In this anime crossover, who stole my module?

"This way!"

"She has something she wants to tell you—!!"

"Hua Zi, you idiot!!!"

Who would have thought that Yurikawa had just finished shouting?

Om-!

Instantly, it was as if invisible steam was rising from the top of Jianzi's head, and the temperature rose rapidly at an astonishing speed. The heat spread all the way, and even her neck and ears became scalding hot.

Like an ostrich, she could only immediately cover her burning face with her hands, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"W-What's wrong? Jianzi!"

Yurikawa Hana was somewhat puzzled by Yotsuya Miko's strong reaction.

But seeing his friend's embarrassed look, as if he wanted to disappear immediately, and the increasing number of stares around him, he belatedly realized that he might have been a little too loud.

"I...I saw you were hesitating, so I wanted to help you out..."

Seeing this, Baihe Chuanhua stuck out her tongue and whispered a slightly guilty explanation.

……

the other side.

Inside a black luxury sedan parked not far from the school gate.

Kurashiki Rena, who was about to instruct the driver to start the car, raised an eyebrow with interest and fixed her gaze precisely on Natsume Ryo, who was the focus of everyone's attention. A wicked smile, as if she was enjoying watching a good show, curled up at the corner of her mouth.

"Tsk, looks like I'm in luck today, I'll be able to catch the live performance."

Kurashiki Rena turned her head and gently nudged Miura Yumiko, who was sitting upright and clearly lost in thought, with her elbow. She raised her chin in Natsume Ryo's direction and said with undisguised teasing, "Hey, Yumiko, isn't that the handsome guy from your class just now?"

"Sure, it's quite popular."

Rena Kurashiki drawled out her words.

"There are girls blocking the way at the school gate, and judging from the way they're doing it, is one of them planning to confess her feelings in public?"

"By the way, is his name Natsume something?"

"Huh? Natsume?"

When Yumiko Miura heard the name, her expression instantly became extremely unnatural, as if a sore spot had been touched. Her eyes instinctively darted in that direction for a moment before she immediately realized what was happening. She even slightly adjusted her posture, trying to move further away from the car window, as if afraid of being seen by people outside.

Miura Yumiko's guilty conscience, which was almost written all over her face, naturally caught the eye of Kurashiki Rena.

Originally, it was just a casual joke, but seeing Miura Yumiko's reaction, Kurashiki Rena's interest was piqued even more.

"Oh?"

"Judging from your reaction, could it be... that you have some special feelings for that Natsume-kun?"

Kurashiki Rena, like a cat that had discovered an interesting toy, deliberately drew out her voice and leaned closer to Miura Yumiko.

"Speaking of which, weren't you quite interested in that handsome guy named Hayama Hayato before?"

"What, you've fallen for someone else now?"

"Or is it... that our Miss Yumiko's appetite has grown, and she wants to have her cake and eat it too?"

As Kurashiki Rena spoke, she stretched out her finger and gently twirled Miura Yumiko's hair between her fingers, carefully examining her face, which was clearly becoming increasingly flustered.

"No, no!"

"Rena-nee, what nonsense are you talking about!"

"I...I'm not familiar with that Natsume!"

Yumiko Miura tried her best to explain, stubbornly insisting that she wanted to clarify the relationship.

But to Rena Kurashiki, the words were utterly unbelievable.

She raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing it.

"Not familiar?"

"Who are you kidding?"

"If you're really not familiar with them, then who were you trying to impress with that guilty look you were giving off just now?"

"Don't tell me you have something on him that he can use against you."

Rena Kurashiki looked at Yumiko Miura.

"I...that's because..."

Yumiko Miura was speechless after hearing Rena Kurashiki's question.

After all, she couldn't possibly tell Rena that the reason she reacted so strongly was because she witnessed Natsume Ryo wipe away the clouds in the sky like a god.

Even if I told you this, Rena would never believe me!

Chapter 28 The Parasite is warming up; a dinner invitation from a friend's mother.

Miura Yumiko was relentlessly interrogated by Kurashiki Reina as if she were a criminal. Her already chaotic state of mind, caused by witnessing Natsume Ryo's "pointing to the sky and wiping the clouds," was further aggravated. Her cheeks flushed red, and she stammered for a long time without being able to say anything coherent.

Fortunately, just as he was about to completely break down under Kurashiki Reina's interrogation, he was about to...

Yumiko Miura promptly begged for mercy: "Okay, Rena-nee, stop teasing me."

"I'm just a little tired, I didn't sleep well last night."

"Let's hurry up, Auntie is waiting for us."

"alright."

"In that case, I won't tease you anymore."

Despite her little secret feelings for Miura Yumiko.

Rena Kurashiki had already figured it out and guessed that something unusual must have happened between Yumiko Miura and Ryo Natsume.

