Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

When we returned to Ama-no-Iwato with two extra people compared to when we’d left, the very first thing we heard was a report from Kuma-san who had been holding the fort: The time machine had been stolen.
Apparently, a thief had broken into Ama-no-Iwato while I was away, and the time machine, which should have been stored under strict security, had vanished without leaving even a trace.
No matter how you think about it, this was clearly the work of a ninja (Chris), no doubt about it. Kuma-san looked both apologetic and frustrated, but this was an unavoidable force of nature. Even Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu all agreed unanimously that ninja infiltration can’t be stopped. Also, I had arranged beforehand with Baba to send Chris in during my absence.
It was all so that, for the grand finale of the future-person event, we could have a flashy Tsukuyomi vs. Amaterasu battle over the time machine.

After recovering both Shige-jii and Shouta-kun, we retrieved Rin-chan from the Sahara Desert once she served her three-day exile.
We gathered all Amaterasu members once at Ama-no-Iwato to share a mutual understanding of the details and cleanup of this missing-person incident. Kaya-chan, who had already heard a rough outline from Shouta-kun, joined as well.

Rin-chan, now in fresh clothes and gulping down saline solution, still faintly dusty with sand, timidly confessed her misdeeds to the group of stern-faced people surrounding her. The background setup part was obviously left out.

“——That’s why, I just wanted to see some yuri. I’m sorry.”
“…There’s something I don’t quite get.”

Having listened to Rin-chan’s whole story, Mikage-chan—who had been stuck to Shige-jii’s back rubbing against his stubbly beard—raised her hand.

“You keep saying ‘yuri,’ but what yuri? You weren’t saying it like the plant ‘lily.’”
“Mikage-san and Touka-san’s yuri.”
“Our… yuri…? We haven’t been growing lilies, though?”

Only Mikage-chan, raised in sterile cultivation, failed to understand the meaning of the word and tilted her head. Everyone’s expressions softened warmly. Though Mikage-chan was always twisted in manner, she was pure at heart.
Before the bewildered Mikage-chan could grasp the perverted truth and be shocked, Shige-jii went to isolate her in another room. *If you don’t understand, it’s fine to just stay that way. Remain as you are.*

“For me, that was nothing more than a picnic. The lass seems to be taking her punishment and reflecting, so she has my forgiveness. But will the lad forgive her, I wonder.”

Carrying the sheltered young lady out of the room, Shige-jii glanced over his shoulder and casually pardoned Rin.
*Well, yeah, that’s about what I’d expect from him.* I’d already heard whispers that, during our search for Shouta-kun, Shige-jii had been going around grossly exaggerating tales of his Middle Eastern misadventures by about a hundredfold. I figured he’d choose to boast about being a magnanimous man with a big heart instead of indicting a high school girl.
The moment they left for another room, Shouta-kun spat his words bitterly.

“The hell’s wrong with you? That’s your reason? Do you have any idea what I went through, you piece of crap?”
“Yeah, you were covered in crap.”
“Uh, Kaya-san, could you please keep quiet?”
“Why?”
“I’d rather set myself on fire and die than explain why! Just shut up—here, I’ll give you an ice treat.”
“I like ice treats!”

When Shouta-kun transformed the grape juice in his cup into ice and tossed it to her, Kaya-chan became absorbed in licking it and quieted down. *I wonder if it had been like this the whole time they stayed in the Hoppo village.*
Drained of venom, Shouta-kun scratched at his red hair, now black at the roots.

“Haaah. This is such a pain. Just hurry up and go back to the future already. I’ll forgive you. Sure, I’m glad you stopped Master’s rampage, but I’m not gonna put up with a perverted freak’s twisted kink. What the hell’s yuri, anyway? Burn it and it’s just ash.”

*Buddy, I think your own tastes are pretty twisted too.*
It wasn’t so much that Shouta-kun had finished saying everything he wanted, but rather that he had no energy left to talk.
When I looked over at Kuma-san, he gave a small shake of his head. Seems he had no particular comment. Once the people directly involved had settled the matter, he didn’t intend to add anything further.

And with that, the discussion ended, and Rin was to return to the future without delay.
It was decided that tomorrow, she would be escorted to Tsukuyomi’s time machine and forcibly sent back, and with that, the meeting was adjourned.
Kuma-san gave a few words of encouragement to Shouta-kun before heading home. Shige-jii tried to drive himself back, but was stopped by Mikage-chan, and the two of them called a taxi together. Rin-chan, too, had her arm grabbed by Shiori and was taken back to the old Kaburagi residence.

