As Yukino had mentioned, they only went to a café to sit and eat for a while. After being delayed for over an hour, the three of them returned to Sobu High School.
It was now past 10 AM.
As Haruto passed by the staff room, he unconsciously glanced inside. At that exact moment, Hiratsuka looked back.
Hiratsuka was momentarily surprised, then waved and said, "Kuromori, come in."
Haruto thought for a moment and entered. After all, even if he went back, he'd just space out or fall asleep, so he might as well see if there was something interesting.
He always felt that Hiratsuka looked very much like the woman on the cover of a book he had bought.
Haruto entered and looked around. Only Hiratsuka was inside.
"Is something wrong?"
"Why, am I not allowed to call you in if there's nothing wrong?"
Hiratsuka pulled out a cigarette, and Haruto raised an eyebrow slightly, saying, "Smoking is harmful to your health."
Hiratsuka pursed her lips and said, "But the reality is, there are still plenty of people who smoke."
Haruto lifted his gaze and replied, "Why compare yourself to those people? According to surveys, smokers make up only a small percentage of the world's population, and with the advancement of time, it's showing a declining trend."
Hiratsuka put her hand to her forehead and said, "I don't want to discuss this issue with you."
Haruto nodded. "Understood."
Hiratsuka exhaled, put the cigarette away, and said, "Don't worry, I just like the smell; I don't actually smoke it... Now, sit down."
As Haruto sat, Hiratsuka said, "I saw the news."
"Mm."
He had no intention of hiding anything. This matter would eventually come to light anyway, so it was actually good that someone had noticed it now.
As for erasing everyone's memories? Forget it! That's completely ungrateful.
Seeing him respond so calmly, Hiratsuka couldn't help but ask, "Don't you have anything else to say?"
"Say what?"
"Well... something like, 'This world is being eroded by another dimension,' or 'Aliens have set their sights on Earth, hiding among humans, secretly planning to conquer and dominate it.'"
This funny idea actually represented the thoughts of many humans.
Extraordinary power symbolizes authority, money, and status.
And isn't that what many people strive for their entire lives?
And with extraordinary power, all of that would be easily attainable, and others would even willingly offer everything!
Besides, while modern society is indeed very prosperous, behind that prosperity, many ordinary people live lives where they can see their future in a glance.
Boring and numb.
Depressed and painful.
In such a state, many people naturally have thoughts like, "If I had superpowers, I could do whatever I wanted."
However, most people eventually learn to accept the reality of life, which is to accept their fate.
If you can't resist life, you have to adapt to it.
Of course, there are also people who pursue thrills and excitement to relieve the boredom of life, leading to extreme sports that challenge the limits of life and death.
Hiratsuka with a mine at her disposal, didn't have to worry about making a living, and the car she drove was also an expensive sports car.
The apartment she lived in was a high-end one, out of reach for most people in the working class.
Thus, she naturally wouldn't end up as dull as the average working-class person. After all, she was an older "leftover woman" who read comics and still had some fantasies, which was actually quite normal.
A boring life needs something fresh and exciting.
And supernatural powers or an alien invasion... clearly could satisfy that.
It's a pity that if something like that really happened, most people would only feel fear, not excitement or novelty!
Even if they weren't afraid, what could most people do if they were given power?
Wouldn't most of them be unable to control their desires, leading to disaster in the world?
Therefore, Haruto has always been a very honest and kind person.
Because he clearly had countless opportunities to obtain everything, he could even ascend to the throne and rule the world, then set off for the stars, the oceans, or even other dimensions to begin a path of conquest.
Trampling countless worlds underfoot and ascending to a lofty throne!
Hiratsuka clenched her fists. "Hey, what's with that expression of yours?"
Haruto responded with disdain, "Guess."
Hiratsuka, being an older leftover woman who wasn't in a hurry to marry, but still harbored some unrealistic dreams, found this condescending.
In her view, it wasn't unrealistic because there was a threshold separating reality from fantasy.
However, very few people knew this.
Therefore, talking about invasions from another world, the arrival of aliens, etc., was a completely unrealistic fantasy, and there was nothing wrong with that.
The veins on Hiratsuka's forehead bulged.
It was clearly disdain and contempt!
'If I weren't afraid of losing the fight, I'd make sure you couldn't get out of bed for three days!'
"Hah..."
Hiratsuka crossed her fingers and stared at him with sharp eyes. "Kuromori, something happened to you."
"Hah?"
A few question marks appeared over Haruto's head. He thought carefully. It seemed he hadn't been taught any bad lessons recently. He hadn't suddenly stopped a girl to extort her, nor had he forced someone to go to a love hotel.
"You..."
Hiratsuka paused, waved her hand after a moment of silence, and said, "Forget it, just go!"
She and Mafuyu were close friends.
Although they had only known each other for a year, their relationship was very good. The two often went to izakayas to drink or went shopping together.
Because during this time, Mafuyu had been in a daze, Hiratsuka was well aware of her issues.
So she found something for Haruto to do.
Mafuyu had very little interaction with others. And both of them were from Ichinose City, and now they were neighbors.
Social death is terrifying.
Whether it was Mafuyu or Haruto, Hiratsuka didn't want to see them make a mistake, experience social death, and then have to leave Chiba City.
Therefore, even if she was hated, she would do something.
However, after the news of today's incident broke, Hiratsuka saw Mafuyu's face turn very bad, and she quietly called Haruto alone.
Then she saw an expression of relief.
Why did Hiratsuka know that Mafuyu had called Haruto?
Because Mafuyu wasn't good at lying, it was easy to figure out!
Overall, Hiratsuka suddenly realized something.
Maybe Mafuyu and Haruto's relationship was far more complicated than she had thought. Setting that aside for now, Hiratsuka was more concerned about something else.
That is—Mysterious Events!