathered forty-six magical-girl warriors from across the country and stormed the mansion of Kira. It seemed to be an epic, sprawling series.
They're magical girls, aren't they? Why does it suddenly turn into a revenge story? Why does the main character wield a katana instead of a magic wand? Why is there no trace of love and friendship magic anywhere—only characters screaming "Go to hell!" as they draw absurdly long katanas to slice people apart?
Yet, inexplicably, this anime was quite popular. Could it be that I'm the one falling behind the times?
Rentaro could almost see a magical girl wearing a frilly pink princess dress, brandishing an enormous katana or a chainsaw, violently dismembering some villain before smiling fiercely, covered in blood, saying: "This thing is way more useful than magic."
Trying to follow Enju's mental leaps was burning through Rentaro's brain cells.
But seeing Enju regain her spirits, returning to her usual energetic self, Rentaro couldn't help but smile softly in relief.
Aihara Enju was his Initiator—a Cursed Child possessing the rabbit-type Gastrea factor.
Before becoming an Initiator, Enju had spent a long time living in the Outer Area. Even after becoming an Initiator, she frequently returned to those ruins, bringing food and supplies to the children still trapped there.
However, after a recent routine visit to the Outer Area, Enju's mood had plummeted—because she discovered that the entire Outer Area had become completely deserted. She searched every familiar corner, yet could find no trace of her friends.
When Rentaro and Tendō Kisara learned of this, both tried comforting her, telling her not to worry too much.
Firstly, it was highly unlikely the children had been attacked by Gastrea or by humans who hated Cursed Children. If that had happened, there surely would have been bloodstains and signs of resistance—but the site had none of these. So, at least they could be certain that the children originally living there had left voluntarily.
Rentaro and Kisara speculated that perhaps ISO had, for some reason, collectively taken these children away. Although this wasn't ISO's usual style, they simply couldn't think of any other plausible explanation.
Of course, this speculation still couldn't completely dispel Enju's anxiety. To help lift her spirits, Rentaro had decided to bring her shopping today, hoping to disperse the gloom hanging over her.
He was already mentally prepared to see his wallet bleed heavily...
"Ohhh! You also like Tenchu Girls?"
"Yes! I like all kinds of stories—but of course, I love stories with happy endings best, because that's something I don't have."
"Me too, me too! I absolutely hate tragic endings... Let me tell you..."
When Rentaro finally emerged from his thoughts, he unexpectedly saw Enju chatting excitedly with a smiling girl around her own age.
This was a cute girl—so lovely she was almost stunning, as though she'd stepped directly out from the pages of a fairy tale book.
Two silver braids, a black western-style dress, and doll-like features—every detail was breathtakingly perfect.
Seeing that radiant silver hair, Rentaro almost thought he'd run into Seitenshi, the ruler of the Tokyo Area. After all, Seitenshi's most recognizable trait was precisely her shining, silver hair, unmatched beauty, and her pure, saintly aura.
But this girl in front of him couldn't possibly have anything to do with Seitenshi. Although Seitenshi was Tokyo Area's ruler, she was currently only sixteen, still studying at Miwa Girls' Academy—just like Tendō Kisara—and didn't even have a boyfriend yet, let alone a child this age. He'd also never heard of her having a younger sister or close relatives.
"Ren! Ta! Ro!"
That familiar voice, dripping with fury and dissatisfaction, jolted Rentaro abruptly out of his thoughts. Turning toward the voice, he immediately saw Enju standing with her hands angrily on her hips, her little face practically broadcasting the words "I'm very angry," while protectively shielding behind her was the silver-haired girl, who looked slightly confused.
"Rentaro! Even though your girlfriend is standing right here, you're still ogling other girls, openly cheating on me? Have you finally lost control over your true perverted lolicon nature?"
"Wh-wh-wh... what nonsense are you spouting?! What girlfriend?! I wasn't cheating on anyone!"