Otherwise, Miura Yumiko wouldn't have reacted so strongly.

but.

Seeing that Yumiko still wouldn't say anything, Rena Kurashiki knew it was time to stop. So she didn't press further, glanced at Yumiko Miura, and then looked away.

Kurashiki Rena sat in the back seat, gazing at Natsume Ryo outside the car window. She crossed her long, shapely legs, raised her hand, and casually brushed aside a strand of blonde hair that had fallen beside her cheek. Her red lips pursed slightly, and after casually flicking away the strand of blonde hair that was hooked between her fingertips, she leaned back in her seat and looked at the numbers on the screen of her phone on her wrist.

It had been about twenty minutes since she found Miura Yumiko.

The upscale restaurant that her discerning mother had booked was still at least an hour away from its reservation time.

"We have one hour left before we arrive at the restaurant we booked."

"Go home first."

Thinking of this, Kurashiki Rena turned to Miura Yumiko and said.

"Um……"

Yumiko Miura nodded absentmindedly.

Kurashiki Rena glanced at her but didn't say much, only nodding slightly to the driver in the front seat.

The driver immediately understood.

The car was started quickly and merged into the main road.

……

the other side.

Seeing her friend's embarrassed expression, as if she wanted to bury her head in the ground, Yuri Kawaka stuck out her tongue. Knowing she was in the wrong, she had no choice but to volunteer again to break the deadlock:

"Oh, right, Natsume-san, I heard everything about yesterday from Koko..."

Yurikawa Hana smiled energetically, nodding earnestly as she spoke:

"Honestly, even I felt it was a close call after hearing it. I really need to thank you, Jianzi!"

"Because something came up suddenly when I left school yesterday, I had to let Jianzi go home alone."

"Unexpectedly, when Jianzi was walking home alone, she was stopped and approached by strangers!"

"I heard from Zi that he's still the type who's persistent and clingy."

"Following Jianzi around, asking him all sorts of questions! It was really thrilling."

"Luckily, Natsume happened to be passing by and helped drive those people away!"

"Otherwise, Mikoto told me that if it weren't for Natsume, she would have been too scared to even go home."

At this point, Yurikawa Hana patted her chest, feigning lingering fear, completely oblivious to the fact that Yotsuya Miko was practically melting from shame at having her lie repeated in public.

"Don't you think so, Jianzi?"

At that moment, Yurikawa Hana turned to look at Miko.

"Ah, um...yes..."

After listening to her friend "retell" the lie she had made up, Yotsuya Miko could only grit her teeth and nod quickly like a chicken pecking at rice, quietly agreeing.

However, her face, which was so red it was almost bleeding, and her golden eyes, which were darting around and completely unable to meet Natsume Ryo's gaze, undoubtedly spoke of the immense shame she felt at that moment.

……

Afraid to go home after being approached by a woman?

Kisaragi Station?

After listening to Yurikawa Hana's explanation, Natsume Ryo remained outwardly calm, but he had already noticed Yotsuya Miko's obviously guilty look.

Sure enough, they came up with another excuse to explain.

Natsume Ryo saw it clearly at a glance.

but.

Upon closer examination, Yotsuya Miko's explanation wasn't entirely wrong.

Being "trapped at Kisaragi Station" is something you shouldn't tell your parents, not even your closest friend—

Yuri Kawawa's words would only be dismissed as hallucinations caused by excessive stress or simply as nonsense.

By comparison.

While being harassed by delinquents is certainly troublesome, it's at least something that happens in real life. It's reasonable and more acceptable for Yotsuya Miko to use this as an explanation for her abnormality.

Natsume Ryo had no intention of pointing this out.

After all, this is a fairly appropriate solution.

"..."

Natsume Ryo's thoughts settled.

Facing the growing number of gazes around her, Miko Yotsuya, who had been half-pushed and half-forced by her friend Yurikawa Hana to stand before him, seemed to have finally mustered her courage and made up her mind, raising her delicate face to face Natsume Ryo:

"Senior!"

Although Yotsuya Miko's voice was still soft and clearly tense, she spoke with unusual seriousness.

"Ok?"

"what happened?"

Upon hearing this, Natsume Ryo looked at Yotsuya Miko, waiting for her to continue.

Seemingly embarrassed to discuss the lie she had told in front of Natsume Ryo, Yotsuya Miko's voice was somewhat hesitant, but she still tried her best to keep it coherent:

"That's it."

"That matter, about yesterday...."

"Later, after the senior left last night, I also told my mother about it."

"After learning that my senior had done me such a big favor and even escorted me all the way home, my mother felt really bad for not keeping him with her last night..."

"So... during my lunch break today, my mom suddenly called and said... she wanted to see if we could invite my senior over for dinner tonight... so we could thank him properly in person..."

"I wonder if you are free tonight, senior?"