Journey to Planar World

Chapter 503 503: Living Together

The rain continued to lash down on Tokyo with a monotonous rhythm, yet inside the warm apartment unit, the atmosphere was so silent that the ticking of the clock on the wall could be heard clearly.

Charlie sat on the living room sofa in silence. Though his eyes stared straight ahead, he was observing Elena's movements out there through his Senrigan.

She was currently at the civil registry office, using her abilities to arrange legal identities for the both of them so they could blend perfectly into this world.

For a Devil like Elena, who hailed from the world of High School DxD, hypnotic magic was not a mere trick, but a mandatory skill.

Hypnosis was crucial for erasing or manipulating the memories of humans who had accidentally become eyewitnesses to supernatural events, keeping secrets buried behind the curtain of a peaceful society.

"Please, have a drink."

Mahiru's flat yet gentle voice snapped Charlie out of his reverie.

"Thank you."

"Um."

Mahiru had now changed her clothes. She wore a casual outfit consisting of a loose, long-sleeved t-shirt and long fabric trousers that covered almost every inch of her skin.

This choice of clothing seemed to be her own small fortress, an instinctive way to feel safe after her body had been roughly violated.

Sitting on the sofa opposite Charlie, Mahiru gazed at the white-haired youth for a moment before lowering her head. Her fingers gripped the rim of her own cup tightly.

"About what happened at the park... thank you so much for coming to save me."

"I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't appeared then. Perhaps... perhaps by now I would have..."

Mahiru could not bring herself to finish the sentence. The vision of dark hands groping her body flashed back, making her frame tremble slightly. The wound of the trauma was still very fresh.

"You don't need to thank me, Shiina-san." Charlie looked at her with a reassuring gaze. "I am here with a purpose. It has become my duty to protect you from all dangers until the threat has completely disappeared."

Hearing such a straightforward declaration, Mahiru lifted her face. Her expression turned serious, her intelligent eyes demanding further explanation.

"Duty? Just... who are you?" she asked with an inquisitive tone. "I might still be in shock, but I'm not blind. Ordinary people can't fly through the clouds, let alone create barriers that repel rainwater. The phenomena you showed me... those aren't things that can be explained by science."

Charlie set his cup down on the table, giving the girl in front of him his full attention.

"My name is Charlie Avalon. And as I said, I was sent here specifically to protect you from something we call the Abyssal Devourer."

"Abyssal Devourer...?"

The name sounded completely foreign to her ears. Mahiru knitted her brows, trying to search for a reference in her memory, but found nothing.

"That term... I've never heard it in any book or news report. Can you explain what it actually is?"

"Simply put, the Abyssal Devourer is a monster from outside the universe that wants to invade this world." Charlie simplified the complex concept. "There are various types of them, but for now, I won't go into the details because it will only give you a headache. What you need to understand is that the Abyssal Devourer is an enemy of the world."

"Hard to believe..." Mahiru murmured softly. Though it sounded like a plot from a science fiction film, the experience of being carried through the twilight sky earlier had caused her level of belief to reach 80%. "Then, why are you protecting me? I'm just an ordinary girl, a high schooler with no power whatsoever. What does such an entity have to do with me?"

"Shiina-san, you are more intelligent than I thought." Charlie spoke with a tone of slight admiration. "When ordinary people face a situation beyond reason like this, their first reaction is usually to deny reality or try to find a 'sensible' logical explanation to calm themselves down. But you accepted the existence of the supernatural immediately and began thinking about the details."

Mahiru let out a long sigh, staring straight into Charlie's eyes with an unwavering firmness.

"Don't underestimate me. After personally undergoing an experience that is truly beyond human common sense, only a fool would continue to deny the facts right in front of their eyes. I would rather face the bitter truth than comfort myself with sweet lies."

Mahiru was a very logical individual with an extraordinarily strong self-defense mechanism. Though the traumatic situation earlier had briefly shattered her facade of calm, she quickly rebuilt the protective walls around her heart.

Charlie's rescue triggered a deep sense of gratitude, but for a girl like Mahiru, that would not immediately turn into shallow romantic love. Instead, it triggered an emotional dependency.

In the depths of her heart, Mahiru began to feel she "owed him her life." In the midst of the loneliness she had endured until now, Charlie had suddenly appeared as the only person who cared for her.

"About the incident earlier..." Charlie broke the silence, his voice remaining calm. "I suspect that the two men who attacked you were under the control of the Abyssal Devourer. The creature manipulated their dark desires or simply moved their bodies to destroy your life. As for why they targeted you... actually, you weren't their only target."

Mahiru started slightly, her fingers holding the teacup tightening.

"Not just me? There is someone else in a dangerous situation like the one I experienced?"

