Morning Light filtered through the clean glass window, spreading a bright base color over the classroom of Class 2-F at Sobu High School. Kanjuro stepped into the classroom just as the morning reading bell rang, leisurely taking his seat by the window. Eight years had passed. The classroom layout and student faces had changed over and over, but only his seat and that eternally eighteen-year-old face remained like an unchanging Rock in the torrent of time.
Eight years ago, this school was still called 'Sacred Scripture Academy.' It was him, after obtaining the dark bible that carried endless knowledge and power, who, along with the Morimoto Leona and Morimoto Reina sisters who were also involved at the time, casually changed the school name to the more ordinary 'Sobu High School.' To him, this was just an insignificant mark.
Nyarlathotep's 'gift'—Eternal Youth and Immortality—was both a curse and the perfect disguise for him. More secretly, this gift seemed capable of sharing the 'Eternal Youth' trait through some extreme form of contact. This might explain why some women, who seemed to have been obtained by him through forceful means, did not wither afterward but instead glowed with renewed vitality, as if reborn. The twisted secrets behind this were known only to Kanjuro himself.
As soon as he put down his backpack, a voice tinged with slight dissatisfaction and intense curiosity came from beside him.
"Hey, hey, hey, Kanjuro," his deskmate Hiratsuka Shizuka propped her elbow on the desk, palm supporting her chin, turning her head to look at him. Her neat short hair shimmered with a healthy glow in the sunlight. "You, how come you took another month off without a word? Where did you go this month?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka, an ordinary eighteen-year-old high school girl, straightforward in personality, with a bit of a tomboyish streak, occasionally prone to violence, but kind-hearted at her core. She harbored immense curiosity toward Kanjuro, this mysterious deskmate who frequently disappeared and reappeared.
Kanjuro turned his head, meeting her probing gaze, wearing his usual, inscrutably gentle smile. "Why ask so much? Shizuka, too much curiosity isn't a good thing."
Hiratsuka Shizuka felt somewhat frustrated by his dismissive attitude, letting out an annoyed "hmph" and withdrawing her hand to cross her arms. "Who, who's curious about you! I just... just think you're too strange, that's all!" She tried to hide her concern, but her tone only made it more obvious. "You know? At some point, a strange urban legend started circulating in the school, saying there's an 'eternal high school student' hidden in our school. No matter how many years pass, he always attends here as a high school student... Don't you think that's ridiculous?"
As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously swept over Kanjuro's face, which bore no trace of age. Such rumors, combined with Kanjuro's habit of mysteriously disappearing and reappearing, made it hard not to draw connections.
A faint trace of impatience flickered deep in Kanjuro's eyes. This woman's intuition was sharp, but that was all. Just an ordinary high school girl attracted by boring campus legends. His smile remained unchanged, but his tone carried a subtle hint of detachment and warning:
"Is that so?" he asked softly, his voice low. "Sounds like a boring story. Shizuka, it's better to focus your energy on studying. Some vague legends are just for listening; delving deeper... won't do you any good."
He implied something, but Hiratsuka Shizuka clearly didn't fully grasp the deeper meaning in his words. She just felt he was being mysterious again, pursed her lips, turned her head back, and muttered under her breath, "Playing tricks..."
Kanjuro also turned back, facing the podium as if the conversation had never happened. The classroom was filled with the sound of reading, warm sunlight, and a peaceful scene. He slightly lowered his eyelids, hiding the flash of coldness in his eyes.
This woman Hiratsuka Shizuka really liked to meddle. But that was all. An ordinary high school girl couldn't touch the reality hidden beneath his peaceful daily life. His secrets, his past, the final drama he directed in Fuyuki City—all had nothing to do with this sunlit classroom or with her.
He just needed such a place, such an identity, to temporarily house his eternal life and appreciate how long this fragile, ordinary 'daily life' could be maintained in his palm. As for those insignificant curiosities, in the face of his absolute power, they were merely a breeze over water, unable to stir even a ripple.
Kanjuro's enigmatic attitude didn't quell Hiratsuka Shizuka's curiosity; instead, it planted a restless seed in her heart. Over the next few days, she couldn't help but observe her deskmate out of the corner of her eye. His focus during lectures (or was he daydreaming?), the perfectly measured detachment when talking with classmates, the occasional silence that felt out of place with the youthful atmosphere around them... all made Hiratsuka Shizuka feel that Kanjuro was shrouded in an impenetrable mist.
This urge to investigate drove her, one day after school, to walk alone into the Old Newspaper Reading Room of the school Library. The air was filled with the unique smell of paper and dust. Relying on vague memories and intuition, she began searching through bound volumes of local news from eight years ago.
