Chapter 52: Picking Up a High School Girl
The existence of evil spirits is visible only to a few, and even Shin could only see them after obtaining his Stand.
The high school girl crouching in the rain on the street corner clearly couldn't see it, so the monstrous spirit's voice didn't make her look up.
"You… can see me?"
The giant spirit didn't seem willing to give up on pestering her, so it spoke again, hoping for a response. However, the girl continued crouching, looking despondent, like an abandoned pet, without any reaction to the spirit.
Eventually, realizing that the girl couldn't see it, the spirit gave up and turned to leave. If nothing unexpected happened, it would likely go on to pester the next person it saw.
But just as it turned, a fist descended with a powerful blow. Compared to the enormous spirit, the fist was modest, about the size of an ordinary person's. Yet, it contained immense power, ripping the spirit's body apart instantly, forcing it to emit a horrific scream.
Under Shin's cold gaze, the spirit shattered, dissolving into black smoke and vanishing into the air.
These spirits might be large, but they were fragile, breaking with just one punch from his Stand. Originally, he thought using them as punching bags would be a good way to vent some excess energy, but it seemed even these spirits were unqualified for that.
Looks like only DIO from the JoJo universe could serve as a proper punching bag.
"…Eh?"
Although it was just a simple punch, it was one with 40 combat power. While it didn't create enough noise to disturb the nearby residents, the girl crouching on the street clearly heard the near-sonic boom.
She looked up, surprised to see Shin. She seemed puzzled about why there was a guy out on the street in the middle of the night without an umbrella.
"Why is a girl out on the street in the middle of the night without an umbrella?"
Before she could question him, Shin asked her the same thing.
Realizing her situation, she suddenly noticed that she had little room to judge him, as her own actions were rather strange too.
A high school girl, sitting in the rain on a deserted street at night – it wasn't exactly the norm, was it?
"I…"
The girl seemed unaccustomed to conversation; she opened her mouth but soon closed it again.
Shin took a look at her – she was quite pretty and, by all logic, probably popular at school. Of course, it was also possible that she attracted trouble because of her looks, perhaps leading to bullying.
In Japan, such cases were quite common. Many bullies, fearing being bullied themselves, would join in bullying others.
"Regardless of what's going on, if you keep sitting here in the rain, you're bound to catch a cold."
Shin, while aware of her beauty, wasn't the type to be moved by it. Out of kindness, he reminded her, thinking she might get into trouble if she stayed there in the middle of the night. Otherwise, he'd likely have to answer some questions later.
"Go home early. Don't wander outside in the middle of the night."
Shaking his head, Shin turned to leave. He still had to deal with DIO tonight and didn't have time to waste with a clueless high school girl.
After taking one step, he sensed something, canceling the Void Mist enveloping his whole body and shifting it to deflect only the rain above his head.
The next moment, a small hand reached out and grabbed the edge of his coat.
Fortunately, with his Ki sense, Shin could sense people's movements around him, so he withdrew the Void Mist just in time. Otherwise, that little hand might have been severed and vanished into another dimension.
"Please… please wait!"
It was the girl who held his coat. Seeing him about to leave, she seemed to muster up the courage to grab him.
If he really wanted to walk away, she wouldn't have been able to stop him, but he paused, curious to hear what she wanted to say.
In this mundane world, Shin didn't want to act too cold. If it wasn't too troublesome, he didn't mind listening.
Of course, if it were too much trouble, he'd still ignore her. Just because he didn't want to seem cold didn't mean he was willing to play caretaker for a stranger.
"Could I… stay at your place for the night? Just one night, please."
He heard her trembling voice behind him. The request sounded unusual no matter how he heard it.
Are high school girls really this open nowadays? Or was there something deeper going on?
Shin turned to look at her, seeing her nervously biting her lip. Judging by her expression, she didn't seem to be a loose girl. This was likely her first time making such a request, which explained her hesitation.
Perhaps she was in a difficult situation. When he first saw her, he suspected she might have run away from home, and that could very well be the case.
"Just to check, you're not a young lady escaping an arranged marriage, are you?"
Though he found it unlikely, he still asked out of curiosity.
"What kind of light novel setup is that?"
The girl reflexively retorted, then seemed to realize it was an odd reaction and withdrew a bit.
"Not that, huh? Well, then taking you in shouldn't cause any trouble."
Shin stroked his chin. His question stemmed from the fact that in many stories, taking in an unknown girl often led to a parade of bodyguards bursting in the next day, yelling, "Release the young lady!"
Sometimes, it would even involve the yakuza.
Not that he was afraid of such scenarios, but they were troublesome.
But it seemed he was overthinking it; this girl probably had no such background. Letting her stay one night shouldn't be an issue.
"What's your name?"
"My name… is Sayo Ogiwara."
PS: Don't worry, she just ran away from home. I'm not into… used goods. But as long as she hasn't turned into that, it should be fine, right? I am not into used products y'know.
To be continued…
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