Been a while :)

Warning: No actions in this chapter so you can skip if you want.

The world around him suddenly shifts a bit, causing the driver's mind to restart as he opens his eyes to see where he is. After a few seconds, he recognizes the windshield of the van he and his group 'stole' last night… and sees that the van is moving on the highway. He immediately looks down the steering wheel to see it moving by itself with the pedals doing the same…

"Morning, Tomita." He looks up again and sees the doll which is sitting between the steering wheel and the windshield while facing away from him and towards the road. "Sorry for the rude wake-up call."

"...Morning, sir. Where are we right now, and what's the time?"

"Almost 5 a.m. Still on the highway."

"You have driven for the whole night. You can rest now sir."

"Eh… Maybe later. Can you find out if we're reaching a stop of some kind?"

"Of course." The Sergeant pulls out his phone and starts searching the map for the location they're in right now… "There's a stop about ten minutes away with a kiosk. We can wake everyone up to have some quick breakfast."

"Got it."

Tomita does what he just said, starting with Itami who lazily yawns before recognizing their situation as his subordinate wakes the rest up. Itami then calls out for the doll: "Did we encounter problems throughout the night?"

"Crazy drivers, otherwise nothing serious."

"Are we close?"

"As best as the van runs, miss Kuribayashi. Maybe around noon we will be close."

"Can't we speed it up? I'm pretty sure you can do so in a blink..."

"Doesn't mean that I will, mister Marceau. Over-using power sometimes leads to a stupid outcome, and I don't like that. But don't worry, I have support to handle things in the city area already."

…

"Finally off the bed, mister Komakado?"

After being transferred to a nearby hospital because he 'pulled his back', the agent of the PSIA had to spend the whole day plus the night of the injury in the patient's bed to recover parts of his strength. And even when he's 'good' enough to walk around, he would still need to have a crutch to support himself.

Then, when his subordinates escort him out to continue their mission, they're briefly stopped by a mysterious figure standing in their way. Cladded in black clothes with black fedora and scarf, the only thing they can see clearly from his face is the pair of blank-staring eyes gazing directly at their souls.

Feeling the danger, Komakado's subordinates put their hands on their weapons, ready to pull them out if a fight happens. However, the mysterious figure only raises his hands up in surrender mode, signaling that he's not here to fight.

"...State your identity."

"The Observer, or T.O for short. Kuro's other self."

"Other self." The agent emphasizes the info just to make sure that he didn't hear it wrong. To prove him right, T.O slightly lifts the fedora up and pulls the scarf down. "...You would pass for a mirror image."

"I'm here to help you spot the other nations' agents within the city that might affect the guests' route back to the other side of the Gate." T.O proposes why he appeared before them. "What you do next is up to you."

"Hm… what's the catch?"

"He just doesn't want to dirty his or my hands." Komakado raises his eyebrows in suspicion after hearing an odd explanation. "If we're in his country then he would just deal with this his way. For now, your country, your rules."

"...Stand down." The agent sends the order to his subordinates, then reaches his hand out for a hand shake. "Securing the public's safety is our first priority."

"Same as ours." The handshake lasts for a second. "I will call again when your operation starts." And before the mortals' eyes, he vanishes.

The agents of PSIA are stunned for a few seconds before Komakado snaps back and orders: "We have guests to protect here. Let's move on."

…

Hours later. Road to Ginza

"...I completely forgot what curiosity could do." The doll lets out a small giggle mixed with amusement and slight astoundment when the van has to stop due to the traffic jam ahead. "Risa, I think your calculation is a bit off."

"A bit." The girl sarcastically replies while grabbing her head. "I was expecting just a couple thousands at best, not a number that could fill the Tokyo Dome!"

"Are there that many people answering to miss Risa's call?" Pina and Bozes are having a meltdown as they see the crowds of people trying to find where the guests from the other side are.

"What should we do now, sir?" The question from Tomita is not directed to Kuro but rather to Itami.

"Well… we can walk."

"Don't you think it will throw us into danger?"

