"Kita-sama, thank you for the treat."
After teasing Kita, Kitahara left satisfied.
Arriving at the parking shed, Hitori was already hiding in the corner, cautiously looking around like a mouse preparing to forage.
Upon seeing Kitahara approach, Hitori's eyes immediately lit up:
"Kitahara-kun… can we go back now?"
Kitahara nodded: "We're going home."
"Mhm, mhm."
Hitori happily nodded, picked up her helmet, and prepared to put it on.
"No rush." Kitahara handed her a can of fruit juice, "It's hot, let's have something to drink before we set off."
"Okay…"
Hitori naturally didn't suspect anything.
She took the drink with both hands and began to sip it.
As the cool, sweet and sour grape juice flowed into her mouth, Hitori's eyes quietly curved into crescent moons.
"Hitori, has your class decided on an activity?"
Kitahara asked casually.
"It's already decided." There was no one else under the parking shed, so Hitori had no problem speaking, though her voice was still very soft, "We're going to hold a cafe."
Kitahara raised an eyebrow and looked at her: "A Maid Cafe?"
"That…"
"Although it's a class activity, Hitori, you don't have to serve guests."
"Huh?"
Hitori looked up blankly.
Kitahara said straightforwardly, "Only I can see Hitori's maid outfit; no one else can."
"Ah…"
Hitori's small face quickly flushed red. She shyly lowered her head to look at her toes and stammered in a low voice, "Th-that… Kitahara-kun misunderstood…"
Kitahara asked, puzzled, "Isn't it a maid café?"
"It's not…" Hitori quickly shook her head, shyly explaining, "It's a butler café. Boys wear maid outfits, and girls are only responsible for preparing ingredients and making coffee."
Kitahara: "…"
Good heavens, it's actually a butler café! Your class is too abstract!
"As long as Hitori and Kita don't wear maid outfits, it's fine." Kitahara felt relieved and subtly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, Hitori, do you want to sign up for the School Festival performance?"
Kitahara lowered his voice, "Guitar Hero is so amazing. If she performs on stage, she'll definitely receive countless applause and cheers, and then become a campus superstar, right?"
Hitori quickly shook her head in a panic:
"I-I can't…"
Although she had gotten a little stronger over the past six months, Hitori was still essentially a socially anxious girl. The moment she thought about performing alone on stage, her social anxiety would act up. Her mind would involuntarily start imagining various mistakes, such as suddenly falling flat on her face, forgetting how to play the guitar, and so on. So, even though she really wanted to sign up, after much deliberation, Hitori, as always, chose to back down.
Avoiding is shameful but very useful.
"What a pity."
Kitahara finished his drink in one gulp:
"We don't even know if there will be a School Festival next year."
"…Ah?"
Hitori tilted her small face up, her peach blossom eyes secretly peeking over, looking a bit dazed.
Kitahara surveyed the gradually quiet campus and said softly, "The next School Festival will have to wait until October of next year… The invasion of Otherworld is accelerating. Perhaps by this time next year, the apocalypse will have officially arrived."
"…"
Hitori parted her lips, and a small play involuntarily began in her mind.
One year later.
The apocalypse had quietly arrived.
A blood moon hung high in the night sky.
Countless demons roamed the city, and humans could only cower in dark corners, barely surviving.
Those ordinary school days had quietly become the most beautiful memories.
(She was hiding in a cold, damp basement, with only one last box of matches left beside her…)
Hitori was lost in her imaginative little play, unable to extricate herself for a moment.
(With a trembling right hand, she lit a match. In the flickering firelight, she returned to her former school…)
(The school in her memory hadn't turned into ruins yet. Students gathered in groups of three or five, and there was sunshine and laughter everywhere… She, on the other hand, had become a campus superstar, her identity as Guitar Hero known to everyone…)
(The match went out.)
(The warm memory quietly vanished, and before her eyes, the desperate, cold basement reappeared…)
"N-no!"
Hitori instinctively cried out.
(It's so painful… Such a regretful life is truly unbearable, absolutely not!)
"What's wrong, Hitori?"
Kitahara asked softly.
"I-I'm fine…"
Hitori came back to her senses, secretly clenched her fists, her courage value quickly reaching its maximum, and stammered, "I-I'm going to the bathroom!"
Kitahara nodded, "I'll wait here for Hitori to come back."
"Mhm."
Hitori quickly finished her drink, then jogged towards the school building.
Kitahara waited for a moment, then quietly followed.
A moment later.
