Megumi Kato thought it over again and again, then dumped the items she had just picked up back out of the paper bag, poked two holes in it, and pulled it over her head.
Kamen Rider makes her entrance; the hero saving the beauty, here I come!
The alley was even darker than the main road, with only an old street lamp emitting a dim yellow light. Kanzaki Saku walked to a slightly more spacious spot where some discarded cardboard boxes were piled up on the side, and stopped in his tracks.
He turned around, looking at the alley entrance with leisurely composure.
Soon, that stalker appeared. Seeing Kanzaki Saku standing there waiting, the stalker was obviously stunned for a moment, her footsteps pausing.
"You've been following me the whole way, aren't you tired?" Kanzaki Saku's tone was relaxed as he placed the bag in his hand onto a relatively clean cardboard box beside him. "If you have business, you might as well say it directly."
The stalker didn't utter a sound, merely pulling the brim of her hat lower and approaching step by step. Judging by the figure, she seemed on the petite and thin side. It wasn't until the distance closed to three or five meters that, borrowing the dim light, Kanzaki Saku vaguely felt the other party looked a bit familiar.
The stalker stopped a few meters in front of him and slowly raised her head.
Under the brim of the hat was a face that was difficult to conceal its exquisite beauty even in the dim light. Strands of golden hair leaked out from the edge of the hat, shimmering under the dim yellow street lamp, and a pair of aquamarine eyes were staring straight at Kanzaki Saku at this moment.
Kanzaki Saku definitely should have seen this face before, but at this moment, he really couldn't recall it.
The stalker didn't give him more time to reminisce. She seemed angered by Kanzaki Saku's attitude of ease and proficiency; she took a few steps forward and, under Kanzaki Saku's slightly surprised gaze, grabbed the collar of his chest!
The force was not small; she actually yanked Kanzaki Saku.
"You..." Just as Kanzaki Saku wanted to say something, the other party had already tilted her face up, pressing in on him, a fierce light flashing in those beautiful blue eyes.
"Finally caught you..." Her voice was suppressed very low, carrying a bit of panting, unsure if it was from nervousness or from running until tired. "Walking this kind of road alone at night, you have quite the nerve."
Kanzaki Saku indicated that he had nothing to be afraid of; at worst, he would just lie flat and get fucked!
So he didn't resist, allowing the other party to hold onto him, only his tone was somewhat helpless: "Um, do you want to introduce yourself first, so I can know what the child's mother is named?"
"Cut the crap!" The blonde girl interrupted him, her cheeks appearing to flush slightly, but she tried hard to maintain a tough tone. "I've been targeting you for a long time! Someone like you is simply... simply..."
She "simply"-ed for a long time, seemingly unable to find the appropriate word, and finally squeezed out a sentence, "Simply shouldn't go out alone at night!"
Kanzaki Saku could tell; this robber was a first-time offender. Her movements and lines were both relatively green.
Just then—
"Let that man go!" A shout, slightly muffled because of the paper bag, came from the entrance of the alley.
Kanzaki Saku and the blonde girl froze simultaneously, turning their heads in unison to look.
Under the lit street lamp at the alley entrance stood a figure wearing a brown paper bag. Two crooked holes were poked in the paper bag, revealing a pair of calm and waveless eyes behind them.
The figure was also carrying a shopping bag in hand, posture upright, possessing quite a bit of the imposing manner of roaring at injustice on the road.
Kanzaki Saku was extremely surprised. Holy crap, there's even a masked hero? What kind of third-rate script's 'hero saving the beauty' segment is this?
Wait, if I get saved, do I have to offer my body in return? Forget it, with a paper bag on her head, she surely has the appearance of an Old God. Better to repay her in the next life!
The blonde girl was also dumbfounded by this suddenly appearing third party with the peculiar styling; the hand grabbing Kanzaki Saku's collar even loosened a bit. But she reacted quickly, a look of dissatisfaction flashing through her aquamarine eyes.
She pulled Kanzaki Saku behind herself and shouted at the paper bag person: "Who are you? Mind your own business!"
The Paper Bag Person—Megumi Kato—took two steps forward and, using her characteristic flat voice, spoke through the paper bag: "I am a passing-through Justice Paper Bag Person. You are stalking this male and harboring improper intentions; this is wrong. Please release him immediately."
Her explanation was dead serious, but in the current scene, paired with that comical paper bag hood, the effect was quite subtle.
