Early the next morning, Roland pushed open the door of his house, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.
After a good night's sleep, he'd woken up earlier than usual today.
"There's still two hours left… should I do something?"
At this time, the street was still silent. The sky above looked like a mirror faintly fogged with mist, with just a soft glimmer of sunlight breaking through, broad, peaceful, and warmly quiet.
Without thinking too hard, Roland, who had become much more self-disciplined under the influence of his contracted spirit, gave himself an answer.
"Yeah, let's go for a morning run. After indulging oneself, one still has to return to routine if one wants to be happy.…"
Fighting out of anger tires you easily. Even though it was basic common sense, Roland decided to start improving his physical strength for the sake of long-term plans. To encourage himself, he stretched and quietly hyped himself up.
Although he deliberately lowered his voice to avoid attracting attention, it seemed someone with sharp hearing still caught him.
A greeting came from behind.
"Good morning."
Roland's body stiffened all at once. Even though he hadn't said anything strange while talking to himself, just being overheard was enough to make him feel embarrassed. If Roland were thirty, maybe he could laugh it off, but he wasn't even twenty yet.
He instinctively turned to look and quickly searched his memory. Although it had sounded like the polite greeting between strangers, for some reason, the voice felt familiar.
Then, the owner of the voice gradually approached.
It was a tall, broad-shouldered young man with neatly trimmed short hair. Though he was clearly handsome, the cold, indifferent expression on his face made him look overly serious, giving off an intimidating air.
He wore a loose robe that resembled a uniform but didn't restrict movement. A golden cross hung from his neck, but perhaps because of his grim face, the overall impression was more like an unapproachable old-fashioned priest.
"Good morning…" Roland looked at the man with a strange expression, alarm bells ringing in his heart, ready to summon Killer Queen at any moment. "Excuse me, are you… a priest?"
"Yes. Forgive my rudeness," the priest stopped at a polite distance that wouldn't trigger alertness and gazed at Roland with calm eyes.
"I am Kotomine Kirei, the priest of Fuyuki Church."
[T/N: A wild Kirei has been spotted]
What the hell?
Wait, I didn't do anything, did I? Not getting caught means it's not a crime, right?
Yesterday's scene should have been erased down to the last speck of ash. Even if you brought in a whole squad of Death Note detectives, they shouldn't be able to find me, right?
Besides, wasn't this whole thing under the control of Tohsaka Tokiomi and the church? As long as no traces of magic or mystery were left behind, nobody cared about a random serial killer, why would they care about me?
Even though Roland was internally shocked, no expression showed on his face. He hesitantly asked, "My name is Roland. May I ask what Father Kotomine wants from me?"
Killer Queen was already primed. If Kotomine Kirei made even the slightest suspicious move, Roland was ready to let him experience the power of his stand. Since the opponent was male, he didn't even need to hold back.
Thinking this, Roland's gaze subtly drifted downward. He saw Kotomine Kirei standing straight, though the backs of his hands were tucked neatly under his robe sleeves.
Kotomine Kirei, however, didn't seem to notice Roland's thoughts or silent threats. He simply looked at Roland seriously and made an unexpected invitation.
"I overheard what you said just now. Would you like to go for a morning run together?"
The scene fell into an awkward silence.
"…Huh?"
As Roland let out a baffled sound, Kotomine Kirei seemed to realize how strange this must have looked, and hurried to explain, awkwardly, even stammering a little.
Something about just returning to Fuyuki, being enthusiastic about morning exercises, and not having any running companions… it all filled the street with an oddly wholesome atmosphere.
Roland finally processed what was happening, recalling the words he'd muttered earlier.
Did this guy… get drawn in by a keyword or something? Was it a subconscious trigger?
Taking a deep breath, Roland told himself to stay calm. He should firmly reject this to avoid unnecessary trouble, yes, be firm!
"…Sure, but I'm not a pro. My pace won't be that fast."
A little while later, Roland, now warmed up and lightly sweating, came to a stop.
"That's it for me today. I've got work later, you?"
"I still need to practice boxing," Kotomine Kirei replied calmly, not hiding anything. "My father has taught me Bajiquan, so this is a part of my regular morning routine."
After agreeing to meet again for tomorrow's morning run, Kotomine Kirei jogged off toward the church without hesitation, continuing his exercise.
Roland only slightly shrugged his shoulders once the man's figure disappeared from sight.
"So it really was just a morning run… I thought I was being targeted or something."
It wasn't hard to see through the current Kotomine Kirei. Knowing that this man's personality was like a stagnant pool, Roland realized there was no way he was hiding some elaborate scheme.
During the entire morning run, neither Kotomine Kirei nor Roland said anything extra. They simply ran side by side in silence. Roland even deliberately exposed a few flaws, pretending to struggle with stamina, but Kotomine Kirei didn't react at all.
If he'd been ordered to watch or monitor, even casually, he wouldn't have acted like this.
Then again, from another angle, Roland had, indeed, drawn his attention.
It wasn't hard to guess which of his own "qualities" had drawn Kotomine Kirei in. Still, he hadn't expected to encounter him like this.
Is it possible… there's really some kind of gravitational pull between us?
Roland frowned, resting on a bench for a while. After his breathing settled, he stood up and looked over at the rows of vending machines nearby.
"Let's grab a bottle of tea, then go home and shower. Work's coming up soon."
Roland walked over to the vending machine, selected his favorite drink, and reached into his pocket, only to come up empty-handed.
…Huh?
He patted the pocket on the other side. Still nothing. His body froze, and then he silently raised his eyes to the sky.
Damn. He'd made a rookie mistake, first time going out for a morning run, he'd put on loose, lightweight clothes and completely forgot to bring money.
Forget it. I'll just hold out for ten more minutes and handle it at home.
Just as Roland was about to leave, footsteps approached.
The person who came into view was wearing a flashy purple coat with a leopard-print collar. He had orange hair and looked like some kind of showy, pretty boy, like he'd just stepped out of a nightclub.
The orange-haired young man strolled casually through the quiet street, dressed completely inappropriately for the hour.
He passed by Roland, slipped a few coins into the vending machine, tapped twice on the 100-yen barley tea option, then pulled out one of the bottles and handed it directly to Roland.
"You're bound to run into stuff like this when you're away from home. If you feel bad about it, just pay me back later… Ah, I've got something to do, so I'll head off now."
Seeing Roland staring blankly, the young man stuffed the barley tea into his hands, waved casually, and left at an easy pace.
No demands for repayment. No unnecessary conversation. The orange-haired youth just wore a bright, carefree smile, helping someone out like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Moments like this, even if someone had a bad first impression of him, would naturally make people warm up.
But Roland couldn't.
Because he knew the young man's name.
— Ryunosuke Uryuu.
Turns out it's not just stand users who attract each other. Even villains pull each other in.