Chapter 63: The Delinquent Girl in Class A, Futaba Rio Facing the Truth
On the other side, after leaving the apartment where Rio lived, Sakurajima Mai stopped.
The evening breeze made her feel a bit chilly. She wrapped her jacket tighter, hiding the lower half of her face under the collar, and looked at Yoru with slightly complicated eyes.
"You... seem a bit different from normal people."
Yoru was shocked upon hearing this.
"Hoh, what good eyesight. Have you finally discovered that I am the Chosen One selected by this world with unruly aptitude?"
Mai: "....I wasn't talking about that."
"Since you know I used to be an idol, your reaction upon seeing me is... hard to describe."
Mai didn't know how to put it.
She felt that Yoru's reaction to seeing her was a bit too normal.
As a former national idol actress, Mai had become accustomed to being the center of attention and discussion wherever she went.
Suddenly encountering someone with a normal reaction...
Actually seemed abnormal.
"Is a former national idol actress very impressive?"
Before Mai could answer, Yoru continued on his own.
"Oh, it seems you really are quite impressive."
Debuting as a child star, Sakurajima Mai had extremely high popularity in Sakura Prefecture. More than ninety percent of the public, even if they couldn't name her, would find her face familiar.
However, just before graduating from middle school, Mai suddenly announced the suspension of her entertainment activities.
This caused quite a stir back then, but as more than two years passed, the heat of the topic had mostly dissipated.
Wait a minute.
From Mai's retirement until now, it seemed to be exactly about two and a half years?
Good, good, good. So you are also a Little Blackie (Xiao Heizi)! (Note: Meme referencing Kun/CXK fans/haters and the 2.5 years duration).
Mai froze for a moment, starting to realize something was wrong.
This junior named Yoru, who had a very bad reputation in school...
His mental state seemed a bit unstable?
"Anyway."
Yoru's ability to switch emotions was extremely fast, making Mai, a professional actress, feel inferior.
"I provide you with food every day. In exchange, you show up in our clubroom every day at lunch and after school so I can see you. Is this condition fair?"
"Just seeing me? No other requirements?"
"If you want other requirements, I can consider them."
Mai narrowed her eyes slightly and said meaningfully.
"Is that so?"
"Just kidding."
Yoru waved his hand, not caring at all.
"Rather than saying I'm interested in you as a person, it's better to say it's pure sexual desire (Xing Yu). What I'm more curious about is the symptom of disappearing from people's cognition itself." (Note: Pun on Interest vs Lust).
Mai was thoroughly shocked.
She stood there dumbfounded, her lips trembling slightly, unable to utter a single word.
It felt like nuclear fusion was happening in her brain.
No, bro.
Aren't you being too straightforward!?
Rather than interest, it's...
Suggestion: Enter the Hall of Fame (Dian).
Mai understood the logic.
As a highly popular beautiful idol, she had encountered many overly enthusiastic fans who could be called perverts.
But at least they followed basic rules.
Saying things like "I really like your acting," "I really like your smile," "I really like your drama," or temperament or something.
Regardless of what they thought inside, they would say that.
Yoru was truly the first person she met who would say such straightforward words right to her face.
Good, good, good.
Playing it so real, are we?
Seeing Mai rendered completely silent by his one sentence, Yoru didn't stop his output.
A famous professional/non-professional esports player once said:
Damage output must not stop for even a second.
Yoru: I agree.
"Your identity as a former national idol actress is indeed quite good. But I'm not bragging, sis—even the father of the God of the New World would have to be polite to me and offer me a cigarette." (Note: Death Note reference).
"God... of the New World?"
Mai sighed slightly, looking speechless.
"Your Chunibyo... is very severe."
Although she said that.
Obviously, Mai was certain that this first-year freshman named Yoru and that girl named Yotsuya Miko had encountered some kind of bizarre things that were difficult for ordinary people to understand or even imagine, just like herself.
Don't be fooled by Mai's calm appearance.
In reality.
She was panicking inside.
As days passed, the time others couldn't see her was becoming longer and longer.
Last time on the rooftop, when she first met Yoru and Miko, this situation only happened during lunch break.
But now, not only during lunch break, but even during class, recess, and occasionally after school, the illness would suddenly strike.
One second, Mai was buying bread.
The next second, the shop owner couldn't see her.
Not being seen was one thing.
The problem was, she had already paid, but hadn't gotten the bread yet!
Mai didn't know how it would look to outsiders if she reached for something while invisible, so she didn't dare to take the risk.
Yoru wasn't quite normal.
But he was the only answer she could seek right now.
"I have things to do, leaving first. See you in the clubroom tomorrow noon. Farewell!"
After saying this, without waiting for Mai's response, Yoru turned and left quickly without any sloppiness.
Watching his back, Mai sighed helplessly and massaged her forehead, murmuring.
