When they returned to the classroom, Ye Xing spotted Kazusa Touma placing a drink on his desk.
Caught red-handed, Touma showed no trace of panic. Her voice remained flat and emotionless as she spoke.
"I don't like owing favours."
Ye Xing walked slowly to his desk, eyeing the beverage with complicated emotions before shaking his head.
"Kazusa Touma, after all my help, this is how you repay kindness? Forcing me to drink Pepsi-brand toilet cleaner."
Then he pressed his right hand against the Pepsi can and recoiled in theatrical shock, as if witnessing something unbelievable.
"And it's room temperature?!"
"Uh..."
Touma had anticipated many scenarios—Ye Xing misunderstanding her gesture and becoming annoyingly persistent, refusing the drink outright, or even throwing it in the trash right before her eyes.
This was one situation she truly hadn't anticipated.
"Is there... something wrong with room temperature Pepsi?"
Hearing Kazusa Touma's question, Ye Xing replied with the tone of someone answering the simplest elementary school problem, as if stating the obvious.
"Do you know what Pepsi is also called?"
"No."
"Nectar of the Otaku."
Ye Xing picked up the can of Pepsi, his handsome dark eyes reflecting the melancholy of an old man standing in the sunset, sighing at life's impermanence.
"Even toilet cleaner, if served chilled during this early spring season while admiring the scattered cherry blossoms outside the window, might possess a certain unique charm."
"But let me be blunt—soda that isn't chilled is absolute garbage."
Kazusa Touma's delicate eyebrows twitched. After a long silence, she finally said flatly:
"Anyway, I've repaid my debt to you."
With that, she lay her head back on the desk to sleep.
"Those two are really kinda weird, huh?"
"Not kinda—they're full-on weirdos."
"Shh, keep it down. Don't let that guy hear you. He's dangerous—carries a revolver everywhere."
Hearing the hushed whispers of classmates in the distance, Ye Xing rolled his eyes.
Damn, the rumours were getting more outrageous by the minute.
All he carried was a blunt, harmless peach wood dagger and some plain, ordinary twenty-centimetre silver nails you could find anywhere.
How had that morphed into carrying a revolver?
By dismissal time, would the rumours escalate to "First-year Class A's new student Ye Xing carries nuclear launch codes in his pocket"?
Tomorrow's headline: "Shocking! The Real Culprit Behind JFK's Assassination Revealed!"
Day after: "Unbelievable! The Executioner of Louis XVI Was Actually Him!"
Following day: "Turns Out the Guy Who Handed Pangu the Axe to Split Heaven and Earth Was This Kid All Along!"
'Truly, repeated lies become truth,' Ye Xing thought to himself.
Glancing at the Pepsi in his hand, he finally stowed it in his desk before lying his head down to resume infant-like slumber.
...
Miko Yotsuya's attention wandered throughout the afternoon classes.
Her gaze kept drifting to Ye Xing in the corner of the classroom.
This detail didn't escape Yui Yuigahama sitting beside her.
When class ended, Yuigahama approached the pensive Miko with a sweet smile.
"Hello, Yotsuya-san."
Hearing Yui Yuigahama's voice, Miko snapped out of her thoughts. Looking up at the girl's charming face, she tentatively asked:
"You're... Yuigahama-san, right?"
"Just call me Yui!"
Yuigahama embodied the textbook definition of socially fearless—a veritable social butterfly.
Although Miko appeared unapproachable due to years of suppressing emotions around evil spirits, her personality actually resembled that of any ordinary high school girl, leaning toward being cheerful and lively.
"So, Yui-san, did you need something?"
Yuigahama covered her mouth with a giggle, discreetly pointing at Ye Xing in the corner before saying meaningfully to Miko, "I noticed you've been sneaking glances at him during class. Could it be that you two...?"
"Huh?"
Miko Yotsuya was taken aback for a moment before shaking her head with a wry smile.
"Yuigahama-san, what gave you that idea? That's completely impossible."
"Why would it be impossible?"
Yui Yuigahama tilted her head with an adorable, naturally clueless expression, her curiosity evident.
"Ye Xing-kun's personality might be different from most people, but he's actually quite good-looking. And didn't you two go out together during lunch break?"
Hearing this, Miko seemed to ponder for a moment.
"Now that you mention it... I suppose that's true."
Only after Yui pointed it out did Miko realise—Ye Xing's appearance was indeed striking.
However, her focus had always been on his ability to devour evil spirits, causing her to overlook this aspect.
From an outsider's perspective, like Yui's, it wasn't surprising that spending lunch break alone with Ye Xing on the first day of school would lead to such a misunderstanding.
"You've got it wrong."
Miko shook her head with a smile.
"My relationship with Ye Xing-kun isn't what you're imagining. We went out alone during lunch because... well, it was about some personal matters."
"I see."
Yui nodded noncommittally, then a shadow flickered in her eyes as she forced a smile.
"Um, since you can talk to Ye Xing-kun... could you pass along a message for me? I'd like to apologise to him."
"Apologise?"
"Yes. This morning, I left without saying goodbye to him. That wasn't very polite."
Miko frowned slightly and shook her head gently.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's already forgotten about it."
Miko found it hard to imagine someone like Ye Xing caring about such trivial matters.
Besides...
Wasn't Yuigahama-san being a bit too sensitive with her kindness?
Just as Yui was about to say more, a female student approached.
"Yotsuya-san, Teacher Shizuka wants to see you in the office."
"Oh, alright."
Miko stood up, smoothing her skirt before nodding slightly to Yui.
"Well then, Yuigahama-san, let's talk later."
"Mm, go ahead."
...
After leaving the classroom, Miko headed toward the third-floor teachers' office.
As she reached the stairs, she caught sight of Shizuka Hiratsuka's figure disappearing around the corner, heading toward the rooftop.
"Teacher Shizuka?"
She called out, but whether the teacher didn't hear or deliberately ignored her, there was no response.
Miko's face was full of confusion. Hadn't she been summoned to the office?
Why was Teacher Shizuka going to the rooftop?
Puzzled, she quickened her pace and followed, pushing open the rooftop door. There, Shizuka Hiratsuka, in her white lab coat, stood leaning against the railing, her eyes devoid of emotion as she stared coldly at Miko.
"Teacher Shizuka?"
Shizuka didn't respond. Instead, she beckoned to Miko.
Instinctively, Miko nodded in acknowledgement.
The next moment, Shizuka's body and face began to twist grotesquely, transforming into a massive spider-like monster that nearly filled the entire rooftop.
"What—!?"
Miko Yotsuya's pupils dilated in shock, her body frozen in place as if plunged into an ice cellar.
Four cold eyes stared at her from that twisted, terrifying face, and a voice like an evil spirit from hell spoke:
"You... can see me."