Charlie, who from the very beginning possessed an intuition on par with a sixth sense, could certainly not be deceived. He glanced toward the wall and then spoke up in a calm tone.
"Eavesdropping on other people's conversation is not commendable behavior, Shiina-san."
Hearing her name called, Mahiru flinched behind the wall.
Realizing that her disguise had been completely exposed, she slowly stepped out from her hiding place with a face that blushed slightly red from embarrassment.
"I... I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
She defended herself softly, her eyes looking in another direction to hide her nervousness. "I just happened to pass by here to go to the restroom. But because I saw you two were serious, I felt that if I suddenly appeared and passed in front of you, it would instead disturb the atmosphere."
Charlie knew when to yield. As an adult man, he chose not to argue with women. He glanced at his wristwatch for a moment, then reminded her.
"Never mind. But remember, the teacher of the next subject will arrive at your class very soon. Don't linger here so that you won't be late entering class."
Then he stepped forward to resume his way toward the teachers' office. However, right as he walked past Mahiru, the girl suddenly muttered a satirical sentence in a slightly sharp tone.
"So... how does it feel, Sensei? It must feel very wonderful, isn't it, when there is a beautiful young girl declaring her feelings to you directly like just now?"
As soon as that sentence escaped her lips, Mahiru instantly regretted her words.
She squeezed her own fingers in panic within her heart.
She knew very well that whatever the man did, or whoever the girl was that liked him, had absolutely nothing to do with her.
Why did she have to throw out a childish sarcasm like that?
Charlie did not know the mood of the girl beside him that had suddenly become highly complex.
Halting his steps, he exhaled a long breath, then chuckled softly.
"Hmm... if asked how it feels, which man in this world doesn't like and doesn't feel proud when there is a girl declaring love to him? Honestly, I feel a little glad too."
Hearing that blunt admission, Mahiru reflexively squeezed the edge of her own uniform skirt very strongly and bit her lower lip tightly shut.
For some reason, there was an unfamiliar pain hitting her chest, making her breath feel a little tight.
Because Charlie's position had his back turned and did not turn toward her, he did not notice at all the change in Mahiru's facial expression which appeared hurt. He then continued his sentence in a casual tone.
"But... I know very well that the feeling of liking that the girl earlier felt toward me is extremely shallow."
"Not that I intend to act narcissistic or anything, but I am highly self-aware that my face is indeed handsome and possesses a highly lethal allure for young girls who are still innocent and inexperienced like them."
The tightness in Mahiru's chest instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of amusement. She was entertained hearing Charlie's level of narcissism that was extraordinarily honest and without beating around the bush, until an elegant small laugh finally escaped her lips.
"You are truly very confident, Charlie-kun."
"I am only delivering facts."
Charlie shrugged his shoulders while smiling faintly, before his facial expression turned far more serious.
"Besides, I am not interested at all in that kind of girl."
"They only like my outer surface and physical handsomeness, without ever knowing what my true identity is like."
Pausing his sentence, his eyes stared blankly toward the end of the corridor.
"And most importantly, I already have three girlfriends in my world of origin. Sooner or later, I will definitely have to leave this world after the Quest is finished. So, rather than having to leave by leaving a painful debt of love for another person, I prefer not to have it at all from the very beginning."
*THUMP!*
Mahiru's body instantly trembled subtly. All of her joints suddenly felt limp.
Only at this exact second did that cruel reality hit her consciousness squarely again.
She realized that the man who now stood near her, the man who every day ate her cooking and brought to life her quiet apartment atmosphere, was merely a temporary figure playing guest in her life.
The man would pack his belongings, turn around, and go leave her one day without ever returning.
Trying to hold back the surge of negative emotions that suddenly raged inside her chest, Mahiru took a deep breath, then advised Charlie in a tone of voice forced to keep sounding flat and wise.
"In that case... it's good if you realize it. Never give false hope to anyone."
"So, every time there is another girl trying to approach or confess her feelings to you in the future, please just refuse them firmly from the start for their own good."
Charlie nodded understandingly. "Yeah, without needing you to be told, I will definitely always do that thing, Shiina-san."
The serious conversation that was laden with hidden emotions ended right there.
Without any additional words, the two immediately went separate ways.
Mahiru stepped toward the end of the corridor, while Charlie resumed his briefly delayed steps toward the teachers' staff office.
However, having only walked a few meters, Charlie suddenly stopped his steps. He turned his body around, staring at the figure of Mahiru's back walking alone away along the quiet school corridor.
He rubbed his chin with a furrowed brow, then murmured in wonder to himself.
"Eh, but come to think of it... don't girls usually go to the restroom always in crowds and accompanied by their gang friends? It's very rare for me to see a girl going to the restroom alone like her..."
Brushing aside the silly fact about the habit of school girls who like going to the restroom in crowds, Charlie shook his head slowly for the sake of dispelling that unimportant thought.
He went back to resuming his footsteps that had been briefly delayed toward the teachers' office, not expecting at all that a big storm was currently moving close toward the place where he was located.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
At the exact same time.
Atop the asphalt of the crowded city highway, there appeared four units of plain white-colored van vehicles driving at high speed, cutting through the traffic flow with highly aggressive maneuvers.
All the window glass of the four vehicles was coated with highly dark film stickers, making it impossible for anyone from the outside to peek into the interior part of the cabin.
Inside the quiet, airtight car interior, the atmosphere felt highly tense and silent.
Each of those vans was filled by five adult men.
With just a single glance, even an ordinary person would instantly realize that they all were not Japanese citizens or Asian people in general at all.
Their bodily stature was highly tall and large, sturdy, blonde-haired, and possessed a gaze of blue eyes that was as cold as ice.
However, a thing far more astonishing and terrifying than just their ethnic background was hidden within their respective embraces.
Those twenty foreign men wore military tactical uniforms complete with bulletproof protective vests, and their pair of hands were tightly gripping automatic assault rifles of military caliber that were ready to spew hot bullets at any time!
And without anyone realizing it, the final target of the route of the four white vans containing the fully armed troops pointed straight to one point...
Seijo High School!
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