Chapter 2 – The First Bittersweet Dark Chocolate

For Satou Takayuki, his grandfather was a hero.

His grandfather was a farmer, a man that owned a large patch of land in a rural town. A reliable man that one could always count on. A man with a gentle and kind temperament. He was someone who’d always wear a smile on his face, always strived to help others no matter how busy he was, much to his wife’s dismay.

Even for Takayuki, his grandfather was simply too kind.

If he were to hear about someone from a mile away having trouble, he’d rush to their side to help them.

If he were to hear someone’s cry from a mile away, he’d rush to their side to comfort them.

He was the embodiment of a good person that you’d often heard in poems.

Not only that, he was also an incredibly talented person. As far as Takayuki knew, there was nothing special about his grandfather’s background, but for some reason, as long as he had the means to do so, he always had the capabilities to do everything. From tuning a radio, fixing a computer, even doing D.I.Y.

“It’s nothing amazing. I just trained myself to do something that everyone would find troublesome to do.”

Whenever someone praised him, he’d always reply with those modest words. Even though his skill was so amazing that no one would be able to criticize it, he never let it go to his head.

Of course with his temperament, there was no shortage of people who tried to take advantage of him. Some people even blatantly tried to use him.

If that was the end of the story, there was no way that Takayuki would come to admire him.

In addition to his knacks for fixing and making things, he also had another talent.

He was a good listener.

“Seriously… I told him that he’s giving me too many gifts, why does he have to do it again this year too? What am I going to do with these?”

“Hoho, it’s a sign of his goodwill, just accept it.”

Every year, his grandfather would receive a lot of gifts from other people. Every time that happened, his grandmother would feel troubled by it.

Most of the gifts came from the people he helped.

The people who tried to take advantage of him always came back to the right path after they spent more time with him. They would always feel obligated to give their thanks to him. Takayuki’s grandfather was a man born with that kind of talent.

There was a time when he received a scam call. Not long after they talked, the scammer turned himself in to the police. If that wasn’t talent, what was?

In any case, that was the kind of man Takayuki’s grandfather was.

He was a man of character. Everyone knew him and depended on him. He was a great person that could erase evil from another’s heart. It wasn’t unreasonable that the young Takayuki would come to admire him. And eventually developed a complex about him.

“Listen to me, Takayuki. Grow up to be a dependable person. Be a person that could live according to your own will.”

Takayuki loved his grandfather.

He loved it when he praised him, patting his head with his rough, yet gentle palm.

That was the starting point for Takayuki. His grandfather’s praises became his motivation. He didn’t care about anything else. Even though he tried to help others, it was just part his effort to imitate his grandfather.

“Takayuki, you want to be like me, huh?”

That was why he failed to understand the wry smile that his grandfather wore when he praised him.

“I planned to take this to my grave, but if it’s for the sake of my lovely grandson, I guess it can’t be helped, huh? Listen to me, Takayuki.”

The old man looked at Takayuki with a troubled expression. Before long, he had a look as if he had given up on something as he pulled out something out of his pocket. It was a hairpin. Painted in red color, it looked sturdy without any scratches on it, but at the same time it was as light as a feather.

He gave it to his grandson with a mysterious look on his face. It was a strange thing to give to a boy like him.

“This is a medium for summoning a witch.”

The way he gave it to him without making any unnecessary movements while leaving such strange words left an impression on the young Takayuki. No matter how young and pure Takayuki was back then, he was still a kid born in modern times. He wouldn’t believe in fantasy-like things such as the witch and the likes. Unless it was his grandfather who told him about it.

“I couldn’t bring myself to throw this away. It has a curse attached to it. For a price, it could summon a witch that could help you solve any problems that you might come to face. Witches are bad, that’s why they need some kind of price to help you out, but they’ll definitely grant your wish… When the time comes, don’t hesitate to use it. You don’t have to believe me, though. It’ll be better if the time when you have to use it never comes, after all.”

Of course, Takayuki completely believed in his grandfather’s words. But, he failed to understand his intentions.

After all, he was still a child, he wasn’t mature enough to understand that his grandfather wanted him to make a wish for himself, not for others.

* * *

The red hairpin was like a medal for Takayuki.

He even went out of his way to grow his hair so that he could wear it every day. To not let his grandfather down, Takayuki devoted his life to helping people more than before. It was to the point that his way of thinking began to differ from the other people around him. Nevertheless, the young boy devoted most of his time to helping others.

Eventually, he started to think of himself less and prioritized others more.

“I hate this! Why does my chest hurt so much?! I don’t want to feel like this anymore! Someone, please… Save me!…”

That was why, when she found a certain little girl asking for help, he decided that it was time to do it.

Even though the girl was someone that hated him and a selfish pampered princess, Takayuki helped her anyway. Her tears moved him to summon the witch and erase the girl’s tears.

With this, he completely went against what his grandfather had wished for.

“Witch-san, please come out!”

There was no doubt in his heart as he followed his grandfather’s words.

The young boy clasped his hands tightly as if he was praying to God.

“Oh my, this is a surprise~ My contractor this time is a young boy, huh?~”

The lack of doubt in his heart was the reason why he wasn’t surprised after seeing the witch suddenly appear in front of his eyes.

* * *

“Satou-kun, you’re free today, aren’t you?”

“…Yes.”

Back to the present. Takayuki had grown into a fine young man. He was currently being pressured by the same girl that he saved a long time ago, Miyama Aoi, to walk home with her. Judging by the way she smiled, it was clear that if he were to refuse here, she’d bring up his weakness again, so he gave up on resisting.

“Oi, Satou is going to go home with Miyama-san! How could this be?!”

“Come to think of it, there was a time when Aoi was trying to find some information about him… What kind of relationship do those two have?”

The girl confronted him right after the final class was over, so he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to. Thanks to that, his classmates gave him quite the stares. Some of them even scorned him as if he was a criminal. To those gazes, he shrugged his shoulders mockingly.

Normally, people would be annoyed after looking at his attitude, but there were some of his classmates that went to the same middle school as him.

They went ahead and rebuked the other classmates who started gossiping about Takayuki.

“Good grief, you guys know nothing. Look at his face closely. Don’t you think his expression is pathetic?”

“Eh?”

“He’s trying to look smug, but that’s the face of someone who’s given up to his fate.”

“That means she got a hold of his weakness now, huh? Thank God, that means he’ll be quieter now.”

“Glad that you got what I meant. Well, that guy is usually well-behaved anyway…”

The boys who had been gossiping behind Takayuki’s back were taken aback by the knowing look of some of their classmates.

“What’s going on?! The number of people explaining things is increasing!”

Takayuki inwardly nodded at the boy’s question. He was puzzled too.

Strangely enough for Takayuki, everyone who knew him since middle school or even before that acted like this often. Instead of explaining things clearly, they’d just take a look at him while nodding, sometimes explaining things as if they knew what was going on already. The worst part of it was that their explanation was, more often than not, correct.

“Let’s go quickly, Satou-kun.”

“Yes…”

Prompted by Aoi, Takayuki left the classroom.

He wondered what kind of rumors he would hear about them tomorrow morning, but his thoughts were cut short as he had to find out how to get out of his current predicament first.

* * *

Aoi brought Takayuki to a coffee shop. The place was located somewhere off the normal school route, so there wouldn’t be any other students who’d come there. Most customers of the cafe were part of the workforce. Actually, calling it a coffee shop was a stretch, it was more of a bar since they’d be starting to sell alcohol as soon as the sun was set. As the place was surrounded by hotels and mahjong parlors, it wasn’t really a convenient place for students to go to.

“Alright, let’s have a long and heartfelt talk. Oh don’t worry, I won’t be asking you to treat me today. I’m not evil enough to make you do it every day.”

“How very kind of you…”

Hearing her words, Takayuki figured out why Aoi had brought him to this place. Just as he did before, Aoi wanted them to talk in a place where no acquaintances nor friends could disturb them.

“So, Satou-kun, can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

After taking a sip of the blended coffee that she ordered, Aoi asked Takayuki a question.

“So, what was that?”

“…I knew it, you could see it. And it seems like you managed to remember it even after a long time had passed.”

“Am I not supposed to see it?”

“Not really, it’s just up until now, I’m the only one who was able to see it.”

“Can you elaborate?”

In contrast to the smiling Aoi, Takayuki made a sour face.

She got a hold of his weakness, so for self-preservation purposes, it would be wise for him to tell her everything that she wanted to know. It was just, there was no benefit for her in knowing about it. On the contrary, it would be a huge burden on her. Takayuki racked his brain, trying to decide whether or not it was okay to tell her. It was for her own sake, after all.

“Satou-kun, are you contemplating not telling me everything after all that happened? I was directly involved in Tomoe’s case, I think I have the right to know.”

“…Fine.”

Hearing her words were enough to make him decide to tell her everything. There was no turning back anymore after this, but he could just leave any future troubles to future Takayuki to solve.

“That was love. Ukai’s love.”

“Love?”

“Mhm. I have the power— special ability to eat other people’s love.”

Then Takayuki began to explain about his ability.

“When I used my ability, I could see other people’s ‘love’ manifested in the form of mist that you’ve previously seen. Up until now, I was the only one who could see it.”

Despite Takayuki’s unwilling look as he explained and reached out to his orange juice, Aoi’s eyes were shining in excitement.

“Satou-kun, how did you get the ability? Did you inherit it from your family? Or are you the awakened type? Maybe you were born with it? Did someone bestow the ability on you? Tell me, tell me!”

“Someone bestowed it to me. Girl, you’re really excited about this…”

“I mean, try to place yourself in my position! There’s someone with a real superpower right in front of me! Of course I would be excited! Can you tell me more?”

“Sure, whatever.”

Takayuki let out a deep sigh to calm himself down.

While he decided to tell her about his ability, he took a mental note to not divulge too much information about it to her.

“I gained this ability back when I was a third grader.”

He took a sip of his orange juice as he tried to dig up his memory.

“Uh, due to various circumstances, I ended up having to summon a witch to help me out. Things happened and I ended up making a contract with her, so she gave me this ability…”

“A witch? Witches exist? Well, I guess it wouldn’t be strange for them to exist since superpower does exist in this world…”

“Honestly, I don’t know the details. The one who gave me the medium to summon the witch told me that she was a witch. She dressed exactly like one too, so I just called her a witch for convenience sake.”

“Hoho~”

Takayuki kept his explanation in monotone, meanwhile Aoi’s eyes shone brighter by the seconds.

