"Are you Teacher Fujimura?"
Manhattan Cafe's words hit Fujimura Hikaru like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake—so violent a shock it was hard to put into language.
Why is she bringing up that name?
Wearing Feitong's face, Fujimura forced a stiff smile. He tried his best to keep his expression from cracking as he answered her.
"..."
Manhattan Cafe didn't reply. She simply fixed her gaze on him—hard.
Under that stare, Fujimura couldn't stay composed anymore. Even though she was "just" his student, he felt like a criminal on the verge of sentencing, trapped in his chair and unable to sit still.
No—seriously. He was pretty sure he hadn't slipped up.
There was still plenty of time before the transformation ended, too. So how on earth had Manhattan Cafe connected "Feitong" to "Fujimura Hikaru"?
Was she some kind of prophet who could "check-kill" his identity on the spot?
Ridiculous. This was real life, not a game of Werewolf. There was no way someone had an ability that absurd—
…Then again, if we're talking absurd, wasn't the system on his body absurd enough already? If a power like "identity checking" existed, maybe it wouldn't be so strange after all.
Calm down, Fujimura Hikaru. Calm down. You're an adult. Don't let one sentence throw you into a panic.
"So, Cafe—why do you think I'm Teacher Fujimura?"
He asked carefully, testing the waters. He wanted to know exactly where he'd leaked.
"Because… you're the same as Teacher Fujimura. You both have something strange clinging to you…"
That was not the answer he expected.
Something strange…
The system?
If he had to name a single commonality between himself and Feitong, it would be that mysterious system.
Yet when Fujimura looked down and checked himself, he couldn't see anything abnormal.
"Can you describe what it is? What exactly is 'clinging' to me?"
"Like… red smoke."
"Red smoke…"
He was completely lost.
With a description that vague, even Fujimura couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be.
And another question followed immediately: why couldn't he observe this phenomenon, while the black-haired horse girl in front of him could?
"Teacher Fujimura has it too? That same 'red smoke'?"
"Yes… I've only ever seen it on the two of you…"
That was why Manhattan Cafe had linked Fujimura Hikaru with the Feitong sitting before her.
Nobody else had anything like it.
Only Fujimura Hikaru—and Feitong—carried that eerie, wrong-feeling presence.
Which also explained why, earlier that morning, when Agnes Tachyon had asked what she thought of Fujimura Hikaru, Cafe's answer had been: a weird guy.
Because really—what else would you call a male instructor wrapped in red mist?
"I see…"
Fujimura thought it through. If Cafe's suspicion was based purely on what she could see—this "red mist"—then the situation wasn't necessarily beyond saving.
"Your eyes are special, Cafe. You can actually see something like that. Aside from the red mist… what else can you see?"
"…Would you believe me?"
Cafe hesitated. But Fujimura blinked and softened his voice.
"If it's something you can't talk about, that's fine. You don't have to tell me."
"It's not that serious…"
Cafe shook her head, then spoke as if she'd made up her mind.
"My eyes… can see things ordinary people can't. Usually, I can only see them clearly in the dark. But I don't know why… the thing on you is clear even in daylight…"
"That sounds kind of cool."
"…Huh?"
Fujimura's reaction clearly caught her off guard.
"You won't… think it's weird?"
"How could I?" Fujimura smiled. "If we're talking 'weird,' I think the weirder thing is someone collapsing from hunger in the middle of the road at midnight."
Cafe froze.
She genuinely hadn't expected that response. She'd thought she might scare him.
What she didn't know was that after everything Fujimura had been through lately, his threshold for "strange" had risen dramatically.
Spirit sight? Big deal. Even if you told me the Three Goddesses were coming to raid me tonight, I wouldn't be scared.
He already had a system attached to him—so what if the girl in front of him was someone who could see the unseen?
If anyone was going to get dragged off for dissection, wouldn't it be him—the guy who was somehow both human and horse girl—first?
Fujimura watched the faintly unusual light in Cafe's golden eyes, thought for a moment, then said:
"Everyone is born with something different.
"Some people are good at running. Some people are good at math. Some are natural swimmers. Those are gifts you're born with—things that make you special.
"And your special trait is simply that you see a different world than everyone else. That's all."
Under the warm orange indoor lighting, Feitong's hair glinted with a thin gold edge. Her wine-red eyes were so clear they reflected Cafe's silhouette perfectly.
If a succubus that bewitched hearts truly existed in the night, it would probably look like this.
Those words—almost as if they carried a faint kind of magic—made something inside Manhattan Cafe tremble.
Since enrolling at Tracen Academy, she'd entered several selection races and performed well. But because she could see things others couldn't, some trainers kept their distance.
Even other horse girls tended not to approach her, put off by the shadowy, gloomy aura that seemed to linger around her.
Only someone like Agnes Tachyon—bold, carefree, and indifferent to "vibes"—would stay near her.
Hearing words of acceptance from someone else…
Since she'd started at Central Tracen, this was the first time.
She'd always been focused on catching up to that "friend" who lived in darkness, so she told herself she didn't care about other things.
But hearing Feitong acknowledge her—still made a warm current stir in her chest.
"…Thank you."
Cafe lowered her head and held her coffee cup up near her face, using it like a shield as she murmured her thanks.
Seeing her reaction, Fujimura's mouth curved slightly.
So he'd guessed right—this ability really had been weighing on her.
If a few words could help, even a little, that was good.
Still… words alone wouldn't solve the problem.
"If you run into trouble again, talk to a trainer. They're supposed to be a horse girl's partner."
"But I… don't have a trainer yet…"
"Then you can talk to Teacher Fujimura, can't you?" Fujimura said lightly. "If you have problems, go to him. I think he'd be more than happy to listen."
"…Really?"
Cafe fell quiet again.
Fujimura took out his phone and checked the time.
It was almost one in the morning—no more running tonight.
Back to the staff dorm, then. Get some rest.
After a simple farewell, he left the club room alone.
Inside the room, Manhattan Cafe recalled the image of Fujimura Hikaru dressed up like the KFC Colonel. Her brows knit slightly.
"…Is it really a good idea to talk to him about this?"
—
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