"What a... weirdo."
...
On the other side.
Yoru wandered aimlessly on the street. He checked his phone and found it wasn't even 7:00 PM yet. He sighed, his face written with two big words:
Rotting (Bai Lan).
"I really don't want to go to work."
Yoru felt that his current self had transcended.
As he devoured more and more evil spirits, his taste was becoming more refined.
Of course.
Evil spirits didn't have a taste.
What Yoru enjoyed was actually the satisfaction of his physical fitness improving after devouring evil spirits.
Most memories of evil spirits from their previous lives were useless.
But occasionally, he could gain some useful special skills, like lock picking or repairing electrical appliances.
I'm an electrician with 20 years of experience; I know if there's a leakage just by touching it!
And now, ordinary evil spirits could no longer bring Yoru any satisfaction.
If he was going to eat, he had to choose carefully.
Once, he refused no one.
Now, he was upgrading to a true gourmet!
The other side of the "Door"...
Is a free Michelin 3-star restaurant!
Even walking alone on the road, Yoru's thoughts were spinning fast, silently going crazy in his heart.
Suddenly, a little girl ran out of a nearby supermarket and bumped straight into him.
Thud.
Yoru was fine, but the little girl was knocked back two steps and sat on the ground.
Seeing this scene, countless possibilities unfolded in his mind.
For example:
The little girl starts crying loudly, then a young or middle-aged couple walks out of the supermarket and starts condemning him indiscriminately.
Or perhaps, this is a runaway child.
Which police station should he take her to later?
Yoru's thinking speed was faster than normal people, and his imagination was outrageously large.
Before things started, he would run through all possibilities, good or bad, in his mind.
It was precisely because of this habit.
That time in the train carriage, he took out his phone to record and helped Miko turn the tables at the critical moment.
But the subsequent development was truly beyond Yoru's expectations.
The little girl neither cried nor fussed. She just got up from the ground, patted the dust off her bottom, bowed to him in panic, and said.
"Sorry, I bumped into you. I'm sorry, Big Brother."
This extremely polite behavior of apologizing immediately without crying or fussing even moved Yoru, who had seen enough bratty kids in his previous life.
What a good little sister.
Most importantly, she didn't call me Uncle; she called me Big Brother.
Look at this EQ.
Wait a minute.
Big Brother?
Why do this little girl's address and voice feel a bit familiar?
Yoru looked down slightly and saw that she was the light-blue-haired student he met and talked to inside the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten last time.
Before he could speak, a beautiful girl walked out of the supermarket. She had the same hair color as the little girl, tied in a high ponytail, exuding an aura that kept strangers away, looking like a delinquent.
"Kyoka, didn't I tell you not to run around? I can't keep up with you..."
Halfway through her sentence, the ponytail girl glanced at Yoru standing there. She froze for a moment, then immediately looked wary. Like a mother hen protecting her chick, she walked over quickly, opened her arms to block the little girl, and frowned deeply.
"What business do you have with my sister?"
Seeing her sister's bad attitude, the little girl hurriedly reached out her small white hand and tugged at her sister's hem.
"Big Sister, I accidentally bumped into him and was apologizing."
"So that's what happened."
Hearing this, the ponytail girl breathed a sigh of relief, but the wariness in her emerald eyes still lingered.
"Sorry, Yoru-san. I apologize on behalf of my sister."
Yoru's answer was just three short words.
"Who are you?"
"Hmm?"
The ponytail girl frowned, seemingly not expecting such an answer at all. She subconsciously explained.
"I am Kawasaki Saki, your classmate."
"Oh, don't know you, not interested, goodbye."
Yoru waved his hand, showing no intention of staying, and walked straight past the Kawasaki sisters.
Only after his figure drifted further away and disappeared from view did Kawasaki Saki breathe a sigh of relief secretly.
Noticing her sister's reaction, Kawasaki Kyoka looked puzzled.
"Big Sister, do you not like that Big Brother?"
Saki didn't answer, just patted Kyoka's head and smiled.
"You'll understand when you get to high school."
"Eh, Big Sister is mean. That's a long time from now."
"Then I'll explain it to you after a long time."
It wasn't that Saki was overly defensive.
But Yoru's image in school was simply too bad.
Bringing a gun to school, coercing girls, founding a weird club, occupying a clubroom, and recruiting only beautiful female members.
She heard he even had a physical conflict with several boys from other classes after school today.
Simply put, the Number One Villain of Sobu High.
Who knew if Yoru was perverted enough to harm a cute little girl like her sister?
Of course, Saki wasn't surprised that Yoru didn't know her.
She had no friends in school and no one to talk to.
After arriving in the classroom, besides talking to Yuigahama and Yotsuya, he didn't seem to like interacting with other classmates either.
She and Yoru...