The mood between the two were total opposites.

“By the way, are you sure it’s okay to tell me this kind of thing so easily? I could just report you to the authorities. In the worst case situation, a special government task force could arrest you and experiment on your body.”

“What special government task force? Jeez, what’s wrong with you?”

Aoi tried to tease him, but he replied to her calmly.

“Well, no one will believe you even if you tell them anyway. Or rather, even if you tell them, none of them will be able to understand it correctly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s say…”

Takayuki placed the glass of orange juice on the table and tapped the rim of the glass lightly.

“My ability is to cleanly erase the content of this glass.”

“What a useless ability.”

“It’s just an example. Anyway, say that I use my ability to erase the content of this glass in an instant, what would the people who witnessed it think? How would they perceive it?”

“They’ll probably think that it’s a magic trick, I guess?”

“That’s the normal reaction. No matter how much I told them that I’m using my ability to make the content of the glass disappear, they’d just think that I’m either using a magic trick or I drank the juice in a blink of an eye. After all, it’s common sense. People wouldn’t connect it to supernaturals that easily.”

Takayuki shrugged his shoulders.

“In other words, even if you try your best to explain to people about my ability, no one will believe you. They’ll believe in their common sense more than you. Besides, my ability isn’t even what you could consider a common ability. The ability to eat someone’s love is even harder to explain than your usual flashy battle-related ability. Barely one will believe that it even existed.”

“But–”

“And even if you managed to make someone believe you, it would be meaningless. Normal people can’t maintain a correct perception of my ability. When I use it, they can somewhat understand that my ability is part of the supernaturals, but gradually, their memory would be altered to fit the common sense that they’re familiar with.”

“Huh?”

Aoi tried to raise her voice in protest, but Takayuki’s next words made her tilt her head in confusion.

“Think of it like this. At first they’re like children who just came to know magic tricks for the first time, they’ll think of it as real magic. Then, they’ll gradually come to think that the magic tricks are just magic tricks, since that’s what common sense says. Even people who genuinely believe that my power is real would come to think that it’s nothing but a trick eventually.”

“Is that how it is?”

“Yeah. Let’s take Ukai for example. I believe she had forgotten about my ability already. Hell, she probably had forgotten about the fact that she passed out during our last exchange, maybe she even forgot about our exchange altogether.”

“…Ugh.”

Seeing Aoi groaning with a dissatisfied expression, Takayuki let out a chuckle.

Her expression reminded him of his younger self when he found out about everything that he just told her.

“It is what it is, Miyama. My ability isn’t part of the common sense of this world. That’s why, all memories related to my ability would be ‘corrected’ by this world’s common sense.”

“But I remembered everything about it…”

“Normally, your memory should be ‘corrected’ too. People other than you always fail to remember my ability. For example with Ukai’s case, she’d probably remember it as she fainted because of exhaustion or something similar to that. Which made me wonder, how were you able to remember everything?”

He didn’t know how it turned out like this, but he let out a smile nevertheless.

Yes, he could use a supernatural power, but it wasn’t like he knew everything about it. Even the explanation that he gave Aoi came from his deduction as he had no way to prove his words. In the end, Takayuki decided to just leave it as it was as there was no point to ponder about it too much.

“I see, so there are things that even you don’t understand, huh, Satou-kun? I’ll accept your explanation for the time being. Honestly, I’m still curious about why I could remember about your ability, but if you don’t know about it, then it can’t be helped.”

“Honestly, if you want to know more about it, it’s better to ask the witch directly instead of asking me.”

“I guess. Well, let’s stop talking about this then.”

Seeing Aoi straightened her posture and stared at his face intently, Takayuki made up his mind.

“It’s time to get to business, huh?”

He expected this to happen even before they entered the coffee shop. After all, she managed to remember his ability, so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that she would remember that.

“Seven years ago… During the summer of our third year of grade school… Back when I was suffering from my broken heart… It was you who saved me back then, right, Satou Takayuki-kun?”

It was time for the past to finally catch up to him.

* * *

It was summer vacation during her third year of grade school. That day was the day when Aoi’s heart broke for the first time, the worst day of her life.

“I’m glad that you’re safe~ C’mon, everyone is waiting for you, so let’s go home together!”

“No!”

“Eh? You don’t wanna go home?!”

When the boy who later turned this day into the best day of her life, Takayuki, found her, Aoi felt relieved, but at the same time she was disappointed.

After all, back then, Takayuki was someone that she hated.

“Why though?”

“Because… No one understands my suffering…”

“Why are you sulking?”

To her, Takayuki was an outsider. He was someone who’d only come to the town for the summer vacation. The young boy was the only child who’d refuse to treat Aoi like a princess. Every kid in the town would go along with Aoi’s selfishness, except for him, who’d give her a clear refusal every time she tried to impose her selfishness on him.

Naturally, this made her furious. She didn’t bully him, but whenever he was around, her mood would turn sour immediately and that made every kid reluctant to play with Takayuki.

Now the same kid she hated was trying to help her. It hurted her pride and Aoi hated that.

“I won’t tell you! Even if I were to tell you, you won’t understand!”

“I see.”

“…You see, just now, Haru-kun…”

“So you’re going to tell me.”

However, she couldn’t bear the pain anymore, so she decided to compromise. After all, it would be better to confide with someone that she hated than being stuck alone in this dark place.

“He’s too much, isn’t he?! I went out of my way to confess to him!”

“That was your fault, though.”

Even so, Aoi was acting selfishly as always. She kept whining and asked to be spoiled by Takayuki. Despite this, the young boy didn’t ditch her. Instead, he listened patiently to her complaints and stayed by her side.

“Um, so what should I do to get you to go back with me? Should I help you make up with this Haru-kun?”

“No! I don’t like him anymore! I hate him! …I hate him, but…”

Suddenly, Aoi started crying.

“I hate him, but why does my chest hurt so much? I don’t want it to hurt anymore! Help me, please!”

Aoi kept crying as her tears refused to stop, not knowing that in the future she’d come to regret this pathetic action. If she was a bit more mature, she’d be aware that if it wasn’t Takayuki who was beside her, they’d already abandoned her out of annoyance.

“Hmm… Alright, let’s do this!”

“Huh?”

“I’ll be your hero! I won’t let a girl keep crying!”

But it was Takayuki who was beside her. He reached out to her.

“W-What are you talking about? My chest is really hurting right now! You can’t do anything about it!”

“You won’t know unless you try! My grandfather once told me ‘Everything will eventually turn into memory,’ so, I hope that someday this pain will turn into a good memory for you! I’ll try my best to help you to make it happen!”

He extended his hand to the crying Aoi, pulling her out of the darkness where she sat down and spilled her tears.

His action was something that Aoi’d come to admire later. She’d reminisce about this scene over and over again and each time she did, the more her admiration toward him grew.

The fact that this was the moment that led to Takayuki gaining his ability made Aoi feel happy. After all, it was his ability that reunited them both.

* * *

“Satou-kun, can you answer me? Are you the hero from that time? Are you the one who found me when I was alone in the dark?”

Aoi approached Takayuki with a barrage of questions. She was so excited to the point that she leaned her body forward unknowingly.

“…If you’re asking me if I was the one who found this little shit who was causing trouble for everyone because she got her heart broken, the girl who was crying and screaming all the time to the point that I had to use my ability to calm her down, yes.”

Takayuki kept his mouth shut for a while, but eventually, he gave in to Aoi’s passion. With a sigh, he admitted that he was indeed the boy who saved her back then.

Though not without throwing some thornful remarks at her.

“I knew it! You got uglier, your personality became rotten and there’s so many bad rumors about you, but deep down you’re still a good person! Still, Satou-kun, my childhood hero!”

“I thought you’ve grown up to be a decent person, but you’re still a selfish prick.”

Aoi grabbed Takayuki’s hand firmly, completely ignoring Takayuki’s rude behavior. The force she put into her grip made him think that she was trying to break his bones though.

“…I knew it, it’s you.”

She could feel Takayuki’s warmth. It felt like she was being taken to that time. Back when they were walking together, hand in hand.

“My hero…”

“Ugh…”

Aoi held Takayuki’s hands tighter. He could see her eyes starting to tear up. Her passionate gesture was akin to a maiden finally meeting her long-lost lover.

Facing that expression of Aoi’s, Takayuki didn’t seem to be entranced. On the contrary, he had a sour smile, as if he had just swallowed a bitter pill.

“Can you stop?”

“Huh?”

“Stop calling me ‘hero.’ I’m not a hero…”

His words sounded as if he was denying Aoi’s beliefs.

“I’m not a hero now, nor was I one back then. I’m just a loser, nothing more, and the old me was no better either. Sorry, for shattering your delusions about me, Miyama.”

After Takayuki finished talking, Aoi slowly released her grips on his hands.

She blinked, her eyelashes trembled and a hiccup came out from the back of her throat. Her previously shining eyes now trembled.

“Eh? B-But… It’s my dream to be a hero together with you… I’ve dedicated my life to that goal…”

“My bad then. Too bad I can’t do that since I’m not a hero to begin with. I’m a monster. I’m someone who used his ability for his own personal gain.”

“B-But…”

“Didn’t you hear the rumors? Not all of them are lies. Some of them are wild, but what I did was atrocious enough to justify them. I’m not the person that you should admire.”

The words that were thrown by him at Aoi were like bullets that ripped through her heart.

To be rejected by the person she longed for was quite a shock for Aoi.

“…But, there are deeper circumstances behind the rumors about you, right?”

“That’s just your assumption. I’ve been doing worse things than you’ve ever imagined. Well, I haven’t done any crimes yet, but I’ve caused enough trouble for other people. Not exactly a hero-like behavior, right?”

“But, you helped Tomoe…”

“Only because you forced me to do it.”

Takayuki’s reaction made her feel perplexed. It was clear that the boy was trying to push her away. She wanted to say something, but in the end, she shut her mouth tightly and lowered her gaze.

“…I don’t understand you anymore, Satou-kun…”

“Of course, we aren’t even friends to begin with, just classmates. We barely interacted with each other, how would you understand me?”

Ignoring the girl’s sadness, Takayuki delivered the hard truth to her.

“Let me tell you this. Don’t try to be a hero just because you’re trying to imitate someone. There will be a time when you’ll come to regret it.”

Aoi still kept her mouth shut. Her gaze was still down, as if she was contemplating something.

“Enough.”

Eventually, she let out those words and stood up.

“I’m an idiot for doing this.”

Before Takayuki could call out to her, she dashed out of the store.

