Chapter 37: Remembering While Watching the Smoke End

The explanation to the Fiction Countermeasures Committee went more smoothly than I had expected.

Once I explained that Kanon had been secured and that she had managed to return from the Ascension Flyout, they readily accepted our proposal.

The plan to eliminate Salvation Kanon was suspended.

As for Kanon's attempted coup, she would be absolved of responsibility depending on how she performed from here on out.

It was probably because we were in a state of emergency.

Humanity was currently in the middle of a catastrophe unlike anything in recorded history.

We couldn't afford to lose valuable fighting forces like the Bluffers.

Still, even so, I thought their decision was surprisingly lenient.

The people from before would probably have come up with some convenient excuse and tried to kill Kanon.

Maybe the "Pure Land of This World" that Kanon had spread across all of Japan had actually brought about a positive change in people's hearts.

The "Pure Land of This World" had been deployed to remove worldly desires from every human being.

Of course, her ability had already been deactivated.

But it was also true that we couldn't say for certain that its effects had completely disappeared. Her power had already spread across the entire country once.

The effects of a Bluffer's abilities on the human mind were still unknown.

If the incident Kanon had caused had moved people's hearts in a positive direction, then perhaps her actions, her great ambition, had not been meaningless after all.

There had also been quite a change in Kanon's mental state.

"Shota! Could we talk for a little bit about tomorrow's operation?"

Kanon walked briskly over to him and spoke to him. Looking closely, I could see that her face was slightly flushed.

"Huh? Sure, but wouldn't it be better to talk to Raika or—"

"Idiot. Read the room."

I smacked him on the head and waved him away with my hand.

Kanon, who had been watching us, muttered something under her breath.

"I see. So this is what they mean by giving aid to one's enemy... If I were to borrow Seika-san's words, would this be 'the composure of the primary wife'? You're as provocative as ever, Raika-san."

"Who the hell is the primary wife?"

Kanon was fairly innocent by nature, so I had a feeling someone had been filling her head with some very strange ideas.

Like how I was her rival in love, or how I was the person she needed to defeat first.

Seika was probably enjoying herself while pretending to support Kanon's love life... wasn't she?

The Sugar Squad that Kanon had led returned home after accomplishing their objective of defeating the Calamity God.

Kanon and Seika, however, were apparently going to remain here.

It was a decision made with Kanon's mental state in mind.

I agreed that it would be better for her to have the Anchor who had connected with her heart nearby.

As for Seika, that was simply her own wish.

She had said that she wanted to talk with Kanon more, and true to her word, she had been spending a lot of time with her.

I finished reminiscing.

As I reflected on how things around us had changed somewhat since the whole incident with Kanon, I exhaled a cloud of smoke.

There was still no one behind the school building, just as usual. It meant I could smoke without having to worry about anyone.

"Raika, good work."

While I was spacing out, I heard a voice nearby.

When I looked over, the protagonist was walking toward me. I had called him over a little while ago.

"It's been a while since we've met here, hasn't it? Raika, have you been smoking less?"

"Ah... Maybe. Should I smoke more?"

"No! You don't need to smoke more! Actually, don't smoke at all!"

I gave him a casual answer, and he approached me indignantly.

"So, what did you want to talk about today? Another impossible task like telling me to win over some girl?"

"No, I'm good on that for a while. ...Actually, aren't you winning over too many girls? Just how many girls are you getting close to?"

"...Huh? No, I don't think it's like that."

What a load of crap.

I glared at him to make my meaning clear, but he didn't seem to believe me very much.

"The other day, Mana said to me completely expressionless, 'Shota. The reason I talk to you is because circumstances require it. It would be troublesome if you suddenly got the wrong idea.' It actually hurt quite a bit..."

That genius idiot of a girl...!

It was definitely just embarrassment disguised as hostility. And she was absolutely terrible at hiding it.

Even with a little advice, it seemed Mana's hopelessness when it came to romance hadn't changed.

"Also, Hibari told me, 'Shota-kun, you make a pretty creepy face when you're getting close to a girl!' After that, I couldn't bring myself to get near her for a while because I was traumatized..."

"Ah..."

That was probably it.

An incredibly difficult-to-decipher form of jealousy.

Hibari's tendency to make it almost impossible to see what she was really thinking had backfired on her. Apparently, Mana wasn't the only one who was terrible at romance.

"I was actually getting a little carried away myself, you know? Like, maybe things were going pretty well with Mana. Or, Hibari seems to be touching me more than before! Or, maybe Raika actually likes me?"

"...What?"

Crack.

I could practically hear a nerve snap inside me.

That last one was absolutely unforgivable.

I threw my cigarette to the ground and launched into him.

"Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean? When, exactly, have I ever shown you any affection? Where? Tell me!"

"I mean, you call me over like this all the time, and you always end up helping me somehow..."

"That's completely different, you idiot!"

Those things were for practical reasons.

The story wouldn't work out properly if he didn't build his harem, and if he failed, Mana and Hadzuki would end up hurt.

I let out an exaggerated sigh and glared at him.

"Seriously, are you the kind of guy who'd take it seriously if someone said 'I love you' as a mere social courtesy? You'll never survive in the real world like that."

"Ugh... When you put it that way, that's kind of painful..."

As he lowered his head, I gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I guess making those kinds of misunderstandings is one of the privileges of being young. Just learn from them while making a fool of yourself."

I said it with a smug grin, and he gave me a resentful look.

Well, it would be annoying if he got too full of himself just because he had built himself a harem. Maybe it was fine to let him keep misunderstanding things for now.

After teasing him like that for a while, I put a second cigarette between my lips.

The unhealthy smoke entered my lungs.

Strangely enough, it cleared my head, and the words I had actually wanted to say came naturally to my lips.

"...Regardless of whether I've fallen for you or not, I'm grateful to you."

I exhaled and watched the smoke rise into the sky.

I was painfully aware of how embarrassing what I had just said was, so I couldn't bring myself to look at his face.

"I don't think I could have gotten through what happened with Kanon if I were the person I used to be. I was just a liar who cheated by knowing things other people didn't. When I saw a side of Kanon I'd never seen before, when I saw her determination... the truth is, I was shaken to my core. Pathetically so."

The Kanon I knew was only the girl who had sacrificed herself in front of the Formless God.

I knew nothing about the Kanon who had taken a different path from the original story.

"But you scolded me, remember? You told me that the me who was here should do what I wanted to do. Because you said that, I was able to stop being a slave to the scenario and give everything I had for my goal—for the sake of saving Kanon. And that's because of you."

I lowered the hand holding my cigarette and looked him straight in the eyes.

The stupid, blank expression on his face as he stared back at me made me chuckle.

"So... thank you."

"Raika..."

He had been staring at me in stunned silence, but eventually the surprise faded from his face, and he looked straight at me.

"I, uh... I feel the same way about you—"

"—Just kidding! It's all a lie! Hahaha! What a stupid look on your face! I should've brought a video camera! Ha! Hahahahaha!"

I laughed loudly at him, and he immediately got angry.

"You...! We finally had such a nice moment! Why would you say something like that?! There's being twisted, and then there's this!"

"Shut up! You already knew I was twisted!"

In the end, I'd covered it up with another joke.

Still, maybe this was exactly the right distance for us.

As I crushed the cigarette into the ashtray, I thought about it.

Rather than a relationship between a man and a woman, ours was more like the easygoing relationship between two guys.

And when one of us was in trouble, the other would lend a hand.

For someone like me, who would never become one of the heroines, maybe this was the most comfortable kind of relationship I could have.

Thinking that, I lit my third cigarette.