"What?! Rentaro, you're abandoning me now? Even though we just shared such an intense night together—"
"Don't phrase things in ways that can cause misunderstandings! Nothing happened between us, alright?!"
Rentaro covered his face in despair. He no longer dared meet the gazes of the people nearby...
"Hehe~!"
A silvery, bell-like laugh echoed softly. Nursery Rhyme covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, "You two are really fun to watch! Onii-san, you must really like Enju a lot."
"Hmph! Of course he does!" Enju puffed out her chest proudly, one hand on her hip and the other firmly gripping Rentaro's arm, declaring grandly to Nursery Rhyme, "I'm gonna marry Rentaro in the future, after all. Rentaro has long been completely bewitched by my charms!"
"That is absolutely not the case! I really don't want to be dragged into a police station on charges of being a perverted lolicon." Rentaro retorted bitterly, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Inside the toy store, Enju cheerfully selected the toys she wanted, skipping happily toward the cashier. Nursery Rhyme briefly glanced at the price tags—the total amounted to over 7,000 yen.
Nursery Rhyme clearly remembered: Rentaro and Enju usually lived in rather tight financial conditions, their meals almost always relying on discounted bean sprouts from supermarket sales. Yet Rentaro was willing to pull out over seven thousand yen just to buy toys for Enju.
For a moment, Nursery Rhyme didn't quite know how to react—should she marvel at Rentaro's almost clumsy indulgence toward Enju, or should she criticize his utterly broken sense of money management?
While Civil Security jobs paid generously per mission—after all, it was a career spent constantly dancing with death—the expenses were equally steep. Regular maintenance of Varanium weapons and ammunition resupply alone amounted to significant sums. Satomi Rentaro had long since piled up considerable debts from this.
Moreover, Satomi Rentaro's IP ranking as a Civil Security officer wasn't high either. Among a total of 240,000 pairs, he and Aihara Enju ranked merely 123,452nd. With such a low rank, virtually no one was willing to commission them for tasks.
Even though his true strength surpassed most pairs within the top 1,000—and if his protagonist's aura erupted, he could barely squeeze into the top 100—Rentaro always seemed to lack a sense of urgent ambition, often appearing easygoing and somewhat aimless… Though, upon careful thought, the world had already broken down to this point; despair and chaos had become everyday occurrences, making it truly difficult for anyone to feel much enthusiasm or hope for life.
"By the way, you... uh..." Satomi Rentaro turned toward Nursery Rhyme, but his voice awkwardly faltered, only then realizing he hadn't even learned her name yet. "May I ask your name?"
"Onii-san, do you want to know my name?" Nursery Rhyme tilted her head adorably, smiling sweetly as she said, "If you're asking how to address me, just call me 'Nursery Rhyme.' Everyone around me calls me that."
"Nursery... Rhyme?"
Satomi Rentaro froze slightly—after all, "Nursery Rhyme" didn't exactly sound like a proper name, did it? It seemed more like a nickname or a code name...
But in the end, Rentaro chose not to pursue the matter. After all, they had only just met, and in such a chaotic world, no one could guarantee they'd meet again. In this hopeless world, "see you again" all too often easily turned into "farewell forever." For Rentaro, such a thing had long become routine.
"Nursery Rhyme, is your guardian nearby? If they're too far away, you might easily get separated in such a crowded place."
"Onii-san, are you worried about me?" Nursery Rhyme blinked innocently in surprise, then broke into a pure, sincere smile. "Onii-san truly is a good person."
Being handed a straightforward "good person card" by a little girl so much younger than himself left Rentaro feeling complicated, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Nursery Rhyme spoke again, her voice sweet as honey. "You don't need to worry about Nursery Rhyme. I have many, many friends with me—they'll protect me well~"
"Really? Then I suppose that's alright..."