The blonde girl obviously didn't take these words seriously: "What improper intentions? What do you know! This man is my performance quota! I followed him the whole way! If anyone makes a move, it's me first!"
She paused, looked Megumi Kato's paper bag styling up and down, and her tone became even more disdainful: "Looking at your appearance, are you a colleague too? Hmph, want to rob a thief? No way! This guy belongs to me! You go find another one!"
Listening from the side, Kanzaki Saku almost laughed out loud. Alright then, they're actually fighting over this?
Megumi Kato seemed helpless too; she had even put on a paper bag, yet she could still be misunderstood as a colleague. Then wasn't this paper bag worn for nothing!
"You misunderstand," Megumi Kato explained patiently. "I am not here to snatch him from you. I am here to stop you from doing bad things. Stalking and coercing others is wrong. Please calm down, release this gentleman, and then leave."
"Save it!" The blonde girl didn't believe it at all; instead, she felt this was Megumi Kato's cunning rhetoric.
"What kind of good person are you pretending to be? Putting on a paper bag and running out at night—if not having a guilty conscience, then what is it? I think you just want to wait until I succeed and then jump out to get a share of the spoils! Or simply pick up a ready-made gain! I'm telling you, impossible!"
As she spoke, she yanked Kanzaki Saku towards her side again, looking like she was protecting her food: "I've set my sights on this man! Don't you dare interfere!"
Kanzaki Saku finally couldn't listen anymore. He sighed lightly, raised his hand, and tapped the back of the blonde girl's hand that was still grabbing his collar with his finger.
"Um, excuse me, you two." Kanzaki Saku's tone carried a lightness of staying out of the affair, even having a bit of the flavor of not minding if the excitement got bigger. "I see you two won't be able to discuss a result anytime soon."
He looked at the blonde girl who was ready to draw swords, then looked at Megumi Kato wearing the paper bag, and proposed a constructive suggestion.
Kanzaki Saku said with a beaming smile: "How about this? I see you both are quite energetic. I promise not to run, I'll wait right here. You two, why not have a fight first? Whoever wins gets to rob me. How about it? Fair and just."
Once Kanzaki Saku said this, the first one to object was unexpectedly Megumi Kato; even through the paper bag, one could feel her speechless choking.
The eyes behind those two holes in the paper bag blinked, revealing an annoyance of "what kind of joke are you cracking".
"Wait a minute," Megumi Kato's voice was still that flat, but her speaking speed was obviously faster, "I am here to save you, not to fight her for you. Not all masked people are robbers; there are also superheroes, okay?"
She even reached out and patted her own paper bag, making a muffled pu-pu sound, as if emphasizing her identity of justice.
"Ha! Pretending quite well!" The blonde girl's eyes lit up, clearly very approving of Kanzaki Saku's proposal. "Have a fight? This idea isn't bad! Beauties belong only to the strong; this fits the rules of my hometown very well!"
As she spoke, she actually released Kanzaki Saku's collar, and even conveniently smoothed out the wrinkles for him, then retreated two steps, assuming a slightly chuunibyou starting stance.
"Come on, Paper Bag Freak!" Fighting spirit ignited in the blonde girl's aquamarine eyes. "Let me see how much you weigh!"
Megumi Kato: "..."
Her paper bag head slowly turned toward Kanzaki Saku. Although her expression couldn't be seen, Kanzaki Saku inexplicably felt that the look in her eyes said: Look at the good deed you've done.
Megumi Kato naturally couldn't fight the robber. Leaving aside whether she could win, there was simply no need to fight.
She directly took out her phone and said to the blonde girl: "Violence cannot solve problems, and it is still not too late for you to leave now. I have already called the police."
"Called the police?" The blonde girl paused, blinking. "What police?"
She seemed to genuinely not react to the meaning of this word, tilting her head to think for two seconds, then suddenly realized: "Oh—you mean calling the cops!"
Megumi Kato's paper bag tilted forward slightly, presumably nodding: "Correct. So you'd best leave right now; the police will arrive immediately."
Who knew that not only was the blonde girl not afraid, but her eyes shone even brighter: "The police are coming? That's even better! Wait until I take you down, then clean up the police together—won't this performance record be even more beautiful?"
Kanzaki Saku almost laughed out loud from the side; how is this girl's train of thought different from a normal person's?
Megumi Kato was clearly also stunned by this set of logic, standing blankly on the spot, unable to speak for a long while.