"Correct." Charlie answered while glancing toward the window still wet with rain. "The other target is the neighbor in the unit next to yours, Fujimiya Amane. But you don't need to worry about him. My partner is already in position to ensure his safety. He is fine right now."

Hearing that name, the image of the youth she frequently encountered in the apartment corridors surfaced in Mahiru's mind.

Their relationship until now had been limited to light nods as a formal greeting whenever they passed each other.

Mahiru had never had any specific interaction with Amane, so she had no deep impression other than the view that the man seemed a bit messy and lazy.

"So Fujimiya-kun is also..." Mahiru murmured softly before looking sharply back at Charlie. "Charlie-kun. You still haven't answered the core of my question. Why us? Why would this 'space monster' bother targeting ordinary high school students like us?"

Charlie let out a short breath, arranging his words so they would be easy to digest.

"Every world has what we call a Will of the World. For the Abyssal Devourer to attack and fully invade a world, they must first weaken that Will of the World. The most effective way to do that is by eliminating The Chosen One of that era."

"..."

Mahiru fell silent for a moment, and then a hollow laugh laced with disbelief escaped her lips.

"The Chosen One? Me?" She pointed at herself with a look of strong skepticism. "Charlie-kun, I know you can fly and cut off people's hands in an instant, but this explanation sounds like a script for a low-grade fantasy movie."

"I'm just a girl who happens to get good grades in school and is good at cooking. How could the fate of this entire world possibly depend on my existence? It... it makes no sense at all."

Even as she said this, the glint in her eyes showed that she was trying hard to process the impossible responsibility that had just been dropped onto her shoulders.

"Whether you believe it or not, Shiina-san, it won't change the reality of the situation."

"A fact is still a fact. This world views you as a vital axis, and because of that, enemies will continue to come relentlessly through ways you cannot predict."

Charlie paused for a moment, staring straight at Mahiru to ensure she was listening to the most crucial part.

"Because this threat is constant, I cannot protect you just by patrolling from the outside. So, to fully guarantee your safety, I am asking for permission to live together with you here."

Instantly, the look in Mahiru's eyes changed. The spark of intelligence that had dominated them was immediately replaced by a knot of fear. Her body tensed slightly, and she subconsciously clutched at her trousers.

In her eyes, that request sounded like an ulterior motive—that in the end, this man was just like all the others who lusted after her body and wanted to take advantage of her traumatic situation to satisfy his urges.

Noticing the drastic change in Mahiru's gestures and the surrounding atmosphere, Charlie immediately raised both his hands slightly, showing a non-aggressive stance to ease the tension.

"Please don't misunderstand. My goal in asking this is purely for the efficiency of your protection. I need to be near you so I can react instantly if an attack happens again."

"I don't need a room. I can sleep on this sofa, and I swear on my honor that I will not do anything that will harm you or violate your boundaries. My presence here is solely as your protector, nothing more."

Mahiru stared deeply at Charlie, trying to find a trace of a lie behind the white-haired youth's eyes.

Her logical mind began to spin rapidly.

Mahiru realized one undeniable thing: with the power Charlie possessed, this youth could have done whatever he wanted to her without needing to ask for permission. If Charlie truly had evil intentions, he wouldn't need to beat around the bush or be this polite.

The suffocating fear in her chest slowly loosened, replaced by practical thought.

If the threat called the Abyssal Devourer was real, then being alone in this apartment would instead become a much larger nightmare.

"I see... You're right. If you had bad intentions, you wouldn't have bothered asking for my permission in the first place." Mahiru murmured while letting out a long breath, trying to cast away the remnants of her anxiety. "Fine, I understand the situation. As long as you keep your promise not to cross the line, I allow you to stay here. Besides, after what happened at the park earlier... I'm not sure I could sleep peacefully if I were alone in this room."

Thus, a strange new chapter began: living together between a man and a woman who had not even known each other for twenty-four hours.

Outside, the rain drenching Tokyo began to subside into thin drizzles, yet inside that apartment unit, a new tension had just been born.

The atmosphere was so awkward.

Mahiru stood up slowly, glancing at the sofa where Charlie would spend his night, then shifted her gaze to the youth who appeared so calm.

"I... I will get an extra pillow and blanket for you." Her voice was still a bit small, but it sounded more stable.

"Thank you, Shiina-san. That is more than enough." Charlie replied.

As Mahiru stepped toward her room, she stopped at the doorway for a moment and turned back slightly.

There were many things she wanted to ask—about the future, about the lurking dangers, or about who Charlie Avalon really was behind his mysterious power. However, she decided to save it all. For tonight, being able to breathe without the fear of those dark hands in the park was already a major victory for her.

That night, under the same roof, these two strangers tried to close their eyes, beginning a symbiosis between the protector and the protected in the midst of the vortex of destiny that had begun to spin rapidly.

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