Anime Crossover: My Part-Time Job as a Giant of Light While Studying Abroad in Chiba

"Oh! It's there! Kaisan, this is youth! How enviable!"

The voice of the future is full of sincere banter.

Duan Zilian's face instantly turned red, and he shouted back, "Ask you my foot! Future-san, Kai-san, stop joking! This art museum is poisonous! All those models and sculptures have come to life and are going to slice us up and make us into specimens!"

Upon hearing the word "alive," the two men below exchanged a glance, their previously relaxed expressions now bearing the solemnity of warriors.

“We already knew,” Hong Kai shouted back. “Later told me you’d been missing all day, so we followed the trail for a while before finding this place. There’s definitely something bad in here. Wait!”

"Wait for us there, Duan-kun." Future gave a reassuring gesture upwards. "We'll come in and get you right away."

After saying that, the two of them strode straight into the museum door shrouded in shadow without any hesitation.

Yukino watched the two figures enter the building, her eyes filled with worry: "Duan-kun, are your two... family members... really okay going in like this? There are dozens of moving things inside..."

"Don't worry, Minister." Duan Zilian sat back down by the railing, looking at the figure that had disappeared behind the door below, her expression much more relaxed.

"Those two... are quite strong. All we need to do now is sit here and enjoy the breeze while they clean up the trash."

"Is that so..." Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head in confusion, but didn't ask any more questions.

……

An eerie silence fell over the art museum, broken only by the whistling of the wind through the empty corridors.

Duanzi Lian and Xue Shizhi lay by the trapdoor, listening intently to the sounds below.

The expected sounds of fierce fighting did not materialize. After about five minutes, the steady sound of leather shoes came from below, followed by Hong Kai's somewhat listless voice:

“Hey, come down here. Apart from a few piles of rotten wood and lime powder, there isn’t even a mouse in this building.”

"Huh?" Duan Zilian was stunned.

He carefully pushed open the trapdoor and peered down in the dim light.

Below, Hong Kai was leaning against the wall, looking bored, while Hibino Mirai gently nudged the models who had been attacking them.

But now, they had truly turned back into lifeless plastic frames, lying haphazardly on the ground, as if the desperate chase had just been a nightmare.

"How is that possible... they were just now..." Duan Zilian rubbed her eyes.

"They probably sensed the arrival of the 'main character' and shrank back in fear."

Hong Kai raised an eyebrow, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He now understood that there must be rats lurking in the shadows, and these rats must also know their identities, which is why they chose to sever the mental link the moment they arrived to prevent them from sensing his presence.

"Hmph...playing tricks." Hong Kai snorted.

"Stop daydreaming, Duan-kun, hurry up and bring Yukinoshita down here." Mirai gently waved from below.

Since the folding ladder was still stuck and there was still a considerable drop from the ground, Duan Zilian looked at the height, then at Xue Shita who was hesitating beside her, and without thinking much, she jumped down.

Snapped!

He landed steadily on the flat ground, bending his knees slightly to absorb the force.

Then he turned around and opened his arms to the snow above.

"Minister, jump down, I'll catch you."

Yukino looked down at him. In the dim light, the boy's eyes shone brightly, and his outstretched arms exuded an irresistible honesty.

She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and lightly jumped down.

call--

Duan Zilian precisely wrapped her arms around her knees and back, catching her securely in a standard princess carry.

Yukinoshita gasped and instinctively hooked her arm around Danzilian's neck.

The two were so close that they could smell the slightly bittersweet scent of youth mingled with dust and sweat on each other.

A pleasant aroma instantly wafted over, and Duan Zilian felt like she was being overwhelmed by the fragrance.

"...You can put me down now, Duan Jun."

The sounds beneath the snow were barely audible, and her cheeks burned red in the darkness.

"Oh, sorry, I just happened to be carrying it." Duan Zilian chuckled awkwardly and quickly put the person down.

Hong Kai, standing to the side, let out a long whistle: "Your movements are quite skilled. Looks like the special training paid off."

"Kaisang!" Duan Zilian glared at him angrily.