Looking at Hitori standing in front of a trash can, bending over and rummaging for something, Kitahara's eyes showed a hint of a smile:
"Hitori has grown…"
Kita hadn't secretly given the registration form to the student council, and he hadn't lectured or forced her. Hitori had made the choice entirely based on her own heart. Compared to Hitori half a year ago, Hitori had indeed grown a lot.
"No… Why can't I find it…"
Hitori's low murmur drifted over with the wind.
Of course she couldn't find it! Your registration form was already picked up by Kita!
Kitahara was about to step forward when his gaze suddenly caught sight of a serious-looking girl with long black hair walking around the corner. It was secretary from the student council.
Their eyes met.
Matsuzaka instinctively wanted to turn and avoid him.
"Come here."
Kitahara raised his right hand and beckoned gently.
Seeing Kitahara's gesture, secretary paused, bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth,
then walked towards Kitahara.
"Kitahara-kun, thank you for last night…"
Matsuzaka came forward and immediately bowed in thanks.
"Last night was just a coincidence." Kitahara waved his hand and said in a low voice, "There's something I want to ask Matsuzaka-senpai."
"Wh-what is it?"
Matsuzaka's voice trembled slightly, clearly a bit nervous.
There's an unwritten rule in human society: strong people generally don't seek help from weaker ones. For example, adults don't ask elementary school students for directions, and if a man needs a hand, he'll prioritize another man, not ask a girl for help. If things are out of the ordinary, then one should consider if the other party has ulterior motives.
"Kitahara-kun is so amazing, is there anything I can help him with?"
Matsuzaka asked herself.
"There's nothing at all, right?"
A boy she didn't usually interact with suddenly asking for help from a "weak girl" like her, it seemed strange no matter how she looked at it, right?
"Could it be an excuse to help, to take me to an empty, secluded classroom, and then…"
The images in her mind gradually turned bad, causing secretary's face to quickly flush crimson.
Kitahara naturally didn't know why she was blushing, and said softly, "Matsuzaka-senpai, please bring an activity registration form."
"Eh?"
Matsuzaka looked up blankly.
"It's like this…"
Kitahara softly explained what had happened:
"So, I'm counting on Matsuzaka-senpai."
He had originally intended to go himself and give the registration form Kita had handed over to Hitori, but upon careful thought, it seemed inappropriate. If Hitori saw the registration form, she would naturally understand that his previous 'thoughtless remark' actually had an ulterior motive, so it was better to have someone else help.
Matsuzaka quietly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly calmed down:
"I understand… I happen to have a registration form in my bag. I'll take it to Hitori-chan right away."
Kitahara nodded gently:
"Don't say this has anything to do with me."
"Please rest assured, I've noted it down."
Matsuzaka bowed slightly, walked around the corner, and approached Hitori.
After some conversation, Hitori successfully obtained a brand new activity registration form.
Kitahara quietly withdrew his gaze and turned to go downstairs ahead of her.
A moment later.
"Kitahara-kun, I'm back…"
Hitori jogged back. She wasn't wearing her school uniform, but her characteristic pink tracksuit. Although the style was loose, Kitahara could vaguely hear a 'puyo puyo' sound.
"You're all sweaty from running. Why were you in such a hurry?"
Kitahara nonchalantly handed her a tissue.
Hitori took the tissue, wiped her sweat, and stammered in a low voice, "W-worrying that Kitahara-kun would be anxious waiting…"
"I wasn't anxious at all." Kitahara said with burning eyes, "But Hitori must be uncomfortable right now, right?"
"Ah?"
Hitori looked up blankly.
"The weather is hot, and you're sweating so much. If you don't pay attention to cleanliness, you'll quickly get heat rash." Kitahara said with a righteous expression, "So, do you want to go to an onsen?"
Hitori's small face immediately flushed red, and she quickly raised her hand to cover her chest:
"N-no onsen… I'm not uncomfortable today…"
Kitahara said at his leisure, "Speaking of which, when we went to Kagoshima for summer vacation, Hitori gave me three onsen tickets, didn't she?"
"Eh eh eh?"
Hearing Kitahara bring up the old matter, Hitori immediately panicked.
Kitahara smiled:
"Today, I'll use one onsen ticket to exchange for Hitori's private onsen."
Hitori: "…"
She couldn't go back on the onsen tickets she had given out, so Hitori had no choice but to shyly agree.
Time flew by, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Kitahara had not been idle these past few days. Besides saving one questioning opportunity for later, he had used all his other questioning opportunities to gather information related to the mastermind.
