["We'll know once the dice settle."]
["Alright then. Save me a seat in the audience. I want to see just how capable you really are. Still, I'm quite curious... if everything started over from the beginning, would you still want to be the child blessed by the Mother Goddess?"]
[After saying this, the shadow disappeared. Aventurine continued forward, following the child's footsteps until they arrived in front of a photo board.]
["I don't know why, mister, but you always give me a special feeling… it makes me very curious, itching to try." The little child stopped and looked up at Aventurine. "It's a pity I couldn't get to know you a little more. We should say goodbye now. Did you have fun?"]
[Aventurine asked him gently: "Are you… going back?"]
["Mm, I should go home. The sky is starting to darken. It's going to rain. I can't make everyone worry."]
["Your home… where is it?"]
[The little child scratched his head a little doubtfully: "That's a strange question. Home is the place where Dad, Mom, and big sister are..." He pointed at the distant castle. "…right here, inside this dream."]
["This amusement park, this sweet dream, is truly peaceful. Everyone likes it." The little child looked at him in confusion. "But mister, why don't you like it?"]
[Aventurine closed his eyes and gently shook his head: "…Because they are not here."]
——
Kaguya-sama: Love is War.
"Mr. Aventurine no longer has a place that can be called 'home'..."
After witnessing Aventurine's tragic childhood and reality, Chika Fujiwara collapsed onto the conference table like a dehydrated fish, her cheek pressed tightly against the cold surface, pink hair scattered messily, her voice coming out muffled from the tabletop.
"In that case…" She suddenly raised her head, rubbed her reddened eye sockets, and her expression turned firm. "Come date me! Let's create a place called 'home' together!"
Yu Ishigami, who was drinking juice, almost sprayed it out with a "pfft," choking and patting his chest: "Cough cough… Senior Fujiwara, this wouldn't be your real goal, would it?"
"Of course! Because according to my observations as a love detective, Aventurine is absolutely a one-in-a-million ideal marriage partner!"
Chika Fujiwara somehow pulled out a detective hat from somewhere and placed it on her pink hair, her face serious.
"First! That face of his is invincible! Imagine it, Ishigami—if your marriage partner was an extremely high-looking beauty—mm, let's use Firefly as a comparison for now—when you finish a day's work and return home to find an extremely good-looking husband or wife waiting for you..."
Yu Ishigami nodded in strong agreement. After all, this kind of daydream was not the first time he had had it. "It would probably extend my lifespan by ten years... dying too early would be a huge loss."
"Exa—ctly! Second, Aventurine loves his family more than he loves himself. In other words, if you can form a family with him and become his family... I don't even dare imagine how happy the marriage would be. If the sugar content exceeds the standard it's harmful to the body!!"
"Finally, hehehe…" The smile at the corner of Secretary Fujiwara's mouth gradually could not be held back. "He is the last Avgin in the entire universe! Is there anything more important than continuing the bloodline of the Avgin?! Absolutely nothing! This matter has already reached the point of urgency that cannot be delayed!"
Kaguya Shinomiya silently moved her teacup farther away: "Secretary Fujiwara, you should wipe your drool..."
"So Senior Fujiwara, you don't care about his gambler identity at all?"
"How could that be?! This is clearly a plus point!"
Fujiwara silently hugged herself and twisted shyly. "Think about it—who could refuse a good man who has beautiful eyes, invincible luck, appears to be a playboy on the surface, but actually has excellent character and loves his family? Aaaah, this contrast! I can only say... people who don't understand Aventurine are in trouble!"
"But Senior Fujiwara, what's the use of you saying all this? Aventurine won't come to Earth. In the end it will only benefit some woman in the galaxy, right?" Ishigami spread his hands.
"Ishigami you bastard! Why did you have to puncture my fantasy?! Can't you let me fantasize a little?!"
——
["Then where are they?" The shadow took over Aventurine's words and slowly walked out from behind him.]
[Aventurine's lowered eyelashes trembled under the lights, like butterfly wings wet with rain: "I don't know."]
["You clearly know. It's just that the answer has no meaning."]
[Aventurine let out a heavy sigh.]
[The shadow fixed his gaze on his lowered eyes: "Admit it. You're tired."]
[He passed through Aventurine and slowly walked to the little child's side: "We are all tired, so we plan to stay here—I… and him. Your 'past'… and your 'future'."]
["Stay here for how long?"]
["Forever. We will stay with you forever inside this dream." The shadow raised a hand to cover his chest. "…This is the greatest respect we can offer to one who has resolved to die."]
[The shadow paused, then continued: "Taking an unorthodox path is an extremely absurd method, but it is not rare in you. Because [one's own life] has always been the first chip you throw out—always."]
["You don't care who the real culprit is, and you're not interested in the so-called inheritance either. You only want to be a fair and impartial Company employee, suffering everywhere on the Family's territory, being fitted with scalding shackles, and pushed onto the center of the stage... then become the [third sacrifice] of this grand gathering."]
[Aventurine looked at him seriously: "…I can do it, and do it flawlessly."]
["Of course you can. Your good luck will definitely help you at just the right moment. One Stellaron and one Emanator… it's that simple, right?"]
——
Bleach.
"Aventurine wants to seek death himself? Could it be that he wants to summon the Memory Zone Meme?"
Toshiro Hitsugaya's brows furrowed tightly, but after thinking carefully he quickly denied this deduction.
"The Memory Zone Meme kills completely at random. No one knows its next target. Could it be that he has some clue... no, every single one of his movements is right before our eyes. If there really was any clue we would know it too."
Shinji Hirako leaned lazily against a corridor pillar: "Didn't you hear him say one Stellaron and one Emanator? Why would he need any Memory Zone Meme?"
The Stellaron naturally refers to Stelle. That Emanator must refer to Acheron... although Shinji's memory of that Emanator's appearance was a little blurry, one could imagine she was someone of formidable strength.
The problem was, why would Stelle and Acheron make a move against him? He remembered that Aventurine and the Express crew were in a proper cooperative relationship.
"But inside the dream, if it's not the Memory Zone Meme that kills him, he himself will simply return to reality again. What meaning would that have?" Hitsugaya was even more confused. He truly could not figure out what Aventurine was thinking.
Unless... the "death" brought by that Emanator and Stelle was different, capable of achieving the same effect as the Memory Zone Meme.