On the other side, at the entrance of the Kudo Family's Western-style house.
Ding dong… ding dong… ding dong…
Ran, along with Sonoko and Reze, pressed the doorbell several times but received no response.
"Is no one home?"
Ran frowned slightly.
Sonoko guessed casually: "Could he have already gone to school?"
The moment she said it, Sonoko herself felt it was unlikely.
'Without legs, who would be in the mood for school?'
'Come to think of it, did injuries sustained in the other world also carry over to the real world?'
Ran saw through her thoughts with a single glance. After all, including the years they had spent together in the other world, they had known each other for nearly thirty years.
"Injuries sustained in the other world are reflected on the real body."
Ran said softly.
Back during the Konoha Crush Plan in the Naruto World, she had been slightly injured while fighting a Ninja from the Otogakure. Although it wasn't serious, the wound still appeared on her body unchanged after returning to reality.
"Then let's go in and take a look."
Reze spoke up.
The two nodded, glanced at the nearly three-meter-tall iron gate, and began gathering Chakra at the soles of their feet.
But just then, Reze suddenly raised her right hand and snapped her fingers at the gate.
A tiny spark jumped from her fingertip and landed on the gate—
Boom!!
The entire gate exploded, the two doors blasted into the air. They crashed heavily to the ground two seconds later with a loud bang.
Ran: ...
Sonoko: ...
Reze stepped into the garden, turned back to look at the two, and asked in confusion: "What's wrong? Hurry up and come in."
Ran and Sonoko exchanged a glance and quickly followed. On the way, Ran lowered her voice and whispered: "I get the feeling Reze doesn't have much common sense."
Suzuki Sonoko nodded vigorously: "We definitely need to keep an eye on her."
The front door of the house was also closed. Reze was about to repeat her previous action, but Ran was quick and entered the password first.
"Shinichi, are you there?"
After opening the door, Ran called out softly.
The inside of the house was still dead silent, with no response.
The three walked all the way to the living room and finally saw Shinichi sitting alone on the sofa, head bowed, not saying a word.
What was most striking were the empty pant legs below his knees.
Even though she had been mentally prepared, seeing her childhood friend in such a dejected and dispirited state still stirred a pang of sorrow in Ran's heart.
"..."
She was about to speak, but Shinichi suddenly interrupted: "Did you come to mock me?"
Ran was taken aback and quickly explained: "Ho, how could I... I just..."
"Aren't you going to see your teacher?"
Shinichi interrupted again. Under Ran's stunned gaze, a mocking sneer curled on his lips. "Oh, I'm wrong. You're living together now, so there's no need to make a special trip to see him."
Returning to the real world should have been a cause for celebration, but when Shinichi discovered the injuries from the other world had also been brought back, he couldn't be happy anymore.
Thinking about how his childhood friend was now living under the same roof as Makoto only fueled the jealousy burning in his heart.
Ran stood there stunned, momentarily at a loss for words.
The Shinichi before her felt very unfamiliar.
"Who do you think you are!"
Sonoko finally couldn't hold back anymore. Her voice cracked with emotion. "If Ran wasn't worried about you, we wouldn't have bothered coming to see you, you mystery-obsessed freak! So what if you lost your legs? Don't forget, Uncle Kudo lost his life!"
"Don't mention my dad!"
Shinichi's eyes turned red as he nearly roared.
Mentioning Yusaku inevitably brought back memories of Ito Makotou's actions, the atrocities committed by Makoto's Teddy Devil, and the humiliation he and his father had endured.
If this had been before being chosen by the Reincarnation Game, Sonoko might have been intimidated by his ferocity.
But after two consecutive transmigrations to other worlds and surviving for over a decade in the oppressive and cruel world of Chainsaw Man, even without gaining particularly strong superpowers, her mentality was no longer what it used to be.
She wanted to live.
Sonoko took a deep breath, silently calculating how to teach this ungrateful fool a lesson.
Before entering, she had even thought about using the Suzuki Group's connections to have the most advanced prosthetic legs custom-made for Shinichi.
Now... she'd be doing well not to teach him a lesson.
As the daughter of a Zaibatsu, Sonoko was usually very gentle. Otherwise, those scumbags who deceived her feelings in the original work wouldn't have gotten off so easily.
But this time, Shinichi had genuinely angered her.
"Should I blow him up?"
Reze, who had been quietly watching, suddenly spoke up out of nowhere.
The aggression on Shinichi's face was instantly replaced by fear.
He didn't know Reze, but he had spent some time in Public Safety in the Chainsaw Man World and had seen criminals far more vicious than those in the real world.
He could tell that this girl was not just talking tough.
If Ran or Sonoko nodded, she would actually kill him.
"No, no need..."
Ran shook her head gently and turned to leave. She needed some time alone.
Just then, another set of crisp footsteps sounded from outside the door, clearly the sound of high heels.
The four simultaneously turned to look and saw a mature woman in a sharp OL business suit standing at the entrance. Ran exclaimed: "Mom!?"
"I knew you'd be here."
Eri's expression was cold as she grabbed her daughter's wrist. "Let's go. Don't come here again from now on."
"Ah..."
Shinichi, who had been so overbearing moments ago, immediately shrank back.
He couldn't help it. When he was a child, he always dragged Ran to crime scenes, and afterward, Eri would always tear into him. It was basically a childhood trauma.
"Shinichi, we're just an ordinary family. We're not good enough for yours."
Eri said coldly.
No mother would accept their daughter being entangled with a man who had lost his legs, especially when that man's personality was troublesome to begin with.
Eri had a faint premonition that Shinichi probably didn't have long to live.
Watching the four figures leave, Shinichi clenched the sofa cushion tightly.
As the door slammed shut, the sound of things shattering came from inside the house.
But at this moment, neither the people outside nor Shinichi himself, who was spiraling out of control inside, noticed—
The skin on his body was quietly peeling away, revealing patches of black and white scales with barbs that were completely inhuman.