"Kikyo-san, you really don't need to worry too much."
"Regarding this kind of thing, there is absolutely no necessity to confide in others, nor is there any meaning to it."
Subaru looked at Kushida and shook his head slightly.
Let alone these matters of Kushida's, which appeared meaningless to Subaru, even the true matters hidden within Subaru's heart—things he desperately wanted to confide to someone—were difficult for him to speak of.
Even if, in the future, Hiyori and Kushida truly possessed 'meaning' and became genuine existences, it would still be the same.
The things he experienced in the other world, Subaru would likely never tell anyone in his entire life.
The only person who might possibly know about these things was no longer in this world.
Thinking of this, Subaru recalled the day of his enrollment on the bus. The sound of the 'disconnected number' coming from Kushida's mobile phone made Subaru unable to stop the sigh in his heart.
Sometimes, Subaru would also think about one thing.
Even if they were parents of this parallel world, Subaru wanted to meet them, to talk to them.
Unfortunately, there was no such possibility.
"Meaningless things... is it?"
The smile on Kushida's face stiffened slightly.
Even though she had exhorted Subaru a thousand times not to speak of her affairs to the outside world, when Subaru truly stated that he didn't care at all about such meaningless things, Kushida felt somewhat uncomfortable in her heart.
After all, although Kushida was unwilling to face that dark history she had once experienced, what she could not deny was that that was the real her, the true self.
When Subaru said it was meaningless at this moment, from another perspective, it also meant he was somewhat negating her.
"Then, what kind of things does Subaru-kun consider to be meaningful?"
"Subaru-kun rarely takes the initiative to do things, but today you were actually willing to accompany Shiina-san out for a 'date'. Could it be that this counts as a meaningful thing?"
Originally, Kushida was already preparing to take her leave.
Although she was very curious about how Subaru was able to expel Yamauchi so quickly, Kushida did not let Subaru know about her idea of wanting to expel Horikita.
In Kushida's view, Subaru had merely accidentally seen a scene of her venting her emotions in private from beginning to end.
This was also the reason why Kushida had always placed the vast majority of her energy on Horikita. It was just that this time, Subaru displayed amazing capacity for action, directly causing Yamauchi to be expelled.
Otherwise, Kushida wouldn't necessarily have come over for a chance encounter in the afternoon.
Nor would it be possible for her to come over at night to give Subaru further exhortations.
Therefore, this also meant that Kushida could not speak plainly to Subaru, telling him she wanted to expel Horikita and asking Subaru to teach her what she should do next to make Horikita drop out.
From beginning to end, her image with Subaru was that of someone who wanted to be friends with Horikita.
"Meaningful things, huh."
"Coming out for a 'date' with Shiina-san cannot be counted as a meaningful thing for the time being."
Hearing Kushida's inquiry, Subaru smiled. After thinking for a moment, he said, "But it cannot be said to be completely meaningless. The time spent with Shiina-san possesses a certain meaning."
"And Kikyo-san, my expectations for you are about the same as my expectations for Hiyori."
As he spoke, Subaru placed his gaze upon Kushida.
"Eh?"
Kushida was slightly stunned.
Although she asked, Kushida didn't expect Subaru to be able to answer her. As a result, she didn't expect that Subaru would actually explain to her what 'meaning' was.
However, Kushida reacted very quickly. The originally somewhat sugary smile on her face disappeared, turning into a sneer as she said, "You aren't thinking of saying, 'If Kikyo-san can truly face her own original heart and completely cast aside the meaningless mask, then that would be a meaningful thing', right?"
In the final analysis, whether something possesses meaning or not is determined from Subaru's perspective.
In that case, Subaru's meaning is what Subaru wants to see. And Subaru had already told her last time what he wanted to see: he wanted to see her take off the mask on her own initiative and display her true self.
However, this was an impossible thing.
For Kushida, the greatest meaning in life was to wear a mask, become everyone's friend, and use the identity of a friend to obtain enough secrets.
If she really did as Subaru said, actively taking off the mask to show her true self, then it would be impossible for anyone to become her friend again, and it would be impossible for her to have any little secrets between friends anymore.
For Kushida, this would undoubtedly mean losing the meaning of life.
Just thinking about the period before enrolling, Kushida felt a subconscious creeping horror.
"That's right."
"Kikyo-san, that is exactly it."
Hearing Kushida's answer, which drew inferences from one instance, Subaru nodded in great approval.
"Then I might just have to disappoint Subaru-kun."
"I will absolutely not do such a thing, because for me, that is truly losing meaning."
Looking at Subaru's expression of great approval, Kushida's face became even more gloomy. She said coldly, "Could it be that in your eyes, I am the same type of person as Hiyori Shiina?"
"Are you also expecting that one day Hiyori Shiina will take off the mask on her face and face her original heart?"
Speaking up to here, a trace of expectant emotion faintly appeared in Kushida's heart.
After all, if that were really the case, then she could be considered to have grasped a not-small secret of Hiyori Shiina. What Kushida liked most was knowing the secrets in everyone's hearts that absolutely could not be told to others.
"Kikyo-san, one can never say for sure about future matters."
"Who knows, maybe sometime Kikyo-san will change her viewpoint?"
Regarding Kushida's rebuttal, Subaru nodded noncommittally and said, "As for Hiyori Shiina..."
"Although the expectations I hold for you two are about the same, Hiyori Shiina and Kikyo Kushida are not the same type."
If Subaru had to use something to describe it.
Then Hiyori Shiina is the type of fund return that is very steady and almost impossible to lose money on.
Kushida is the type of 'monster stock' in the stock market; she might soar into the sky with the momentum in the next instant, or she might directly cause Subaru to lose everything.
