THUMP.
Under Sakuraba Mitsuki's sharp, constricting gaze, Oreki Gen sat back down in his chair.
"Why would I expose you? Or report you for having superpowers?"
Sakuraba Mitsuki's hand halted inside the bag.
She regarded the young man with visible puzzlement.
"Doesn't any of this strike you as strange?"
Oreki Gen nodded.
"Of course it does. Superpowers showing up in real life is... genuinely bizarre. But I don't see any reason to report you over it, Sakuraba-san. All I'm asking is that you stop using your ability on me and pulling these kinds of stunts. It's pretty embarrassing."
No mention of fear or terror — because he needed to disarm her defenses.
He had to make her subconsciously believe that, in his worldview, superpowers weren't some heretical, monstrous concept.
"That's really how you feel? You just... accept everything I've said, that easily?"
Sakuraba Mitsuki finally released her grip. She didn't set the bag down, though — the danger hadn't fully passed. But his performance had noticeably lowered her threat assessment.
So until he was completely safe, Oreki Gen needed to be the one to relax first. Or at least project the image of someone with absolutely no guard up.
He shrugged.
"Stranger things happen every day these days... Besides, I watch a fair amount of anime, and I've always liked the superpower genre. Aren't those supernatural light novels blowing up right now too? Sure, I was surprised. But your ability has nothing to do with me. I'm just a regular handsome man of Sakurato — I don't want to get tangled up in this kind of trouble."
A perfectly reasonable explanation.
Sakuraba Mitsuki even let out a light laugh.
"You don't seem particularly curious. Don't you want to know what my ability actually is, or what I've done with it?"
Oreki Gen sighed softly.
"I'm definitely curious. But you probably won't just tell me, Sakuraba-san. Something like this would still be unbelievable to most people. Everyone has their secrets — that's normal."
"Then how can I be sure you won't talk about this once you leave this classroom?"
This was the lethal question. Probably the final test he needed to pass.
Perhaps only a flawless answer would get him out of this room alive.
Oreki Gen had, of course, already prepared. Beneath his lazy exterior lay a mind unlike what it appeared — having studied the doujin's various endings in advance, he spent a great deal of time thinking, his reasoning exceptionally meticulous. Once he'd confirmed she had a superpower, his mental planning had reached brainstorm-level intensity.
His expression remained unchanged. Still casual. Still unbothered.
"First, I'm not a gossip. I don't take much interest in things that don't concern me. Second, I think keeping your secret is easier than revealing it. At least I'd be spared a flood of annoying questions and people digging for information."
"And even if I did tell someone, you'd just have to deny it, Sakuraba-san. I have no concrete evidence. As long as you don't activate your power, you're just an ordinary person — no one would ever suspect a thing. Meanwhile, I'd be treated like a lunatic. So I have zero incentive to talk."
Watertight.
In every sense of the word.
And the two statements Oreki Gen had laid out weren't entirely lies — they were a blend of truth and fabrication.
This would prevent her from detecting any dishonesty. The moment she put herself in his shoes and considered his perspective, she'd find his logic sound.
Sakuraba Mitsuki's deliberation didn't last long. The sunlight outside was already brilliant — almost blinding.
The air in the classroom had grown somewhat stifling. The only sweat, though, was on Oreki Gen's back.
Knowing that her bag contained a handgun she carried everywhere... it was genuinely impossible to stay perfectly composed.
Thank god... he'd used X-Ray Vision at the crucial moment.
The cicadas outside were growing noisy, but right now their drone was the most reassuring sound imaginable — a lullaby, almost — because the last thing he wanted to hear was a gunshot.
Sakuraba Mitsuki finally reached her conclusion.
She walked toward him, step by step, and stopped before the seated young man, looking down at him.
"Oreki Gen. You really are a very unique and interesting person."
Oreki Gen blinked, then simply smiled at the girl with that extraordinary beauty.
"I'm just a regular handsome man of Sakurato."
"Then, Mr. Regular Handsome Man of Sakurato — would you like to go out with me?"
"Handsome Man of Sakurato is — wait, go out?"
Oreki Gen hadn't expected her to smile and say something like that. Completely composed, not a shred of bashfulness — as effortless as suggesting they walk home together.
Sakuraba Mitsuki said plainly, "I think the only way to make you truly look out for my interests — and never do anything that would hurt me — is to make you my boyfriend. To make you fall in love with me."
She'd go this far for her secret? Or was this the doujin's merciless course-correction at work?!
Did it absolutely insist on dragging the two of them into a romantic relationship, adhering to the source material like some kind of cosmic mandate?
Oreki Gen shook his head without hesitation.
"I'll pass. I'm just a regular handsome man of Sakurato, and I don't think you'd genuinely develop feelings for me over something this simple, Sakuraba-san. Relationships born from reasons like this never end well."
As if he'd date Sakuraba Mitsuki under these circumstances.
That was absolutely nowhere in Oreki Gen's playbook.
Sakuraba Mitsuki didn't seem angry, only curious as she studied him.
"You don't think I'm good enough?"
Oreki Gen shook his head.
"Not at all. Dating someone like you, Sakuraba-san, would be a dream come true for every guy at Sakurato High."
"And yet a man who attends Sakurato High just turned me down."
"That's because the gap between us is too vast. Anyone with an ounce of pragmatism would see we're impossible. And your interest in me is pretty limited, isn't it, Sakuraba-san?"
Sakuraba Mitsuki didn't deny it.
"To be precise, I have no particular feelings toward you. But that doesn't mean I can't find you very interesting right now."
"Passing interest, that's all. Girls toy with boys' feelings on a whim all the time, only to toss them aside the moment the novelty wears off. I'd rather not end up as that kind of victim."
Sakuraba Mitsuki tilted her chin upward slightly. "I see... Then let's go with a different arrangement."
Arrangement?
So dating was just one option in her toolkit? What kind of girl was she?!
"What arrangement?"
Sakuraba Mitsuki looked at him. "You mentioned earlier that you don't want me to use my ability on you anymore, correct?"
Oreki Gen hesitated briefly, then nodded.
"Of course. No one wants to be thrown into a situation they can't control or understand."
Sakuraba Mitsuki smiled.
"Good. Then here's the deal — in exchange for my promise to never use my ability on you again, you'll continue serving as my model until I finish this series."
Oreki Gen blinked. "Didn't you just finish the painting?"
Sakuraba Mitsuki gave a disdainful scoff.
"That was just a cover. And it's not even what I actually want to draw. As for what that is... only Oreki-kun can help me with it. I'll let you know where to go when the time comes. You'll find out then."
Oreki Gen watched her without responding.
Sakuraba Mitsuki bent down abruptly, catching him off guard as she brought her stunning face and those dangerously intense eyes mere inches from his.
"You don't want to agree, Oreki-kun...? That's fine. I won't force you. Whether or not you come to the place I choose is entirely up to you."
With that, she leaned in further, as if about to kiss his cheek.
Oreki Gen instinctively pulled his head back, widening the gap.
The girl let out a soft, derisive laugh at the sight. Then she straightened up, deftly collected the painting from the easel, grabbed her bag, turned on her heel, and strode out of the classroom.
The door swung shut with a BANG.
Only then did Oreki Gen snap back to reality.
He hesitated for a moment, then pulled his phone from his pocket. There was the message —
【Oreki-kun really is so handsome. Even the way he'd look getting shot right between the eyes and dying — it would still be so beautiful~】
"I 【censored】!!!"
The back of his shirt, which had only just dried, was instantly drenched in cold sweat all over again...