Chapter Nine: Abilities Must Be Sealed
“Messing it up~~~”
In the morning.
Nagi was lying on the bed like a corpse.
Having not slept a wink, she was now staring at her thick dark eye circles.
Fortunately, she had taken another day off today and didn’t have to go to school.
Otherwise, with her current gloomy appearance, she would definitely change the impression of all the teachers and students in the school.
A bright and sunny angel, versus a burned-out office worker overnighter.
There was only a fine line between the two.
The bright morning sun peeked through the curtains, shining into Nagi’s room.
Illuminating Nagi’s eyes.
At this moment, her pupils were deep and dark, like a calm lake.
Last night, Nagi had spent the entire night obsessing and had exhausted her star power.
The consumption of star power was related to the “self.”
The more one resisted the “self,” the faster the consumption.
The moment she subconsciously “acknowledged that she liked Kanade,” she sensed something was off.
Star power was subtly trying to distort her perception.
And it was happening very secretly.
It had been using “her fondness for Kanade” to confuse her.
Until “fondness” suddenly transformed into “liking,” which gave it away.
“That bastard, even borrowing a bit of power has to be calculated?” Nagi cursed fiercely.
Just as Garuda said.
She lost herself in the state of star power.
Once lost, she even entertained thoughts of refusing to exit the star power.
So she had exhausted it through another very intense means.
Nagi weakly stretched her hand towards her phone.
She lit up the screen.
There were chat records with Kanade.
But this time, she felt no fluttering heartbeat at all.
This was natural.
After all, she had never looked at Kanade with that kind of gaze.
Rather, it could be said that her soul resisted such a gaze towards men.
Though she indeed felt “fondness” for Kanade.
But it came from the perspective of childhood friends.
So when Nagi “clearly expressed her liking for Kanade and her longing for him” last night, star power was quickly consumed.
In the end, she successfully broke away from star power.
It was a trap.
The more she denied in her heart that she liked Kanade.
The more star power would be minuscule due to this self-awareness.
Until her perception was gradually distorted and modified.
This made Nagi realize once again—
“Time is running out.”
“Nagi, are you up?”
Her mother’s voice came from outside the room.
This lifted Nagi’s spirits a bit.
“Yeah, I’m up…” Nagi replied softly.
— It seems like it’s time to stop using Star Eye and Star Power.
Star Eye is an incredibly convenient and versatile ability.
But the effect it presents—
Is not something a typical visual novel protagonist should have.
……
……
“Good morning… Tanaka, are you alright?”
Kanade arrived in the classroom early in the morning, and his mental state wasn’t great.
He was in his usual sleep-deprived state.
But when he saw Tanaka pressing down on his right arm with a gloomy expression, as if enduring something, he perked up a little.
“Kanade, don’t talk to me! While I can still control this power—!” Tanaka said while deliberately making his right arm tremble.
“Uh…” Kanade was taken aback until he noticed a hot-blooded battle manga placed in Tanaka’s drawer.
At that moment, Suzuki walked over, rolling his eyes and explaining.
“This guy has been emphasizing that there’s a BOSS sealed within him that almost destroyed the world since he came to class today, and he’s on the brink of losing control.”
“Ah!” Kanade suddenly understood.
This might just be what people commonly refer to as “Chūnibyō”?
Moreover, Tanaka had indeed reached that age.
“So this guy is really childish~” Suzuki seemed to look down on Tanaka’s obsession with manga.
“A real man should read this!”
After declaring that, Suzuki pulled out a thin book from his backpack.
The colorful cover was filled with a lot of flesh tones.
This left Tanaka, who had just been whining about nothing, stunned in place, with a gleam flashing in his glasses.
“T-This is—!” In front of an adult book, his voice trembled.
“I secretly dug it out from my brother’s room!” Suzuki said proudly.
Boys of this age don’t feel ashamed of such behavior.
Perhaps after entering high school, they would try to conceal it, fearing girls might find out that they read such books.
But at this moment, they couldn’t help but boast about being able to see such books and took pride in it.
So when Suzuki pulled out this kind of book, several boys in the class joined in.
They excitedly flipped through it alongside Tanaka, making strange noises.
This drew annoyance from all the girls in the class.
At this time, Kanade, who seemed completely uninterested in it, gained high scores in their hearts.
Kanade wasn’t pretending to hold out.
He truly was uninterested.
The woman on the cover wasn’t black-haired.
Moreover, she was a married woman, not a childhood friend.
So while the other boys yelled various things, he silently returned to his seat with no reaction.
Taking advantage of the fact that class meeting hadn’t started yet.
Kanade took out his phone, where there was a message from Nagi.
Today was the day Nagi returned to school.
In the days she had taken off, she had missed several classes’ notes.
Though she never made notes, she still hoped to take a look at his class notes.
So after receiving the message last night.
He stayed up all night organizing his messy notes in his textbooks.
And rewrote them in a notebook.
During the days that Nagi had taken off.
Kanade had intended to visit her, but for some reason, Nagi rejected him.
Even when he discussed it with Renji, the latter suggested that he needn’t worry, that it wasn’t necessary to come during this period.
So he could only put extra effort into “class notes.”
Hoping to make Nagi a little happier.
……
“Ah! Oh no! Tsukimi, take care of this for me first!”
Not knowing how long it had been.
Kanade suddenly heard Suzuki give a cry of despair.
Followed by feeling the latter shove a book into his backpack.
“Huh? What is this?” Kanade looked down at what Suzuki handed him.
He could vaguely see a large “N” character, but it was quickly stuffed into his backpack by the anxious Suzuki.
Leaving him unable to see what the title was.
“Teachers won’t come looking for you, will they, Tsukimi? Just help me keep it safe until tomorrow!” Suzuki said nervously.
It seemed that the boys’ overt behavior had driven the girls to their limit.
So they complained to the teacher about the boys bringing weird books to class.
Receiving the news, the boys hurriedly reported to Suzuki.
Urging him to quickly relocate the “treasure.”
And the one they trusted the most at this moment was Kanade, who had never joined in this ruckus.
Moreover, Kanade was viewed as a good student by the teachers.
Neither the girls nor the teachers should suspect him.
Boys often appeared exceptionally united during such times.