It was as if she was running away from the reality that she refused to accept.

* * *

In truth, Aoi had considered this possibility.

After all, seven years had passed, it was long enough for a grade schooler to grow to be a high schooler.

During that time, it was inevitable that people would change. In fact, it would be a miracle if someone were to stay the same for that long. Even Aoi herself had changed, it would be unreasonable if she were to expect that the boy would stay the same as he was back then.

But, Aoi couldn’t accept the fact that he had stopped being a hero.

“…Why?”

Aoi, who was running without minding about her surroundings, let out such words while panting happily.

‘How did it end up like this?’ She pondered.

“…Why?!”

After letting out a shout, Aoi started running with an even greater speed.

She dodged the passersby with minimal movements. Her legs moved quickly, who knows where they would bring her, but she couldn’t care less about it.

As her legs moved, so were her thoughts.

“Why did I even get my hopes up?…”

She should’ve expected that she would be left disappointed. It was clear from the rumors that Takayuki wasn’t the hero she once knew.

Yet she let her expectations clouded her judgment. The yearning she had for the past seven years distorted her thoughts and gave her unreasonable expectations toward the boy.

Even though she out of all people should know that it was unhealthy to force others to fit the image that she created in her mind.

“…Haah… Haah… Phew…”

In the end, she kept running until she managed to vent all of her pent-up feelings.

Her legs brought her to somewhere far from the coffee shop. It was a bridge in the shopping district. There was a tinge of regret in Aoi’s heart when she realized how far she had run. Her thoughts wander to recount the event that just took place before this.

“Why?”

Then, she spouted out a question while panting.

“Why did you follow me, Satou-kun?!”

“…Haah… cough… Haah…”

The question was directed at Takayuki, who was standing right behind her. Sweat covered his face as he struggled to catch his breath.

“I noticed you halfway through, I tried to shake you off, but why are you still following me?! What do you want?!”

“Haah… Haah…”

“Also, who paid for our drinks? Don’t tell me you were dine and dashing?! I know that I don’t have the right to lecture you because I was the one who jumped out first, but…”

“Haah… W-Wait…”

While trying to calm his breath, Takayuki raised his hand to stop Aoi from asking him another question.

“Haah… Phew… Okay…”

After a minute or so, he finally managed to catch his breath.

“First thing first, I paid for the bills. Because I had no time, I gave the waiter 5,000 yen and told them to keep the change. Thanks to that my wallet is practically empty now.”

“Sorry about that. I’ll pay you in half later…”

“No, you don’t need to, I was the one who brought that to myself. As for what I am doing here…”

“Yeah, why are you following me here? Did you forget to tell me something?”

Aoi didn’t bother to hide her annoyance as she gave him a cold stare.

If it was any other male student, they would be trembling in fear, intimidated by her presence. But this was Takayuki. Instead, he replied to her glare with a fearless grin.

“Yeah, there’s that…”

Suddenly, his expression froze.

“Uh, how do I put this…”

His gaze wandered around.

“…Actually, I followed you just because.”

In the end, he answered her question with a joke, which enraged her even more.

“What? Are you an idiot?! No, that’s a pointless question, you ARE an idiot!”

“I was worried about you, okay?! What if you got into an accident by running around like that?!”

“You followed me because you were worried about me?”

“Yes! I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, so I followed you!”

“Idiot!”

“I can’t refute that…”

Seeing Takayuki acting meek made Aoi realize that he was telling her the truth.

His idiocy astonished her. He was trying to chase Aoi, someone who was really good at running. Even Tomoe, a member of the track club, acknowledged her skill. Not to mention the fact that he was serious about it too. He could just pretend to chase after her and give up along the way, but he didn’t.

Also, she was astonished by her own idiocy.

What was she thinking when she set up such high expectations for this idiot in front of her?

“Satou-kun.”

“Yes?”

“You’re such an idiot.”

“…Yes, I am.”

“Don’t try to lie to me and answer my questions honestly. If you don’t want to answer, just say that you don’t want to answer.”

“I don’t want to answer…”

“By the way, if you get me in a bad mood, I’ll report you about the time when you went into a hotel with an adult.”

“Stop it! I thought you wanted to be a hero?! Why are you blackmailing me?!”

“Above all else, my justice prioritizes my own will.”

“The world doesn’t need such a hero!”

Takayuki desperately tried to look for an escape route, but Aoi gave him an Enma¹Enma is the Japanese name for Yama, the god of Buddhism who ruled over hell.-like smile. He froze in his place.

“Satou-kun, you told me to stop being a hero, right? Why? Could it be that I misunderstood your words because you’re an idiot who couldn’t explain things properly?”

“…No, I really told you to stop. I’m just speaking from experience. Once upon a time, I tried to be a hero because I admired someone else, but I failed. Instead of helping, I only caused trouble to everyone around me instead. I don’t want to make that kind of mistake, Miyama. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“…Unlike me, you’re a girl. Just mediating a dispute should be fine, but I don’t want you to do dangerous things like shielding a kid from a car or barging into back alleys to beat up delinquents.”

“What? I will never do something like that. Why would I?”

“What?”

“…Did you actually do it?”

“Making mistakes is just part of being a human. What matters is whether one could accept said mistakes and reflect on them.”

“So you did it. Are you an idiot? Wait, you ARE an idiot.”

“Stop it! I’ve heard enough of that already! Everyone around me always reacted the same way whenever I did something stupid! I’ve reflected on it already, so cut me some slack!”

Seeing Takayuki being tormented by his own past made Aoi understand something. The image of a ‘hero’ that they had was different.

“Look here, the ‘heroic’ deeds that I’ve done were just the things that I could do with my own power. I only helped out people close to me, lent an ear to everyone who asked me for advice and did volunteer work. I told you that my justice prioritizes my will over everything else, right? I won’t do stupid things to put myself in danger or do something that I don’t want to do.”

“…Alright, then forget what I previously said to you at the coffee shop.”

“Satou-kun. Those rumors about you… Were they the result of your reckless heroism?”

“No comment.”

Aoi’s question was a bullseye.

Seeing his reaction gave Aoi an idea about the boy in front of her. She could guess that someone must have scolded him really hard back in middle school.

“I see. So that’s why you tried to give me advice with such a smug look.”

Takayuki turned his head away.

A beautiful smile bloomed on Aoi’s face. A sign that she had already regained her composure.

“Satou-kun, could it be that your love counseling gig is originally part of a volunteer work? Because someone scolded you for doing it for free, you started charging people for doing it?”

“No, it was just a hobby of mine. I mean, I have the ability to do it, wouldn’t it be cool if I could gain some pocket change from it?”

“…What?”

Takayuki hurriedly made an excuse to Aoi.

“I wasn’t kidding, okay? I used the money for my allowance!”

“But, if it’s just for money, isn’t it easier to just get a normal part-time job? I don’t know what kind of contract you have with that witch, but there’s no way that it involves you to go through that much of a hassle. I mean, voluntarily looking for people with broken heart, giving them advice, trying to gain their trust and meet them in person. All those work for pocket change? If I were to convert everything into an hourly rate, it wouldn’t even touch the minimum wage.”

“That’s… You know…”

Takayuki flinched.

Amused by the situation, Aoi pushed him even more.

“You preached to me about not being a hero or whatnot, but why are you doing this to yourself?”

“…”

His answer was silence. He only stared at Aoi firmly without opening his mouth.

“I guess you won’t tell me anything, huh?”

“…Sorry. I’ll try my best answering your next question instead.”

“Hmm…”

Seeing Takayuki bowing his head, Aoi decided that she had enough fun teasing him and moved on.

“Alright, next question then.”

She decided to ask him a question that had been bugging her since a long time ago.

“…Satou-kun, after saving me, why did you disappear? The summer vacation was almost over back then, but there were still a few days left. Even if there was an urgent business that you had to attend to, couldn’t you come back the next year afterwards?”

“I didn’t expect to hear that question from my childhood bully.”

“Why are you talking back to me? Do you want me to report your deeds to the school?”

“Give me a break! Okay, fine! The reason why I disappeared… Well…”

After hesitating for a moment, Takayuki spilled everything.

“I was busy, I had to attend my grandfather’s funeral for the rest of the vacation.”

“Eh?”

“The reason why I was there for summer vacation was because my grandfather was there. After he passed away, well, I had no reason to go there anymore. That’s all, Miyama.”

“That’s… I’m… Sorry…”

“Don’t be. It happened a long time ago anyway.”

Takayuki didn’t seem to be mad about it, but his tone felt empty.

Aoi understood that she had tread upon a sensitive topic. Even if she had the right to ask this question, this wasn’t the right place and circumstances to talk about it. She reflected on her actions.

However, after thinking for a bit, she started to think otherwise.

‘If I were to back off now, wouldn’t it be hard to make him start talking again? Should I make use of the momentum to say everything that I wanted to say?’

Seven years ago, back when she let the boy’s hand go, she ended up saying nothing to him. If only she made use of the momentum and talked to the boy, she wouldn’t be left with regrets.

“Are we done? …If you don’t have any more questions, I’ll go home. Sorry, for hurting you, Miyama. No one should have the right to deny someone’s feelings like that. I was completely in the wrong…”

Seeing Aoi keeping her mouth shut, Takayuki apologized to her and tried to leave the place.

Just before he left, Aoi grabbed his arm. The sight gave her a deja vu. It was the same arm that she once held seven years ago.

“Miyama?”

“…I have one more question.”

“I-I see. C-Can you let go of my arm first? I-I won’t run away, I promise–”

“Back then!”

Aoi raised her voice, cutting off Takayuki’s words.

“Seven years ago! At that time! On the dark night! When I was suffering!”

She didn’t even know what to ask him. Instead, she just let out everything that she wanted to say to him.

“Do you regret saving me back then? Do you regret playing a hero just to console me? Do you regret everything that happened back then?”

Although she asked the question with such a vigor, she turned her gaze downward as she asked for his response. She was afraid that his answer would disappoint her. Aoi tried to suppress her racing heartbeat while waiting for his answer with bated breath.

“I don’t.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t have any regrets, nor do I have the intention to regret everything that happened back then.”

Because she looked elsewhere, she didn’t manage to catch Takayuki’s expression when he said that. She panicked, trying to look at his face, but by then, he had already worn his usual fearless grin.

“Being a hero or not, it’s a man’s duty to save a girl in distress.”

“…Idiot.”