"Hey, are you fighting or not?" The blonde girl urged. "If you don't fight, then admit defeat; this man belongs to me!"
Megumi Kato really didn't know what to do now. For a man, she wasn't even afraid of the police? Although this man was indeed very handsome, wasn't this a bit too thirsty?
"You can't beat the police; the police have guns." Megumi Kato had no other way but to continue making an issue out of the police.
Seemingly because the keyword "gun" was triggered, the blonde girl bit her lower lip, looked at Megumi Kato, then looked at Kanzaki Saku, and finally glared fiercely at the paper bag.
"Fine, I'll remember you!" She pointed at Megumi Kato. "Justice Paper Bag Person, right? I'll remember you! Don't let me run into you alone next time!"
After dropping the harsh words, she turned to Kanzaki Saku again, looking at him with a complex gaze.
"You too! Next time you might not necessarily have such good luck!"
After speaking, she turned and ran, disappearing into the depths of the alley after a few turns.
The alley instantly fell quiet.
Only Kanzaki Saku remained, along with that Megumi Kato who was still wearing a paper bag and holding a phone.
A breeze blew past, rolling up waste paper scraps on the ground and also rustling the edges of Megumi Kato's paper bag. That paper bag rose and fell slightly with her breathing, and paired with those two crooked holes, the scene was a somewhat comically silent one for a moment.
Kanzaki Saku sighed secretly in his heart.
What a pity. That blonde robber just now was quite good-looking, and her temperament was unique too. It was originally a win-win situation where she was willing and I wouldn't lose out, but now it's been ruined by the Paper Bag Freak.
However, he didn't show it on his face; instead, he revealed a grateful smile and looked at Megumi Kato.
"Um... Justice Paper Bag Person?" He addressed her tentatively. "Thank you for saving me?"
Megumi Kato didn't speak, just silently hung up the phone. Kanzaki Saku sharply noticed that she hadn't dialed the police emergency number at all.
Good lord, it was a bluff.
"No need to thank me." Megumi Kato spoke, her voice a bit muffled through the paper bag. "I only did what I should..."
The call Megumi Kato made was indeed not to the police; she didn't count on the efficiency of the Japanese police.
Moreover, after the police arrived, given her presence, she felt she would be arrested as an escaped convict, so she couldn't possibly call the police.
If the bluff didn't work, her plan was to take off the paper bag and flash her identity as the King of a Hundred Beasts to scare the other party off.
Kanzaki Saku had walked up to Megumi Kato by this time: "For the grace of saving my life, I should at least know what my benefactor looks like, right? Otherwise, it would be very rude if I meet you on the road later and don't recognize you."
He pointed at the paper bag on Megumi Kato's head, saying half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Miss Justice Paper Bag Person? Could you remove the helmet hiding your true name? Let me gaze upon the hero's true face?"
Megumi Kato's body went stiff for a moment.
Take off the paper bag?
Of course not!
She indeed held great curiosity and favorable impressions toward this boy who could ignore her, and really wanted to get to know him and exchange contact information.
But she noticed that what Kanzaki Saku was wearing was the Shuchiin uniform! Although the sky was dark, she would absolutely not mistake that unique style and school emblem.
If she let him see her face, given her resounding reputation at Shuchiin and the surrounding areas, the consequences would be unimaginable!
The title of King of a Hundred Beasts, paired with her face that had overly high presence and overly high distinctiveness—once exposed, the performance of the messenger of justice just now would immediately turn into a farce.
What would the other party think? Oh, so it wasn't some act of bravery, but the King of a Hundred Beasts patrolling the streets and coincidentally bumping into a peer committing a crime, so she robbed the thief and scared the person away, and now she wants to tease the victim?
As for favorability, forget about zero; it might plummet straight through the earth's core to negative infinity! She might even be misunderstood as an existence more scheming than that blonde robber just now!
Absolutely! Cannot! Take it off!
Warning bells rang loudly in Megumi Kato's heart. Gathering her wits, she thought she could disguise herself as a chuunibyou girl who wanted to be a hero.
After Megumi Kato made up her mind, she began to perform. She took a small step back and shook her head, the paper bag swaying with the movement.
"That won't be necessary." Her voice came through the paper bag, appearing indifferent and detached. "I am just a passing-through Paper Bag Person; doing good deeds without leaving a name is my principle."
