Not long afterward, the waiter who had left earlier returned with their order. He placed a cup of pulled milk tea and a set of desserts on the table before smiling politely.
"Your order for your daughter has arrived, sir," he said. "Please enjoy."
Kuro couldn't help but smile in amusement. Apparently, the waiter had mistaken the little girl sitting before him for his daughter. Even so, he had no intention of correcting him.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, sir."
The waiter gave a slight bow before leaving their table once again.
Once the atmosphere had settled, Kuro opened his right palm toward the newly arrived dishes, as though inviting his guest to try them.
"Go ahead," he said. "They're delicious."
The little girl did not move immediately.
First, she looked at the cup of pulled milk tea. Then the desserts. Then she looked back at Kuro with the same almost expressionless face.
Yet somehow, the slow way her head moved from one object to another made her look rather adorable, despite the fact that she clearly wasn't doing it intentionally.
A few seconds later, her tiny index finger rose and pointed toward the pulled milk tea.
"...What's this?"
"Something to drink," Kuro answered casually. "And it's sweet."
The little girl nodded slowly.
Afterward, her finger moved toward the neatly arranged desserts on the plate.
"What about this?"
"Something to eat," Kuro replied. "And it tastes good. Just try it. I think you'll like it."
The little girl fell silent again.
Her gaze shifted between the food, the drink, and Kuro's face, as though she were contemplating something of tremendous importance.
Not long afterward, she finally reached out and took hold of the cup of pulled milk tea.
She slowly lifted it and took a small sip.
The moment the sweet liquid touched her tongue, her usually half-lidded eyes widened slightly.
Although her facial expression barely changed, that tiny reaction was more than enough to reveal what she thought of it.
A few seconds later, she lowered the cup and placed it back on the table.
Afterward, her hand reached for a pink macaron. She placed it in her mouth and fell silent again for a moment.
For the second time, her eyes widened slightly.
Then the macaron was gone.
Without saying much, she picked up another macaron and ate it.
Then another.
After that, her attention shifted toward the various other pastries neatly arranged within the dessert set before her.
One by one, the treats disappeared at a rather impressive pace.
Strangely enough, despite eating enthusiastically, the little girl maintained her blank expression almost the entire time.
Only occasionally did her slightly widened eyes or the subtle increase in the speed of her hands unconsciously reveal just how much she enjoyed the food.
On the other side, Kuro merely smiled as he watched the scene.
For some reason, seeing the little girl enjoying her food with such seriousness was rather entertaining.
He raised his coffee cup once more and took a leisurely sip, allowing the girl to continue her little feast without interruption.
***
In the forest near Kuoh Town, precisely at the location where Kuro and Gabriel had fought the previous night, the area was considerably busier than usual.
Police had set up barricades at various points, while several reporters busily took photographs and reported on the phenomenon that was difficult to explain through ordinary logic.
Before them stretched a gigantic crater that had carved through hundreds of meters of the forest.
Part of the nearby mountain slope had also been torn apart, while the trees along the path of destruction had seemingly vanished as though swept away by the rampage of some colossal monster.
Among the gathered crowd, Rias Gremory stood beside a girl wearing the same Kuoh Academy uniform.
The girl had a slender figure, short shoulder-length blue hair, and a pair of purple eyes hidden behind glasses.
Their intention was to investigate the location where the terrifying presence from the previous night had been detected.
"Sona..." Rias said as she stared at the crater before them with an indescribable expression. "What kind of monster do you think could cause this much damage?"
Sona Sitri did not answer immediately.
Her gaze swept across the crater, the damaged mountain, and the nearly flattened forest before she finally spoke.
"If we only consider the final result..." she said calmly, "the perpetrator was most likely an Ultimate-Class Devil."
Rias fell silent.
Sona continued.
"Or at the very least, something comparable to the current Maou."
Rias's eyes widened slightly.
"...Comparable to my brother?"
Sona nodded slowly.
"That's only an estimate. However, if someone is capable of causing this level of destruction in such a short amount of time, we cannot ignore that possibility."
Rias turned her gaze back toward the enormous crater before them.
The longer she looked at it, the harder it became to dispute Sona's assessment.
Perhaps the estimate really wasn't entirely wrong.
Meanwhile, Sona's attention shifted toward the civilians, police officers, and reporters still crowding the surrounding area.
Her expression changed slightly.
"The real problem isn't just the perpetrator."
"Hmm?"
Sona let out a faint sigh.
"Covering up an incident this large and preventing a disturbance that could potentially attract the attention of Heaven, the Fallen Angels, or the Underworld will require more than simply altering people's memories."
Her gaze returned to the enormous crater.
"We'll need your brother's help."
Rias immediately understood what she meant.
Manipulating information on this scale required resources and influence far beyond what their group possessed.
She stared at the destruction before them for several moments before finally nodding slowly.
"...I agree."
Even so, there was a slight trace of displeasure in her voice.
After all, involving Sirzechs Lucifer usually meant that whatever problem they were facing had already become far larger than anyone would have wanted.
Rias sighed softly after hearing herself say it.
She agreed that they needed Sirzechs's assistance to deal with an incident of this scale, but that didn't mean she liked the idea.
As the younger sister of a Maou, Rias understood very well how much work Sirzechs had to deal with every day.
Underworld politics, relations with Heaven and Grigori, countless regional reports, and internal matters among the Devil nobility continued piling up without end.
That was why Rias always tried to resolve her own problems without burdening her brother whenever possible.
Sona glanced at her.
"You don't look happy."
Rias smiled faintly.
"Only a little."
"You don't want to add to his workload?"
"Of course not."
Rias's gaze returned to the enormous crater before them.
Damage on this scale was clearly beyond their group's ability to conceal discreetly.
Even so, asking Sirzechs for help felt like admitting that the problem had become too large for them to handle on their own.
A few moments later, however, her thoughts shifted toward something else.
Toward a male student at Kuoh Academy.
A young man who had recently begun attracting her attention.
His potential had yet to fully reveal itself, but Rias's instincts told her that there was something different about that boy compared to an ordinary human.
That was why she had been quietly observing him from afar for some time.
There had been no definite decision. No action had been taken yet. But if the right opportunity presented itself, Rias intended to recruit him into her Peerage.
At the very least, that was one plan she could still control herself.
Unlike the gigantic crater before her.
"Hmm..."
Rias gently massaged her temple. For some reason, Kuoh Town had felt increasingly difficult to understand over the past few days. Beside her, Sona also stared at the damaged area with a serious expression.
"We need to report this immediately."
Rias nodded.
"Yes. The longer we leave it, the harder it will be to explain everything."
The two girls then returned to gazing at the enormous crater.
Amid the crowd of civilians, police officers, and reporters desperately searching for answers to the strange phenomenon in the Kuoh forest, not a single one of them realized that one of the causes of all this chaos was currently sitting peacefully in a café, enjoying his morning coffee with a little girl who looked completely harmless.
At present, the little girl had just finished an entire set of desserts and a cup of pulled milk tea.
Seeing that, Kuro had even ordered her another serving of the same things, allowing her to enjoy them as much as she pleased.
Kuro placed his coffee cup on the table. He leaned slightly forward, resting his right cheek against his hand while his left hand lay casually on the table. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
"By the way..." he said. "I still don't know who you are or why you approached me, Ojou-chan?"
____
Author's note:
Creating something, even a fanfic, is not easy! Please support me! Leave comments, reviews, and some (or all) of your Power Stones! 😎
Hei. Don't ignore meh! Plz notice me senpai~
(•_<) Just Kidding, Tehe~