“Yes, I am. But, can you please release my arm? Why are you doing this in public anyway? Also, you’re gripping it too tightly! It hurts! Oi, you’re going to break it for real!”

Hearing his words, she put even more strength in her grip.

“Satou-kun, you once told me…”

“What is it? Can you just let me go first? I told you I won’t run away!”

“You told me that we are just classmates, we aren’t friends or anything, so there’s no way that we could understand each other.”

“Yeah, I said that, so what?”

“You know, I was pissed when I heard those words, but I understand what you were trying to say.”

Aoi looked up at the boy.

She did her best to convey the words that she failed to convey seven years ago.

“That’s why, let’s interact with each other more from now on. Since there’s a lot of things we can’t understand about each other, let’s make it so that we can understand each other. Whether it is my admiration towards you or it’s your frustration about yourself, let’s find out which one is the right one. To do that, we should talk to each other more.”

With a serious tone, she made a proposal to him.

“…Sure, I guess.”

After a moment of hesitation, Takayuki nodded his head.

“I’ll do my best to not disappoint you.”

“Hehe, don’t worry. If we end up unable to understand each other, I’ll give up on my own whether you like it or not. In return, you can give up on me whenever you feel like it. Let’s start our relationship with that rule.”

“…Got it. Let’s keep our relationship that way for now…”

Takayuki held out his right hand. Seeing this, Aoi let go of his other arm and held his right hand.

Strongly, so that she could burn this moment into her memory.

Now one could say that the two of them were finally reunited.

…But there was one thing that they overlooked.

“Huh? Is that Satou and Miyama-san?”

“Really? What are they doing? Is it a shuraba?”

They were talking on a bridge, a public place where a lot of students from their school passed by. They managed to calm themselves down after that tense moment, but they were immediately greeted by the chatters of their schoolmates that were passing by.

“Youth… Their vigor blinded me!”

“Seeing them made me feel old…”

“It’s great to be young~”

“I know, right? They remind me of myself when I was younger.”

Of course, their schoolmates weren’t the only ones who witnessed the scene that they made. People ranging from children to elderly, men and women, students to adults in business suits, all were staring at them.

“…I think we should leave, Miyama.”

“Yeah, I’ll go on ahead, Satou-kun.”

“Are you going to run again?”

“It’s okay if you can’t keep up with me. Just walk slowly.”

The two people who were the center of the attention exchanged glances before dashing away from the bridge. They made their way to the front of the station.

“Haah! …Haah! …Why! …Are you! So tough?!”

“I strived to be a hero, so I naturally trained myself physically. I should be the one asking you. Why are you so weak?”

“What?! …I jogged! …Every morning! …I trained my muscles too!”

The two quarreled with each other as they ran, not minding the stares that their surroundings gave them.

* * *

“I’m home!”

“My room is NOT your home.”

After the matter with Takayuki was resolved, Aoi was left in a good mood, so she paid her bad friend, Yuzu, a visit.

“This might as well be my second home at this point.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Fine, if you hate it so much, then I declare that this is my second room.”

“Stop invading my privacy.”

“By the way, that book you’re reading is originally mine, I gave it to your sister. Part of my life had already invaded your room, so I might as well go all out now. Bring any complaints you might have to your sister.”

Having to deal with the unusually energetic Aoi, Yuzu didn’t even bother to move her gaze away from her book. Though, it was clear that she was a little annoyed. She asked Aoi a question.

“So, what happened?”

“Right! Listen to me, Yuzu!”

After Yuzu gave her the greenlight, Aoi immediately started talking at a rapid pace.

She told her bad friend about Takayuki, her conversation with him and all the commotion that they caused.

Of course, she wasn’t senseless enough to tell Yuzu about his ability. She only told her about how the boy saved her back when she was a kid and how stupid he actually was now that he had grown up into a high schooler.

“Isn’t he an idiot? He actually went out of his way to chase me then when I asked him why, he told me, ‘just because.’ Seriously, what an idiot!”

“Hmm. So, were you disappointed?”

“Kinda, but you know, I can’t blame him. I was the one who pushed an image on how he should act to him even though we barely even know each other.”

“Hmm…”

“Huh? What’s that? Did you just laugh? Did you read a funny scene?”

“No.”

Muttered Yuzu as she flipped through her book.

“It’s just, it’s rare to see you so excited while talking about a boy. You used to say that to get you interested in a boy, he has to be better looking than your first love or something.”

“Are you implying that I like him? Because I’m not… Rather, can you stop mentioning the stupid things that I said back in middle school? I only said it because the boys kept confessing to me and I was sick of dealing with them.”

“So you don’t like this Satou-kun then…”

“Well, it isn’t like I hate him. It’s just I don’t like him romantically, you know…”

“In any case, since you’re in a good mood now, why don’t you buy me some cakes? I’ll stop mentioning your dark past. Actually, it doesn’t have to be cakes, money will do.”

“And why should I do that?!”

“What a selfish girl.”

“Ugh…”

Being called ‘selfish’ was Aoi’s kryptonite. Whenever someone called her that, she’d fall into a brief period of depression and self-loathing.

“U-Uuuu… I-In any case, I’ll try to be more mindful of my conduct. I don’t want to be seen as a selfish girl ever again… I’ll try to help Satou-kun deal with the bad rumors surrounding him and help him whenever he needs my help… Of course, this doesn’t mean I like him! It’s the least thing I should do for him as a classmate!”

“Uh, do whatever you like.”

To Aoi, who was shouting her words with vigor, Yuzu lazily replied while lying down on the floor.

“But, don’t you think you forget something?”

“What?”

“I said, don’t you think you forget something?”

Yuzu asked without taking her eyes off her book.

From Aoi’s experience, she seemed to be talking about something important.

“What is it that I forget?”

“…Who knows.”

“C’mon~ You’re always like this!”

Thanks to her words, Aoi started to feel uneasy.

* * *

Seven years ago. The young Takayuki met a witch.

“Alright~ Let’s confirm the contents of the contract again, shall we? I’m not a devil, so I want the contents to be clear before we proceed~”

A wide-brimmed hat. Jet-black robe that seemed to have originated from the darkness itself covered her tall body. In one of her hands was a lantern, glowing in an orange hue. Her lips were twisted upwards, forming the shape of a crescent. Takayuki’s figure was reflected on her cat-like eyes.

The witch looked like she came out of a fairytale.

“Contract? Oh, so that’s what grandfather was talking about! He told me that I have to pay the price.”

“Ah~ What a good boy! You remembered what your grandfather told you?”

“Mu…”

She proceeded to pat the boy’s head. But, due to how bad it felt like when she patted him, the young Takayuki pouted while staring at her with suspicion. It crossed his mind that enduring this treatment from her was probably the price that he had to pay.

The witch realized what he was thinking and for a moment, she looked sad.

“Ahem. But, young man, are you sure that you actually listened to your grandfather properly? The price you have to pay for isn’t fixed. The heavier your wish is, the more you have to pay.”

“I’m ready to pay for anything!”

“Hm, if you say so… Well, why don’t you tell me what your wish is first and foremost?”

Takayuki tried his best to explain the circumstances to her.

About the crying girl and his desire to save her.

“Do you like her?”

“No, I hate her.”

“I-I see. I commend you for trying to help the girl that you hate, but can you pay the price for it?”

“What is the price?”

“Hehehe… The price is–”

After hearing the answer from the witch, Takayuki couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

His childlike innocence and distorted way of thinking made him think that paying such a price wasn’t really a big deal. So, he nodded to the witch’s words.

“I can pay you just fine!”

“Are you sure? This is something quite important, you know? You might not understand it now, but you’ll come to regret it later when you finally understand it, you know? There’s no take back when that time arrives.”

“I’m sure!”

“So you said, but you didn’t actually think it through properly… Well, I don’t blame you for that. Okay, to make it more fair, I’ll give you a little bonus. Later, if you want to take your wish back—”

Troubled by Takayuki’s response, the witch decided to give him a special treatment, which later would turn into something quite important for him. Though, he wouldn’t know about it until later.

“I don’t get it, but I’ll remember your words!”

“Okay, okay, as long as you keep my words in mind, everything should be alright. You seem to be really determined too… Okay, I’ll give you a special ability!”

Seeing his innocent face, the witch smiled at him. She brought her fingertip close to his forehead. Her index finger, clearly visible in the darkness, touched his forehead gently.

“The ability’s name is ‘Sugar Spice.’ With this power, you will be able to eat even the worst kind of love. The process will be as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

At that moment, Takayuki’s vision was filled with light. He could feel various tastes on his tongue. This was the moment when he gained his ability. And the moment where he had to pay the price for said ability.

* * *

“…Ugh… T-This is the taste of love? …Urp…”

Using his new ability, Takayuki managed to eat the love of the girl that he saved, Miyama Aoi. It was just, he had to bear with the terrible taste. It was bitter. So bitter that he felt nauseous. It was also sweet. So sweet that he got a heartburn, literally. Aoi’s first love tasted like a dark chocolate straight from hell. Aside from knowing how terrible love tasted like, Takayuki found out another thing about his ability. Its side effects. One of them caused the subject of his ability to faint. He made a mental note to make the subject sit down before using his ability again in the future.

Also, there was no sense of accomplishment when he saved the girl using his ability.

‘What should I tell grandfather the next time I see him?’ For a while, Takayuki’s mind was occupied by that thought.

“Takayuki… Calm down and listen carefully.”

One day after the summer vacation was over. His mother told him the news about his grandfather’s passing.

* * *

Morning started early for Miyama Aoi. She got out of bed at six, did some light exercise and took a shower afterwards. Normally by that time, her mom would be done making breakfast. She went to the kitchen.

“Good morning!”

Arriving at the kitchen, the first thing that she did was greeting her mom cheerfully. On weekdays like this, only Aoi and her mother would usually be eating their breakfasts together. Her father had to wake up earlier due to his work, managing a convenience store, so he would only be there on holidays. Meanwhile her sisters weren’t exactly morning people, so it was rare for them to be at the table this early in the morning.

“Oh my, did something good happen?”

“Hehe, yes~”

“I wish your sisters could be as energetic as you this early in the morning… Speaking of them, your second sister said to come back home early today. She needs your help.”

“Renka-nee did? Hmm… Sure.”

After finishing her breakfast with her mom, she took a short break before going to school.

Usually she spent this time reading novels or manga about heroes or surfing through the internet to look for conversation topics.

However, she was particularly fidgety today.

“I’m off!”

In the end, she decided to leave home twenty minutes earlier than usual. Her steps were light and there was a bright smile on her face. She headed to school in high spirits.