……

Outside the art museum, a small van was parked on the side of the tree-lined road. It was the coffee shop's usual delivery vehicle. The paint was a bit worn, but it had been washed clean.

Hibino Mirai sat in the driver's seat, Danzi Rei and Yukinoshita sat in the back, while Kurenai Kai occupied the passenger seat, casually pulling a soda popsicle from his pocket and putting it in his mouth.

The car drove smoothly through the twilight of Chiba.

"That phenomenon...is it really impossible to explain scientifically? And this...time." Yukinoshita leaned against the car window, watching the street scene rushing past outside. Her emotions were still unsettled.

“Minister, didn’t I already say that physics no longer exists?” Duan Zilian slumped in her chair, completely dehydrated. “However, we should probably avoid places like that in the future. Art may be priceless, but we only have one life.”

"Some people care more about a romantic day with a pretty girl than art, right?" Hong Kai joked, glancing sideways at the rearview mirror while munching on an ice pop.

"Cough! Cough cough cough!" Duan Zilian's face turned red again. "Kaisang! Mind your image as an elder!"

"I'm just stating objective facts," Hong Kai said with a wicked grin as he turned his head.

"Kaisan, stop teasing Duan Jun. He's already very tired today."

While steering the car, Mirai smiled at Yukinoshita through the rearview mirror: "Yukinoshita, you must have been frightened. When we get back to the shop, I'll make you a cup of special herbal tea, which is very helpful for relieving stress."

"...Thank you. I'm sorry to have troubled you." Yukinoshita responded softly, but her gaze involuntarily fell on Danzi Rei, then looked at the two people in the front seat, and sighed softly.

"I really can't figure out my strange deskmate anymore, but... he's not so bad."

……

Chapter 30 The Boundaries of Honesty

When I got back to the coffee shop, it was almost 8 p.m.

In the future, a "CLOSE" sign will be hung up, and all the warm yellow lights in the store will be lit up. Duan Zilian has changed out of that shirt and put on a large sweatshirt and the store's apron. She is busy moving chairs for Yukinoshita.

In the future, steaming hot flower tea and hot milk tea were served, while Hong Kai was drinking ice-cold beer behind the bar.

"Phew... I'm finally alive." Duan Zilian held the hot milk tea and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Mr. Hibino." Yukinoshita nodded politely.

She sat at the bar, holding a warm porcelain cup in both hands. Although she appeared calm, her trembling hands betrayed her inner turmoil.

Duan Zilian lay on the table, enjoying the hard-won tranquility. This soothing environment was the ultimate reward for him.

However, this tranquility did not last long.

"Duan-kun." Yukinoshita stared at the tea leaves rising and falling in the cup and suddenly spoke softly.

"Hmm?" Duan Zilian responded groggily.

Don't you think... you should explain?

Duan Zilian sat up straight, looking completely innocent: "Explain what? If you're talking about that model, I swear I was just acting in self-defense, I absolutely had no violent tendencies..."

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Yukinoshita turned her head, her cool gaze meeting Tanji Rei's eyes, her voice so low that only the two of them could hear it.

Duan Zilian knew that the aloof and unapproachable head of the Service Department at Zongwu High School, who was absolutely calm and collected, had returned.

He couldn't help but swallow.

"Many things that happened to you, and... these two 'elders,' they are not ordinary people, are they?"

She glanced at Wei Lai and Hong Kai at the other end of the bar out of the corner of her eye.

At this moment, Future was diligently wiping the spoon, which was completely free of dust, while Red Kai was intently studying the production date on the wine bottle.

But in places unseen beneath the snow, both of their ears twitched extremely subtly, their sensitive "Ultraman Hearing" listening to every single word spoken.

"Ah... well... how should I put it..."

Duan Zilian was speechless. He subconsciously tried to come up with an outrageous reason to get away with it, such as "they are actually retired circus acrobats" or something like that.

But he saw the expression on Yukinoshita's face.

