Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies Chapter 273 - 268: Hayasaka Ai Feels Treasured

"Dangerous?"

Hayasaka Ai picked up on the deeper aning behind Haruto's words.

There were very few things that Haruto would ever call "dangerous." At the very least, those vein-like things she had just seen definitely didn't qualify.

To Haruto, those things were nothing more than trivial junk easily swept aside.

Haruto didn't bother explaining further at that mont. Instead, he picked up Hayasaka Ai and Kaguya, and their figures vanished from sight.

Utilizing the space granted by Divine Might, Haruto brought the two of them back to the main world.

The mont they landed, Hayasaka Ai felt the world spin around her — everything was hazy and disorienting.

Kaguya felt the sa.

It took them quite a while to adjust.

Then, Kaguya pretended to wake up, giving Hayasaka a once-over from head to toe.

She let out a soft snort.

"Hayasaka, really... Why didn't you just use the Shinomiya family's car? What were you thinking taking the subway this late at night?"

Hayasaka Ai chuckled.

That's just how Kaguya always talked.

But the fact that she had charged into the Kisaragi Station despite the danger — that spoke volus about what Kaguya truly felt.

Sotis, to understand a person, you don't need to hear what they say or analyze their personality. You only need to look at what they do and what they're willing to risk — that reveals their true nature.

"Yes, yes. I stand corrected, milady."

Hayasaka responded with a smile.

Seeing her smile, Kaguya turned away, saying nothing more.

The warm atmosphere between the two made Haruto chuckle.

Letting go of them, Haruto sent a ssage to the Foundation to begin containnt procedures for Kisaragi Station.

After the brief exchange, Hayasaka Ai curiously leaned in and asked:

"When I was inside Kisaragi Station, I got a call from you — but on the other end, there was just this long string of..."

"...basically, it sounded like drawn-out growls. Co to think of it, did my previous report reach you?"

Haruto nodded.

"Yeah. Your report was delivered to clearly. As for the weird sound during the call—"

"That was a piece of audio slowed down possibly hundreds of tis. So naturally, it sounded strange."

"Kisaragi Station is a warped parallel reality where many fundantal elents have already been damaged. It's like when a ga has a bug in the system — a glitch that creates an area that shouldn't even exist."

"Inside Kisaragi Station, fundantal elents like ti and space are in chaos and don't function normally."

"For example, ti — in there, what feels like a second could actually be several hours."

"Or you might spend days there, only to find out just a few seconds passed outside. And these changes follow no pattern at all."

As he explained, Haruto took out his phone and showed Hayasaka the ssages and call recordings.

Her text ssage, sent just shortly after boarding the train, had only reached Haruto that morning — hours later.

And the audio of their call — her voice had to be slowed hundreds of tis just to be understandable.

What had been a report and exploration that lasted several minutes in her experience, was less than a second in real-ti.

After hearing all this, Hayasaka's expression turned strange.

Humans don't adapt well to chaos.

Especially when the very foundation of reality is crumbling — living rationally becos impossible.

"So, the reason we pass out when entering Kisaragi Station is because our bodies are adjusting to that chaos?"

Hayasaka asked.

Haruto nodded.

"Then... those vein-like things, what are they?"

She asked again.

What she had experienced inside Kisaragi Station was so bizarre it felt like it was draining her sanity.

"They're the parallel reality's way of trying to repair itself — by devouring normal informational entities to reconstruct its structure. This kind of 'repair' only happens during chaotic ti periods. You could say... the world went mad."

"When it goes mad, the parallel reality falls into chaos and tries to fix itself. When it's sane, everything seems normal again."

Hearing that, Hayasaka finally understood why the people she had t were acting so strangely.

Once Kisaragi Station entered its chaotic phase, those people — as part of that reality — also went insane.

But once the reality 'woke up' again, they'd return to normal, forgetting everything they did while they were mad.

And the switch between those states...

"Taiko drums."

Hayasaka suddenly said.

Haruto was briefly stunned.

