The afternoon was more serene than usual, bringing in a false sense of security due to the ghost town of the city. Moreover, the weather was on the comfortable side this time around, with its cloudiness and the lack of sunlight thereof. An occasional breeze passed through the city blowing light garbage from the ground.

"All right, Kazuichi, stand up," Arisu said out of nowhere, tapping Kazuichi on the shoulder and urging him to go with her.

On one end of the room, Amaya and Tris were sorting out the contents of their bag. Hearing Arisu’s sudden offer made them swivel their heads in their direction, wondering what Arisu was planning up her sleeve.

As for Kazuichi who was honestly getting bored to death, the invitation was something he didn’t want to pass up. This was the first time Arisu asked him to accompany her, and while it surprised him, there was no way he’d turn it down.

Besides, it had been so long since they spent time together. ’Wait... is this... considered a date? No, what are you thinking, Kazuichi? This could hardly be a date. She’s probably out to hunt a rabbit or something. Yeah, let’s not think too much about it.’ Kazuichi said to himself, almost panicking in his mind and reverting into his shut-in mode.

"What are you waiting for, Kazuichi?" Arisu asked.

"All right then. I guess it can’t be helped." Kazuichi voiced out as if he was just going along with Arisu’s wiles.

Before Amaya and Tris could ask what was going on, Kazuichi turned towards them, briefly asking for permission. "Amaya, Tris, we’re heading out for a bit." He said.

"Ou, take care of yourselves." Tris casually responded. To be fair, she felt slightly jealous since they were probably going out to hunt together. However, she didn’t want to display that feeling in front of Kazuichi. After all, she deemed it misplaced to show him her affection at this point in time.

She might think that she was doing a good job hiding her true feelings. However, she was wearing everything under her sleeves. Arisu and Amaya could tell that she was jealous, only Kazuichi had no idea due to his dense nature and his forged shut-in self.

"Come back soon, big brother," Amaya trailed off, waving at Kazuichi just when they headed out of their temporary residence.

"Let’s go," Arisu took the lead. She was the first one to step out and Kazuichi followed right behind her.

"Osu~," Kazuichi said, excitedly assuming his position beside Arisu. "So, where are we going? Are you hungry? Do you want to hunt some rabbits?"

Arisu responded with a nod, but she didn’t bother looking at Kazuichi when she did so. Because of that, Kazuichi misunderstood that Arisu was acting a bit bashful after inviting him for a ’date’. Once again, Kazuichi’s lips curved upward upon seeing Arisu’s stiff expression.

"You should’ve said so. I’d have hunted by myself. Or do you want to s-s-spend time with..." Kazuichi twiddled his thumbs as he tried to speak his heart out. However, his shut-in mode got the better of him and he couldn’t finish his sentence.

"Before that... Kazuichi..." Arisu stopped short in her tracks, which caused Kazuichi to step back as well, flinching at the suddenness of Arisu’s actions.

Turning around, Arisu stared straight into Kazuichi’s eyes, pursing her lips as she gripped both his shoulders. At this point, Kazuichi felt like something was about to happen, and he closed his eyes while pursing his lips as well.

Well, his expectation was off the mark though, since Arisu wasn’t going to kiss him.

"What are you doing?" Arisu asked. A hint of redness appeared on her face when she realized what she just did. Of course, anyone would misunderstand if she did something like that.

"Just do it already before my embarrassment overtakes me." Kazuichi gulped as he leaned forward. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"N-no, now’s not the time for that, Kazuichi." Arisu blushed, remembering the time when they first met, how she stumbled into his house and all. "I was just going to talk to you privately about your Blood Arts. T-t-that... we can do that later!" She raised her voice as her face finally turned beet red.

"Eh?" Kazuichi let out, surprised that Arisu was actually going to kiss him.

"EH?!" Arisu exclaimed as well, realizing that she just promised a kiss.

"I-i-in any case! What’s this about my Blood Art?" Clearing his throat, Kazuichi steered from the topic just so they wouldn’t grow even more awkward with each other. "Is there something wrong with mine? Is it pretty bad?"

To be fair, Kazuichi was new when it came to information regarding Hybrid Ranking and Blood Arts. That’s why he had no idea whether Arisu had good news or not.

"No, not really... it’s just that, currently, your Blood Art is dangerous." Arisu responded. She was relieved that Kazuichi had the sense to divert the subject. For a former shut-in, he was doing a pretty good job, and Arisu felt proud of his growth when they were apart.

"Dangerous? Ah, now that you mentioned it." Kazuichi muttered. He was well aware that he couldn’t control his Blood Art, and when it manifested back then, he was on the verge of losing control of his mind. If that were to happen all the time, then he might make an irreversible mistake down the line.

"The reason I wanted to talk to you privately... was to train you. We have to make sure that you can control your Blood Art. Otherwise, you might succumb to the virus and become a mindless infected." Arisu pointed out.

While the overall power of the Blood Arts was enough to turn the tides of battle, Kazuichi couldn’t really use it if he couldn’t control it. And now that he knew about the risk of turning into a zombie, it gave him all the reason to learn how to rein it in.

Without further ado, Arisu activated her Project Blood Art, her calves turning into blades once again as red streaks appeared all over her body. Her temperature seemed to rise up as she reeled in her powers.

"Wait, I’m going to fight you?" Kazuichi exclaimed.

And before he could prepare himself, Arisu was already rushing towards him, spinning in mid-air as she lashed at Albrecht with a kick.