It was regrettable that not much useful information was collected, only that the mastermind came from Otherworld, possessed intelligence, and would sense it if their true name was uttered, and so on… In short, it was very tricky.
In addition, the answer book was not truly omnipotent. When asked about the mastermind's abilities, location, etc., the answers given were completely uninterpretable.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that even if he continued to operate covertly, the mastermind would not launch another attack for a while.
"Is it because of 'Serious Punch'?"
Kitahara understood in his heart.
"As long as I am strong enough, even the mastermind will be wary…"
A sense of urgency quietly welled up in his heart.
"Become stronger!"
"I can't miss any daily tasks; I must become stronger as quickly as possible!"
"…"
This morning, Kitahara arrived at school as usual and quickly noticed many onlookers secretly peeking, occasionally pointing and whispering.
"As expected, I don't want to be famous at all…"
Kitahara sighed helplessly.
Several days passed, and the short film shot during the summer vacation quietly gained popularity online. To be fair, the plot wasn't particularly outstanding, as it was a work produced in just over a month, but the perfect combination of story and song caused its ratings to soar.
As the short film gained prominence, it was quickly discovered by the students at school, then spread from one to two, and two to four. In just a day or two, Kitahara, Kita, and Anon topped the campus headlines, becoming instantly known to everyone.
Even during class breaks, girls from other grades would run over, pretending to casually pass by the classroom door, just to catch a glimpse of Kitahara.
A moment later.
Astronomical Club activity room.
Knock knock knock.
Kitahara raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Please come in."
Tomori's calm and pleasant voice came from inside.
Kitahara pushed the door open and found Kita, Anon, and Sakiko all present.
"Kitahara-kun, good morning." Anon put her hands on her hips, her voice clear, "How does it feel to be a campus superstar?"
"Not good at all." Kitahara said expressionlessly, walking to the table and sitting down, "I regret being the male lead of the movie."
"Don't say that. That was one of the best memories from summer vacation." Kita was full of energy, as if her entire being was radiating light, "After the movie became popular, many friends messaged me, praising how amazing I was. Even my parents said the acting and songs were great after watching the movie."
"Eh heh~"
Anon hummed proudly, her delicate chin raised high:
"When I woke up this morning, I even received a call from an unknown number, saying they wanted to invite me for a magazine shoot."
Anon was good in other aspects, but she had a slight vanity. Now that the short film was a great success, Anon became the focus of the entire school, and her vanity was naturally super satisfied.
Kitahara looked over at her upon hearing this: "Is Anon going to accept?"
"Of course, I refused." Anon shook her head decisively, "Although a magazine shoot sounds interesting, I'm so tired every day now that I have no energy to do anything else."
Tomori tilted her head curiously:
"Has Anon been very tired these past few days? Why are you so exhausted?"
"Cough cough…"
Anon's pretty face instantly flushed, she coughed twice guiltily, and stammered:
"The School Festival is coming soon, and there's a lot to do. I'm also planning to perform myself, so I'm very tired."
This was a lie.
The truth was that after Anon unlocked the [Night Campus] map, she often couldn't resist coming to play. Unfortunately, she was still a weakling, a typical 'bad but loves to play' type, with severely insufficient stamina.
"…Perverted brat!"
Sakiko's pretty face flushed slightly, and she turned to glare at Kitahara.
Kitahara looked innocent: "Why are you glaring at me, Sakiko?"
"You know perfectly well!"
Anon was a typical weakling, so she naturally called for external help. In fact, Sakiko had received subtle messages from Anon, so she was well aware of the situation.
"Kitahara-kun, we have a performance tonight!" Kita's voice was clear, "After the short film became popular, people are now specifically coming to watch the band perform. There's even a certain music competition that sent us an invitation to participate."
"That's amazing." Kitahara looked over admiringly, "Aim to conquer Tokyo Budokan within a month."
Kita couldn't help but retort:
"Conquering Tokyo Budokan in a month is too exaggerated; no one can do that!"
"…"
Listening to Kita's retort, Sakiko's mood subtly shifted for some reason.
(How strange… Why do I feel like if it were me, I might actually be able to conquer Tokyo Budokan in a month?)
After a brief chat, Kitahara and the girls went their separate ways to their classrooms.
In a flash, it was time for school.
As the bell rang, the teacher led in a gloomy girl with her right eye covered by a white eye patch:
"This is our new transfer student today, everyone welcome…"