Hayasaka continued,

"When Kisaragi Station switches between chaotic and normal states, there's a taiko drum sound. When chaos starts, the drums echo throughout the station — like a warning signal."

Haruto nodded.

"Very useful containnt information. Although, the Foundation probably won't enter Kisaragi Station again."

"Huh?" Hayasaka blinked. "Why not? Isn't it worth containing?"

Haruto sighed.

"That's because Kisaragi Station's abnormalities aren't self-generated. It's just a byproduct of sothing else."

At that mont, Kaguya chid in,

"The danger you ntioned earlier must be the actual anomaly affecting Kisaragi Station, right?"

Haruto nodded.

"Kisaragi Station is, as the na implies, a station — a transit point."

"But everything within this transfer point has already been wiped out. Sothing annihilated it all — even the underlying components of the station's reality itself. Soon, Kisaragi Station will collapse entirely. A falling parallel reality is rare... and a huge headache."

Upon hearing this, both Kaguya and Hayasaka fell silent.

What ca next would be far beyond their reach — sothing only Haruto and the Foundation could handle.

Haruto lightened the mood with a small joke.

"The Foundation is already working on it. Don't worry too much. Want to give you both a mory wipe?"

A chaotic place like Kisaragi Station wasn't exactly sothing one wanted lingering in their mind.

mories that chip away at your sanity... it might be easier just to erase them.

However, both Hayasaka Ai and Kaguya shook their heads. Seeing this, Haruto gave an awkward smile.

"Alright, alright. No tic contamination anyway. If you want to keep the mories, that's fine..."

Hayasaka looked at Haruto, her eyes shining brightly.

That brightness was sothing she rarely displayed.

Normally, Hayasaka Ai always wore the weary look of an overworked corporate drone. This side of her was a rare sight indeed.

In the past, she had done similar missions — and every single ti, she had chosen to have her mory wiped afterward. In her mind, those mories only brought discomfort and served no purpose.

But this ti... she wanted to keep them.

Because when Haruto appeared, Hayasaka Ai was truly happy.

"Well then, this anomaly encounter mission is officially over, Investigator Hayasaka Ai. Given your outstanding performance during this operation, the Foundation has granted you administrative leave. Your mission bonus will also be transferred to your account."

Haruto clapped and said with a smile.

Hayasaka clicked her tongue instinctively.

"The scummy president actually has a conscience?"

Haruto: "!?"

"I've been aning to say this — Investigator Hayasaka Ai, isn't it a bit much to roast your superior to his face?!"

Hayasaka only shrugged.

"Just being honest."

Then she laughed.

Back when she was coerced into joining the Foundation, listening to Haruto's grand promises...

She had never imagined that one day, those promises might actually co true.

"Well, since Hayasaka's fine and the mission's done, I should return to Shuchiin..."

Kaguya began, but trailed off mid-sentence.

Haruto's expression stiffened as well.

Hayasaka looked at the two of them, puzzled.

"What? A civil war broke out in Shuchiin? Did Secretary Fujiwara finally start a rebellion?"

To her, the only real chaos-maker in Shuchiin was Chika Fujiwara.

As an all-purpose maid, Hayasaka excelled at planning and executing everything with precision.

anwhile, Fujiwara...

The secretary had an uncanny ability to create chaos with just a few careless words. She was a force of entropy.

The exact opposite of Hayasaka.

But Kaguya simply shook her head.

Haruto sighed, then said solemnly,

"Because the Kisaragi Station incident happened so suddenly... the other three mbers of the student council learned so classified information."

Hearing that, Hayasaka froze — then a small smile appeared in her eyes.

She knew all too well that Haruto and Kaguya were the composed and collected type. They always followed procedure and never panicked, no matter the situation.

For confidential information to leak during the Kisaragi Station incident...

That could only an that the two of them had been in such a hurry, they'd abandoned protocol.

And for them to be that desperate...

Hayasaka gently pressed a hand to her chest, feeling a warmth she had never known before.

For the first ti ever — she truly felt cherished.