So much for a "life talk"; in reality it was a one-sided session where Hiratsuka got put through the wringer. After that, a whole week passed without incident.
School as usual, livehouse training as usual.
By the way—because "So I Quit Music" exploded again on Yutube, STARRY picked up heat too.
Plenty of listeners came looking for "Teacher suki." But though several waves of them showed up, not a single person realized that the temp worker who sometimes swept and sometimes wiped tables—Aoki—was the "Teacher suki" they sought.
All in all, a few minor surprises, but the week went by peacefully.
Until the third weekend after his transfer.
After a week of steady rain, the weekend dawned bright and clear.
Plenty of free time. Because he'd gone to bed early Friday night, Aoki was up before the sun on Saturday.
The sky outside was just starting to go pale. The window didn't shut tight and the soundproofing was poor, so he could hear crows rasping in the distance from inside the room.
He got ready for a morning run. Learning from last time, he made sure to bring a trash bag.
There was a faint mist outside the apartment, but it didn't bother him. He tossed his trash and started jogging laps around the park.
He didn't run to improve his fitness. In fact, two or three times a week at an easy pace doesn't do much.
But rather than read or study with a foggy, just-woken brain, he preferred a few laps to clear his head.
After the run, he bought breakfast and ate at the shop, then headed back content.
Saturday morning, he planned to hit the bookstore.
He still had several volumes of Haruhi Suzumiya left. Tempting as it was to binge, everything in moderation—
Because he'd been rewarded with a "language learning talent," he intended to buy a self-study language textbook.
He hadn't decided which language. He could ponder it at the shop.
From seven to nine he puttered in his one-room. When it seemed time, he tidied up and headed out.
There was a small bookstore not far from his building, but with time to spare on a weekend, he skipped it.
He searched Google Maps, chose a shop about six kilometers away, took the train, and set out.
After a bumpy ride, he exited and walked to the store.
It was early on a Saturday, so not many people yet.
He found the language section and started carefully picking through.
After about twenty minutes, he checked out.
He'd chosen an introductory French text.
He knew French is hard, especially for self-study. Precisely because of that, and because he wanted to test how far this "language talent" could take him, he didn't hesitate.
He paid and stepped out. Since picking hadn't taken long, he decided to stroll a bit more.
So he wandered Shibuya at an unhurried pace—until—
A pet dog with a collar trotted past, something in its mouth; before he could see, it had trotted on.
Seconds later, a girl's breathless voice came from behind him:
"H–Hell… hound—st–stop… G–give—give me back my… Jet-Black Zex—Prototype II!"
The voice wasn't familiar, but the phrasing sure was…
He glanced back. When he saw the girl, he remembered.
An unmistakable ahoge on top, an eyepatch over her right eye, bandages around her left hand, a lolita mini-dress.
Takanashi Rikka. Advanced chūnibyō.
And her "Jet-Black Zex Prototype II" was probably…
He looked forward again. The dog had stopped trotting now that Rikka had halted.
The dog had a deep-black umbrella in its jaws and was staring at Rikka with vacant adorableness.
Aoki stood between girl and dog, glanced down at the dog, then back at the girl.
"Is this… your dog?" he asked Rikka.
She flinched. Her gaze moved from the dog to Aoki.
"T–The Hellhound is a demon temporarily contracted by a Holy Regulator. About a week from now, it'll be returned to Hell." Her voice stuck a little as she answered with grave seriousness.
Aoki arched a brow and nodded.
He'd understood.
"Then why didn't the Holy Regulator keep this Hellhound under control? It even attacked you."
Rikka blinked, then light flared in her eye.
No more stammer; she declared, "I tried to turn this Hell Beast to our side while the Holy Regulator let down his guard. Unfortunately… I failed."
"So that's why your… Jet-Black Zex Prototype II got snatched… by it?"
Her eye shone brighter. She nodded vigorously.
"Hm…"
Aoki thought, then crouched.
He beckoned the dog. The next second, the dog that had been prancing with the umbrella came bobbing docilely over.
Dogs are like that—chase them and they think it's a game; stop and beckon and they come happily.
He took the umbrella from the dog's mouth, stood, and handed it to Rikka.
She stared, dazed, and accepted it, blinking before she asked,
"W–Who are you… really?"
"Me?" He hesitated.
If she'd asked his name she wouldn't have phrased it that way. She wanted his setting?
Men are boys till they die—Aoki agreed with that.
Interest stirred. He pondered for a second.
He cleared his throat and, solemn-faced, intoned,
"I am the former bearer of the Seven Deadly Sins, the Keeper of the Horizon at the World's End, the Despot who Wanders the Otherworlds…"
It was getting a bit cringe. He trailed off halfway.
But not to kill her vibe, he coughed again and wrapped it up:
"But those are in the past… Now I'm just an ordinary man with all my powers sealed."
