A.N. (1/20/21) - This is just a filler chapter, a bit of slice-of-life after all the Misaki events.
Epilogue (35) - Meeting the Niwas
"Well, here we are."
Daisuke awkwardly led Nagi to the entrance to his house. His family had insisted on meeting Nagi for the first time, and Daisuke had asked Nagi if it was okay to meet with them during the weekend. The two had left right after school ended, leading to their current situation.
"Nice place," Nagi replied. "Very homey. It's almost refreshing compared to where I live."
Daisuke didn't know what to say. He didn't know if Nagi was being considerate or not. The other boy lived in a literal castle after all, so there wasn't much Daisuke could do to top that.
"Let's go inside," he instead replied.
"Sure."
Daisuke opened the door and was about to take another step when he recalled something. Stopping Nagi from moving forward, he took a tentative step onto the floor before them. He carefully walked the next few meters forward and was glad when nothing happened.
"I think it's safe," he told Nagi. The other boy just gave him a weird look, to which Daisuke couldn't help but blush at.
He loved his family dearly, but he knew that their eccentricities could be a bit hard to curb. Setting up hidden traps to test his new friend was exactly something they'd be likely to do.
Unfortunately, Daisuke relaxed too soon.
Nagi took a step forward and his foot immediately sank as it activated a hidden mechanism. Out of nowhere, a spring catapulted a flying pie straight towards Nagi's face. Daisuke could only watch in horror as his friend's face was completely covered in whipped cream.
"Oh my gosh!" He ran over to his friend and pulled out a handkerchief. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know that this would happen."
"...can I borrow your restroom?"
His friend's deadpan expression only made him even more mortified.
"A-Around the corner…" he awkwardly pointed. He then realized that where there was one trap, there were likely to be a dozen more. "You know what, I think I'll show you the way instead."
And his prediction turned out to be correct because the hallway had several more traps that Daisuke activated on purpose so that they wouldn't target his friend. The two finally reached the bathroom, where Daisuke allowed the other boy to wash his face.
"Well, it looks like we really have a lot to work with."
The sound of his mother's voice made Daisuke groan. "Why'd you do this in the first place?!"
His grandfather and mother appeared from around the corner. The two were awkwardly smiling at him.
"I was interested in the person who caught Dark's eye after so long," his mother admitted. "Our family doesn't really do the henchman thing. Still, this kid is a complete novice."
"Don't think of it like that. Think of it like working on a blank canvas," his grandfather said. "Right now he's untrained, yes. But at the same time, he's filled with infinite potential."
"You're just saying that cause you're excited to teach someone else magic," his mother complained.
His grandfather laughed right as Nagi finished up and exited the bathroom. Daisuke's friend blinked as he saw the two of them.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Niwa and Niwa Senior." He gave a quick bow. "My name is Nagi Kujikawa. It's nice to meet you."
His mother blushed and waved her hand in embarrassment. "Oh please, call me Emiko."
"And you can call me Gramps," Daisuke's grandfather followed up with. "Since you're joining the family business, that makes you practically family."
Nagi seemed to take that in good spirit, chuckling at his grandfather's words. "I think my uncle would probably like to have a word first if I'm being adopted."
The four of them moved to the living room, where they all sat down and chatted with each other for a bit. Soon, the topic went to what Nagi's role was gonna be.
"We won't send you out like Dark. There are a bunch of behind-the-scene jobs that the rest of us do. It's nice to have another hand on board for tasks like those."
"Dark told me you're a bit interested in magic. I can offer you a few lessons on the weekends," his grandfather offered.
"Really?" Nagi asked with an excited face. "That'd be wonderful. I have so many questions on how magic works."
Daisuke smiled. Looks like things were going fine.
He was worried about Nagi the last few days. His friend seemed to be in a dark mood ever since Misaki disappeared. This trip was also supposed to be an attempt at cheering the other boy up, which seemed to be a success so far.
"Kyuu~"
A soft weight settled on his lap, and Daisuke looked down to see Wiz sitting there. Daisuke saw Nagi's attention suddenly turn to the rabbit on his lap.
"Oh, I forgot. This is the first time you've seen Wiz."
The smile on Nagi's face warmed Daisuke's heart. "He's cute."
"Would you like to pet him?"
Daisuke laughed as he saw stars in Nagi's eyes.
}-{
At least Nagi can finally cross off 'petting a demon' off his bucket list.
Not that Wiz looked like a demon in any way. He was the most adorable and sweetest thing he's ever seen.
Nagi was introduced to several things that the Niwa household usually hid from others. He saw the library, with various books on things like historical accounts of magical incidents. He was shown an underground chamber where Daisuke's mother and grandfather conducted ceremonies.
He even got to see a few artifacts and artworks that Dark had stolen over the years. Some of them were things that Nagi recognized were stolen recently, such as the relief of the Central Church's Bell Tower.
To think that it hasn't even been a whole month since he moved to this city. A lot of things happened during these past few weeks.
Finding out that he was born in the world of an anime.
Finding out that it was a crossover with a video game series.
Discovering the Dark Hour.
Meeting Daisuke and the rest of the cast of DNAngels.
Visiting the Velvet Room.
Meeting Misaki…
Nagi shook his head. He recalled Misaki's last words and strove to never let himself be caught in his emotions as his uncle did.
Sure, he missed her. But he couldn't let himself focus on only the bad. He had to remember the good times as well.
So it was time for him to move on. And see the rest of this year through.
From here on out, this is the start of the story of the henchman-in-training.
Nagi Kujikawa.
Even though this is the epilogue, there's still one more chapter until the Misaki arc is finally over.
I think I'll write two more chapters after this. The last will introduce the next mini-arc, which will delve into minor Persona things that I've been hinting towards for a while now.