* * *

“Do you want to have lunch with me, Satou-kun?”

Lunch break. With her lunch in hand, Aoi approached Takayuki and invited him for lunch. This was no way a romantic lunch with just the two of them, though. A group of girls stood behind Aoi. Clearly, what Aoi intended was to make him eat together with the girls.

“…Thanks for the sentiment, but no thanks.”

“Eh…”

Since that was the case, naturally Takayuki refused her invitation. It was a completely normal response. Rather, it was Aoi who acted strangely, inviting someone who was isolated from the rest of the class to join a group of girls for lunch.

Aoi had a plan though.

“I’m being kind to you and inviting you for lunch, but you’re acting like this? As expected of the Loner Satou-kun.”

“What do you mean, ‘loner?’ I have friends! Just not from this class!”

“Really? Then, introduce them to me some time!”

“No! Think about your position, you’ll just make things awkward!”

“That was a joke. But my invitation isn’t a joke. I did it for your own good, you know?~”

“Ugh…”

Her words made Takayuki’s face turn sour.

“You just gotta bear the fact that everyone else is a girl, Satou-kun. If we can show everyone that we get along well, your reputation will get better eventually.”

Currently Takayuki’s reputation was at an all-time low because of what happened on the bridge. There were various rumors running around about the event and one of them was that he made Aoi cry in public. If they didn’t handle this rumor before it got too far, he would be finished socially.

Under such circumstances, Aoi’s invitation would certainly be a great opportunity for Takayuki to clear his name.

“…Got it. Thank you for your consideration.”

“Hehe, glad that you understand. Enjoy your harem for the rest of the lunch break~”

“Hahaha. Funny.”

And so, Takayuki ended up having his lunch while being surrounded by girls.

As he had feared, the girls gave him strange gazes. There was curiosity in their eyes, but fear was mixed within their gazes. Having to endure those eyes made him feel uncomfortable, but he decided to just bear with it.

“A-Are you sure that this is okay, Aoi?”

“S-Satou won’t suddenly bite me, right?”

“He won’t push me down and call it ‘light skinship,’ right?”

“I’m not a wild dog! What the hell is wrong with you guys?”

The girl asked Aoi jokingly, but there was a hint of real concern in their voices. They wanted Aoi to assure them that Takayuki was really harmless.

“It’s fine, everyone. If we communicate properly with him, he’s not a scary creature at all. Satou-kun, hand~”

“…Woof.”

“““Oh!”””

So, Aoi made a joke about the situation. It wasn’t like she wanted to treat him like a dog, but if she were to show everyone that he could go along with jokes like these, they’d let their guard down around him. She definitely didn’t do it because she was into that kind of play, definitely not.

“Satou-kun, what kind of relationship do you have with Aoi?”

“I heard you picked a fight with a bike gang back in middle school, was it true?!”

“There are rumors about you having multiple girlfriends. Their ages ranged from grade school to adult women, are those rumors true?”

After Aoi demonstrated that he was harmless, the girls let their curiosity speak for them. Aoi’s assurance made them believe that Takayuki wouldn’t suddenly lash out at them in front of Aoi’s eyes if they were to accidentally touch a sensitive topic.

“Uh, that’s…”

Thanks to the girls’ momentum, Takayuki fluently explained his circumstances to them, addressing all the rumors and their questions one by one. He knew the significance of this conversation, that was why he decided to do his best here. However, perhaps because he wasn’t used to being in this kind of situation, he’d often glance at Aoi, trying to ask for her help. Every time that happened, Aoi would only reply to him with a smile, refusing to help him in any way.

This wasn’t her being mean. Aoi judged that helping him directly would only hinder his growth in the long run. Her goal was to keep inviting him to eat with the girls and make them befriend each other. She didn’t tell him her true goal, of course, instead she asked him to cooperate under the guise of erasing the bad rumors about him. Though, Aoi wasn’t that ruthless. She wasn’t expecting him to deal with the girls by himself during the first day. So, Aoi decided to give him a lifeline. This would make him be more grateful to her and remember this as a favor.

“C’mon, you three! If you keep asking him questions, he won’t be able to eat!”

But, before she could find the right moment, Tomoe interjected and ruined her plan to make him owe her another favor.

“““Fine~”””

After receiving a warning from Tomoe, the girls promptly gave up and gave Takayuki some space.

“Phew, thank you, Ukai, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t be! You and Aoi had done so much to me, this much is nothing! Also, those girls just want to befriend you, so don’t think badly of them, okay? Just play along with them for a while, you’ll get used to them soon!”

“…Well, I guess I’ll do my best.”

Takayuki nodded at Tomoe’s words. When he turned his gaze to the side, he saw Aoi pouting. It was clear that she was annoyed by something.

“Uh, Ukai?”

“Ah, she’s sulking because I stole the chance from her. She wanted to help you out too, you see~”

“Seriously? She’s sulking because of that?”

Seeing Takayuki’s questioning gaze, Aoi turned her head away from him. Her bulging cheeks were painted in the shade of red.

* * *

When Takayuki started his social media account, no one contacted him for a consultation at all.

It was as expected. He had no background nor qualifications. There was no way that someone would go out of their ways to contact a fresh account to solve their problems. Rather, it was doubtful that they knew the existence of his account in the first place.

That was why, he gave up having any kind of vain expectations in a week. He accepted things as it were and moved on with his life.

He didn’t delete the account though. Since he consumed a lot of anime and manga, he decided to use the account to share his opinion about them instead. Ironically, this was the thing that made his account well-known. Before he knew it, his follower numbers increased and he became more involved with other users.

[Baku-san! I want to consult you about my senpai! They’re already a college student, but I could still talk to them thanks to their little sister!]

It was recess, after the fifth period was over. Takayuki got a text from someone that he knew from his social media, Sunny.

[That’s great. Don’t let your guard down though, Sunny.]

[Of course! If I see anyone suspicious hanging around them, I’ll smash them with a volleyball!]

[If you see anyone suspicious, run away. Also, I told you every time, stop giving out your personal information.]

For him, rather than a customer, Sunny was more like a friend and a benefactor.

They met through their random talk about a certain manga. After they had established trust to some extent, Sunny was the one who approached him first for a consultation. There wasn’t anything big about it, Sunny was just trying to try their luck, therefore, they just consulted about trivial things to him. But Takayuki handled them surprisingly well.

Since then, their interaction became known to Takayuki’s other followers. More people started asking him for a consultation. Though, not many of them actually expected anything from him.

After that, he started to treat Sunny differently from other people. They never met in person, but he treated Sunny as if they were best friends. At one point, they exchanged each other’s contact information and texted each other directly instead of using the social media.

[Eh, but I don’t mind it if it’s you, Baku-san! Rather, we should meet each other in real life already!]

[I don’t want to meet up with someone who doesn’t understand what being anonymous on the internet means. Also, aren’t you a girl? Don’t you think that meeting up with a boy like me is dangerous?]

Unlike with his other customers, he never met up with Sunny. He was afraid that if they were to meet up in real life, they would stop being friends.

Normally, he tended to treat every regular who came to him roughly. Unlike with Sunny, he didn’t mind if they were to come to hate him. In fact, some of his customers got into bad relationships because of him. However, even though their relationships became worse, the customers put more trust in him than before. One of them was a certain office lady. She would buy him dinner from time to time or force him to listen to her bragging about her little sister.

[Again with that excuse!]

Another reason why he didn’t want to meet her was because Sunny thought that he was lying to her about his gender. She seemed to be thinking that Takayuki was also a girl due to how he conducted himself on his social media.

[I know that you’re a pretty college student who’ll look great in glasses! You don’t need to lie to me, Baku-san!]

[You’re raising the bar way too high…]

[Hahaha. Anyway, I guess we really can’t meet up in real life, huh?]

Takayuki took his fingers off his screen.

They had been communicating for two years already. He knew that something happened to his friend across the screen. When she started acting like this, that meant she was trying to hide her anxiety. After a bit of thinking, he let out a sigh and started to type a reply.

[Fine, just this once. Arrange a time and place, I’ll meet up with you.]

Trying to overcome his fear, he offered to help his friend out.

[Eh? EH??]

[Calm down.]

[I love you, Baku-san! Marry me!]

[Hell no.]

He let out a wry smile after seeing this exchange. It felt like he was growing soft, thanks to the influence of a certain someone.

* * *

“What’s this?”

Sometimes, when one finds themselves in a good mood, the world would find a way to ruin it. This was something that happened to everyone and Takayuki was no exception.

“…A letter of challenge at this time and age?”

After school. Just when he was about to go home, Takayuki found a brown envelope in his shoe box. ‘Letter of Challenge’ was neatly written on it. At a glance, it seemed like the writer was using a brush to write it.

“Hm.”

Inside the envelope was a letter. ‘I want to meet the scoundrel who made Miyama Aoi cry’ was written on it. Alongside those words were time and place where the writer planned to meet him.

He benefited from nothing if he were to answer the letter. However, since this matter could implicate Aoi, things would turn troublesome if he were to ignore it.

“It can’t be helped.”

Takayuki let out a sigh, folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

He figured that he could use the letter as evidence against the writer in the future.

* * *

It was currently 7pm. The place was a park about fifteen minutes away from school.

“Thank you for answering my challenge, Satou Takayuki. I appreciate it.”

When Takayuki arrived at the promised spot, he found a monster there. Well, not exactly a real monster, it was a person, but no one would bat an eye if someone were to call them a weirdo due to how they dressed. The person was dressed in a school uniform, but they were wearing a fox mask for some reason. With their husky voice, they called out to Takayuki.

“Glad to know that you aren’t a coward who’d run away from a challenge.”

Their words were intimidating, but Takayuki instead of being scared, Takayuki was bewildered.

“…Uh, sorry, Senpai, but, are you sure you’re right in the head?”

He doubted the sanity of the person in front of him. From the color of their tie, he guessed that they were a third year student. Takayuki suspected that they went insane because of the stress that the college entrance exam gave them.

“Senpai? What are you talking about? I’m just someone who can’t tolerate evildoers like you! I am the Fox Mask²It’s Kitsune Kamen, but Fox Mask sounds cringier.!”

“Okay, Fox Mask-san. By the way, you realized that your tie gave away your identity as a third year, right?”

“Hah! Good deduction, but not good enough! I praise you for having a good eye! Being able to tell the color of my tie in this darkness is impressive! However, this uniform isn’t mine! Too bad for you, you will never be able to find out my true identity just by looking at this uniform!”