Were both people that classmates kept a respectful distance from.
"Let's go."
"Mmhmm."
Saki held her sister's hand. After sending her home, she still had to go to work; time was tight.
"Um... Big Sister?"
"What is it?"
"Do you remember the person who saved us that I told you about last time?"
"Oh, you mean that."
Saki didn't care much and just smiled gently.
"You were too scared at that time and mistook the police uncles wearing bulletproof vests and helmets who came in to save you for some Masked Hero, right?"
After the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten incident, Saki naturally heard her sister talk about a mysterious person wearing a pure black mask who suddenly appeared on the scene and saved everyone.
In summary:
She didn't believe a word of it.
How could such a thing exist in this world?
It must be that Kyoka was too young and panicked by the sudden event. Combining the police force rushing into the scene with those messy TV shows she watched, she hallucinated a so-called Kamen Rider.
Saki didn't believe there were any so-called "Heroes" in this world.
Only by gritting one's teeth could one overcome difficulties.
Counting on a "Hero" to save her?
She wasn't a princess. That kind of story only happened in fairy tales, not in reality.
Seeing her sister completely disregarding her words, Kyoka pouted, a look of displeasure appearing on her small face.
What she wanted to say was:
That Big Brother named Yoru...
His eyes looked very similar to the Kamen Rider she saw last time.
Even that faint smiling feeling was the same.
Could it be?
Masaka?
Honto ni?
Kyoka pursed her lips, determination flowing in her eyes.
The true identity of Kamen Rider Big Brother will be protected by me!
As a kindergarten kid, Kyoka wouldn't think about complex things like procedural justice like Soichiro Yagami.
Her concept was simple.
Getting rid of bad guys and saving others meant being a Hero.
As to why a Hero must hide their true identity?
TV said it was to protect the important people around them.
And she, Kawasaki Kyoka, as the firmest and first fan of Kamen Rider, would absolutely not reveal his identity to anyone!
Small body, big responsibility.
Kawasaki Kyoka is protecting Kyoto.JPG.
....
Soon, it was Friday again.
After school, Yoru gathered the other three members of the Super-Quant Club—Miko, Yui, and the thoughtful-looking Rio—into the clubroom.
"Since all five people are here, let's start the first meeting of the Super-Quant Club!"
"Five?"
Miko shook her head helplessly.
"Why do you always count one extra person these past two days?"
"Of course it's five. Although you can't see her, but..."
Before Yoru could finish, Yui took over the conversation and smiled sweetly.
"Former national idol, beautiful second-year senpai, Sakurajima Mai, right?"
Speaking of this, Yui looked at Yoru with a gentle pity in her eyes.
"If you have any pressure and want to find someone to talk to, I'm free anytime."
Yoru glanced at Mai standing beside him, whom others turned a blind eye to, then looked at Yui and said solemnly.
"Dumpling (Dango), please don't say that. You're making me doubt myself a bit."
Yoru was starting to doubt whether Mai was his hallucination or actually existed.
He felt his mental state should still be stable.
Stable craziness should count as stable, right?
Besides.
Yoru looked Mai, who was wearing the Sobu High uniform, up and down, nodding as he looked. This unscrupulous gaze made Mai step back two steps, protecting her chest with her hands, wary.
"Wh-Why are you staring at me like that?"
Yoru confirmed it: Sakurajima Mai was definitely not his hallucination.
If she were a hallucination.
How could she be wearing a school uniform?
It should be something more erotic... no, a hundred times more erotic!
Confirmation complete. He was perfectly normal.
However, hearing Yoru address her by her code name, Yui froze. She glanced at Rio, who was making coffee beside her, looking like she wanted to say something but stopped.
Miko reacted similarly.
The three had agreed that when addressing each other by code names, it meant the upcoming topic involved supernatural events.
And now Yoru called Yui "Dumpling," which meant...
But isn't Futaba Rio-san, who is completely unaware of the Otherworld and evil spirits, still sitting here?
The clubroom fell silent abruptly.
Yoru clearly had his own plan.
Initially, he wanted Rio to remain an outsider, using absolute rationality to help him analyze.
But now, with the function of the "Door" revealed and the appearance of the Otherworld, the amount of intelligence needing analysis had increased dramatically.
Every time, Yoru had to translate the intelligence needing analysis into Chunibyo language and vocabulary before conveying it to her.
Leaving aside the waste of time and trouble.
The key was that after vocabulary and sentence replacement, Rio might miss some crucial information that could have been analyzed due to the difference in literal meaning.
There was only one solution to this problem.
Exile to Otherworld Kyoto to face the True Self.
But before that, there was a most critical question.
"Futaba-san."
Yoru looked straight into Rio's eyes hidden behind lenses and asked softly in an unusually serious tone.
"Do you want to know... the Truth of the World?"