Seven Deadly Sins, World's-End Horizon, Wandering Otherworlds… sealed like the Tyrant's Eye!
A good setting is the heart of chūnibyō.
Hearing all those cool nouns tumble out of his mouth, Rikka's eye lit up like a star.
She leaned in expectantly. "Then—O Sealed One—how do you break the seal?!"
How to break the seal…
It was hard to improvise the lore on the spot.
He drew a breath and, to avoid trouble, opted to end the topic.
"Uh… probably a long time waiting? I'm not really sure. Ahem… Anyway, milady, if fate wills it, we'll meet again."
Turn, step, stride—clean getaway.
He figured Tokyo was small enough for coincidences but not that small; "fate wills it" usually means "never again."
Unfortunately—
He'd underestimated Rikka's persistence.
She had few friends at the best of times. She rarely met someone who understood her words and could play along. Now she had—and he was walking away. How could she let him go?
But he'd said "if fate wills it." She didn't quite dare run up and start a normal conversation…
So she lowered her head, grabbed the leash, and—with the dog—trailed him, always one pace behind and off to the side.
Aoki's eyes and ears worked fine.
So of course he noticed the eyepatched girl shadowing him.
He regretted it a little.
If he'd just retrieved the umbrella and leashed the dog without adding that "cool" setting line, maybe he wouldn't be getting tailed now.
A black line crossed his face; the corner of his mouth twitched.
He decided to head straight to the station and buy a ticket; surely she wouldn't follow onto a train. He gave up on wandering.
So he walked back to the station.
He bought a ticket and then—
Turning around, he saw Rikka, buying a ticket to the same destination.
"Hss—"
He drew in a breath and fixed her with a serious look.
"You… happen to be going my way?" He raised his ticket.
Rikka blinked her unpatched eye.
She shook her head; instead of answering, she declared:
"F–Fate has brought us together, O Sealed One! Let's exchange contact info!"
"…"
He paused.
Maybe if they exchanged contacts, she'd stop following. He took out his phone and nodded.
However—
When he did, Rikka patted herself down and… couldn't find hers.
"Uu…"
Her left eye filled with tears.
"I f-forgot my phone…"
"…"
Aoki sighed inwardly. Then he thought of something else:
"Uh… milady—you've followed me all this way. Do you still know the way home?"
"Uu—!" The tears welled up.
He went silent, exasperated, then resigned.
Mustering the sweetest smile he could manage, he asked,
"Then, milady, do you remember your neighborhood?"
She blinked through the tears and lifted her chin a touch.
"Yes."
She rattled off a place name.
Aoki nodded.
Help with a smile, help with a smile…
Helpless or not, facing this slightly dopey girl, he chose to match her tone.
"Okay—destination: the distant Horizon of Realms. Led by…"
He looked at her, prompting her to give her title.
"T–The Tyrant's Eye!"
"Right. Led by the Tyrant's Eye's coordinates—forward!"
He punched the destination into Google Maps and, with girl and dog, set off.
Shibuya's streets are confusing, and he hadn't lived there long, so he didn't know them well.
He could only rely on the navigation on his second-hand phone and piece together a reasonably correct route.
He followed it back the way they'd come, then to Shibuya Station, where he bought tickets.
And then he learned—
"Lady Tyrant's Eye…" His voice was limp. "Dogs aren't allowed on the train. How did you get here?"
"I—I chased the Hellhound… all the way…"
"All the way…"
In an hour inside the station, he sighed for the third time.
Around ten, the crowds at Shibuya were heavy.
He was about to resign himself to escorting her back on foot—and maybe ask the band for the afternoon off—when a familiar voice floated over.
"Suki-san?"
Cool and a little lazy; at the edge of the station, fashionably dressed Yamada Ryō had spotted him.
Then came a bright, energetic voice at her side—Kita Ikuyo. "Oh—Aoki-senpai!"
Aoki turned, blinking. Salvation!
At the same moment, Ryō noticed the lolita-clad girl beside him.
She remembered: Suki-san had said he didn't have a girlfriend.
But this girl's distance from him didn't look like "just friends"…
She tilted her head, considered, and then a look crossed her face that said "this might be interesting."
She glanced at Kita, then at the girl at Aoki's side, and finally looked at him.
"Suki-san,"
she said, voice laced with a deliberately wounded tone,
"who is that woman?"
"Who is that woman?" It carried a whiff of provocation.
Rikka didn't know the nuance, but as Tyrant's Eye, she knew she had to speak, too—
So she looked up at Aoki and echoed,
"O Sealed One—who is that woman?"
Kita froze.
After a beat, in a tone of shock, confusion, and disbelief, she blurted,
"Senpai?!"
At ten a.m., the crowds at Shibuya were thick. Three girls vying over one boy was premium street theater.
Aoki could feel eyes gathering.
He didn't care.
He drew breath and looked at the blue-haired girl.
"Ryō—save me!"
-------
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