“I see. So, you’ll be put in quite a difficult situation if you get that uniform dirty.”

“No, if possible I shouldn’t get it dirty… That person will scold me…”

Fox Mask flinched at Takayuki’s words, but after shaking their head, they regained their composure.

“…Even so, I don’t care! Even if I get scolded, I will never let someone who made my little sister³妹分/Imouto-bun is used here. It means someone that one considers as a little sister, not actual little sister. I don’t know if there’s an English equivalent to this word. cry off easy!”

‘Little sister?’ Takayuki was caught off guard by their words. No matter how much of a weirdo the person in front of him was, he couldn’t just treat someone who was close to Aoi roughly.

“Wait, I’m—”

“No! Not a single thing will come out of that mouth of yours, evildoer! Not before you taste my fist of justice first, then I’ll consider hearing your excuses!”

Before Takayuki could clear up the misunderstandings caused by his bad reputation, Fox Mask already made a move. Their anger seemed to have reached a boiling point as they immediately attacked Takayuki.

“Woah, time out, please. C’mon, let’s be civil and talk.”

“Just! Let! Me! Hit! You! First! Why can’t I hit you?! Stop evading my fists!”

“You really need to take off that stupid mask first.”

However, Fox Mask didn’t manage to land a single hit on Takayuki.

Partly because Takayuki was used to being in this situation, but it was mostly because of the mask that Fox Mask was wearing. It was clear that the mask hindered their vision, adding to the fact that their surroundings were dark. Under these conditions, even if Takayuki was a complete amateur in fistfight, he would still be able to evade Fox Mask’s assaults.

Being as he was now, not only was Takayuki able to evade their fists with ease, but he also had enough lenience to let his mind wander.

“Stop making fun of me!”

Fox Mask, taking his attitude as if he was mocking them, continued their reckless charge.

“Ah, that place is dangerous.”

“Trying to deceive me— Kya!”

With a thud, Fox Mask fell into the fountain.

“Gurggle!”

“What did I tell you? Calm down and take off that mask already!”

When someone was panicking, even a bowl of water could drown them, let alone a fountain. So, Takayuki hurriedly tried to rescue the person who had just tried to hit him. His uniform turned wet in no time, but he didn’t seem to care as he peeled the mask off the person’s face. Then, he lifted their body to take them away from the fountain.

But, since he did it in a hurry, the moment he lifted their body, he slipped up and fell down. Not only that, his hand managed to land on an unfortunate position, the person’s chest. Their faces were also close to each other as they could feel each other’s breaths.

“!”

Takayuki took a look at Fox Mask’s face.

Flax-colored hair that extended to their shoulders. Their face was smooth like a doll, an androgynous beauty. If angels were real, this was probably what they looked like.

“…A-Aaa…”

They couldn’t take their eyes off each other. Not long after that, Takayuki became aware of the soft sensation in his right hand, along with the feelings of touching something metallic with his fingers. As he moved his hand to confirm what it was that he touched, the face of the angel in front of him started to turn red.

“Kyaaa!”

With a girlish scream, the angel finally managed to land a good hit on Takayuki’s face.

* * *

“You want to get in touch with Satou-kun? Why?”

It was a little after Takayuki received a firm slap on his cheek.

Aoi was relaxing in her living room when her big sister asked her for something.

“I have a request for him.”

“A request?”

“Mhm. My friend in college said that he is a trustworthy person. They said that he occasionally helped people with problems that even the police found troublesome for a small pocket change.”

One could describe the person sitting in front of Aoi as a younger-looking Aoi. They had similar faces and the same hair color, except that this person had her hair tied into a side tail. Unlike Aoi who was wearing her sweatshirt, the other person wore a combination of shirt and skirt.

Her name was Miyama Renge.

She was a college student, the second oldest among the three Miyama sisters. Despite her appearance, she was Aoi’s older sister.

“…Ah, come to think of it, he did say that he used to do something like that.”

“Apparently so. I heard that he didn’t accept any payments for most of his deeds, but don’t worry, I’ll pay him properly. I could even pay him higher than the market price. So, can you introduce him to me?”

“…Sure.”

Unlike Renge, who was sitting properly on the couch, Aoi was lying down on the tatami mat. Outside her house, she tried to maintain a perfect appearance, but inside, she acted like a lazy house cat.

“Why are you asking me this, though? I held him in high regard, but he’s still my classmate. I don’t really want to put him in danger unnecessarily.”

Earlier today, their mother told Aoi that Renge had something to say to her, but never did she expect that it was a matter concerning Takayuki. Apparently, Renge had been thinking about asking for his help ever since Aoi started talking about him in a good mood during one of their small talks.

“Fair enough. I need him to guard someone. There’s someone who got themselves into trouble and is in need of a little protection until things calm down a little.”

“A bodyguard job?… You realized that Satou-kun is a high school student, right? His capabilities aside, do you think he could just ditch school to guard your acquaintance, Renge-nee?”

“My acquaintance is also a high school student, so that isn’t a problem.”

“Hm?”

“That person is a third year at your school, Aoi. Haru-kun.”

Haru-kun.

Aoi’s heart no longer ached when hearing that name. The only feelings she had left toward that person was guilt. They reconciled a long time ago, but hearing their name again still made Aoi surprised.

“Haru-kun? Last time I heard that there was a clingy girl that kept sticking to that guy like glue. Is this a similar case to that one?”

“Yes. This time Haru-kun is stalked by a younger girl. She used to steal small things like erasers or key chains, but lately, she started sending that guy questionable letters.”

“…Must be tough being good-looking.”

“You, well rather, we don’t really have the right to say that.”

“In our case, we shed enough blood so that no one will dare to do something like that to us anymore. But Haru-kun is too kind for that. I could guess that that guy is trying to be considerate to that girl.”

“Obviously. But, at least that guy consulted me about this matter. You could say that Haru-kun had grown up a little.”

“Good grief.” Renge sighed. Her gesture was similar to Aoi’s. Then she continued her explanation.

“Anyway, that’s why I want him to stay close to Haru-kun. Of course, I don’t expect him to act like a professional bodyguard. His presence should be enough to make the girl hesitate a little. What do you think?”

“I don’t know. Will he take on this kind of job if it’s unrelated to his consultation gig? Anyway, isn’t it better if I were the one who guards him instead?”

“No. You stand out too much. Besides—”

Just before Renge was about to bring up Aoi’s black history, the bell rang.

“It’s probably Haru-kun. We promised to meet up in person to discuss the details of this situation. I’ll go fetch him.”

“I’ll go with you. That guy is still my senpai, I need to show my face at least.”

“While wearing that loose sweatshirt?”

The pair of beautiful sisters went to the entrance to greet what they expected to be Haru-kun. But, instead of Haru-kun, they were greeted by a pair of idiots instead. They reacted the same way when seeing the pair.

““What are you doing? Are you an idiot?””

“Hello, I’m the Wet Man.”

“Hello, I’m the Wet Woman.”

The pair of idiots in front of the two sisters called themselves youkai.

* * *

When Aoi heard about what happened to them, she let out a sigh.

“You know, Haru-kun? I’ve already made peace with this Wet Man– I mean, Satou-kun. In the first place, I owed him more than he owed me, so even if he goes out of his way to hurt me, it’s all fine for me. Also, even if I have some grudge with him, that doesn’t mean you should seek him out and try to teach him a lesson. Are you an idiot?”

Aoi, who was currently giving a sermon, was already changed into a more proper loungewear. Mostly because Takayuki was here.

“It’s dangerous to do something like that. Think about my feelings. What if something happens to you? From now on, don’t act like a hot-head, stop being impulsive. It doesn’t suit your look at all. Do you understand? Answer me.”

“Hic! I-I understand… I’ll reflect on my actions…”

The Wet Woman, Amamiya Haruka, was currently being scolded by the younger Miyama sister. She had already changed into Aoi’s spare clothes after taking a light shower. The bravado that she had when facing Takayuki was gone, replaced by a sulky look.

“Sorry for disturbing you this late at night. I’ll repay you for your kindness.”

“No need, one of our relatives is involved in this anyway.”

Next to them were Renge and Takayuki. Contrary to the pair beside them, they had a mature and polite exchange. Despite his appearance, Takayuki could act very politely in a situation like this.

“Moving on. You came at the perfect timing, Satou Takayuki. I want to talk to you… No, I have a request to make. It’s concerning that idiot over there.”

“A request?”

“Wait, sister!”

“You see…”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Just when Aoi and Renge were talking about them, both Takayuki and Haruka came knocking at their front doors. Since the concerned parties were both here, Renge figured that she might as well tell them everything, despite her little sister trying to stop her.

“What do you think? I can pay you this much for it. Of course, you can go home first to think it over. We can discuss the contract details at a later date if you agree.”

Asked Renge with a perfect smile.

The amount of money that she offered to Takayuki was more than enough for her to hire a professional bodyguard or private detective.

“…That’s a lot of money. Uh… Miyama-nee-san?”

“Oh my, you noticed?”

“Yeah. You seem more mature than you look.”

“Hehe, I see. I’m a college student. I’ve heard interesting rumors about you in my college. Like for example, you’re close with the daughter of the Takayama family, aren’t you? You even acted as her bodyguard a few times.”

“This world is filled with loose-tongued people, huh?”

“I also heard from somewhere that the reason why she’s so fond of you is because you saved her when she ran away from home. Huh? Why does this story sound familiar, I wonder?”

“Ugh…”

Aoi, who remembered the time when she troubled her entire family, clutched her chest on the spot.

“Ugh… B-But, this and that is different! Satou-kun, know your limits! Don’t act beyond what a high school student should do! Don’t worry about Haru-kun, we’ll take care of her!”

Despite the futility, Aoi tried to dissuade Takayuki from agreeing out of concern for him.

“Well, I don’t intend to force you. You can refuse if you want to.”

Seeing Aoi’s reaction, Renge narrowed her eyes and said in a flat tone.

“However, I just want to say that you’re the best person that I could ask for the job, Satou Takayuki-kun. Of course, I have a backup plan, so you don’t need to dwell over this too much if you really don’t want to do it. Just keep in mind that I’m someone who values track record. I’d rather entrust this matter to a stranger with a track record than an acquaintance with none. It’s safer that way.”

“You’ve never even met me before this. Are you sure you want to trust me with this matter?”

“That’s why I wanted to meet you personally in the first place, to make sure that I can trust you. Though, Aoi is a better judge of character than me, so I concluded that I can trust you on this matter.”

