Zenless Zone Zero: I'am a Dullahan!

"Zane, why don't you come in for a bit?"

"You've got nothing going on back at Tanuki House anyway..."

Belle smiled as she leaned in close to him, wondering whether she should cook something for him. After how rude her brother had been yesterday, she was determined to prove that her cooking wasn't bad at all...

If it was Zane, he definitely wouldn't turn her down.

But just then, she saw his expression suddenly change.

Startled and confused, Belle asked,

"Zane, what's wrong?"

Suddenly, Zane collapsed forward, and Belle reacted quickly, catching him just in time to keep him from falling.

"Mm-hmm!"

Belle was stunned by what was happening and immediately shouted,

"Brother! Brother! Come help!"

She looked down to check on Zane, but their eyes met—

and in that moment, Belle's mind went blank. She instinctively let go, took a few shaky steps back, and fell to the ground with a thud.

She opened her mouth but couldn't speak. Her face turned pale, clearly shaken.

"Belle? What happened?"

Just then, Wise came running out of the video store after hearing her call, confused by the scene in front of him.

From how these two usually interacted, this reaction was way out of character for Belle.

He moved to help her up, but she had already stood on her own, waved him off, and walked toward Zane with a grave expression.

Zane slowly straightened up, one hand on his forehead, gently shaking his head.

When he lowered his hand and opened his eyes, he saw Belle's worried face staring back at him. He blinked, then took half a step back.

"Tsk. Why are you standing so close?"

"Trying something shady?"

Belle, still shaken, had several black lines appear on her forehead but held herself back from snapping at him.

She looked him in the eye again, then let out a quiet sigh of relief.

That strange, terrifying feeling... was gone.

It was back to the usual—annoying, with a touch of tenderness...

"What happened?"

Zane looked at both Belle and the still-confused Wise, frowning.

"Zane, you were acting really weird just now..."

Belle furrowed her brows and spoke seriously.

"Weird?"

"Well, yeah, I did slip into something strange for a moment..."

Zane raised an eyebrow, then nodded slightly. He lifted a hand and lightly brushed the air in front of him.

Invisible to the naked eye, strands of energy stirred around his fingers—not scattered Ether, but extremely faint particles that had always been there.

His eyes sharpened with a glint of realization.

Why could he only absorb the energy of fallen Ethereals?

He might have finally found the answer.

Seeing Belle still frowning, Zane gave a reassuring smile and said softly,

"Don't worry, Belle. It's a good thing."

"Come on—you invited me in, didn't you?"

"You're not backing out now, are you...?"

He walked into the video store, with Panta happily trailing behind. Belle remained rooted to the spot, brows still knit tight.

A good thing...?

She shook her head sharply.

No. No way. That look in his eyes—that feeling—it couldn't be a good thing.

It was so cold. So unfamiliar...

"Belle?"

Wise, who had intended to follow Zane into the store—mostly because it was cold and he wasn't dressed warmly—paused when he noticed Belle still standing outside.

"It's... it's nothing,"

Belle shook her head quickly.

She could only hope she was overthinking it...

The siblings entered the store, while Sixth Street bustled on like always.

Everything... remained as usual.

...

A few days later, the weather had warmed slightly.

Zane was sprawled on the couch in the back room of the video store. As he slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Belle.

He was about to say something when his pupils suddenly contracted. He sat up quickly and pushed her away.

"Didn't you see someone lying here? You sat right on my stomach?! Seriously?"

"Hmph. Who told you to hog the couch and sleep forever? I couldn't get anything done..."

Belle pouted and shot back without hesitation.

"You won't even let someone nap on the couch? Is this how Phaethon treats its guests? So much for the act—you're finally showing your true colors!"

Zane waved his hand, annoyed.

"You said it—'guests.' That made sense when you were actually a guest. I even gave you the bed. But are you still a guest now?"

"We're this close—why bother being polite?"

Her words made Zane twitch. Technically, she wasn't wrong...

"You two... sigh. Belle, your phone just got a message—there's a notification sound. Might be important."

Wise walked in from outside, shaking his head in resignation. He had been so worried about this and that, but in the end...

These two were basically frenemies, constantly bickering like star-crossed signs.

"A message? This time of day... probably from Belobog Heavy Industries?"

Belle picked up her phone, glanced at it, and her expression immediately turned serious.

After clearing up that Ben was nearsighted and had his glasses confiscated by Anton for "projecting authority," they connected the call.

Ben's voice came through clearly from the other end.

"Mr. Phaethon, let me brief you on the new commission."

"This time, we need your help locating our internally-developed 'Type III Industrial Pile Driver for Hollows'."

"Before it disappeared, it had been working dutifully in the Hollows, just like the other two machines..."

Ben quickly laid out the details, and Belle received the precise location data.

"Looks like it's stopped in place. If that's the case, we should get into the Hollows before it starts moving. Fairy, can you handle the route?"

"Of course. Generating route within target Hollow... Route planning complete."

As Wise confirmed, Fairy got to work. Belle turned to Zane and asked,

"You don't need to report in, but should we let Nicole and the others know?"

"No clue what they're up to right now..."

Zane nodded lightly and smiled.

"We should. I'll leave it to you, Belle."

Belle's eye twitched.

She'd just meant to remind him to contact the Hare's House crew—but he'd gone and dumped the job on her without a second thought...

Still, she couldn't really say no, so she called Hare's House herself.

A few moments later, Nicole showed up, panting, with Billy and Anby in tow.