Kazuki sat peacefully at the cafe, enjoying the afternoon sunlight.
Aoki Hidehiro excused himself as he still had classes to attend in the afternoon. He explicitly told Kazuki that Nishiyama Chiyoko, his former class teacher, had resigned and disappeared half a year after the fire happened.
Even Aoki Hidehiro, as one of his students, did not know where Nishiyama Chiyoko was.
Kazuki gently sighed as he stared blankly ahead, feeling slightly irritated.
To be honest, he had no interest in finding out the truth behind the fire incident of Akichi High School. After all, his main objective was to kill and absorb the Multi-armed Demon.
Who cares what the truth was! If he was stronger than the Multi-armed Demon, then he could just bisect it with a swing of his sword and absorb it. After that, he could push this issue to the back of his mind and never think about it again.
But… he was outmatched in terms of strength.
Since he could not fight against this demon, he would have to discover it's weakness and exploit it. No matter if it was a demon or a benevolent ghost, both of them shared the same vulnerability, which was the obsession in their hearts.
A benevolent ghost's obsession was like the tasks given by NPCs in games; thus, completing the mission would also resolve the ghost's obsession. Then, it would cause the ghost to become a mass of reiki and dissipate into the surroundings. However, if the reiki were not absorbed, it would quickly assimilate into the atmosphere.
A demon's obsession was also its weakness.
If one could possess or destroy its obsession, this would significantly reduce the demon's power or even wipe it out.
But what was the Multi-armed Demon's obsession? Based on what Ito Shunji mentioned, its obsession was to murder Aoki Hidehiro since it acted as if it despised him. However, this puzzled Kazuki. Even though Aoki Hidehiro was the one who started the game, it must be the pressure from Takashima Izumi.
The entire Class Four knew about it. Hence, why we're all the grudges before death directed toward Aoki Hidehiro instead of Takashima Izumi? It did not make much sense at all.
He doubted when Ito Shunji mentioned about it. But at that moment, the reiki in his body was inactive, so he dared not point this out, only chose to listen quietly.
There was no way he would head to the sports warehouse to eliminate the Multi-armed Demon even if Ito Shunji requested him to do so.
After Kazuki met with Aoki Hidehiro to understand the situation, and realized about something, he felt even more confused. This type of feeling was not pleasant at all as it caused him to feel a sense of oppression.
That was because… he felt that the Multi-armed Demon would enter the Metamorphosis State very soon.
If the demon were to enter the Metamorphosis State, with just a single nature transformation, its obsession would no longer become its weakness. In this case, even if it's obsession was destroyed, it's strength would not diminish.
After completing the Metamorphosis State, the demon would be able to stay in the human realm for long term. The only way to wipe it out was to rely on pure strength, and by that time, victory would be beyond one's reach.
This was the reason why Kazuki was so anxious… the fact that the Multi-armed Demon was so powerful proved that it had a vast amount of reiki in its body. If Kazuki was able to absorb all of it, he could advance in ranks successively.
After all, before the Golden Elixir State, there was no such thing as a limit.
He had to find Nishiyama Chiyoko as soon as possible to learn more about the details. He guessed that the Class Four's obsession was Takashima Izumi, but he was afraid to bet on this.
Upon pondering, he took out his cell phone to make a call to Nakagawa Aokiji.
"Kimura-Kun, did you manage to get any news about the key?" The call was quickly connected and transmitted the voice of Nakagawa Aokiji. Ever since he found out that Kazuki was not an ordinary person, he no longer greeted him as a student.
Kazuki did not bother much about the greeting. He didn't conceal the content of his conversation with Aoki Hidehiro. He hoped that Nakagawa Aokiji would help to solve his doubts when Nakagawa Aokiji heard about the information. After a brief explanation, he candidly asked, "If possible, can you help me to find out how I can contact Nishiyama Chiyoko?
"No problem! I will get back to you latest by tomorrow." Nakagawa Aokiji dare not give Kazuki the cold shoulder. Since the Nakagawa family was the trustee of Akichi High School, so they knew some of the details. However, he would have to ask his father about it to understand the situation better.
"I'd appreciate that."
"No worries. After all, we did explore Akichi High School together. We're practically comrades now. I'm actually interested to know what really happened back then. Hopefully, Kimura-Kun, you can get to the bottom of it so my curiosity can be sated." Nakagawa Aokiji chortled. He managed to sort out his feelings over the last two days. Now he was prepared, he surely should try his best to get along with Kazuki.
It was probably his greatest fortune to be able to cross paths with an extraordinary person like Kazuki. It was too silly for him not to grab this opportunity.
To be frank, he thought he would behave himself after he found out about the existence of ghosts and demons on earth… but deep in his heart, he was getting more curious about the mysteries of this world. Perhaps, he would explore other terrifying places in the future, but of course, he would invite Kazuki to do it with him.
For example, the Akichi High School now, no matter how curious he was, he would not be dared to explore it alone.
"I will." Kimura, Kazuki replied.
After hanging up the phone, Kazuki proceeded to keep away his stationery on the table.
He knew that memories faded and turned vague as time went by, so he had to jot down the details during his meeting with Aoki Hidehiro. After all, making notes was far better than relying on a good memory. Perhaps he could discover something new after scrutinizing what he had written?
As he rose to his feet, he caught a glimpse and realized that a teenage girl was pressing herself into the window, her face squashing up against the glass.
She knocked on the glass with her arm, and her mouth slightly moved as if she was trying to say something. What a shame… the soundproof quality of the glass at the cafe was too good.
Kazuki looked at Furuhashi Akino with a straight face, not knowing what she was trying to do. Besides, there was a familiar silhouette standing behind Akino.
When Akino saw Kazuki gazed toward her direction, her face was filled with astonishment. She pointed to the back, waving her hands to signal Kazuki to come out. Unfortunately, both of them did not reach a point where they could understand each other's minds.
Seeing that Kazuki was not moving at all, Akino proceeded to puff up her cheeks and waved her fists at him, showing her quick-witted expression. This time Kazuki understood the message.
After waving her fists at him, Akino immediately turned around and spoke angrily to the two men who were talking to Furuhashi Fuyuno. She then dragged Fuyuno with her into the cafe.
Soon, Akino and Fuyuno entered the cafe and stood in front of Kazuki. Fuyuno's gaze had always been calm, but surprisingly this time, upon seeing him, the expression in her eyes revealed a pleasant surprise, begging for help.
"Have a seat." Kazuki said. Then, he stood up to block in front of Akino and Fuyuno. His glance swept over the two men who tagged along carefully behind them and asked coldly, "Why are both of you bothering my sisters?"