Her fingertips brushed over the yellowed, fragile pages, and a small, inconspicuous News Brief caught her attention—[Small Fire in the Library area of the former Sacred Scripture Academy (now Sobu High School), cause unknown, fortunately no casualties]. The date was exactly eight years ago. A Fire? Her heart skipped a beat. Then, while flipping through the School Magazine from the same period, she found another keyword—[Occult Research Society, disbanded for unknown reasons, former Activity Room (Old School Building Basement) suspended from use].
Old School Building Basement... Occult Research Society... eight years ago... These fragments of information pieced together in her mind, pointing to a clear target.
A shiver of fear and excitement ran up her spine. Hiratsuka Shizuka had always been bold, and this urban legend-style Exploration was right up her alley. She decided to investigate the former Occult Research Society site at night.
That night, the moon was bright and the stars sparse. Hiratsuka Shizuka slipped silently into the quiet Old School Building under the moonlight. The hallway was empty, and her footsteps echoed, sounding unusually clear. Following the vague instructions from the School Magazine, she found the somewhat hidden, peeling wooden door leading to the Basement.
Pushing the door open, a wave of cold, damp air heavy with mold assaulted her. The stairs descended steeply, disappearing into darkness. She turned on her phone's flashlight, took a deep breath, and carefully descended step by step.
The Basement was cluttered with discarded desks, chairs, and miscellaneous items, covered in spiderwebs. However, in a relatively clean open space in the corner, some strange Ritual Traces remained—Chalk-outlined patterns that had already blurred, and a few burnt-out candle stubs.
Just as she crouched down, trying to identify those patterns, a cool, slightly magnetic female voice suddenly sounded behind her:
"What are you doing here?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka almost jumped in fright, nearly dropping her phone. She turned sharply, the flashlight beam shaking as it illuminated a woman who had appeared at the stairway entrance at some unknown time.
It was an extremely beautiful woman with brilliant golden hair, whose captivating charm was hard to conceal even in the dim light. However, she was currently wearing a somewhat out-of-place, pure white Nurse's Coat, creating a bizarre contrast with the gloomy environment.
"Ki... Kitami-sensei?" Hiratsuka Shizuka recognized her—the school nurse, Reika Kitami, who was said to be highly skilled but somewhat mysterious in her whereabouts. What was she doing here?
Reika Kitami didn't answer her question. Her deep eyes seemed especially bright in the darkness as she calmly repeated the question: "What are you doing here, Hiratsuka-san?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka composed herself, scratching her head somewhat sheepishly. "I... I heard that eight years ago, there was an Occult Research Society in the school, and the club Activity Room was in this Basement. So I wanted to take a look..."
"Why are you so curious about things from eight years ago?" Reika Kitami's tone betrayed no emotion.
Perhaps due to the eerie environment or the inexplicable pressure emanating from Kitami-sensei, Hiratsuka Shizuka unconsciously revealed part of her thoughts. "I... I want to investigate the school's 'eternal high school student' legend. I suspect... he might be my deskmate, Kanjuro." She stared intently at Reika Kitami, hoping to see something on her face.
When the name "Kanjuro" came from Hiratsuka Shizuka's mouth, Reika Kitami's charming eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, flashing with an extremely complex emotion too quick to catch. She slightly furrowed her beautiful brows.
"You know?" Hiratsuka Shizuka keenly caught that slight anomaly, pressing urgently.
But Reika Kitami let out a soft sigh, a sigh that seemed to contain too many unspeakable things. She looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka, her eyes carrying a warning almost akin to pity. "Hiratsuka-san, listen to my advice. For your own safety, don't continue investigating any further."
After saying this, she said no more and turned to leave.
"Wait! Kitami-sensei!" Hiratsuka Shizuka instinctively wanted to chase after her for answers.
At that moment, Reika Kitami suddenly stopped and looked back. Moonlight happened to leak through a crack at the stairway entrance, illuminating half her face. In that instant, there was no trace of her usual gentleness or charm in her eyes—only a bone-chilling coldness, as if some non-human entity was issuing a warning.
"And," her voice also turned icy and piercing, "don't get too close to Kanjuro. This is my advice to you, and also a warning."
With those words, she didn't linger, quickly disappearing into the darkness above the stairs, leaving Hiratsuka Shizuka alone in the cold Basement, heart pounding and body chilled.
Teacher Kitami's words, especially that final look, made her truly feel an unprecedented fear. Kanjuro... just who is he? And what does Teacher Kitami know? This situation seemed far deeper and more dangerous than she had imagined. The next morning, the sun still shone, and the classroom bustle remained as usual. But Hiratsuka Shizuka's heart felt as if it had been soaked in the cold, damp air of last night's Basement, heavy with lingering chills and questions. She sat at her desk, her gaze drifting from time to time to the empty seat beside her—Kanjuro hadn't arrived yet.
When that familiar figure finally appeared at the classroom door and sat down with his eternally unchanged, slightly aloof gentle expression, Hiratsuka Shizuka could hardly contain herself. Lowering her voice, with a hint of barely detectable nervousness and probing, she asked:
"Kanjuro, do you... know the school nurse, Teacher Reika Kitami?"
The name "Reika Kitami" was like a rusty key, abruptly thrust into a deliberately sealed corner of Kanjuro's memory, emitting a grating screech.
His hand, about to take out his textbook, paused almost imperceptibly before returning to normal, but a complex undercurrent instantly flashed through his always calm eyes.
Eight years ago... Sacred Scripture Academy... Occult Research Society... The floodgates of memory burst open, bringing with them a surge of images filled with bloodshed, betrayal, and primal desire.
Back then, he was just a high school student trying to explore the hidden aspects of the world.
Reika Kitami, that girl with brilliant golden hair and pure eyes, was a member of the Occult Research Society and his first love—at least, in Kitami's view, it was pure and beautiful.
And Kanjuro had already secretly glimpsed traces of the "dark bible."
He knew that Takashiro Hiroko and the ambitious Female President of the Occult Research Society at the time were frantically searching for people who might form a contract with the dark bible.
He also knew that Reika Kitami, that seemingly ordinary girl, harbored within her the power of the holy bible of light, which shared the same origin as the dark bible but was fundamentally different in nature. Yet she herself was completely unaware and had not formed a contract.
A cold and efficient plan took shape in his mind.
He exploited Kitami's trust and feelings, using her as a test subject without her knowledge, and "unintentionally" leaked information to Takashiro Hiroko and the Female President.
The greedy hunters immediately set their sights on Kitami, this pure lamb.
In the end, in that Basement, identical to the one Hiratsuka Shizuka saw last night, under the watchful eyes of Takashiro Hiroko, the Female President, and a group of Occult Research Society members blinded by desire—they thought they were conducting some kind of ritual to force Kitami to manifest her power—Kanjuro, the person Kitami had once trusted and even loved, personally pushed her into the abyss of despair.
In front of everyone, he brutally took possession of her.
It wasn't just to satisfy dark desires; it was also to stimulate the latent power of the holy bible of light within Kitami to erupt completely in an environment of extreme negative emotions and ritual, and to fulfill the final contract he had signed with Nyarlathotep to obtain the "spear of longinus" and the complete power of the dark bible.
Kitami's pain and despair became the perfect offering for his ascension to the dark throne.
The contract was fulfilled; he gained supreme power and eternal life.
And Kitami, after experiencing ultimate humiliation and pain, had the latent power of the holy bible of light within her fully activated, saving her life and even granting her extraordinary abilities.
But because she did not form the contract voluntarily, this power came with a curse—her life was confined to an eighteen-year cycle, requiring her to change her physical vessel every eighteen years, or she would perish completely. Now, there were still ten years until the next cycle.
Remembering Kitami's initial pure, innocent, and naive appearance, and contrasting it with her later beauty and coldness twisted by pain and power, even Kanjuro's heart, long steeped in darkness, couldn't help but stir with an extremely faint, almost imperceptible ripple.
Guilt?
Perhaps. In his long and dark life, he had used and hurt countless people. Only with Reika Kitami did this exploitation and betrayal carry a trace of a faded impurity called "first love," occasionally evoking this strange and superfluous emotion in him. And it was just a trace, fleeting.
He pulled himself out of his memories, his eyes regaining their usual depth and calm. Looking at Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was still waiting for an answer beside him, he spoke lightly, his tone betraying no emotion:
"I don't know Teacher Kitami."
He paused, his gaze falling on Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes, filled with inquiry and a hint of unease. Lowering his voice, he spoke with an undeniable warning:
"And, Shizuka," he used a somewhat intimate address, rare for him, sending a chill down Hiratsuka Shizuka's spine, "there are some things I hope you'll know when to stop. Don't investigate any further. It won't do you... any good."
His words were light, but they fell like a heavy stone on Hiratsuka Shizuka's heart.
She watched as Kanjuro turned back, picked up his textbook, as if that brief conversation had never happened. But she knew something had changed.
Kanjuro's denial and that explicit warning were almost tantamount to indirectly admitting that he had a deep, unwilling-to-be-touched connection with Teacher Kitami and the secrets of eight years ago.
The Basement's chill, Teacher Kitami's icy gaze, Kanjuro's current evasive attitude... all of it felt like an invisible net tightly entangling Hiratsuka Shizuka, making her feel suffocated, yet unable to resist the urge to break free and see what astonishing secret lay at the center of that net.
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