Chapter 59: Why Did It Turn Out Like This?
The spring night breeze was a bit chilly.
Outside a 30-story luxury apartment complex in Minato, Tokyo.
Nakano Nino was holding a can of red tea she had just bought, lightly taking a sip.
So cold~
(๑-﹏-๑)
Right now, she was only wearing her school uniform.
"I don't have much money left either…" Nino softly muttered.
; (◞‸◟)
This afternoon, after leaving Sakurai Saki's house, she had returned to school to pick up the bag she had dropped the day before.
Luckily, the place was pretty deserted, and even though no one noticed, the bag hadn't been stepped on much.
Aside from a bit of dust, it was still in decent condition.
Inside, there weren't just books and pens, but also some cosmetics and cash.
Unfortunately, today… no one had noticed her existence at all.
Afraid of going hungry, Nakano Nino had to buy food from a vending machine to fill her stomach.
If she went into a store to buy something, even if she could hold objects, others wouldn't be able to see her. The money she handed over… no matter how hard she tried, it would only scare people.
Nakano Nino had gradually come to understand her own condition, which she divided into three stages, from mild to severe.
The first stage, her sense of presence was slightly blurred; she could still touch objects, and if she made a sound, others would turn their heads, but they couldn't see her. She was currently in this stage.
The second stage, she could still touch objects, but her presence was completely erased! No matter what she did, strangers wouldn't react. Only those very close to her could perceive her, but even they would become strangely distant.
The third stage, she couldn't touch objects, and her presence was completely annihilated! In this state… besides Sakurai Saki, she hadn't found anyone else who could see her.
She speculated that perhaps it was because she and Sakurai Saki had once had a fierce argument, leaving a deep impression, making the perception of her clear — which was why he could observe her.
Besides that, she had once suspected that the "culprit behind this" was Sakurai Saki himself.
But… that didn't make any sense.
Because if he really had that kind of power, there'd be no need to erase even his own memories.
Nakano Nino sat on a bench beside the apartment, where she could watch people passing through the apartment gate.
The night breeze blew through her long hair.
"It's already 11 o'clock." Nino took out her phone to check the time.
She glanced at the dwindling battery level on her phone and sighed.
Honestly, she had thought about going home, but just thinking about her four sisters at home, she didn't dare face them.
In her current state, Nino couldn't be noticed by them.
If she went home now, her sisters would probably panic, thinking that some things in the house had mysteriously gone missing, or that strange items had suddenly appeared — outsiders would think the house was haunted.
" Haizz..." "( - ⌓ - )
Suddenly, the sound of a car stopping at the apartment gate rang out.
A moment later.
Two figures approached.
"Sensei-chan~ thank you so much for today!" Nakano Ichika bowed.
(✿ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)⁾⁾
"It's nothing." Sakurai Saki acted like he didn't mind.
He had helped her, but mainly because of the incident where he and Minamoto Mashiro were insulted and threatened by that guy — whether Nakano Ichika was troubled or not wasn't really his concern.
But since he'd helped, if Ichika thanked him, he was happy to accept it.
"Hey, about me working as an actress, please don't tell the sisters at home, okay? I've always kept it hidden from them." Ichika pleaded.
Meanwhile.
Nino, from the moment she saw the two, had hurriedly hidden.
"Huh? Sakurai and Ichika? Since when were they this close?"
Nino clearly knew that the relationship between Miku and Sakurai was quite good, but Ichika — how come they were close enough that Sakurai was walking her home at midnight…
Nakano Nino peeked out from behind the side wall of the building, secretly observing.
She clenched her fists tightly, feeling a bit angry.
( •̀⤙•́ )
She was hated by him so much that he didn't even want to see her face, so how come that Ichika could openly talk to him?!
"..." Realizing her own jealousy, Nino let out a sigh in her heart.
She had to admit, she had developed a bit of a crush on Sakurai Saki.
The scene of a hero saving a maiden really stirred the heart, and besides, Sakurai's face was exactly her type.
It was just a pity that she and he had already argued several times, so getting him to like her was truly difficult.
At the apartment entrance.
Nakano Ichika suddenly moved closer to Sakurai Saki, softly saying, "As long as Sensei-chan doesn't tell anyone, I can do anything."
(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
"Study hard?" Sakurai Saki, as always, was completely unpredictable.
He still remembered it very clearly.
"Study hard?"
( ˶°ㅁ°)!!
Nakano Ichika's eyes widened in disbelief, "I just told you I could do anything, and you're telling me to study hard?!"
Today, Sakurai Saki couldn't lie, "To be honest, your body really is very attractive, but something you can't have, compared to something you can definitely hold in your hands — any normal person should choose the latter."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
He could tell right away that she was joking; even without supernatural powers, Sakurai Saki could distinguish that.
"Sensei-chan, you work as a model just to earn money? Like that other job?" Nakano Ichika lifted her head to look at his face.
Was his family really that short on money? But Itsuki had once said it seemed like he didn't care much about the tutoring job, so that assumption didn't seem very accurate — yet here he was doing a job that wasn't exactly respectable.
"I'm not working as a model, that was something Mashiro-san pushed onto me. As for that other job, whether it's for money or not… I think probably no one hates money." Sakurai Saki answered.
As long as you were Japanese, you probably wouldn't hate Fukuzawa Yukichi — the ten-thousand-yen bill.
The main reason Sakurai Saki worked part-time was that he didn't want to trouble his mother, who lived all the way in Kyoto; if he could take care of himself, he wouldn't need to ask the family for money. Although his mother still sent him money every month, Sakurai Saki almost always saved it all for emergency funds.
The current rent and daily expenses were all covered by money Sakurai Saki earned himself.
Sure, for someone with supernatural powers to work part-time might seem a bit embarrassing, but using supernatural powers to make money illegally was something Sakurai Saki despised even more!
Even without using supernatural powers, he could live well. Sakurai Saki didn't want to become a slave to desire.
As long as you were alive, you'd have desires — just like capitalists always chasing profit. People would throw away their own limits for better material conditions; at least, the vast majority did.
"I see~" Nakano Ichika seemed to ponder something, then gave a bright smile and lightly patted Sakurai Saki on the shoulder.
Then she said: "Second period, I'll study properly! The others don't concern me~"
After saying that, she bowed slightly, "Thank you so much for today!"
"I'm heading back now! It's getting late, and Minamoto-san is probably getting impatient waiting." Ichika said her goodbye and swiped her card at the apartment entrance.
ヾ(＾ ∇ ＾).
Sakurai Saki turned and walked away.
...
...
After both of them had gone.
Nakano Nino, who had been hiding behind the wall and heard the entire conversation, suddenly gulped down a big sip of red tea, curling up with a gloomy expression.
After she left, the tutoring job seemed to be going smoothly again.
Judging from that conversation, Sakurai would be coming to the house again next Monday… in the situation where the five sisters had turned into four.
Also, what was that other job? Why had she never heard of it at all?
Nino crouched in the corner by the wall, looking just like a little abandoned puppy.
Maybe it'd be better if I just disappeared like this forever~
(っ˃̣̣̥ -˂̣̣̥ς)