“…I see.”

After mulling over Renge’s words that came with her beautiful smile, Takayuki turned his attention to Aoi, who was sitting beside Renge.

Flustered after seeing Takayuki turn his attention on her, Aoi turned her head away. Despite her words of concern, she actually had been looking at him with expectations since a while ago. It seemed like she was unable to suppress her expectations for him.

“First thing first. I want to straighten this up. I’m a love consultant not a bodyguard. I might be unable to bring the result that you expected.”

“I understand. Though, I heard from the rumors that you’re quite a capable bodyguard.”

“Well, it’s still not my main occupation, so don’t expect too much from me. Next, I have prior plans. I might have to prioritize them over my guarding duty depending on the circumstances. If that’s okay with you, I’m okay with taking the job. Regarding payment, I’ll receive it until the job is over. Just in case.”

“Hehe, you’re surprisingly thorough despite your appearance, huh? Anything else?”

In response to Renge’s words, Takayuki moved his arm and pointed at Haruka’s direction politely.

“The person who’s the center of this whole thing seems unsatisfied by this arrangement.”

Haruka, who was dressed in a fluffy-looking loungewear, was listening to their conversation with a red-face.

“Renge-san, I don’t need a bodyguard! I’m still a member of the volleyball club, I’m strong enough to protect myself! Besides, the culprit is also a girl! I don’t believe that I can’t outrun her when it comes to it! …A-Also, it’s embarrassing to be followed around by a younger boy!”

“Haru-kun— No, Haruka. I’ll tell you this, but you’re way weaker than you think. Besides, your current appearance is embarrassing enough already. You don’t need to concern yourself with that.”

“Classic Haru-kun. You look like a reliable, smart and handsome boy, but in truth you’re just a hot-blooded girl who flunked her exam often.”

“Don’t bring my exam into this!”

Hearing the precise assessment of the Miyama Sisters, Haruka’s eyes started to tear up. Knowing that she couldn’t go against them, she glared at Takayuki instead.

“In any case, I don’t trust this guy! Sure, it was my misunderstanding that led me to attacking him, but the fact that there are a lot of bad rumors surrounding him is true! No matter how much you two trust him, I can’t bring myself to trust him at all! Above all! This guy had the audacity to rub my breast–”

“It was an accident.”

Before Haruka said anything else, Takayuki cut her off and explained the circumstances to the Miyama Sisters.

He had already apologized countless times on the way to Miyama’s house, so the matter should already be resolved. But, rather than caring about what Haruka was thinking, he was more afraid of the Miyama Sisters’ reactions.

“Satou-kun.”

“Yes.”

“Did you do it?”

“I was helping her when she fell down to a fountain.”

“Did you do it?”

“…I did.”

“Hmm… I see.”

“Can you just scold me instead? That reaction scares me.”

Right after that, Aoi smirked at him. At that moment Takayuki realized that she gained new material to blackmail him with. Meanwhile Haruka received huge damage from Renge’s remark about her situation; “It isn’t like there’s much to rub, though.”

In the end, the situation was too chaotic for them to come to a conclusion. They decided to break up for the moment and discuss it at a later date.

* * *

Seven years ago. During the summer vacation.

For Aoi, that day was the day when she met her hero, a day that she’d never forget for the rest of her life. For Takayuki, it was the biggest turning point in his life.

“Wait for me here, okay? I need to prepare something!”

“…Are you leaving me?”

Holding the flashlight under the dark path of the mountain, there was no fear in Takayuki’s eyes. Instead, what he was feeling was a sense of elation. He was sure that his grandfather would praise him for finding the missing Aoi.

There was no hesitation in his heart when he decided to use the hairpin that his grandfather gave him.

“Haha, I won’t leave you! I just need to prepare! I’ll tell you this, my hairpin has a special power! I need to use it to transform into a real hero!”

“What’s that? That sounds dumb.”

“Hahaha, maybe you’re right. But, I’ll do my best to make it happen! Will you trust me?”

“…If you leave me here, I’ll break your fingers.”

Even after receiving a scary threat from the girl that he tried to save, his feelings didn’t change. For Takayuki, his feelings about the girl didn’t matter. Yes, he wasn’t really fond of the girl, but that wasn’t enough of a reason to abandon her here. He moved further away from Aoi’s side.

“Oh my, this is a surprise~ My contractor this time is a young boy, huh?~”

He summoned the witch. The boy wasn’t surprised by her presence as he was certain that she’d answer his call.

Then, she told him about the price that he had to pay. Again, he wasn’t surprised. He just accepted everything and their conversation went smoothly.

“Okay, to make it more fair, I’ll give you a little bonus. Later, if you want to take your wish back—”

Even the witch took pity on his delusion and ignorance and ended up giving him a special treatment that none of her other contractors received.

“You have to find your love. Love is the thing that you need to free yourself from the curse that is tied to your ability.”

For the young Takayuki, her words didn’t mean anything. It sounded pretty and awesome, but ultimately, it didn’t change his decision. Without paying any more attention to it, he paid the price for the contract.

Even after seven years had passed, he still didn’t know that those words were his only hope.

* * *

“Guess your ability doesn’t come with protection from cold, huh, Satou-kun?”

“Cough! God, I wish…”

Next day. The planned discussion was canceled due to half of the participants catching a cold.

“Now that I think about it, you two walked quite a distance to get to my house. Knowing Tohoku’s night, it would be a miracle that you two would be healthy after that.”

“…Your point is? Also, why are you even here?”

“To bring your uniform to you. My mom already washed it clean.”

Currently, Aoi was visiting Takayuki’s room.

It was a holiday, the time was during late afternoon. To be exact, it was 2pm. Takayuki’s room was dimly lit. The light source came from the faint light that seeped through the curtain. One could hear the pattering sound of rain from inside the room.

“Ugh, damn… How did you find my address?… Ah, right, your mom… I knew that something was up when she said she’d wash my uniform for me and asked for my address…”

“Well, it was our relative’s mistakes that caused you to be in that kind of situation. It was the least thing that we could do for you. When she heard that you caught a cold, she told me to visit and take care of you.”

“And my mom didn’t stop you?”

“She entrusted her idiotic son to me with a smile. Actually, I want to refuse her, but I couldn’t bring myself to.”

“You put in quite the effort or someone who’s unwilling. Why are you even peeling that apple for me?”

“Even if I’m unwilling at heart, I should at least do this much to a patient.”

Other than the pattering sound of the rain and the ticking sound of the clock, the only other sound that could be heard was the sound that Aoi made when she was peeling the apple in her hand.

“Here.”

After she had done peeling and cutting the apple, she placed it on a white plate made of porcelain.

“…”

“Hm? Do you want me to feed you? It can’t be helped then, open wide~”

“Stop it.”

Takayuki sent her a sour look before glancing at the apples that she had cut. Not only did she make a rabbit with it, she even went out of her way to make a phoenix. The phoenix looked so beautiful that it made him reluctant to eat it.

“Miyama.”

“What is it?”

“Are you mad with me? Wait, no, are you actually nervous?”

“Hehe…”

Aoi proceeded to cut her work of art into smaller pieces and shoved one of them to Takayuki’s mouth.

“Mmph!”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Satou-kun. Yes, this is my first time being in a boy’s room, but I don’t feel nervous or anything.”

“Nom nom… Well, you seem restless ever since you entered my room. You can look around if you want, not that there’s anything interest—”

“Can I turn the light on?”

“So you really are going to look around.”

When Takayuki gave her permission, Aoi, without hesitation, turned on the light in the room. Then, without reservation, she looked around the room, observing every corner that she could lay her eyes on.

“Hoho~”

Aoi didn’t know anything about a boy’s room, but she found Takayuki’s room quite tidy.

There were only a few notable things in his room. The only furniture that stood out were his bed, a bookshelf, a study desk and a built-in closet at the back of the room.

“A bookshelf, huh? The books are all of different genres. Oh, you got quite a lot of romance books. Come to think of it, you reviewed some of these on your social media. Do you like them? Romance, I mean.”

Among the furniture, the first one that caught Aoi’s attention was the bookshelf. Despite the variation of genres, most of the books were romance. There were some books about psychology mixed in too.

“Not really. I don’t particularly like it, but I don’t hate it either. Well, if you want to be a love counselor, then you’d have to do this much research at least, no?”

“What a diligent guy.”

Hearing that clear cut answer made Aoi sigh in amazement.

Takayuki proclaimed himself as a ‘love counselor,’ at first Aoi thought that it sounded so childish, but seeing how much effort he actually put in made her appreciate him a bit more.

“Then again, even after reading all those books, I still couldn’t understand what exactly is ‘love.’”

“Really? From the way you handled Tomoe’s case, I thought you’d be more experienced in this matter.”

“Because I was pretty much a bystander then. I could see it clearly from that perspective. I’ve never actually experienced it myself.”

“Hmm… Do you have a type of girl that you like?”

“I love me a seductive and kind girl.”

“You’re the worst.”

“What do you mean? That’s a normal taste for a high school boy like me.”

However, that appreciation Aoi had was soon lost due to Takayuki’s own words.

“Hmm… Can I ask you something? There are notebooks with ‘for research’ notes on them. What is it for?”

When she was trying to find other interesting things, Aoi found a stack of notebooks lined up on the shelf of Takayuki’s study desk.

“Hm? Ah, those… You can read them if you want to. They aren’t that interesting, though.”

“Are you sure? You’re letting me recite your black history out loud?”

“Don’t recite it out loud! Well, it isn’t exactly my black history. I mean, it’s still ongoing and stuff…”

“What?”

Takayuki’s vague words made Aoi tilt her head in confusion. She then took one of the notebooks and opened it. As expected, the notebook was filled with letters. They looked wriggly, if someone were to tell Aoi that the letters were arranged by ants, she’d believe it. Though, they weren’t completely unreadable.

“Satou-kun.”

“Hm?”

“When did you start writing this?”

“Ah, around the end of my second year of middle school? I just wrote all the stupid things that came to my mind. It’s dumb, really.”

Takayuki let out a wry smile, but unlike his usual smile, it looked like he was in pain.

What was written in the notebook was the result of his research. To be more specific, it contained Takayuki’s view about love.

It compiled various love stories, from fictional ones to real life ones. Analysis about how people came to love each other. The notebook was filled to the brim with those cases, along with the question, ‘Why does love exist?’

“…I don’t think you could describe this as ‘dumb,’ this is easily beyond that.”