"Nah, it's no problem." Kuro dismisses it. "T.O is cooperating with the PSIA to make sure those pesky agents won't reach us. Still, we would need to be careful of some randoms in the midst…"

Before he could say any further, the backdoor of the van suddenly opens, with Rory walking out with her halberd openly shown to the public eyes. She then approaches one of the teenagers and asks him where Ginza is…

"Since when is she Moses?" The doll giggles then floats out of the car's window and transforms back into his human form, surprising the nearby civilians. "There's no going back now, let's head to the Gate."

Seeing that being the only way, Itami sighs and turns to Kuribayashi and Tomita and orders: "Shoot anyone who tries to harm them."

"Roger that." The two Sergeants wear their war faces and start preparing the weapons to cover the guests.

After the preparation is done (with Itami telling Risa to stay behind and find a place to abandon the car), the group starts following Rory as she makes her way to the Gate. Due to the sight of her halberg, no one dares approach the group.

Though one did try, the Apostle slams the end of her weapon to the ground, stopping him in place.

'Just an excited kid. Let him go.'

'About time, T.O. What's the situation?'

'Under control. PSIA is restraining the agents from the other countries. They should pose no harm to you.'

'Should. Is there something I need to know?'

'Paparazzis.'

'Great. Hope that we can avoid them.'

'You can't.'

'What do you mean?'

'Look left.'

Kuro does as T.O suggests, and he sees dozens of cameras pointing at them with interviewers talking on the broadcasts constantly. Nothing seems out of ordinary, which causes him to raise an eyebrow at the strange statement his other self made…

"Big Sis?"

Until one of them who's watching the group with her head tilting to the side while wearing a confused face speaks out loud. She then talks back to the broadcast she's working with and states that her sister who's working with the JSDF is among the group…

"Uh… Kuribayashi? Is that your sister?" After taking a quick look, Kuro questions the Sergeant.

"Who?" The woman turns to look at where he's pointing at, and she's slightly surprised. "Nanami? What are you doing here?"

"I'm doing a TV broadcast!"

As the two sisters start chatting, Kuro slightly steps away and watches the group from Falmart placing flowers on the altar. Rory questions if someone can ring the bell, and just in time it's 2 p.m and the Ginza Wako Clock Tower responds to her request…

Hodor then notices that the foreign god is staying a bit behind so once the offering is over, he walks to him and asks: "You are returning back with us, right?"

"Making sure that you guys are all back." He gestures to the Sergeant who's now on the live broadcast. The Elf nods understandably and walks back to the main group. Kuro then heads to the Kuribayashi siblings and requests: "Miss Shino, we're continuing our plan."

"Ah right! Sorry Sis, but we need to go."

"Wait! Can we interview the guests?"

"No can do, Nanami. We have to return to the Special Region ASAP."

"Why?" The little sister can tell that her big sister is somewhat in a hurry, but she's an interviewer so she needs to push a bit.

"We're been targeted since two days ago."

'...Should I stop her from talking further, T.O?'

'Your choice. But remember, this is Japan.'

'...Let's watch then.'

"Targeted? By whom?"

"Don't know. Probably from the U.S, China or Russia. Trained stopped, hotel arsoned, loud noises at the hot spring, and that's just scratches on the surfaces! Okay, no more talking, bye!"

"Ah wait!" Shino quickly runs off, not hearing the calling from her younger sister. Nanami sighs and thinks that she couldn't get more information…

Until she notices that Kuro is still staying behind while watching the group walking away. "Uh… mister? Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

'"...A few quick questions won't hurt." To her delight, the last member of the group decides to humor her as he turns to her and the camera. "Try not to get too private."

"No problem!" Her excitement almost makes her mic slip off her hands but she quickly catches it and starts questioning: "My sister just stated that your group was targeted. Do you have any ideas who could be behind this?"

"Will you believe me if I reply 'everyone wants a piece of us'?" He can hear the clear gasps around him and from wherever broadcast the camera's sending visual to. He points his thumb to the Gate and continues: "The guests are from a totally different world, with different cultures and such. Pretty sure even my own country would like to know what's beyond the Gate. And what's the best way to get that is to try to 'invite' the guests to the house?"

"You… are not wrong." Nanami sheepishly agrees, before she tries to gain her composure. "But my sister stated the following nations…"

"And I will confirm it being true. But that's from last night. The days before, I won't comment since there is no concrete evidence to point at anyone."

