Chapter 35: Blow Away the Gloomy Monday!
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The holiday ended, and Kazuma returned to school life once again.
Since he would be going to school from Ivy, Kazuma decided to go pick up Momoko.
It was off the usual school route, but to Kazuma, Momoko was an equal and an important partner. Of course, neither of them had any romantic feelings for the other.
However, that was only at the current stage. It was quite possible that their relationship could develop further in the future.
After all, they both harbored secrets and were in the same boat.
“Mo~mo~ko~cha~n~~~! Let’s go to school together~!”
Kazuma called out in a sickeningly sweet voice in front of the apartment building where Momoko lived.
It was clearly harassment, but Kazuma meant it in a friendly way.
He was trying to show the neighbors how close he and Momoko were. Though for Momoko, it was nothing but an extreme nuisance.
“You’re so loud this early in the morning!!! Also, my name is Touko, not Momoko! Please stop getting it wrong on purpose!”
Momoko, who burst out of the door with a bang, stomped towards Kazuma, yelling to correct her name.
“But isn’t Momoko-chan cuter?”
“Do you think it suits me?”
“It suits you! Momoko-chan with the cute butt!”
“Die! You sexual harasser!!!”
“Hogeh!?”
On top of the extremely troublesome teasing on a Monday morning, the sexually harassing remark was not something she could overlook.
Momoko partially deployed her Powered Suit and unleashed a merciless blow on Kazuma, ruthlessly crushing his face.
Leaving Kazuma, whose face had caved in and who had fallen on his back, Momoko briskly walked away.
Her actions stemmed from her belief that Kazuma would recover and get up in an instant anyway.
“Wait, Momoko-chan! Don’t leave me behind!”
Just as Momoko had believed, Kazuma immediately restored his caved-in face and briskly chased after her as she walked ahead.
Kazuma, walking beside Momoko, had a beaming smile as if he were in a great mood.
His energy level was unbelievable for a gloomy Monday morning.
“Why are you walking next to me!”
“Because going to school alone on a Monday morning is lonely, isn’t it?”
“Normally, people walk alone! Even if you meet someone on the way, walking to school together amicably from the start is something only couples or really close friends do!”
“But you and I have an inseparable bond, Momoko-chan.”
“You’re so incredibly annoying for a Monday morning!”
Kazuma and Momoko weren’t the only ones walking.
There were others too: students, working adults, housewives, and children.
Naturally, Momoko, who had shouted loudly, was drawing attention.
Apparently embarrassed, she blushed and looked down to escape the gazes.
“(I love you, honey.)”
“Are you harassing me knowing I can read minds?”
It was a line that made her want to yell at him, but Kazuma hadn’t said it out loud.
If she suddenly yelled at Kazuma, who was silent in such a public place, it was obvious how people would look at her.
Momoko suppressed her urge to shout and, glaring at him, threw a sarcastic remark at Kazuma in a small voice.
“(That’s not true!)”
“(That’s a lie!)”
“(The heart can’t lie, you know?)”
“(What is someone who can counter Mind Reading even saying…?)”
“(I can counter it, but that doesn’t mean I’m nullifying it, you know?)”
“(How could I possibly think that someone would have countermeasures for something as defenseless as the mind…?)”
Momoko had met people whose minds and bodies contradicted each other, but she had never met someone like Kazuma, who could prevent his mind from being read.
Therefore, she had been greatly surprised when she learned the truth.
She would surely never forget the shock of that moment for the rest of her life.
While they were doing this, they arrived at the academy, and the two of them passed through the school gate side by side.
Naturally, since Kazuma was already famous, Momoko was the center of attention.
Just who was this Momoko next to Kazuma?
Was she his girlfriend, or just a friend? Many students were curious about what kind of relationship he had with Momoko from the Support Course.
“(I feel like we’re being stared at a lot…)”
“(Well, you’re walking to school with me! Of course you’d get attention! Besides, you’re from the Support Course, Momoko-chan, so even more so!)”
