Rentaro woke up. He silently noted that he had been fainting and sleeping too much lately.
The only difference was that this time when he woke up, Rentaro did not feel as if his whole body was weighted down with lead; he now felt like a feather floating in the wind, lightly drifting without a burden.
Besides, he had thought he would be severely injured, but now, carefully reflecting, he realized that the Silver King had always held back, even when forcing himself down to the same combat level as him. Moreover, the places he was specifically hit seemed to subtly unlock his potential.
"Tch, even more pathetic than I thought..."
Speaking of pathetic, but Rentaro showed no resentment on his face; on the contrary, he smiled.
He got up from the tatami mat and walked into the kitchen, where the light was on and sounds were coming from. He happened to see Enju standing on a stool, struggling with a pile of onions on the counter and his oversized apron. Perhaps because she was too focused or simply unaware, she didn't notice him when he stepped into the kitchen.
"Enju."
"Hee!!!"
Enju startled, nearly falling backward from the stool. When she turned her head, she saw Rentaro approaching and taking the knife from the counter.
"If you want to chop onions, you have to do it like this."
He skillfully peeled, cut the onion in half, then further divided each half into three sections, but without completely separating them, and then began to chop. Uniformly sized pieces of onion were created just like that, leaving Enju open-mouthed in surprise.
"Enju, let me handle this meal. Go watch TV."
"But, but... Rentaro just woke up..."
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine!"
He patted his bicep and flashed a smile.
An unclear emotion flashed across Enju's eyes. She twisted nervously, her hands constantly fidgeting. She seemed to have something she wanted to confess but couldn't articulate.
Seeing this, Rentaro stopped his work at the cutting board. He sat down in front of Enju.
"Is something wrong?"
"Rentaro, I... I... shouldn't have run away."
Enju lowered her head, looking pitiful. She felt guilty because she had run away, which caused Rentaro to suffer so much. She didn't remember how much she had cried when Rentaro was beaten to a pulp and then uttered those innermost feelings.
Rentaro smiled, his eyes gentle as he looked at Enju, causing her heart to race and her face to flush. He reached out and gently stroked her head.
"Enju, this place is forever your home."
"Alright, go to the other room and watch TV. This place will start smelling soon."
Enju covered her face in embarrassment and ran out. Rentaro returned to the counter and focused on cooking.
After running out, the girl couldn't help but peek at the young man's back. Since waking up, Rentaro seemed different from before. Enju couldn't quite name what it was, but she really liked it.
He seemed gentler, and the bleakness in his eyes seemed to be gone, even though one eye was still half dead-fish-like.
"No, no, Rentaro will become too attractive! As his fiancée, I must capture Rentaro first!"
Enju was determined. She had previously heard that the shortest way to win a boy's heart was through his stomach. Alright, from tomorrow she would ask Rentaro to teach her how to cook, and then he would be surprised by her talent.
"Enju, I'm going out to buy some crispy batter mix. We'll have fried onions today."
"Yeahhh!"
Rentaro grabbed his jacket and went out. As soon as he stepped out the door, his gentle expression turned cold. Buying batter mix was one task, but a secondary one.
Rentaro walked to an alleyway near the commercial center and secretly slipped into a small door there. Inside was a somewhat gloomy bar area. There, Rentaro saw the group of people from before drinking heavily in a drunken stupor, even boasting about how they had exposed Enju's Cursed Child identity.
Looking at those smug faces, Rentaro, already cold, became even more somber. Without a word, he approached the nearest person, slammed the guy's face onto the table, the sound of a broken nose covered by the bar's music. While they were still in shock, Rentaro fought his way through, punching and kicking until the entire group was on the ground, then he left.
This place was an illegal gathering point, no cameras, and the owner wouldn't dare call the police. The area was also very dark; even if his face was captured on film, it would be very blurry, only showing a general physique. The drunken group wouldn't know his face either. And even if they were investigated, it didn't matter; the police wouldn't pay attention to brawls like this.
As for that group, Rentaro certainly wouldn't be too cruel, but making them pay a round of hospital bills was enough.
Taking a bit more time to buy the groceries, he hurried back home. However, upon arriving at his house, Rentaro saw Enju sitting by the door, her eyes intently looking at a red satchel. He recognized this as the bag she usually wore to school.
"Enju, why are you sitting here?"
"My satchel... just now I heard someone ring the doorbell, but when I went out, I didn't see anyone, only this outside the main gate."
"It looks like it's been repaired."
Rentaro looked at the still-fresh stitches on the bag strap.
"And there was a piece of paper inside."
Enju handed the paper to Rentaro. There wasn't much inside, just three words: "good luck."
It seemed that besides people like Rentaro, there was still one more person who, despite knowing Enju was a Cursed Child, still accepted her as a human being.
"So Rentaro... I want to fight, I will try my best, to protect everyone! I am always ready, whenever you need me!"
Enju faced Rentaro, her youthful face blazing with something called determination and defiance.
Perhaps the short separation the two of them experienced today didn't just change Rentaro, it changed Enju as well.
"Alright, but remember to prioritize safety."
"Yes!"
"Come on, let's go inside first."
Both of them smiled. Suddenly, Rentaro's pants pocket vibrated—it was a signal from his phone. The caller was Kisara.
The information delivered was that the location of Kagetane Hiruko had been found, and an emergency pursuit operation was currently being organized.