The expectant look in Duan Zilian's eyes, when she saw the hesitation in Duan Zilian's eyes, rippled with a hidden sadness, like the surface of a lake being blown by the wind.

Although it was only for a moment, Duan Zilian felt that her heart seemed to sink for a second.

At that moment, Duan Zilian suddenly felt that if he continued to use lame words to fob off the girl who had helped him escape death, it would be even worse than being a "devil of light".

"Sigh, ah, I really can't do anything with you." Duan Zilian scratched her messy hair and sighed helplessly.

"Do you remember a week ago when I kept complaining of back pain?"

Yukino nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

"That night I was walking home when I encountered a strange man in a suit in the alley. He was the one from the urban legend. He had no face and was strong enough to smash down a wall. I thought I was going to die."

Duan Zilian smiled wryly and pointed slightly to Hong Kai in the corner: "It was Kai-san who suddenly appeared and saved me. Later, during that storm, they were the ones who dragged me out of the bombed apartment."

“Future Sang and Kai Sang are both very skilled ‘experts’. Although I don’t know what they did before, I feel very safe and happy working here.”

Duan Zilian looked at Yukinoshita with an unusually serious expression: "That's all, Minister. I'm just an unlucky guy who got caught up in trouble and was taken in by two kind seniors."

Yukino listened quietly and remained silent for a long time.

“So…” she lowered her eyes, her tone scrutinizing, “you’ve actually been in this kind of danger all these days, but you’ve been hiding it from me?”

“Uh…” Duan Zilian froze.

This plot is going wrong! Shouldn't a normal person be impressed by what they've been through, exclaiming, "So you've been through all that danger?" Why is the focus shifting to "concealment"?

Duan Zilian inwardly groaned: "Speaking is wrong, not speaking is wrong too. Is this the legendary logic of girls? This feels more overwhelming than dealing with a hundred monsters!"

Seeing Duan Zilian's embarrassed expression, as if she wanted to go crazy but dared not lash out, Yukinoshita's lips finally curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

"Everyone has secrets they can't tell, Mr. Duan. I can understand and respect that."

She put down her teacup, stood up, and her ponytail swayed gently with the movement.

Yukino Yukinoshita looked directly at Rei Danji, her tone returning to its clear, gentle quality, like snow water: "But I hope that, at least within the Service Club, between you and me... we can be as honest with each other as possible. I don't want to be left without knowing where to call the police the next time one of my club members disappears into the darkness."

Duan Zilian stared blankly at her, the pressure in her heart instantly vanishing, leaving only a bittersweet warmth.

"Okay, definitely, definitely. Next time I will definitely write my will first and give it to the minister for safekeeping."

"I have no interest in accepting that kind of thing, please make sure you keep it yourself."

About ten minutes later, Yukino Yukinoshita finished the last sip of her flower tea. She respectfully said "Thank you for the meal" to Mirai and Kai before leaving.

Duan Zilian quickly took off her apron and followed, saying, "It's too late, I'll take you home."

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Mirai and Hongkai exchanged a smile.

"A pretty good girl, right?"

"yes……"

……

The streets of Chiba were unusually deserted late at night.

The streetlights and moonlight cast long shadows of the two people, which occasionally overlapped and then quickly separated.

Yukinoshita shrank her neck, and Duan Zilian subconsciously wanted to take off her hoodie, but then remembered that she wasn't wearing anything underneath, so she could only scratch her head awkwardly.

The two strolled down to the apartment building, which was covered in snow.

"Goodbye, Duan-kun." Yukinoshita stood on the steps, turned around, and the moonlight shone on her shoulders.

"Goodbye, see you at school tomorrow." Duan Zilian waved.

Watching the slender figure disappear behind the elevator doors, Duan Zilian stood there for a long time.

The night breeze swept by, carrying away the last trace of vanilla scent in the air.

Under the moonlight, a nameless sorrow suddenly struck his chest.

Just now, Yukinoshita said that she hoped to "treat each other with honesty".

But deep in his heart lay a secret, a secret about Ultraman, about the Demon Beast, about the unknown fear beneath this night sky…