The type with a huge gambling nature.
As Subaru's voice fell, the sneer on Kushida's face was already becoming a bit hard to maintain.
'Different types?'
He says it nicely.
Isn't it just feeling that compared to Hiyori Shiina, she is a bit more lacking?
The type like Hiyori Shiina who stays quietly in the library all day, looking like a little white rabbit indisputable with the world, is naturally different from her type who needs to expend great effort performing and maneuvering among the crowd.
However, thinking this way in her own heart was no problem, but having it directly stated by Subaru like this was a bit offensive.
Kushida took a deep breath.
There was no need to continue saying these pointless things with Subaru here.
"Then let's hope the day comes when Subaru-kun's expectations can come true~"
Kushida got down from Subaru's bed, stood up, and clapped her hands, saying, "Goodnight then, Subaru-kun~"
"Although the topic and content of today's chat were a little bit unpleasant..."
"But, next time if I discover something interesting, or if there is any place where I need 'Friend No. 1's' advice, I will come find you again, Subaru-kun~"
Saying this, Kushida walked with light footsteps to the door of the dormitory.
Without waiting for Subaru to say anything more, she directly opened the dormitory door and left Subaru's room.
"Seems she's a bit angry."
Looking at the room where he was suddenly left alone, Subaru smiled and said nothing more.
...
June 1st.
It had been almost a week since Subaru expelled Yamauchi.
Although it caused a huge wave in Year 1, Class D, with the precedent set, no one was tactless enough to trouble Subaru. In fact, many people were somewhat afraid of Subaru.
Expelling Yamauchi only cost Subaru 1.6 million personal points.
He still had a full 5 million personal points on him. Who knew if they might accidentally provoke Subaru and end up being expelled by him using personal points?
After all, in the eyes of many, Yamauchi himself had not committed any unforgivable crime.
Even considering the trouble Yamauchi caused Subaru when Sakayanagi first exposed him with the forum post, it was just that. In the end, it was Yamauchi who suffered a small loss and the matter was left unsettled.
As a result, unexpectedly, even like this, Subaru did not let Yamauchi off.
Even when Yamauchi knelt down, he still couldn't escape the fate of being expelled.
So, now many people in Year 1, Class D were somewhat afraid of Subaru.
And naturally, Subaru wouldn't care about the views of those without 'color'. For this past week, Subaru continued to do what he should do, unaffected by any external factors.
Attending class on time every day, going to the library to read with Hiyori after class.
Staying in the dorm at night, browsing the internet, or going back to sit by the seaside for a while; very stable.
However, the situation today was somewhat different.
"Maya, did you receive personal points?"
Inside the classroom, Kei Karuizawa looked at the student terminal in her hand with a slightly unsightly expression.
According to the rules, today was the new day of the month, and personal points should have been credited early in the morning. But now it was almost time for class, and the 9,400 personal points still hadn't been credited.
There had already been no personal point income for a month. If there wasn't any again, Kei really didn't know what to do. Could it be she really had to go eat the 'Mountain Vegetable Set Meal'?
As the class's gal leader, having to eat the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal because of being too destitute was simply too shameful.
And it was very likely to cause the persona she had worked so hard to build to collapse directly.
"Kei-chan, I haven't received personal points either."
"What should we do? Could it be that some unexpected situation has occurred again this month?"
Hearing Kei's inquiry, Maya Sato also had a somewhat unsightly expression.
Thinking that the situation of having zero points like last month couldn't possibly happen again today, Maya Sato had even used her last personal points yesterday to eat a good meal.
As a result, unexpectedly, today was still a day full of accidents.
"No way..."
"Under Hirata's management last month, didn't we already perform very well?"
Kei said somewhat irritably, "Why is this situation happening again? It's really annoying to death."
At this moment, Kei was already starting to think about what to do if there was still no personal point income this month. Her gal persona on her body had to be maintained.
Thinking of this, Kei subconsciously placed her gaze in the corner of the classroom.
On Subaru's body.
Almost the majority of people in Year 1, Class D didn't have many personal points left. Even if she borrowed, she couldn't borrow much. But Subaru still had a massive amount of personal points on him.
Five million personal points. Even if he just lent her a little bit...
'No, no.'
'Yamauchi was expelled just for asking Subaru to lend him personal points. Although it had a lot to do with Yamauchi's attitude... but better safe than sorry...'
Kei still had a bit of fear towards Subaru.
Although Subaru had never shown any behavior of bullying others, and since she possessed the gal persona, she was the one who somewhat meant to bully others, looking more like a bully herself.
However, no matter how one looked at it, Subaru was more terrifying than ordinary bullies.
Finally, Kei placed her gaze on the number two target, Airi Sakura.
Last time, Kei had borrowed 3,000 personal points from Airi Sakura. Sakura was very soft-hearted. If she steeled her heart and begged again this time... maybe she could borrow a bit more?
Because considering the relationship between Airi Sakura and Subaru might be quite good, Kei hadn't thought about obtaining personal points by bullying Airi Sakura at all.
"However, Kei-chan, you shouldn't need to be so anxious."
"You are Hirata's girlfriend, after all. Hirata said last time that he had over 50,000 personal points on him. If you ask Hirata for help, Kei-chan, there shouldn't be any problem, right?"
Maya Sato didn't detect Kei's complex emotions; instead, she said somewhat enviously, "That's so nice."
"It's a pity Natsuki-kun already has a girlfriend."
"If he didn't have a girlfriend, that would be great..."
___
🔥 New stories are available now! 🔥
We're handing out that '25% bonus' that makes your wallet smile. 😄
✅ Access up to 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Receive exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 180 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan