The gate shut with a sound so that made her stomach twist.
"You can't just slam it in my face, you brat!" Momo yelled, she definitely knew she heard him laugh at her.
She froze, heart hammering—not at the sound itself, but at the shadow of a man walking towards her.
She looked back.
Yozora's father....?
Black hair and dark, abyssal eyes. The resemblance was uncanny.
Tall. Broad. Calm. Every inch of him radiated a quiet, lethal confidence that made her entire body tighten. He was just coming back from somewhere, and yet, his presence made it feel like the world had paused.
Momo's mind raced. Police reports. The warnings. The whispers from those who had dealt with him. Osano didn't just kill. He erased people from existence. And now… he was right there.
He tilted his head slightly, a faint smile brushing his lips, the kind that didn't reach his eyes.
"Ah." His voice was low, smooth, casual. "You must be Momo-san."
Her throat tightened. She nodded, barely able to speak.
"I've heard a lot about you," he continued, eyes scanning her from head to toe like he was reading a book. "my wife talks endlessly when she's excited."
Momo swallowed. She knew what this meant. The reports, the police warnings… he knew she had tried to report Yozora. And yet here he was, standing in front of her, calm as if nothing in the world mattered.
Osano stepped closer. Not threateningly—not yet—but close enough that she could feel the weight of his presence pressing against her chest.
"Your reputation precedes you," he said softly, a hint of amusement in his tone. "Trying to cross my son… that takes courage."
Momo's pulse raced. Her mind screamed at her to step back, run, anything—but something about him, the stillness, the confidence, held her in place.
"I see… you're important to him," Osano said, glancing slightly past her. "…so, you must be treated carefully."
It wasn't a warning. It wasn't a threat. It was a promise.
Momo nodded weakly, her hands clenching at her sides. She had never felt this close to a predator before—yet one who carried a strange, effortless control, like the world bent to his will without effort.
Osano smiled faintly, almost indulgently.
"Don't worry, Momo," he said, voice smooth as silk. "I don't bite."
Her knees went weak. This wasn't just fear. This was existential terror. The kind that settled in your chest and refused to leave.
As he turned and walked away, leaving her trembling at the gate, it was then Momo had realized, she had just met a man who made Yozora's obsession seem almost… manageable.