"Really not possible? I promise, regardless of whether beneath the paper bag is beauty or ugliness, an Old God or a beautiful girl, I will only harbor gratitude, absolutely no mockery or disdain."
Kanzaki Saku felt this Paper Bag Person seemed like that chuunibyou girl, so he started playing the straight man to see what else she could say.
"This has nothing to do with beauty or ugliness." Megumi Kato spoke with righteousness.
"Upholding justice and guarding the peace of the streets at night is the obligation every Paper Bag Person should fulfill. And hiding one's identity is to better strike at evil and protect oneself and the people around one."
She began to improvise some lines she had seen in tokusatsu shows.
Kanzaki Saku almost broke character laughing and hurriedly held it in. He stroked his chin, lost in thought: "Oh! So that's how it is. The Paper Bag Person organization even has such regulations? My disrespect. Then can you tell me your name?"
"Just call me 'Justice Paper Bag Person'." Megumi Kato answered quickly, afraid that chatting any longer would give the game away, or the other party would find a flaw and forcibly remove the bag, so she decided to slip away quickly.
"Evil has temporarily retreated, but the night is deep; this is not a place to stay for long." She imitated the tone of some hero departing, though her styling of wearing a paper bag and carrying a shopping bag really held no persuasiveness.
"Citizen, you should also go home as soon as possible."
After saying this, not waiting for Kanzaki Saku's response, she immediately turned around and walked briskly toward the alley entrance, the edge of the paper bag trembling gently in the night wind.
"Wait!" Kanzaki Saku shouted from behind.
Megumi Kato's footsteps paused, and her heart tightened. Does he still refuse to give up?
"At least tell me, how can I see the Justice Paper Bag Person again?" Kanzaki Saku's voice came over carrying a smile.
Megumi Kato had her back to him, silent for two seconds. The evening breeze blew through the alley, rolling up dust.
"When the streets are shrouded in shadow again, when the innocent need help..."
She tilted her head slightly, and a profound light seemed to flash through the holes in the paper bag. "I shall naturally appear!"
Leaving behind this line, which had an explosively high chuunibyou level but produced a peculiarly unique effect when spoken in her flat tone, Megumi Kato stayed no longer. She walked quickly out of the alley, her figure rapidly vanishing into the shadows of the sidewalk on the main road.
In the alley, only Kanzaki Saku remained alone.
He gazed at the empty alley entrance and finally couldn't help but chuckle aloud, his shoulders shaking slightly.
"Justice Paper Bag Person, that's too funny!" He shook his head, a smile filling his eyes. "There really are a lot of interesting people these days."
First was that blonde robber with the clumsy lines and green actions but abnormal persistence, who even wanted to beat up the police; then came a Justice Messenger wearing a paper bag and spouting tokusatsu lines.
Seems like I must come out for walks often at night in the future!
Humming a tune in a rather good mood, Kanzaki Saku picked up his shopping bag and walked in the direction of home.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Megumi Kato, having successfully escaped, began trying to take the paper bag off her head after turning a corner.
But the paper bag seemed stuck.
She clawed at the edges of the paper bag with both hands, twisting her neck left and right. The paper bag made creak-creak sounds, but just wouldn't come off. That scene was a bit like a cartoon character trying to break free from a headgear.
Megumi Kato, out of embarrassment and anger, directly tore the paper bag in half. Because she used too much force, her hair was slightly frizzed by static electricity, with a few strands sticking to her cheeks, looking a bit disheveled.
The night wind blew past. She patted off a few paper scraps that had stuck to her, balled up the torn paper bag expressionlessly, and stuffed it into a nearby trash can.
Taking off the already somewhat stuffy paper bag, she let out a long sigh of relief. There was still no expression on her delicate face, but the roots of her ears were slightly burning hot.
Although the process was a bit stupid, the result was acceptable; at least she wasn't exposed.
I definitely left a strange impression on that boy, but it's better than letting him know I am the legendary King of a Hundred Beasts.
Megumi Kato tidied her hair and clothes, picked up her shopping bag, and walked toward home, but her brain had already started planning the next step.
She had already thought of a way to pursue that boy: use this identity of the Paper Bag Person to make contact and farm favorability, and wait until the favorability reached a certain level before taking off the paper bag to reveal her true face.
"A boy from Shuchiin..." She whispered to herself, recalling the other party's smile.
And that familiar school uniform.
Looks like I'll have to pay a little attention when I go to school tomorrow.
_____
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