Chapter 6: Another Master?
After exchanging polite greetings with Shizuka, Yukino also entered the apartment building.
She didn't choose to wait until Hayashida had gone up before entering. Since they both lived here, running into each other was inevitable. Rather than avoiding it now, it was better to approach the situation with grace.
"Hello, we meet again, Hayashida-kun."
"Hmm? Yukinoshita-san?"
Hayashida, who was waiting for the elevator, thought he was hearing things, but when he turned around, it really was Yukino.
"You live here too?" Hayashida was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, I moved in almost a year ago," Yukino replied.
'Has it already been a year?' Hayashida thought to himself that since the other party had been living here for almost a year, how come he hadn't run into them?
He quickly came up with an answer: unlike him, they had their own club to stay in after school. As a member of the "go-home club," he went straight home after classes ended, so of course, he wouldn't run into them.
Moreover, Hayashida didn't go out often. Even on holidays, he mostly stayed at home. Apart from occasionally going out with friends, his range of movement at other times extended at most to the nearby supermarkets.
Even when he went grocery shopping, he usually had a clear purpose—buy what he needed and head straight home, never wasting a moment outside.
Ding~
The elevator doors opened.
Hayashida gestured for ladies to go first, but Yukino took a step back, using her actions to indicate that the injured should take priority.
A high-level corporate drone who had just gotten off work couldn't help but twitch his mouth at the scene. After a long day at work, he was exhausted enough, and now he had to witness young people's youthful antics on his way home. Couldn't he catch a break these days?
Hayashida noticed the overflowing resentment from the corporate drone—it was as dark as Sadako emerging at midnight, downright terrifying.
Immediately, he stopped being polite and hobbled briskly into the elevator with his crutch. Yukino seemed to realize she was holding others up and quickly followed him inside.
Perhaps because the middle-aged corporate drone's aura of despair was too intense, Yukino subtly shifted closer to Hayashida. At the same time, she noticed that the floor Hayashida had pressed was right below hers.
"Yukino, do you need me to press the button for your floor?" Hayashida asked, noticing her gaze and assuming she wanted his help.
"One floor up, thank you," Yukino accepted his offer.
After that, the elevator fell silent again, with only the hum of the motor echoing in the background. At the first ding, the corporate drone who had shared the elevator with them got off.
The elevator doors slowly closed, and once again, they were left alone.
This time, however, neither of them spoke.
Yukino's gaze unconsciously drifted to the boy's left leg beside her. She hesitated for a long time, unsure of what to say, and ultimately kept her mouth shut.
Ding~
Hayashida's floor arrived. After stepping out, he suddenly turned back and said to Yukino, "See you in two weeks, President."
Before Yukino could reply, the elevator doors closed. Staring at the silvery elevator doors, the girl shook her head and murmured softly, as if to herself, "See you in two weeks."
――Two Weeks Later――
Fully recovered, Hayashida returned to his loyal Class 2-F. Well, the reality was that hardly anyone noticed Hayashida.
Due to the reshuffling of classes in the second year of high school, his friends hadn't been assigned to Class F. Combined with Hayashida's nearly two-week absence, the small cliques in the class had already formed, and unsurprisingly, he was left out. Aside from a few curious individuals casting glances his way, most showed no desire to interact with him.
The clique culture in Japan is just awful.
Though Hayashida thought this, he had no intention of actively joining any group either.
As someone once said: "The fierce beast is solitary; cattle and sheep move in herds."
Rather than joining any small group, Hayashida preferred to form his own with people he found agreeable. If no such individuals caught his eye, he simply wouldn't form one at all.
Better to lack than to accept mediocrity.
Somehow, though, as Hayashida sat at his desk, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was staring at him—a creeping sensation down his spine.
Hayashida had always trusted his intuition implicitly. Immediately, like a lion surveying its territory, he scanned the room, pausing his gaze on each person and using his emotion-sensing ability on them.
Process of elimination, right? Process of elimination.
With such an ability, how could he possibly let someone sneak a stare at him?
Surprisingly, as Hayashida swept his gaze across the room, he actually caught someone. The moment his eyes landed on the guy, the other immediately averted his gaze—a clear sign of guilt.
And honestly, it was Hayashida's first time seeing such a textbook example of dead-fish eyes.
Was he the reincarnation of a salted fish spirit?
Come to think of it, he looked pretty familiar. Had they met somewhere before?
…
Damn it! Hayashida remembered now—this was the guy who'd risked his life to save a dog!
Hayashida would recognize that cowlick on his head even if it were ground to dust. Seriously, why would you go all out like that for a dog?
Fun fact: Walking a dog without a leash is no different from the dog walking you.
Thinking about how he'd suffered for no reason, Hayashida's mood soured. If not for the guilt and remorse he sensed radiating from the other, Hayashida would've definitely found a way to make things difficult for those dead-fish eyes.
For now, though… he'd just file this grudge away for later.
But that wasn't the end of it. Even after confirming the dog lover had stopped staring, Hayashida still felt that lingering gaze.
Was there another one?
Puzzled, Hayashida figured since he'd already started looking, he might as well check everyone—consider it a way to get to know his classmates.
…Wait, seriously? There really was another one?
Hayashida's gaze settled on a pink-haired girl. She was a bit too far away to see her face clearly, but she seemed quite cute. His evidence? None—just pure intuition.
But that wasn't the point. The real issue was that Hayashida also sensed guilt and remorse from her, even more intense than what he'd felt from the dead-fish-eyed guy earlier!
Were you involved in the accident too?
Partners in crime? A dog-loving couple?
The situation was so bizarre that it left Hayashida utterly baffled.
After school, Hayashida packed his things to head to the special building for club activities. During the two weeks at home, he hadn't been idle—he'd mostly figured out the system's mechanics and planned to officially start helping others once he reached the Service Club.
Besides that, Hayashida noticed those two peculiar individuals were still watching him. When they saw him stand up from his seat, they seemed like they wanted to approach and talk, but for some reason, they stayed put.
Honestly, those two were pretty synchronized. Did they plan this?
Since they showed no intention of approaching him, Hayashida wasn't about to go out of his way to ask what they wanted. He left the classroom without a second glance.
After Hayashida left, the pink-haired girl hesitated for a moment, then approached the dead-fish-eyed boy. "Hikki, what should we do now?"