“Rin, don’t you ever pull something like this again.”
“Mmm, I knooow already! I told you I’m reflecting on it! Hearing it over and over just makes me irritated! Cut it out, okay?”
“That’s… well, fair enough. My bad.”

I nearly shouted, *Is that what you call reflecting?!* but held myself back.
I knew the feeling.
Back in the spring of my first year of high school, the very day my dad—absolutely over the moon—had the new car he’d bought delivered, I crashed my bicycle into it and left a deep scratch in the driver’s side door.
I was truly sorry, bowing in apology over and over, sincerely reflecting on my mistake, but even so, he kept bringing it up for days. That was infuriating. The worst part was that I couldn’t talk back because I was the one in the wrong. When you’re already reflecting and someone keeps telling you to reflect more, it drains the will to reflect right out of you.

Still, it really does look insufferably cheeky. Makes you want to say something.
*So this is what it feels like to be on the child-rearing side…*

With my wife and daughter gone, the only ones left at Ama-no-Iwato were me, Shouta-kun, Kaya-chan—having finished her ice treat and licking her fingers—and Touka-chan, who had maintained an eerie silence all this time.
If your boyfriend, whose disappearance you’ve been worried sick about, comes back with a tanned little loli girl in tow, looking all cozy together, it’s probably hard to feel pure relief.
*Love triangle drama? Love triangle drama.*
Not that it’s appropriate, but I can’t help feeling a little excited.

Since a missing person’s report had been filed with the police for Shouta-kun, he needed to get home quickly to reassure his family and withdraw the report.
He was about to head home without so much as a proper talk with his girlfriend after a week apart, but he finally noticed how unusually quiet Touka-chan was.

“You’re awfully quiet. What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“…You mad?”
“I’m not mad. Of course I’m glad you’re safe, Shouta.”
“Nobody says they’re not mad while looking that ticked off. Come on, what is it? Did your fire go out?”

Touka-chan took a deep breath, about to shout something, but bit her lip, lowered her gaze, and glared at both Shouta-kun and Kaya-chan. Kaya-chan, sitting on her chair swinging her legs, had been tapping the edge of the table with her grape juice can in rhythm, but when she noticed the glare, she lowered her brows slightly in a sheepish expression.
*Shouta-kun, you dolt! You’re the only one not noticing this. You don’t need to pick up the “dense protagonist” attribute—it’s garbage. She’s jealous, you idiot! Figure it out!*

But Shouta-kun showed no sign of realization. Touka-chan sighed, pulled on the coat draped over her chair, and quickly left Ama-no-Iwato.
*Ahhh… ahhh… ahhh… ahhh… ahhh… ahhh!!!*
*This is going to fester. This is one of those situations.*

Left behind, Shouta-kun turned to me with a puzzled look.

“Why’s she mad? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Right. Which is why she held herself back.”

Shiori does that often too. She knows that lashing out in irrational anger usually just makes things worse. Yelling “You brought home a new girl when I was worried sick about you?!” at a boyfriend who just made it back alive from being lost would feel nothing but unreasonable to him.
Touka-chan holds herself to high standards of justice and virtue. She probably didn’t want to dump her frustration on Shouta-kun. So, she kept quiet.
Having grown up in her sensitive adolescence under strong influence from Shiori, Touka-chan had grown to resemble the older sister she admired more than when they first met. I think it wouldn’t hurt if she were a little more honest with herself, though.

“Meaning?”
“Think about it yourself.”
“I am asking because I can’t figure it out, you know. Eh, whatever—so basically I did something wrong without realizing it? Guess I’ll chase after her and apologize.”
“Is that… really the right move?”

*Will apologizing without even knowing why really solve it?*
When I asked, Shouta-kun just shrugged.

“Touka doesn’t get angry easily. If she got mad at me, then it’s my fault. Probably… No, wait. Back in Nara, when I called the Great Buddha a half-naked, permed old man, she snapped instantly… Did I step on some Buddhist landmine…?”

Muttering to himself, Shouta-kun went off after Touka-chan.
I see, in the end, they really do understand each other well. I thought things might get messy, but maybe not. They fit each other well. I can believe they’ll make it to marriage in the future.
Though now that a new beautiful girl has appeared, that marriage future might be looking a little less certain.

