Two days ago, just as Megumi Kato arrived at school—before she could even hand in the homework the teachers wouldn't dare grade—she was surrounded by her little sisters and ushered to the battlefield of the Decisive Battle.
At that time, forced to lock eyes with Yukinoshita, her mind was filled with only one thought: if she survived, she absolutely had to bravely speak the truth that she was just an ordinary person!
When Yukino charged at her, she had already prepared the words to kneel and beg for mercy.
Of course, even if she had knelt and begged for mercy, it likely would have been interpreted as a ploy to show weakness to the enemy, surely to be followed by despicable means like throwing sand in their eyes.
After all, in everyone's eyes, she was the King of a Hundred Beasts, unrestrained by any taboo, someone who would even steal lollipops from elementary school students.
Fortunately, whether by the will of heaven or a certain man, Yukino ran away halfway through.
But this became another masterpiece in her career: scaring off Yukinoshita with just a look!
That was one thing, but at the celebration banquet after the decisive battle, Megumi Kato, having been force-fed a few glasses of fruit juice, summoned her courage to confess that she was an ordinary person. This, too, was understood as humiliating Yukinoshita.
After all, if the Megumi Kato who scared off Yukinoshita was an ordinary person, wouldn't that make Yukinoshita not even human? The scene at the time went like this:
Megumi Kato looked solemn, though in reality, she was just numb.
"Actually, I really am just an ordinary person!"
The lively celebration banquet went quiet for a few seconds, and then, erupted into even more enthusiastic laughter and praise.
"Did you hear that! Sister Hui said she's an 'ordinary person'!"
"Hahaha, if Sister Hui who scared off Yukinoshita is an ordinary person, then what does that make Yukinoshita? A paramecium?"
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant! She's not just killing her; she's destroying her spirit! Sister Hui is humiliating Yukinoshita!"
Megumi Kato: "..."
This couldn't really be blamed on the little sisters of the Kato Legion. After all, when King from One-Punch Man says he's an ordinary person, it has the exact same effect.
Megumi Kato herself finally realized that this Kato Legion was hers in name only; in reality, it had nothing to do with her own thoughts, but depended entirely on the version of 'her' that existed in these little sisters' brains.
Any words or actions she took attempting to return to being an ordinary person would only be distorted, amplified, and subsequently turned into another reason proving her extraordinary nature.
At this point, it seemed useless no matter what she said. She could only brace herself and walk this dark path to the end to see what happened.
The result of resolving to walk down the dark path was that the very next day, a little sister told her that she had almost been ambushed by that Yukinoshita leading a group yesterday.
This feeling was just like in Final Destination: you follow the protagonist group off the plane, and the next second, the plane behind you explodes.
Survived by luck? No, the Grim Reaper's gaze has only temporarily shifted away from you. It will return at any moment, and likely with something even more vicious.
The current Yukinoshita gave Megumi Kato that exact feeling of the Grim Reaper.
Megumi Kato felt the lunch she had just stuffed into her mouth instantly lose all flavor. Her heart felt like it was on a drop tower, plummeting straight to the bottom of the valley.
"Where is Kikyou?"
Megumi Kato urgently needed to know more details and ask clearly about what happened yesterday. Otherwise, she was afraid she would be bagged and beaten on her way home.
"Ah, Sister Kushida is resting. She seems a bit unwell..." a little sister replied.
"Call her over. Just say to join me for lunch; I have some things I want to ask her."
Choosing Kushida Kikyou was the result of Megumi Kato's repeated deliberation. Kotegawa Yui, recognized by the legion as the strategist, had too strong of an aura and deep thoughts; Megumi Kato always felt an inexplicable pressure when facing her.
She always felt that her true colors as a boss would be seen through by her at any moment. In comparison, Kushida Kikyou gave off a more honest and simple impression, especially since Megumi Kato heard that Kushida Kikyou worshiped her very much.
Perhaps, through this kind of private heart-to-heart, she could understand more truthfully what exactly happened yesterday, as well as that Yukinoshita Yukino's intentions.
In Megumi Kato's view, Kushida was a witness to yesterday's event and also her fanatic fan, so she shouldn't lie to her, right?
After all, in her simple understanding, eating a meal together and chatting in a relatively relaxed atmosphere was the best way to obtain information and express care.
How normal, how amiable, how much like a good boss who sympathizes with her subordinates!
She completely didn't realize that this invitation, which seemed very normal to her, was no different from a treacherous Hongmen Banquet filled with murderous intent in the eyes of the guilty Kushida Kikyou.
"Join... Sister Hui for lunch? Alone?"
Upon receiving the message, Kushida's face went "whoosh" and turned even paler than when Megumi Kato heard about the sneak attack.
It's over! Sure enough, it has come! A Hongmen Banquet! It is definitely a Hongmen Banquet!
Sister Hui must know! She knows I went behind her back to kidnap Kanzaki Saku! And that I got handsy with the future brother-in-law!
Although the strategist said they were helping the Boss have a taste first, right now only they had tasted him; the Boss hadn't eaten any meat yet!
It might be even more than that. With the Boss's capabilities, perhaps she even knows that not only did our kidnapping fail, but we were also 'educated' by him in return!
She also knows we almost triggered a second war! She might even... she might even know that we have already been turned into spies by Kanzaki Saku?!
Megumi Kato's simple lunch invitation was about to scare Kushida Kikyou to death.
Kushida felt her legs go weak at this moment. The parts that had been repeatedly "specially trained" yesterday were faintly aching again. Mixed with the immense psychological pressure, it made her want to flee the school immediately, or even flee Tokyo.
What to do? What to do? Strategist! Strategist, where are you! I need you!
Why did Sister Hui call me and not the strategist? Is it because she thinks I'm stupider and plans to break through from my end first? Or does she already hold the evidence and is preparing to make an example of me—killing the chicken to scare the monkey?
In just a few seconds, no less than ten cruel scenes of the Boss cleaning house played out in Kushida's mind, and in every one of them, her ending was incredibly miserable.
But she dared not refuse to go, because running away would only increase suspicion and make her die faster.
Kushida repeatedly performed mental construction on herself, trying to calm her nervous mood.
Finally, after adjusting her clothes—which she felt were wrong somewhere due to her guilty conscience—she walked toward the base room where Megumi Kato was, harboring a mood akin to marching to her death.
Inside the room, only Megumi Kato was there. Two bento boxes were placed on a small table. Seeing Kushida enter, she tried hard to squeeze out a smile she considered to be relatively gentle and nodded at Kushida.
"Sit."
'It's over. The Boss smiled at me. Is this my hospice care?!'
While wondering what the Boss's smile—like that of a perverted serial killer—signified, Kushida sat down stiffly like a robot.
Her back was ramrod straight, her hands rested dutifully on her knees, and her eyes drifted about, simply not daring to look directly at Megumi Kato.
Megumi Kato looked at Kushida's overly nervous appearance and felt a drum beating in her heart as well.
'Why is she so nervous? Could it be that yesterday's situation was even more dangerous than reported? Scaring even Kikyou into this state?'
____
New Story: FGO: Building a Lostbelt from Scratch, the Winner is Canon
🔥We're handing out that '25% bonus' that makes your wallet smile. 😄
✅ New releases are dropping, plus get exclusive content & updates.
✅ Help us unlock community rewards:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 180 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan