Chapter 28: For What?

Yoji didn’t even know how he got home that evening.

Carrying his bag while wandering absentmindedly, he stumbled through the narrow alley heading home.

The sunset dipped below the mountains, and a genuine moon climbed into the high sky, casting lonely moonlight over the entire street as a few dried leaves fell from an old tree in the breeze.

Yoji raised his head to look at the moon at the edge of the sky—a friend he had unilaterally known for seventeen years—why were you so unpleasant today?

Today’s tangled mess of events felt like a massive stone, crushing down behind him and pressing onto his shoulders without warning, giving rise to a feeling in his heart he had never experienced before…

—Fear.

That’s right, Yoji was afraid.

The appearance of that Nishimura scumbag disrupted the plot’s progress, making him furious with his dog-like pretense of wanting to make friends with Ritsuki, while feeling miserable over Teacher Jasmin forcing his head down to apologize to that beast just for the sake of appearances.

More than that, he was confused and terrified by that light, casual “I am very curious.”

…

Incomprehensible, impossible to think through.

With what kind of mindset would Shimizu, one of the ultimate endgame bosses in the story, pull out her trump card against a useless trash who couldn’t even obtain an E-rank evaluation?

—Endless Dawn Moon.

It was precisely the moon and endless hallway Yoji had glimpsed an hour ago.

No cast time, no environmental restrictions, releasing… with almost zero special ability fluctuation.

It was Shimizu’s deepest hidden domain, the most domineering and unique ability in the entire novel!

And that mindless response earlier, “Say everything you know, hold nothing back,” was merely one of the hundreds of derived characteristics of this domineering power.

It could be said that within that domain just now, Shimizu was invincible—unsolvable in the literal sense. The kind where even if the final boss ran inside, they would get beaten up!

So, why?

Broadly flinging out her trump card inside the school, a safe zone in Tokiwa City, only to use it on him to ask a single question.

‘I am very curious.’

‘How did you recognize the head of the Nishimura family at first glance?’

Why, just to come and ask a sentence?

Is there something wrong with your head? Using an ultimate move as a lie detector?!

Why are you so interested in me? Are you really not afraid of a hero-level special ability caster passing by and noticing the anomaly?

If…

If he hadn’t reacted back then and fell right into her trap, revealing the truth of this world, what would his end have been?

“Would the world… end prematurely?”

Basked in the moonlight, Yoji broke out into a cold sweat across his back.

Distracted while walking on the road, he almost stepped on a furry creature, forcing himself to twist his body and slamming his face hard against the wall.

“Thud.”

“Meow!”

It was a cat, you again.

Its eyes were as beautiful as a pair of gemstones, holding a fishbone retrieved from who-knows-where in its mouth, glancing at Yoji before jumping onto the roof eaves and disappearing into the moonlight.

“If I hadn’t reacted back then, would I have turned into a fishbone too?”

Yoji looked at his trembling hands, unable to calm down no matter how hard he tried.

Last week, using a minor trick to make Ritsuki walk according to the script made her identical appearance to the script give him excessive confidence.

Now, a light, offhand sentence from Shimizu almost made his dozen-plus years of waiting collapse in an instant! Delivering an overwhelming blow.

If he truly hadn’t reacted and told this woman all of the plot’s developments.

Then he would definitely die; perhaps Shimizu might let him choose his own way to die out of gratitude for his help? Turning into a fishbone chewed on by a cat.

That piece of trash Nishimura Tadashi was nothing to be feared compared to Shimizu. That kind of smelly fish and rotten shrimp relying on family background coming to disrupt his mind out of nowhere, Yoji still felt he could bend the plot back and let Ritsuki get what belonged to her.

But being targeted in advance by a figure like Shimizu, what was he supposed to do?

What method could he use to make Shimizu follow his train of thought, stepping along the plot’s footsteps step by step, obediently stalling until Ritsuki’s late game?

What if an accident happened by mistake, making her unhappy enough to blow up the school directly, causing everyone to queue up in coffins?

“Heh, blowing up the school, heh.”

Yoji cracked a joke to comfort himself, yet he couldn’t force a smile onto his face.

Walking on the road home, that Sword of Damocles hanging over his head made him feel even more like he was stepping into darkness, stepping into the abyss step by step.

“So, why on earth do I have to do this thankless task? Why do I have to be a villain?”

“I don’t have a system, nor do I have any world consciousness forcing me in my head to follow the plot. I’m clearly cowardly and not smart… Why do I have to do something like this?”

Walking in the narrow alley, streetlights flickered, moths flew into the flame, and dried leaves drifted, while a passing high school girl whose skirt was blown up by the wind cursed at him as a pervert.

Pervert? Why am I a pervert? It wasn’t me who fanned the wind.

“Why am I doing such meaningless things?”

“I don’t want to die either.”

His footsteps finally stopped in front of the Aikawa family door plaque.

Through the glass, orange-yellow light shone onto the lawn floor. Yoji opened the door with his key, and right across from the entrance was the dining room, where the young girl sat on a chair swinging her legs, the steam rising from the table encircling the hanging lamp.

“You’re finally back.”

“Tonight’s dinner is hamburger steak, Brother.”

“…”

“…”

“What’s wrong, Brother?”

“No, nothing.”

Yoji shook his head, stepping into the dining room illuminated by the light.

Sitting on the chair, he reached out and grabbed the scalding hamburger steak.

“There are utensils, Brother! Ah, your hand?! How did it get hurt? Come over quickly, I’ll bandage it for you!”

“Aikawa Ritsuki, let me ask you, are you afraid of dying?” Out of nowhere, Yoji squeezed a sentence from his mouth.

“Go wash your hands first. Ah, why ask such a question out of nowhere? Afraid, of course I’m afraid.”

Aikawa Yoji closed his eyes.

Good.

…

…

…

The best way to face fear! That is to face fear directly! Face it with a smile! Oli Gei!

Yoji crawled out of bed early in the morning, the sound of washing up carrying downstairs and surprising Ritsuki into calling out: “Ah, Brother, are you up already? I… I’ll have breakfast ready soon.”

“Don’t bother making breakfast. Tell me if the flower shop opposite the school is open at this hour.”

“Open, it’s already open. Brother, are you going to buy flowers? To give to whom?! Kurosawa Shizuka? Brother, let me tell you, she… she doesn’t like flowers. I inquired two days ago, she doesn’t like them.”

“Not Kurosawa Shizuka, it’s for Shimizu.”

“Te… Teacher Shimizu?! Do you like Teacher Shimizu again?!”

“Shut your stupid mouth!” Patter-patter footsteps came from the staircase. Ritsuki turned her body to look and instantly froze.

Those bangs and curly hair that usually hung wildly were combed behind his head, leaving only a few loose strands by his right ear, exposing his handsome and beautiful features to the world.

“I just want to build a slightly better relationship with Shimizu, that’s all. Right, no need to make dinner for me either, I’ll eat outside.”

“Eh? Bro… Brother!”

“Bang!”

Replying to Ritsuki was merely the sound of the front door slamming against the doorframe.

As well as.

“Aikawa, I came to find you—eh, what the, holy crap?! Are you Aikawa Yoji? You were actually this handsome?!”

“Shut your smelly mouth, big-breasted girl, stop whispering softly in front of my house!”

“Ugh! Damn it, as expected of your nasty personality! Get lost!”

…

…

The news of Yoji holding fresh flowers arriving at the classroom early in the morning also spread throughout the entire second grade, with people whispering and guessing which woman this trash Yoji was paying attention to and falling for again?

Waiting for Teacher Shimizu to come for the second period class, when handsome Yoji coolly handed over the fresh flowers, it shocked the whole class even more.

“What?! Aikawa Yoji, you!”

“Aha, I told you no one can reject Teacher Shimizu, haha.”

There was also a strange shout.

“Yoji! You bastard! You—”

This strange shout naturally came from Mr. 45-Degree.

Slightly surprised, Teacher Shimizu took the fresh flowers handed over by Yoji, her face full of smiles as she questioned: “Student Yoji, what is the meaning of this?”

“Because I like Teacher Shimizu, and I want to get along well with Teacher Shimizu.”

“Oh-ho, to get along better with teacher there’s no need to go to such great lengths. Teacher herself wants to be good friends with all the students.”

—This was a lie.

Yoji pursed his lips and smiled: “Haha, is that so, but I still feel I should express my feelings more. After all, Teacher Shimizu is good to everyone, so I still want to be the special one in Teacher Shimizu’s eyes.”

“Student Yoji is already special enough, you know. Aha, of course this isn’t meant as a put-down, I just think Student Yoji’s personality is very interesting.”

—This was a lie.

“Haha, thank you for the compliment, Teacher. Then I’ll head back to my seat.”

“Okay, go ahead, class is starting.”

Yoji turned his body around, walking toward his seat.

Stating lies, acting out a deep-affection teacher and student.

Inciting a chorus of chattering discussions all around.

—Why does the trash Yoji everyone hates get to have a good relationship with Teacher Shimizu who everyone likes? How annoying.

—What right does he have to give flowers to Teacher Shimizu? Truly disgusting.

—Aikawa Yoji, you bastard, you… you! Argh.

45-Degree’s voice really throws people out of the scene, hey, are you about to run out of breath?

Yoji sat back in his chair, raised his head to meet Teacher Shimizu’s eyes, and smiled at each other.

‘But classmates.’

‘Teacher Shimizu, whom you all like.’

‘The thing she hates most… is humans.’