Chapter Text
[Yokohama – Unknown]
The sky was turning from a bright baby blue to a beautiful orange, an indication that the day was about to end. The signal is that people should head home after a long day of work, and that kids playing should do the same because night can bring dangers. As the sun was setting, another day was ending, and people were starting to rest for the next day. Though most people are sleeping, others are having a filling meal before they allow themselves to.
In one house, the sound of oil popping from the kitchen could be heard, and the home-cooked food wafted a delightful scent through the house. The sound of chopsticks colliding with other dishes creates a pleasant meal for those who feel hungry as the day ends.
As the sun had gone down and the night was visible from the window, the front door of the house squeaked open. Coming through the door was a girl who looked to be about a middle schooler. The girl's clothes were covered in dirt and grime, most likely caused by playing outside all day.
"Mama! I'm back!"
The little girl shouted as she ran to the kitchen, where she was drawn in by the smell of the food just about finished cooking. She saw her mother in front of the sink, washing her hands from all her hard work. The mother then turned to her daughter, who was drying her hands with a rag, and smiled warmly.
"Haru, dear, you're all dirty. Why don't you wash up and get ready for dinner?"
The little girl pouted but nodded before making her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. As she made it to the top of the stairs, a blinding purple light flashed. The mother noticed she peeked out from the kitchen and up the stairs.
"Haru?"
She called out, not hearing a response, and walked up the stairs, calling for her daughter. As she got to the top, she saw her daughter's clothes on the floor, and her eyes widened. She rushed to the bathroom in a panic, and when she saw her in there, she grew much more anxious. She then began checking every room in the house, asking her older son for help, underscoring the family's growing concern and emotional burden.
[Great Jura Forest – Birth of a Demon Lord – The resurrections]
Deep in the forest, not far from the main city, a bright Purple light flashes between the trees and bushes. Blinking a few times before slowly dissipating, leaving the body of a little girl lying under a tree. The only thing covering her body was a pile of leaves that was granted to her by the wind.
Her breath was heavy, and slowly her eyes opened. Her vision blurred as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden change of lighting. She groans quietly, adjusting her body to sit up. Looking around, she starts to realize the unfamiliar area around her, and the sun beaming through the trees onto her skin. The wind gently brushed her hair away from her face.
"Mama…?"
Her eyes well with emotion, confused and terrified as she tries to comprehend what happened and how she got to where she is, making the audience feel her vulnerability and deepening their emotional engagement.
[Yokohama – Armed Detective Agency – 2 months after Haru had gone missing]
Multiple piles of papers stood tall on the desks of the ADA, and the quiet atmosphere made the situation seem more serious than usual. Suddenly, a loud sigh was heard. Leaning back against his chair with a paper over their face, Dazai spun around.
Irritated, Kunikida stood up from his desk and walked over to the lazy male. Lifting the paper off the brunette's face, he glared down at him, then, with a kick to the chair, Dazai fell off the chair and face-planted against the floor.
"Stop fooling around, Dazai."
Dazai pouted and rolled onto his back, and he let out another sigh as he looked up at the ceiling.
"How can I not? All of these missing people reports, and not a single one has led to any of them."
Kunikida walked over to Dazai, pissed, but was suddenly stopped by Ranpo, who had just walked in looking distraught. Following behind were Yosano and Tanizaki, looking the same way. Ranpo walked to his desk, not even looking at his other colleagues, and just looked out the window blankly.
Dazai then sat up and, with an expression of understanding, looked at Yosano and Tanizaki.
"No luck this time as well?"
Yosano just nodded, and Tanizaki clicked his tongue, frustrated, crumpling the report in his hand. He was about to throw it in the bin, but the purple-haired female grabbed his wrist. He looked back at her and calmed down a bit.
"It just makes no sense! We interviewed every family and friend related to the missing victims, but nothing has connected to any leads!"
Dazai looked down and stood up. After hearing that there were still no leads to follow, he felt more suspicious of everything. There had to be something they were missing or overlooking. In over 350 missing person cases, there has to be someone who knows something they don't.
