After finishing their canned food, the stray cats and dogs dispersed in satisfaction. Sora and Ruri cleaned up the mess on the ground, went back inside to tell Angel-sama they were leaving, and then headed to the subway station together.
The evening breeze was cold.
The subway, which was exceptionally crowded during the day, was now empty with very few passengers, basically all salarymen working hard into the late hours.
When the two arrived at the subway station near the Gokou residence and got off the train, the entire subway tunnel was even more deserted, with absolutely no one in sight.
As Sora was walking forward, he suddenly felt his right hand being nervously grasped by a cold little hand.
"What's wrong?"
Sora turned to look at Kuroneko.
Ruri's small face was slightly pale. She looked nervously at a middle-aged man wearing a white shirt and carrying a briefcase, not too far behind them, and whispered in his ear:
"That uncle looks a bit familiar..."
"Does Ruri know him?"
Hearing this, Sora glanced over from the corner of his eye. He saw that the uncle's hair volume was exceptionally sparse, clearly having evolved into a bald powerhouse. However, his appearance was ordinary, without any special features.
Could it be an acquaintance?
With Kuroneko's personality, if she met an acquaintance, she should feel shy, but her current expression is clearly one of nervousness...
"I don't know him, but something feels wrong." Ruri pressed closer, nervously gripping Sora's right hand. "...Has Sora seen the recently released movie 'The Exit 8'?"
Sora replied, "That's the movie adapted from the game, right?"
"That's right, that's the one."
"I haven't seen the movie, but I've seen gameplay videos..."
Halfway through speaking, Sora suddenly realized why Kuroneko was so nervous.
The middle-aged bald uncle following behind them did indeed look very similar to the NPC in the game.
"It should just be a coincidence." Sora secretly raised his guard, quietly returning the grip on the girl's cold hand, and responded in a low voice, "Don't scare yourself."
"Not necessarily. Magical girls exist in reality, after all." Ruri was still very nervous. "We won't end up like in the movie, never able to get out, right?"
Sora softly comforted her, "As the Black Cat of the Dark Night, Lord Ruri wouldn't be scared by this minor situation, right?"
"O-Of course not." Ruri's small face was pale, subconsciously giving a tsundere retort. "But even the Black Cat of the Dark Night encounters natural enemies."
"Hurry up and use your invincible power to think of a solution."
"The one with invincible power is clearly Mahiru-chan, not me!"
"..."
The pale tiled tunnel, the cold lighting, and the middle-aged bald uncle silently following behind them created an inexplicable sense of oppression that caused Sora and Kuroneko to quietly quicken their pace.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but in the empty subway tunnel, it seemed that only the sound of their two footsteps was quietly echoing.
Fortunately, the thing they worried about most didn't happen.
Before long, the two successfully exited the subway tunnel.
Looking at the neon-lit long street outside, Sora and Ruri simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
"We're out." Sora exhaled softly. "As expected, we were just scaring ourselves."
Ruri turned to look toward the subway station, her voice tense:
"That uncle... where did he go?"
Sora casually remarked, "He probably left through another exit, right?"
"But..." Ruri's small face turned slightly pale, her pearly white teeth nervously biting her lower lip, her voice faint. "Along the way we walked, we never encountered any other exits."
"..."
Sora couldn't help but turn and look back. The empty subway tunnel was devoid of anyone, exceptionally deathly silent.
"Say no more, let's hurry home."
Get as far away as possible!
Encountering an incomprehensible bizarre event, only an idiot would turn back to investigate!
"G-Go home!"
Ruri hurriedly nodded in agreement.
The two quickly distanced themselves from the subway station.
After a good while, Ruri finally relaxed, and then noticed that the feeling of holding hands was different from usual.
Looking down, after seeing clearly the hand-holding posture they were currently in, the girl's pretty face instantly flushed red.
"I-Interlocked fingers?"
"When did this happen?"
"Why don't I have the slightest impression..."
Previously, it was just ordinary hand-holding, which could still be rationalized as a normal handshake greeting. But there's definitely no such etiquette as interlocking fingers in the world, right?
This is clearly a hand-holding posture only used by couples after they start dating!
Ruri's pretty face flushed crimson, instinctively wanting to pull away. However, the warmth and heat transmitting from Sora's palm seemed to possess a magical charm, making her absolutely reluctant to let go.
After hesitating for a moment, the girl's sense of shame ultimately prevailed. Blushing, Ruri said in a small voice:
"Y-You can let go of me now..."
"Hmm?"
Sora finally noticed something was wrong and quickly released his right hand:
"Sorry, I completely didn't notice."
"I-It's okay..."
Ruri quickly hid her hand behind her back, the tips of her ears and neck tinged with crimson:
"I only just noticed too..."
"..."
A silent atmosphere quietly spread.
Ruri took a deep breath, trying to find a topic to break the silence:
"We might have encountered a spacetime singularity just now. Good thing we escaped the subway station in time, otherwise it would have been dangerous."
Sora: "..."
Ruri tilted up her small face, continuing solemnly:
"The so-called spacetime singularity is a supernatural phenomenon that only appears in special locations and at special times. It exists in reality, yet it doesn't exist in reality. Once ordinary people enter it, it's highly likely they won't be able to return."
Sora couldn't help but say, "Does Ruri know a bit too much about this?"
Ruri crossed her left arm over her chest and rested her right hand on her face: "This is the setting of the world."
Don't randomly add weird settings to the world!
Sora was just about to speak when he suddenly felt a cold wind blow against his face, followed by a cold drop falling on his cheek.
"Is it going to rain?"
Sora looked up at the sky.
"I felt it too." Ruri hurriedly reined in her chunibyo soul. "Let's hurry. We'll be home in a few minutes."
"..."
The two quickened their pace again, hurrying home.
The night was deep.
A pattering light rain soon began to fall.
"Good, our clothes didn't get wet." Arriving at the door of the Gokou residence, Sora breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the girl with long black hair in front of him, "Ruri, lend me an umbrella, okay?"
"Eh?"
"It's raining outside, I have to take an umbrella to the subway station."
Hearing that Sora still planned to go to the subway station, Ruri's small face instantly stiffened:
"Don't go to the subway station!"
"Hmm?"
"The spacetime singularity might not have ended yet. If Sora goes back now, you might suddenly get spirited away." Ruri's gaze quickly grew resolute. Tilted up her small face, the tips of her ears quietly turning red.
"It's almost 11:00 PM, and it's starting to rain now. It'll probably be the early hours of the morning by the time you get back, so... so stay over at my house tonight, okay?"
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
When she said this sentence, the girl's heartbeat was exceptionally rapid.
Coming home in the middle of the night and actually asking a boy to stay over... If Mom and Hinata find out, I wouldn't be able to wash myself clean even if I jumped into the Yellow River!
Sora was speechless: "I told you not to scare yourself."
"Anyway, go back tomorrow."
Ruri's voice left no room for debate:
"Sora, hurry up and come in. Rest in my room tonight and quietly leave tomorrow morning. Don't worry about causing me trouble; Mom and my sisters are definitely already asleep this late."
The subway station has definitely become a spacetime singularity. Better safe than sorry. I must make Sora stay!
Sora hesitated for several seconds and finally agreed:
"Then pardon the intrusion."
"Hurry up and come in..."
Ruri took out her keys, quietly opened the door, and tiptoed into the house.
The next second.
The lights abruptly turned on.
Immediately following, a soft exclamation sounded:
"What? Ruri-chan actually brought her boyfriend home?"