Itami then notices that Kuro is not following them, so he attempts to call him. He then receives the hand signal to continue the walk without the last member, so he nods and starts guiding the rest to the Gate.

"Can we ask a little bit about the third world?"

"Sorry, but until the situation behind the Gate is sorted…"

'We have a problem.'

'I thought you said…'

"Dada!"

"Want to add her into the equation?"

The interviewer watches the person before her slowly close his mouth, his hands start placing on his hips as he slowly turns his body towards the two people that somehow approached behind him without anyone noticing. The camera starts moving aside in order to get a view of who is talking to the man, and the broadcast sees a young lady with red pig-tailed hair and a smaller version of her with brown hair standing next to her with their hands intertwined.

And said version is waving at the camera with her free hand while the other two make conversation.

"Didn't I tell you all to not come here?"

"Yeah, I know. But I was curious about your family. And well, Clem is being Clem. You can't really control her if she really wants to do something."

"I know." Kuro crosses his arms before his chest while sighing in defeat. "I had hoped that Yami could stop her though."

"You asked the impossible, Grandpa." Everyone who's watching immediately sees the instant shift of personality of the little girl and the color of her eyes changing from green to orange when she talks to Kuro. "Unless you put a leash on her yourself then nobody's able to stop her."

"One can hope." He then pulls out his phone and quickly sends a message to Itami to tell him that he's going back his own way. After finishing the task, he turns to the bewildered interviewer and changes the subject a bit: "Sorry about the small fiasco. Anyway, these two are from that 'third world'."

"...EH!?" Nanami exclaims loudly in surprise, while the others around her show the same feeling with their facial expression. "When did they come here? And how did they go through the Gate without the JSDF noticing?"

"Because we don't need the Gate… or rather, me and this girl, to get here." Kuro lightly pinches the little girl's cheek who just giggles just to play with him, which signals that her personality shifts again.

"She just sent us here yesterday." The mature version of the two girls adds while poking Kuro's arm with an ear-to-ear grin. "To visit this guy's family."

Everyone blinks for a couple of seconds before Nanami recovers and fumbles a bit with her words: "Can… can we ask for your names, miss?"

The redhead first turns to Kuro who just shrugs, then to the interviewer and smiles at the camera: "No problem. My name is Uzume Tennouboshi, and this little troublemaker…" She pinches the girl's other cheek. "Is my daughter, Clementine Tennouboshi."

"We can see the similarity." Nanami weakly smiles seeing the little girl is enjoying the 'treatment' Uzume and Kuro are giving her. "May I ask what you do back in your world? Your job, I mean."

"Does being a CPU count?" Uzume glances at Kuro with a smirk, and the response is another smirk from him. She retracts her hand back and continues: "Anyway, simply put, I have to protect the civilians from threats like monsters and such. The other CPUs also have to govern their own nations to make sure that the citizens live comfortably."

"Can't say it's a perfect world, but they all try to keep the peace as long as possible." Kuro adds, then retracts his hand out of the little girl's cheek.

"I see… If we remember it correctly, mister Kuro said that it's the Goddesses who control the nations… And isn't the CPU just a main processor in the computer?"

A stick with an arrow sign suddenly appears in Kuro's hand with the arrow pointing at Uzume. There are words on the board too: 'CPU equals Goddess.' And when the Goddess glances at him he just throws the sign away with the thing disappearing in midair.

"You can just answer them normally."

"The CPUs also have to entertain the citizens occasionally don't they?"

"So the Goddesses work just like the Presidents if I understand it correctly?" Nanami questions again, slightly surprised that the Goddess in front of her seems to be very lax…

"Kinda." Uzume replies, then calls out another arrow that points to Kuro with 'This guy is also a CPU' written on it. "He's there to make sure the CPUs won't go wild and screw everyone over while things like the Deity of Sins couldn't mess with other universes."

Everyone is stunned for a moment before Nanami slightly stutters: "Miss Uzume… you are saying that he's at the same level of authority as you?"

"It's the people calling me that." Kuro clarifies. He turns his head back to see that Itami's group is behind the checkpoint that protects the Gate from outside forces. "Like I said in the Diet, try to arrange a proper meeting then I can talk a bit further. For now, we need to return back."

"One last question! How much time do you estimate to find and save the survivors captured from the Ginza Incident?"