As he thought further, he knew that all the missing cases had in common that the clothes of the people who had disappeared were in the areas where they were last seen. Dazai walked over to his desk and grabbed a paper, re-reading all the statements in the reports. His eyes scanned as many reports as he could. His eyes widened as he saw a recurring theme in almost all the papers he had just read, deepening the mystery and piquing the audience's curiosity.
He started laughing at himself, cursing, and wondering how he or everyone else could ignore such a detail. But it still made no sense. Was it someone's ability? It had to be. How can someone disappear after a flash of light and not be the cause of someone with an ability?
Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open, and a panicked-looking Kyoka stood panting, her eyes looking crazed.
"Kenji and Atsushi just disappeared!"
Dazai's eyes widened before rushing out of the room and running toward the filing room where the three were sorting through other documents. As he reached the filing room, his face dropped as he saw the clothes of his colleagues on the floor with no one else in the room. He clenched his fist, not able to hear the approaching footsteps behind him.
Dazai crouched down at the two pairs of clothes that lay next to each other, and his fist clenched as he held Atsushi's tie. Everyone else immediately checked every corner, nook, and cranny of the room, looking desperately for any clues they could find to figure out how they had just vanished into thin air. Kyoka was crying while Yosano was comforting her in any way she could.
"Kyoka, tell me what happened, and do not leave out any details. We will find them, okay?"
Yosano said, looking at the girl reassuringly. Kyoka coughed a bit as she stuttered through her explanation. As she re-told everything to Yosano, Dazai took an interest in a certain part of the girl's explanation. Dazai stood up and walked up to Kyoka.
"Kyoka, please repeat that part with the light."
Kyoka looked up at Dazai and nodded.
"We were about to head toward you guys when suddenly, a purple ball appeared in front of Kenji. It started blinking, and when Atsushi touched Kenji's arm to pull him away, it flashed. I couldn't see for a bit, and when I could, all I saw were their clothes on the floor."
Dazai gritted his teeth.
"It's the same thing that happened in some of the missing person cases."
Dazai said loudly, and everyone looked at him in shock.
"What do you mean, Dazai?"
Kunikida spoke up, confused.
"I re-read some of the reports, and in most of the ones I read, the statements often talked about seeing a blinding bright light at the same time the victims disappear. I figured it could be someone with an ability, but…"
Kyoka's eyes widened.
"It couldn't be! Atsushi would have heard something if someone snuck into the Agency!"
Dazai nodded and stood thinking.
"That is what I am stuck on. Atsushi's tiger ability would have made it so he could have sensed something suspicious in the surroundings, but he too was caught at the same time as Kenji."
Dazai clenched his teeth.
'Atsushi… Stay safe, I'll get you no matter what…'
[Great Jura Forest – Birth of a Demon Lord – 1 week after Rimuru woke up]
"Lord Rimuru!"
Gobta shouted as he rode his wolf companion toward the city, holding on as tightly as he could so he wouldn't drop the little girl in his arms. Her body was wrapped in whatever cloth Gobta had on him at the time, but her visible skin had shown signs that the wild animals had brutally attacked her in the forest.
He ran toward the building where Rimuru was in the meeting room, talking with the council members about ways to improve the city, when the meeting room's door slammed open. Gobta's wolf companion disappeared into his shadow, and everyone in the room looked toward the goblin that interrupted their meeting.
Panting, Gobta made his way to Rimuru, who had gotten off his chair and walked up to Gobta with a worried expression. Once he saw the little girl in Gobta's arms, bloodied and barely breathing, his eyes widened.
Rimuru calmed himself and slowly took the girl from Gobta's arms, and he created a ball of slime filled with the full potion he had stored. As he used the potion on the little girl, his eyes darkened, and he dismissed everyone from the meeting.
"Meeting postponed, we will continue talking later."
His voice was cold, and soon, most of the members left except for a few. After the treatment, he looked toward Shuna and Shion.
"Shuna, Shion, can you take her to the resting room and get her clean clothes for when she wakes up?"
Both Kijin nodded and immediately followed his orders. After the girls left, Rimuru looked at Gobta for an explanation of what happened while he was out in the forest.