As for said new beautiful girl, Kaya-chan*—what should we do with her?* She did us the favor of saving and nursing Shouta-kun, and it seems she’s learned about the public face of our secret society, so for now, at her own request, we brought her along, but she doesn’t even have a place to stay tonight.
She could stay at the old Kaburagi estate, or here at Ama-no-Iwato, or I could arrange for a secure, discreet hotel. When I asked her what she wanted, she opened the fridge without asking, stuck her head inside, rummaging around, and answered:

“I’ll stay at mom’s place.”
“Hm? Your mother is in Japan?”
“Mom’s in Japan. Dad’s in the village.”
“I-I see.”

*A complicated family situation, huh. These days, living apart or divorcing isn’t unusual. Or maybe her dad is a migrant worker?*
*I’ll run a background check later, but for now, best not to pry.*

Kaya-chan said her mother lives in Tokyo and she remembers the address, but even so, it’s not good to let a little girl walk alone in a foreign country. But if I escort her myself, I’ll probably get stopped for questioning. Better to have a woman take her, it’ll make a better impression than some unknown middle-aged guy leading her around. So I called Shiori and asked her to take Kaya-chan. Should’ve told her before sending Rin off.

Man, what a total mess this turned into. Feels like every time we run an event, some kind of incident happens. If I panicked every time, I’d never last. I need a mindset that’s unfazed by anything. *Yes… from this moment on, my heart is clear and still as a polished mirror!*

The next morning, Kaya-chan and Rin-chan arrived at Ama-no-Iwato with Shiori’s escort. After that incident, Shouta-kun had made up with Touka-chan like nothing happened, and now he was eager to send the troublemaker (read: Rin) back to the future as soon as possible. The plan was to wait for the student group to finish school, then head to Tsukimori Manor—the headquarters of Tsukuyomi—break through Tsukuyomi’s interference, and deliver Rin-chan to the time machine.
While waiting for the student group, Rin-chan sulked and noisily sipped on a tapioca milk tea, and Shiori was busy embroidering a picture of Abigail-chan, the lackey girl who is the rival character of the second season of the anime Magical Girl♡Carol-chan, onto a handkerchief.
Kaya-chan secretly handed me a secret letter she’d been entrusted with by her mother. It began with the conventional line apologizing for the trouble her daughter might cause and asking for our care, without a single word of criticism about taking her from Brazil to Japan without permission. The tone was consistently humble and deferential, always stepping back. She apologized so much it felt almost excessive—very Japanese. There were also a few requests written, but none of them were difficult, so after briefly discussing them with Kaya-chan and Shiori, I agreed to help. Incidentally, Kaya-chan is apparently 11 years old. She’s fairly well-developed—I’d thought she was 12 or 13.

We spent the afternoon chatting leisurely and showing off some guitar I’d learned from Miyama, and before long evening came, and the student group, having finished their classes, arrived at Ama-no-Iwato. Shouta-kun, who had returned to school the day right after a week of sudden survival training, was pretty tough.
Shige-jii was a little late, but apparently he had dozed off in the massage chair at the neighborhood public bath, and came rushing over after a barrage of calls from Mikage-chan. Now, the full Amaterasu Japan force—the secret society that fights against the darkness of the world—was assembled.

Sago Kinemitsu, Psychokinesis
Sago Shiori, Chronoprohiberis
Hasumi Touka, Pyrokinesis
Takahashi Shouta, Cryokinesis
Igubadi-Nguna-Mugu, Healing
Hinokage Mikage, Erebokinesis
Hazama Sorashige, Spatial Manipulation

And now, to this, a person from the future is added. Kuma-san will stay behind at Ama-no-Iwato to guard the place.
Facing them, Tsukuyomi has:

Tsukimori Tsuyoshi, Self-Strengthening
Miyama Kyousuke, Sonic Projection
Christina Najin, Psychometry

*Even if you add Baba the engineer, the difference in fighting power is still two-to-one…!*

No matter how much experience Tsukuyomi has in battles against people, this is unreasonable. We even won the battle in Ama-no-Iwato without Touka-chan, Mikage-chan, or Shiori. If we go at them with the full lineup, it’ll just be a slaughter.
Well, the goal isn’t to beat them senseless, but to send Rin to the time machine and return her to the future, so a fight might not necessarily break out. But still, the imbalance in power is far too great.

Strengthening and bolstering Tsukuyomi’s side is something to think about from here on. For now, it’s the climax of the “Person from the Future” arc.