Indeed, how could such a small, innocent child like Nursery Rhyme, who seemed as though she could be easily lured away with just a piece of candy, possibly come out alone? What if someone with bad intentions had set eyes on her?
Though Rentaro glanced around and saw no one who appeared to be Nursery Rhyme's "friends," his instincts told him that a child with eyes this clear and a presence this pure wouldn't lie.
Still… given she had hidden "friends" secretly protecting her, coupled with her fairy-like appearance, pure temperament, and expensive-looking dress, this girl called Nursery Rhyme probably belonged to some prominent, extremely wealthy family, didn't she?
When Aihara Enju returned and saw Rentaro chatting with Nursery Rhyme, she immediately erupted with jealousy and threw a loud tantrum on the spot. She even forcibly slipped a toy watch onto Rentaro's wrist, declaring solemnly, "If you dare cheat on me behind my back, this watch will snap clean off!"
Although Enju seemed to get along happily and instantly clicked with Nursery Rhyme, it was soon time to part ways after buying the toys. They had only just met, after all—it wasn't appropriate to rashly invite Nursery Rhyme to their home as a guest. What were they supposed to do—host this likely-rich little miss with half-priced discounted bean sprouts from the supermarket?
But just before parting, Nursery Rhyme suddenly posed a question to Enju:
"If I wanted to create a fairy-tale paradise—a place where only children can enter, and where all wishes can be granted—would you like to come?"
"A place that grants all wishes?" Enju was instantly captivated by those words, but a second later, she tilted her head in confusion. "Only children can enter?"
A mature adult like Rentaro would instinctively guess at the hidden meaning behind such words. But children like Enju didn't think in complicated loops—they would directly face their hearts.
"Then… could Rentaro come with me?"
"Hmm..." Nursery Rhyme's brow furrowed slightly, shaking her head apologetically. "I'm afraid not."
"I thought as much. After all, I'm already a filthy adult," Rentaro laughed bitterly.
Enju gazed deeply at Rentaro for a long moment, then seemed to make up her mind. Turning back to Nursery Rhyme with an easy, carefree smile, she said, "Then, I won't go either… If Rentaro can't come along, then even if it can grant every wish, it doesn't mean anything to me."
Upon hearing this, Nursery Rhyme's eyes curved brightly into crescent moons, and her lips blossomed into an incredibly radiant and pure smile—as if she had received a satisfactory answer, or perhaps sincerely felt joy for Enju having met the right person.
"Even though you've chosen to refuse, I'll still offer you my blessing... May happiness accompany you until the last page. Prince-sama, Princess-sama, please hold tightly to each other's hands until the very end."
Rentaro thought to himself emotionally—She truly is a young lady from a wealthy family. Even her parting words are deep and difficult to understand. Although we're standing right here together, it still feels like we're living in two separate worlds.
After parting ways with Rentaro and Enju, Nursery Rhyme wandered aimlessly around the Tokyo Area alone. Her meeting with the main characters was purely coincidental. In truth, she'd only wanted to meet a few Initiators within the Tokyo Area—in other words, her target hadn't been Rentaro, but rather Aihara Enju.
Despite being the protagonist, Rentaro didn't possess any particular qualities—in combat strength, growth potential, or personality—that drew Nursery Rhyme's interest. At least, based on his current performance, he displayed none of the traits deserving of the title "main character."
He wasn't like Itsuka Shido, who possessed the ability to seal Spirits; nor Kazuma, who'd use every means and discard all morals to achieve his goals; nor Hyoudou Issei, who'd explode into fury for the sake of his beloved; nor even Shin Malphur, who'd write the longest love-letter with his own life…
Still, since Enju appeared quite content with her current life, Nursery Rhyme saw no need to forcefully take her away. Only arrogant adults would pressure children, ignoring their own thoughts, claiming, "I'm doing this for your own good." Nursery Rhyme would never do such a thing.
After all, the final result would remain the same.
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T/N: fuckl you all you go search up the pics yourself
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