"Kuromori-san, over here..."
After walking to the cafeteria and ordering lunch, Haruto ignored Yotsuba, who was waving, and walked past her.
He sat down and asked, "So, what are you all doing here?"
Ichika touched her cherry-red lips with her finger, tilted her head, and blinked: "Because it's beautiful and delicious?"
Haruto almost broke his chopsticks.
What she meant by "beautiful and delicious" is that when accompanied by beautiful women, one can eat and drink without much thought.
That's right.
That's the literal meaning. Whether it has a deeper meaning isn't clear.
However, this idiom is typically used to describe the charm of a woman's beauty, but if used for a man... Can it be used to describe a man's desire?
Haruto silently made a mental note about Ichika.
Nino glanced at him and said indifferently, "Don't overthink it. It's just a pity to see you eating alone."
'Sorry, I don't feel the need to be pitied at all,' Haruto thought to himself. "Yes, thank you, Nino, for your concern."
Miku ate silently without saying anything. She usually didn't talk much when others were around.
Yotsuba took a piece of fried shrimp and placed it in Haruto's bowl, showing a cheerful smile: "This is for you, Haruto-san. The fried shrimp today is also delicious."
"Mm, thank you, Yotsuba."
The peaceful lunchtime was naturally gone, but Haruto didn't really enjoy such a lively lunchtime.
Of course, if Ichika didn't cause trouble, Nino didn't keep looking at him with wary eyes, Miku didn't occasionally glance at him with "guilty" eyes, and Yotsuba didn't drag him around asking questions.
As for Itsuki... She was busy eating as usual.
"The udon at school is really good; I highly recommend it!"
After lunch, Haruto said goodbye and left.
Then he walked to the rooftop. Normally, the rooftop door is locked, unlike in anime where students can go up easily.
After all, the rooftop is a more dangerous place.
Precautions need to be taken before something happens.
So, others want to come up, except they need to get the key.
However, it's naturally impossible for ordinary students to get the key, so for many, the rooftop is a mysterious and unknown place.
Thus, it's easy for people to speculate about the rooftop.
But in reality, there's nothing on the rooftop.
A wire fence surrounds the area to provide additional safety measures.
The rooftop floor is wet, overgrown with moss and dead leaves, and there's some debris piled up in the corners. Overall, it looks messy and dirty.
Haruto only took a glance and quickly stepped back.
Leaning casually against the wall, he pulled out his phone and started browsing the news.
He didn't care about this situation.
This was an unavoidable outcome.
However, he altered the oddity barrier. As long as there are living beings, he would sense it.
The main purpose of doing this isn't to save people but to prevent the oddity situation from further disrupting the current world.
Because if people from the past die, they will 100% turn into monsters, attacking the current world, and further eroding it.
Killing someone...
Is it easier to save someone or kill a monster?
As long as someone has a clear mind, they'll know what to choose.
Saving people is just a routine. If he can't save someone, he can only say, "There's nothing more I can do."
"Kuromori-kun, I'm here."
Light footsteps echoed, followed by Itsuki's sweet voice.
Itsuki quickly ran up. She took a deep breath and patted her chest: "It was hard to shake off Ichika and the others. Huh... Kuromori-kun, let's hurry. We need to go back once we're done. The bell is about to ring."
Although it's fine from a factual point of view, it sounds bad coming from herself!
Haruto calmly said, "Look up."
Itsuki obediently raised her head, gazing at him with her bright and beautiful eyes without blinking.
Seeing his approach, Itsuki unconsciously grasped her clothes, feeling nervous and embarrassed. She suddenly looked away and whispered, "Mhm... Doing something like this won't affect Kuromori-kun?"
"Also, I haven't told anyone about Kuromori-kun."
"It won't have any impact."
Actually, it wouldn't matter even if Itsuki said it aloud because most people would laugh!
Superpowers?
In this day and age, and people still believe in them?
Is chuunibyou not cured yet?
That's all.
So far, the only ones who know that Haruto has special abilities and don't doubt it are Mafuyu, Yotsuba, Ichika, and Itsuki.
This is also because they've experienced it themselves, so they have to believe it.
As for the shock, disbelief, and doubt about life?
Don't underestimate young people in modern society; their receptive abilities are extraordinary!
Some people with great imagination might even add their own settings to create a plot!
Just like Hiratsuka.
*CRACK*
Haruto flicked Itsuki's forehead with his finger, making a sharp sound.
"Hyaah…"
Itsuki yelped, quickly covering her forehead and looking at him with wide eyes.
Haruto raised an eyebrow: "Don't look, I did it on purpose."
Itsuki shook her head, pouting and said, "Kuromori-kun wouldn't bother me on purpose."
The voice paused for a moment, and her face turned slightly red.
"In short, no matter what others think of Kuromori-kun, in my heart, Kuromori-kun will always be a good person."
After saying that, she seemed embarrassed to say such things in front of a guy. Itsuki's face quickly turned red. She turned sideways, pretending to be calm as she tucked her hair behind her ear, and said: "Kuromori-kun, I'll head down first. You can come down later."
If two people walked together down from the rooftop, it would be easy for others to misunderstand what they were doing up there.
Clearly, they weren't even dating.
And there were always other girls around Haruto, like Yuigahama from Miku's class and Yukino from the gifted class... Each of them was a very outstanding girl.
If misunderstood, Haruto would also find it troublesome.
"Alright... I'll treat Kuromori-kun to a drink later. What do you want to drink?"
Haruto thought for a moment and said, "Just a matcha soda."
He didn't have a particular drink he liked. The reason he chose matcha soda was that he remembered the scene of Miku buying a drink and building a bridge yesterday.
"Then, matcha soda it is."