For a few seconds, he says nothing. Uzume plans to say something in his place but Kuro places his hand on her shoulder to stop her, then he answers the interviewer: "Finding them shouldn't be hard. Saving them… I will have to work with JSDF to operate a campaign to do so. We're facing a Romanian-type Empire here, any harsh movements would bring more dangers to the survivors."

The CPU tries to say something, but his glance stops her.

"It's best to leave it to the higher authority." Another unexpected figure appears again behind Kuro, however the voice is identical to him. "Kuro, the area is clear. Time to leave."

"Yeah, I know." Before anyone else could say a word, Kuro snaps his fingers, and a door-sized portal appears behind his group much to the world's surprise. Uzume and Clem start walking through it while sending a goodbye handwave to the others, with the fourth figure vanishing away. "Wish you all around Earth a good day. I will see you again in the future." He says his goodbye and joins the two girls, and the portal closes once he's on the other side.

"...Did he just make a mini-Gate?" One of the cameramen asks the other.

"Eh… I think it's just a portal like in sci-fi films. But if he can do that, then could he be the one…"

Hours later. JSDF base.

"You caused quite a stir with that broadcast, mister Kuro."

"The world will know sooner or later anyway, mister Hazama. About the campaign, you can send the data of the missing people through the tablet T.O sent you days before. Though don't expect that we can find them immediately, I can't risk anyone infiltrating without support. T.O is not under my command so don't expect me to ask him to help you all the time."

"Pardon me if I say anything rude, but shouldn't you have the ability to do everything on your own?"

"I don't like playing god, General. I only used that title to scare those who were too ignorant. I would like to be human, thank you."

"A human that can turn into a dragon. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"Hm… Do you think that the top would ask for an exchange program with Gamindustri?"

"I would believe so. While the world is somewhat 'known' to Earth, your existence might change a lot, more than we thought even, if you are currently the top dog."

"Nah, you don't miss much… other than the chaos messes with other universes I got into… Also, if possible, can you record the 'threats' Falmart might have at the moment that you guys are aware of?"

"Does an Elder Dragon count, sir?"

"…I hope you are not asking me to kill it, are you?"

"I believe you must have known of its danger to everyone."

"I won't make promises for this one. I don't want to interfere with Falmart directly unless there's a reason to, so I will have to let nature run its course. Don't get me wrong, that thing is dangerous, but every world needs balance, there's no perfect good or perfect evil world. So until I find something suspicious, I have to leave it be. Even my request is to best avoid them."

"I see… You said you can't kill it, but you can still protect people from it, right?"

"If I'm aware of it and I'm close enough, then sure."

"Thank you for clarifying."

"No problem. Have a… I almost forgot. While you have the Apostle of Emroy with you which I believe symbolizes War, I am facing the Apostle of Hardy which is the equivalent of Death in our world. Be aware that not all Apostles will be friendly if you happen to cross one."

"Thank you for your warning. We will talk again."

As the other side shuts down the call, Hazama puts down his own while starting to organize the new information in his head… before First Lieutenant Akira Yanagida knocks on his door and enters after he gives the permission. The Lieutenant hands over a stack of papers and states: "General Hazama, here's the reports of the events that happened with Itami's group during the days in Japan."

"Thank you. Is there anything worth noticing before I read the full details?"

"Aside from the agents that tailed them, First Lieutenant Itami and his group have gathered a large amount of 'souvenirs' the 'foreigners' left behind after the 'accident'."

"Hm… that will need to be discussed with the higher-ups." The General thinks out loud as he flips the reports page by page. "Our 'friend' from the other Gate is requesting a list of missing people after the Ginza Incident."

"It's already in progress, sir. As soon as his sister's session was up, the government immediately worked to find the information regarding potential captured civilians."

"Good… There are two more things. One is about the Apostles."

"Miss Mercury is…"

"I'm talking about the others in the future. Kuro implied that he's having one of them as his enemy, though it's not very clear, and he warned that the others might not be the same as Miss Mercury."

"It's understandable, but we are trained to not overlook anything Sir."

"Another reminder wouldn't hurt. The second thing is the potential relationship with the third world."

"Third Recon is going to have their hands full, sir."

"I have a suspicion that Third Recon would not be needed. But until then, we have to prepare for the worst."