Fujino Asagami paused for a moment.
True, she had mentioned that matter to Azaka last year. But now... it didn't matter anymore. Under Haruka Kasugano's "care," she felt incredibly happy. Still, she couldn't easily reject Azaka's kindness, so she nodded and said, "Thank you."
The two girls began waiting for Mikiya Kokutou's arrival.
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On the other side.
Mikiya Kokutou watched the news of the bizarre murders on television. At that moment, his uncle, Detective Daisuke Akimi, happened to be visiting his home. Mikiya questioned Daisuke about the details of the case.
The methods were eerie, no information about the killer could be collected at the scene, and there was no surveillance footage. However, local merchants said the victims were a group of delinquents who gathered frequently, and it seemed their leader had gone missing. Mikiya was very interested in the case, he felt that finding the missing person was the key to solving it.
Just then, a text message arrived on his phone. His sister, Azaka, demanded he meet her at the cafe. Mikiya sighed. He couldn't get out of it.
In the original plot, he would have asked Shiki Ryougi to deal with Azaka because he was interested in the case. But now, for some reason, Shiki had left the hospital without waiting for him last time, and she wasn't replying to his texts. He had to handle Azaka alone.
Soon, Mikiya arrived near the cafe. He walked inside and saw Fujino and Azaka. Azaka immediately introduced her favorite brother to Fujino.
Fujino merely gave a small nod. Azaka then prompted Fujino to talk about the "Senpai" from her past. Fujino looked at Mikiya. Just like the original plot, she didn't recognize him as the student she had met once in middle school, and Mikiya certainly didn't recognize her.
However, the current Fujino had no interest in using her classmate's "dear brother" to find someone she no longer cared about. Instead, she watched how Azaka acted sweet and happy like a child in front of Mikiya. Feeling like a third wheel, she decided to leave.
"I have a tutoring session, you two chat!" With that, Fujino departed.
"Mikiya, really, couldn't you be a bit more enthusiastic?" Azaka loved her brother, and to avoid distance between them, she called him by his name.
"Haha..." Mikiya could only manage a bitter smile. His mind was full of the case, he had no interest in some girl's "admired senior."
Suddenly, a strange text message appeared on his phone.
[Keita Minato is at...]
Mikiya was shocked. Keita Minato was the leader of the thugs he was looking for. He jumped up to find him.
"Mikiya, where are you going? Can I come?" Azaka grabbed him and shouted. Mikiya was unwilling, but Azaka shouted back, "I've been learning magecraft from a magus named Touko Aozaki! I'm actually very strong!"
She then demonstrated her magecraft by igniting a piece of tissue paper out of thin air. Stunned, Mikiya accepted that his sister had some skill and agreed to let her follow him to investigate.
"Oh yeah!" Azaka cheered.
After an hour, the two finally arrived at the address specified in the text. It was a residential building, and the text pointed to a room that hadn't been moved into yet. It was clearly being occupied illegally by the thugs. The door had been kicked in and was left half-ajar.
Mikiya and Azaka pushed the door open and entered. Haruka Kasugano followed closely behind using [Presence Concealment]. Everything was developing according to the calculations of his EX-rank Mathematical Thinking—it felt as though he could calculate the entire world.
"Are you Keita Minato? I can help you!" Mikiya shouted toward the inner room.
Here it comes. The most disgusting scene involving Mikiya Kokutou was about to happen. In the original plot, Keita Minato was the scumbag who harmed Fujino, yet Mikiya chose to shield and protect this criminal piece of trash.
This kind of 'Japanese-style' white-knight protagonist is truly nauseating. It's fine—you'll pay the price for your 'Holy Mother' behavior!
Because Keita Minato had been fed Kykeon by Haruka Kasugano, he had turned into a wolf that only knew how to kill.
Roar!
As soon as Mikiya pushed open the inner door, Minato pounced on him, sinking his teeth deep into Mikiya's neck.
"AAAAAHHHH!" Mikiya let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.
Seeing this, Azaka frantically swung her flaming fists, raining blows onto Minato's back. After ten minutes of fighting, Azaka finally beat Minato to death. She threw herself onto Mikiya, watching the blood gush from his neck, desperately trying to hold the wound shut.
What do I do... what do I do... Azaka panicked, completely lost. As he lost more blood, Mikiya's body temperature dropped. Azaka was on the verge of tears.
At that moment, a figure walked into the room.
"What's wrong? Need help?" Haruka Kasugano strolled in nonchalantly.
Azaka looked up. It was Haruka Kasugano, Fujino's tutor! "Please, help us! My brother is dying!" she wailed.
Haruka Kasugano didn't panic at all. He slowly crouched down and smiled. "I can help you, but how will you repay me?"
"Eh..." Azaka froze. she never expected him to ask such a thing at a time like this.
"How about this: if you agree to date me for seven days, I'll save your brother. And I mean a real relationship, not just the hand-holding that's popular with you kids," Haruka Kasugano teased.
"This..." Azaka was dumbfounded. She never thought this teacher would take advantage of a crisis with such an embarrassing demand.
"Don't agree? Then goodbye!" Haruka Kasugano turned to leave. "Oh, I forgot to mention—you just killed someone. If you agree, I'll not only drive your brother to the hospital, but I'll also help you cover up the crime."
Azaka looked back at Minato's corpse. In her desperation to save Mikiya, she hadn't realized she had committed murder. Even if her brother survived, she would go to prison. In 1998 Japan, self-defense laws weren't robust, and in a society where "having a stain" leads to being ostracized, she and her brother would be branded as murderers regardless of the reason.
She was lost, not knowing what to do.
Cough! Cough! Mikiya suddenly vomited blood, his condition becoming critical.
"I agree! As long as you save my brother, I'll date you for seven days!" Azaka shouted resolutely. It's just seven days...
"And... you said you'd help us cover up the crime..." Azaka added weakly.
"No problem. Deal!" Haruka Kasugano smirked. He took the opportunity to give Azaka's firm "pet bears" a squeeze. Azaka instinctively tried to dodge, but after a warning cough from Haruka Kasugano, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, letting him play.
After he was satisfied, Haruka Kasugano pressed down on Mikiya's neck to forcefully stop the bleeding (though it might cause some cerebral hypoxia) and carried him to the car. Azaka followed, her heart in a state she couldn't even describe.
As Haruka Kasugano drove, he admired Azaka's curvaceous figure. "For the next seven days, I look forward to your guidance!"
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Haruka Kasugano successfully delivered Mikiya to the hospital. Mikiya was sent straight into the ICU. According to the doctors, he suffered from severe oxygen deprivation to the brain and all four of his limbs were broken. Whether he would ever wake up was a question.
However, his life was saved. Seeing Mikiya come out of the emergency room, Azaka, who had been praying with her hands clasped, finally felt a weight lift. She let out a long breath and collapsed into Haruka Kasugano's arms.