Gobta nodded, looking serious.
[20 minutes later]
"I see."
Rimuru showed sympathy toward the little girl Gobta had shown up with, and he had calmed down from his silent rage. He contemplated deeply about the girl.
'She looked Japanese, could she also be a summoned that ran away? From what Gobta explained, he found her naked in the forest, all bloody, maybe she got caught by human traffickers? I guess these world humans are not so different from my world.'
Diablo looked at Rimuru and smirked, stepping closer, he bowed with respect.
"Shall I find the culprits who hurt the young lady, Lord Rimuru?"
Rimuru took a deep breath before shaking his head. He sighed and looked more serious. "We should wait for her to wake up; maybe she can give a clearer view of what happened. I don't want to accuse random people because if they are from another nation, it could cause trouble for us. We are still fixing up things from what happened a while ago."
Diablo nodded, feeling a bit down at the rejection he got.
"Although it wouldn't hurt to do any investigations. Benimaru follows Gobta into the forest and investigates the area where the girl was found. Look for any clues as to where she might have come from and if there are more victims."
Benimaru nodded. He and Gobta immediately left the room to carry out the orders. Rimuru then stood up, with Diablo and Ranga following him out of the room. As they exited the room, a scream was heard from down the hall. It was coming from the room where Rimuru had told Shuna and Shion to take the girl, too.
Rimuru, getting worried, rushed to the room, slamming the door open. He saw the couches and table flipped while Shuna and Shiron were near his desk, calling out softly for the girl. Finally understanding what happened, he made his way toward them. Shuna and Shion looked up to see Rimuru, and they backed away from the desk.
As he approached the desk, he bent over a bit to see the little girl curled up and trembling underneath. With a small smile, Rimuru spoke softly.
"Hey, it's okay. There is nothing here to hurt you. You must be very scared, being in an unknown place."
The little girl lifted her head slowly, her eyes red from crying and tears streaming down her face. Rimuru smiled and moved to sit on the floor in front of the girl, which made her flinch.
"My name is Rimuru, what's yours?"
His voice seemed to calm the girl a bit as she mustered the courage to speak, though her terror made her voice sound rough and shaky.
“H… Haru Sh… Shimizu…”
Rimuru's eyes widened, as well as his smile.
'She is Japanese and most likely a summoned. She could say more, but it is best not to startle her more. Poor girl. What would Shizu do…'
"Haru Shimizu, huh? That is a very pretty name. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?"
Hearing the offer of something to eat, she became more animated and wiped her tears away. She got closer to him, and in a soft voice, she replied.
“I… I want Onigiri…”
Rimuru nodded and held out his hand.
"Onigiri is it, but will you come out then? I promise no one here will hurt you."
With hesitation, Haru takes his hand, moving her legs to crawl out from under the desk. Once she stood, she glanced at the others who were watching in awe. Seeing their unfamiliar features that would make any other kid from Rimuru's world scared, she clung to Rimuru's coat and buried her face in his sleeve.
Rimuru smiled and chuckled nervously. Poor Shuna, she's usually the one who is good with kids due to her gentle personality. I'll have to make sure to help her feel better once I've gotten what I need to know from Haru. It's been a while since I've thought about my days back in Japan. What changed? Though I don't think a young girl like her would understand. Best to make her feel comfortable until she opens up.'
Looking up, he saw Shion and Shuna with worried expressions, and he understood why they looked sad, wanting to reassure them.
"Be gentle with her, I'm sure she'll warm up to everyone soon."
They nodded and sighed, disappointed, feeling bad that they had scared the little girl. Rimuru placed a hand on the girl's head.
"For now, let's get her something to eat."
Rimuru then glanced at Shion, who looked excited.
"BUT! I'll be the one making it, no offense, Shion. Your food tastes good now, but the presentation is not the best for the appetite…"
Shion pouted and looked down as Shuna comforted her. Rimuru laughed nervously before sighing, knowing he'd also have to comfort Shion later.
'Sorry, Shion, but right now Haru is a VIP guest…'