The dense amount of information made it seem that he had a particular obsession toward this topic. Aoi had never seen another person around their age who’d give this much thought toward love.

‘Why did he do this?’ Aoi wondered. The obvious answer would be because of his consultation gig.

But Aoi gave it more thought. ‘Why did he start the gig in the first place? Because of his ability? But, why? He gave up on becoming a hero, but he went out of his way trying to use his ability to help other people, even though he knew the risk of doing so.’

“Satou-kun, that…”

Right before she was about to ask him the question that bugged her, she stopped.

She remembered the time when Takayuki kept her mouth shut, refusing to answer said question. They weren’t close enough for him to tell her his circumstances, Aoi was painfully aware of this fact.

So, she decided to change her question. After all, she could try to ask that other question later when they became closer than they currently were.

“Why did you stop being a hero?”

“…That isn’t something you should ask a patient.”

Hearing her question made Takayuki narrowed his eyes, but his smile didn’t fade.

“Sorry. It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me. I’d appreciate it if you were to tell me about it, though…”

Her words were laced with pain, but she managed to force them out of her throat.

“You know, a long time ago, there was this little brat who thought that she was a princess. The little brat was talented, she could do anything easily, but that made her conceited and she grew up to be a selfish brat. She became arrogant… No, she didn’t even know what arrogance meant back then. She was just that stupid. In any case, she thought that the world revolved around her.”

“I see. But, at least everyone fawned on that little brat.”

“I guess so. Anyway, she grew up to be selfish. Because she had a good-looking face, she started to look for a good-looking prince. And then she found a kind older sister who fit that role. That older sister happened to be someone who often wore boy clothes and her face was also to the princess’ liking. Honestly, rather than looking for a ‘prince’ specifically, that little brat just wanted someone who’d listen to her selfish desires. As long as they were good-looking and kind, no matter the gender, she’d still try to make them her possession.”

Aoi continued her words. There was an awkward smile on her face.

“Unfortunately for her, said older sister managed to see through her shallow thinking. So, she refused her confession. It was obviously for her sake, the older sister just didn’t want her to be selfish for the rest of her life. Too bad it backfired on the older sister. The little brat was a fool. Instead of trying to think what she had done wrong, she hurt the kind older sister and troubled everyone around her. On top of that she went out of her way to hide in the mountain to guilt trip everyone who cared about her.”

“I feel bad for everyone who spent the night trying to look for her sorry ass.”

“Well, after they found her, they scolded her really hard. They made sure that she regretted her action and ever since then she never attempted to do the same thing ever again. But, it wasn’t the scolding that made her change for the better. It was the hero… The boy who came to save her…”

Aoi glanced at Takayuki.

The latter returned her gaze silently.

“She was suffering by herself in the darkness. It was the boy who offered his hand and saved her. He granted her wishes that she thought would never come true at that time. For a long time, she wanted to give her thanks to that boy…”

Aoi knew that her words wouldn’t change anything. But, she wanted to say it anyway. Chances like this wouldn’t come often, after all.

“Thank you for saving me back then. You were very cool, you know?”

“…”

“I-I’m just thanking you, okay? D-Don’t think much of it!”

She held her face in her hands.

The embarrassment she felt made her want to turn her face away, but she didn’t want to miss his reaction. Through the gaps between her fingers, she continued to stare at Takayuki’s face.

“I see.”

Takayuki closed his eyes for a moment before turning his face toward the ceiling

He still wore the same irreverent and fearless smile, but the tone of his voice was considerably softer than usual. The words that came out of his mouth afterwards were filled with both nostalgia and regret.

“You know, I don’t think it’s right to let a girl embarrass herself like this. Also, being sick made me feel like talking about the old days…”

And so, he decided to tell her his story.

The story that turned the boy who aspired to be a hero into a boy who called himself a monster.

* * *

Seven years ago. At the end of summer vacation.

Takayuki’s grandfather passed away after saving a little girl.

There was a landslide that year and a house was buried by it. To save a little girl who was left behind in a mudslide, he received a fatal injury and ended up bleeding to his death. The cause of the injury was because during the process of him saving the girl, a piece of debris impaled his abdomen and he prioritized saving the girl over treating his own injury.

Takayuki thought that it was a fitting end for him, but for some reason, he shed no tears during the funeral. The same thing happened when he bid his final farewell to his grandfather’s body and after he picked up his ashes. Until he graduated from grade school and became a middle schooler, he never mourned his grandfather’s death.

Instead, he became more invested in his heroism acts. He knew that there was no point in doing any of those since his grandfather wouldn’t be there to praise him, but that didn’t stop him. Takayuki was determined to grow to be a man like his grandfather, to be a hero.

In hindsight, it was just his childish attempt to escape from reality. It was just his way to take his mind off his grandfather’s death. In truth, he didn’t really want to be a hero.

“I can’t stand looking at you. If you really want to be a hero, then use your head better.”

But, even when he had that half-assed resolution, there was still someone who stood by his side.

Her name was Takayama Yui, Takayuki’s seatmate and someone that was involved with him quite deeply. She was the only person who could stop Takayuki from doing dumb things in the name of heroism.

“If you really want to help someone, then make sure to take care of yourself too. The way you’re right now, it feels like you want to hurt yourself rather than saving someone.”

Takayuki still remembered her words clearly.

Back then, he was sitting alone in an alleyway, his body ridden with injuries after a huge fight. Takayama approached him and threw a towel at his face, along with those words.

They already became good friends back then. Takayama was the only person who willingly went along with Takayuki’s antics, despite her grumpy look and harsh complaints. She was someone that Takayuki cherished from the bottom of his heart.

“Seriously, stop this already, you look like an idiot! Look at yourself! You got broken bones everywhere! Your condition is bad enough to be hospitalized! Why do you still care about other people? Hey, did you even notice that I was worried sick about you?! When I heard that you got into an accident after saving that child, I almost got a heart attack! Yet you still!—”

It was Takayama’s words that stopped Takayuki’s foolishness.

When he was hit by a car to protect a child, trying to act selflessly like his grandfather, he didn’t feel anything in particular. Takayama’s words inflicted more damage to him than the car ever did.

“Right now you aren’t a hero. You’re a monster. A monster who hides behind a cloak of justice. A monster who loves to hurt itself, everyone around it and laughs at their pain.”

Red-faced, Takayama stared at Takayuki’s limp body on the hospital bed. Her silver-rimmed glass was clouded because of her tears. Seeing this, something clicked in Takayuki’s mind.

His deepest desire, what he wanted to do. It was to scold his grandfather like what Takayama was currently doing.

“I see. I’m not a hero, huh?”

At that moment, he could finally let out the tears that he had been holding back for years.

Through those tears, he managed to accept the reality that he wasn’t a hero.

* * *

“In the end, we are the same kind of person, Miyama. Blinded by our own arrogance, we did nothing but troubling people around us. Only after we hurt someone precious to us that we regret everything. Both of us were fools, really…”

“…I’m a woman, though.”

“For you specifically, a dumb bitch.”

“Haha, that’s pretty mean of you.”

After Takayuki finished his story, both of them looked at each other and laughed. The laugh was a sign that they could relate to each other.

“Well, that’s why I stopped hanging out with Takayama… She still checks up on me occasionally to see if I’m doing well, though.”

“…Um, Satou-kun, is the Takayama you’re talking about that girl from class A? The one wearing silver-rimmed glass?”

“You know her?”

“Yeah, kind of. I guess I can call her a friend.”

“I see. Don’t say anything about me in front of her face. She’ll get very grumpy if you do.”

“But, it seems like she still cares about you.”

“I know. She’s kind to a fault, really. Like I said, she’s still occasionally checking up on me to see how I’m doing. I don’t deserve her, really…”

Takayuki’s shoulders slumped as he let out a deep sigh.

“…Satou-kun.”

“Anyway, there you have it. I really wish I gave up on being a hero before things turned out that way. The bad thing about me is that when I decided to do something, I ended up getting tunnel-visioned and unable to see what was going on around me. Not to mention that I never regretted anything afterwards, no matter how dumb my actions were. I guess that was what made Takayama disgusted by me.”

He was smiling, but his smile looked unfamiliar to Aoi. Seeing this smile, she realized that she really didn’t know anything about the boy in front of him. They weren’t close enough, after all, merely classmates, no more, no less.

But, they could become closer. Aoi didn’t want to keep the status quo. She wanted to stand side by side with him, not admiring his back like what she always did in these past seven years. So, she gathered her remaining courage.

“Um… S-Satou-kun, I have a suggestion.”

“Suggestion?”

“Yeah, so, to prevent ourselves from making any more mistakes, we need someone to keep an eye on both of us, right? You had Takayama-san to act as that person for you, but you don’t want to trouble her anymore, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Same as me, I have my bad friend to restrain me, but I don’t think I can keep relying on her, you know…”

Takayuki nodded to her words. Aoi then reached out her hand to him.

“So, why don’t we be partners? Let’s keep an eye on each other so that we won’t make any more mistakes. We’re the perfect partners for each other, I can still remember your ability and you know my dark past. I believe that you’ll notice if I were to revert back into a selfish little brat. You can restrain me if that were to happen.”

There was a cheerful smile on her face as she reached out her hand to him. Inwardly, though, her mind was in chaos. ‘Would he reject me? What if I said something that put him off? Seriously, what’s wrong with me?!’

Despite her anxiety though, she managed to keep up a good front.

“Haha… Well, if you don’t mind taking care of a monster like me, sure.”

The moment he took Aoi’s hand, Takayuki’s fearless smile became a genuine smile. Meanwhile, Aoi’s smile matched that of a blooming flower. No, it was even prettier than that.

“Hehehe, then we got a deal? Anyway, for someone who’s calling himself a monster, you’re actually quite a decent guy. On the inside at least, I mean, you look like a delinquent.”

“Well, I promised Takayama to dress up this way, can’t just change the way I dress at this point. Besides…”

At this point, Aoi realized that she was practically squeezing Takayuki’s hand. She was about to loosen her grip, but she noticed a change in Takayuki’s expression.

“I think it’s correct to call someone who’s using his ability for his own personal gain a ‘monster.’”

After a slight pause, his irreverent smile turned into that of a self-mockery.

It was that moment when Aoi realized that the distance between them didn’t get that much closer at all. She still had a long way to go before she was able to walk side by side with him.

Even so, she decided to stay by his side to prove that the feelings that she held for him weren’t a mistake.

She had yet to know that her determination would be shattered to pieces in the near future.