The Umbrella in the Rain

“Sorry for getting your sweater dirty!”

Her voice was a little hoarse, but still pleasant to hear, though it made your heart ache.

“Because this child is so pitiful,” she said softly, stroking the black cat’s head. If you looked closely, you’d notice that the cat in her arms wasn’t getting wet at all, because she was acting as its umbrella.

Qin An’s umbrella was big enough to cover two people and a cat.

She tried to stand up, but realized she didn’t have the strength left to do anything but sit.

Qin An reached out his hand to her. She took it again. His hand wasn’t big, but it was just the right size to hold hers firmly. It had rough calluses, but they felt incredibly reassuring.

Her hand was ice cold. Even a corpse had a higher temperature than her hand. Her pupils were gray and lifeless.

Qin An pulled her up. She leaned heavily against him just to keep herself steady.

“It seems fine, but this little one seems really hungry.”

Is the cat really more important than yourself?

Qin An’s bento box lay forgotten on the ground.

The school’s designated area for PE was near the mountain, and it was already late.

Suddenly, Qin An pressed his ear to the ground. After listening carefully, he picked up Yuko and walked quickly toward the edge of the street.

“An, what’s wrong?” Yuko asked, cradling the cat.

“A storm is coming.”

Then, the roar of a powerful motorcycle engine cut through the drizzling rain. A silver double-barreled motorcycle with a sleek, heavy design skidded to a halt, its exhaust pipe steaming in the cold air.

On the motorcycle were two men wearing bizarre ghost masks. Seeing those familiar masks brought back memories from when Qin An had roamed Japan in his past life.

Every country had supernatural organizations, large or small, led by supernaturals themselves. But Japan was an exception. They had only one major organization: Takamagahara.

Japanese supernaturals liked to deify themselves, believing they were the spokespersons of the gods, and that having powers meant wielding divine authority.

Within Takamagahara, a faction called the Yomi sought to control everything from the shadows, calling themselves the Yomi Crowd.

They ruthlessly suppressed any supernatural who wasn’t part of their faction. You either surrendered and joined the Yomi, or you died.

In his past life, Qin An had accepted a commission from the head of Takamagahara to deal with the Yomi’s rebellion. He had even defeated their princess—the one who could devour everything. More than just defeating her, he had broken her spirit. She was just a child, yet she carried sins beyond imagination.

Now, in this timeline, Takamagahara probably hadn’t even realized the Yomi’s plot to rebel yet. But why were they here? It couldn’t be because of him. That meant…

Qin An looked down at the dying girl leaning against him, his pupils dilating.

“Kid, let go of the girl next to you. She’s an offering for our summoned god.”

“Kid, we’ll count to three. If you let her go, we’ll give you a chance to run. Whether you survive is up to fate.”

The man wearing a red-and-white ghost mask pulled out a sharp, serrated dagger and licked his lips, looking bloodthirsty.

“Three, two…” He deliberately dragged out the last syllable. But Qin An just looked at him like he was watching a tragic clown in a circus.

The Red Ghost attacked. He was an assassin-type supernatural, and no ordinary human had ever survived his poisoned dagger. In an instant, he vanished, appearing directly behind Qin An. A backstab was both his favorite and his most lethal move.

Just as he was about to plunge the dagger in, he didn’t see Qin An’s back, but rather his face, wearing a faint, mocking smile.

Impossible! My ability is high-speed movement! I’m a B-rank superhuman!

Once more, he vanished. But there was that smiling face again.

Once more. Still the same smiling face.

The Red Ghost tried to move a fourth time, but Qin An didn’t give him another chance.

“I’m bored. You’re too slow.”

Too slow!

Those two words completely shattered the Red Ghost’s confidence. Impossible. He must have a much higher-tier speed ability than me!

He lunged wildly at Qin An with the dagger. Qin An dodged easily with a slight sway of his body. Even while holding the girl with one hand and the heavy umbrella with the other, it made no difference. His movements were effortless.

Qin An’s seemingly gentle elbow strike landed squarely on the Red Ghost’s face, shattering half his mask and sending him flying several meters. He rolled through the muddy puddles several times before stopping, completely unconscious.

“You bastard! How dare you harm my comrade! Ah!”

The tall man in the yellow ghost mask roared, beating his chest like a gorilla. His muscles swelled, tearing his shirt to shreds and revealing a thick patch of chest hair.

“What a racket. It’s late, and you’re yelling in a residential area.”

Qin An closed his large black umbrella and rapped the brute’s head with the heavy handle. The man saw stars, spun around in a circle, and collapsed.

Qin An stepped forward and crushed his mask with his foot. Underneath was a fierce but young face. Probably just a high school student.

Qin An felt a sharp gaze fixed on him. He looked up and saw a faint glimmer on a tiled rooftop not far away. He snapped the black umbrella open just as an arrow, swift as the wind, pierced through the fabric. The torn umbrella was blown aside, but when he looked back, the rooftop was already empty.

Standing on that distant roof was a girl in a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit. She had snow-white, crystal-clear skin and neat, smooth black hair. Her gaze was calm and gentle, framed by long, elegant eyelashes. She wore a white bow in her hair, looking like a figure stepping out of an ancient painting.

Behind her was another girl in a shrine maiden outfit with a short, sporty haircut. She held a polished bow and carried a quiver on her back.

Both girls were shocked when they looked down at the two defeated men, because they recognized them.

“Sister, what should we do?”

“Let’s go ask Granny first.”

Qin An held Yuko’s head with one hand and supported her legs with the other, lifting her in a secure princess carry as he ran swiftly across the wet rooftops, disappearing into the rainy night.

“Qin Jun, who were those two people just now?” Yuko nestled into Qin An’s arms, still clutching the shivering black cat.

“They have superpowers. They’re supernatural beings, like the ones in novels and comics.”

“Really?” There wasn’t much surprise in Yuko’s voice, as if she had already suspected as much.

“Maybe you’re a supernatural too,” Qin An murmured.

A very, very rare kind. The kind everyone wanted to exploit.

Yuko, like a child discovering a new world, asked curiously, “Then what are you?”

“I’m the one who subdues them.”

“You’re amazing.”

A long silence followed. Soon, the apartment building where Qin An lived came into view. But bringing a strange girl home in the middle of the night felt a bit inappropriate.

“Where is your home? I should take you back.”

“My door is locked.” She smiled bitterly, but behind that smile was an endless, heavy sorrow.

“My door isn’t locked. Want to come over?”

Hearing that, she smiled like a happy child. She pressed herself closer to his chest. Even in the cold rain and the biting wind, his chest felt like the sun—radiating pure warmth.