“(…W-what are we going to do! What if people get the wrong idea!)”
“(The wrong idea? Like you and I are a couple, Momoko-chan?)”
“(I’d rather die!!!)”
“(That’s harsh! Even though I’m a rare guy who treats you the same even knowing you can read my mind!)”
“(Do you have any idea how much you’ve troubled me with your dirty jokes!?)”
“(It was fun, wasn’t it?)”
“(For you, maybe! Do you know how much trouble I went through!?)”
“(It wasn’t that bad, was it?)”
“(When I was monitoring you, it was a barrage of dirty jokes almost every day, and I had to report that to my superiors every single day! I thought I was going to lose my mind!)”
“(W-well, even if you say that… You were the one peeking without permission.)”
“(Gh… Now that you mention it, that’s true.)”
Momoko couldn’t argue with that.
Back when Kazuma hadn’t yet revealed he was the Crimson Knight, Momoko had been reading his mind daily for surveillance purposes.
At that time, Kazuma had constantly spouted dirty jokes every day, toying with Momoko.
Of course, Kazuma had done this knowing that Momoko was reading his mind.
From Momoko’s perspective, it was unbearable, but she was the one invading his privacy, and the fault lay entirely with the National Defense Force.
It hadn’t become an issue only because Kazuma allowed it, but if it became public, they would undoubtedly be slammed by society.
“(Hmph! Justice prevails!!!)”
It was infuriating, but in this particular matter, justice was on Kazuma’s side.
Momoko was well aware of this, so she couldn’t say anything back and hung her head.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
“Momoko-chan! Don’t leave me alone!”
“The Combat Course and Support Course have different classrooms, so it’s natural for us to separate here.”
After passing through the entranceway and changing into their indoor shoes, Kazuma and Momoko went their separate ways.
Kazuma headed to the Combat Course classroom, and Momoko headed to the Support Course classroom.
Kazuma reached out his hand to Momoko as if reluctant to part, but she brushed it away looking annoyed and quickly walked off.
Kazuma, whose hand had been swatted away, slumped his shoulders dejectedly, but Momoko’s reactions weren’t anything new, so he quickly pulled himself together and headed to his classroom.
“Morning!”
“You’re energetic for a Monday, aren’t you…”
“Alice-chan!”
As Kazuma slid open the door with a rattle and greeted her cheerfully, Alice looked a bit listless.
To the dispirited Alice, Kazuma called her name like an innocent child.
It wasn’t that Alice disliked her own name, but she had often been teased about it, so she hated being called by her first name.
She knew Kazuma meant no harm, but that aside, she felt embarrassed by him calling her “Alice-chan” and, as if to hide her bashfulness, put him in an iron claw.
“Who are you calling Alice-chan!”
“Gwaaaaah!”
“Don’t call me by my first name! I don’t really like it.”
“But I think it’s cuuuuute!”
“Sh-shut up! You say things like that so brazenly!”
“My head’s gonna burst like a tomaaaatooooo!”
Kazuma’s head was being squeezed as if by a vise.
At this rate, his brains really would splatter all over the classroom.
Of course, Alice had no such intention, and after punishing Kazuma sufficiently, she let go of his head.
“Honestly… You, on a Monday morning.”
“Am I okay? My head isn’t deformed, is it?”
“You’re fine. Even if it were slightly deformed, it wouldn’t be a problem for you.”
Kazuma had Tsuyoshi, who was nearby, check if his head was deformed.
Naturally, Alice hadn’t used that much force.
Kazuma’s head wasn’t deformed at all.
“Thank goodness. It would have been a disaster if my national treasure-level head had been deformed…”
“What national treasure-level? Idiot!”
Alice punched Kazuma for saying something so stupid.
“Ouch! What am I going to do if my head gets any dumber!”
“It can’t get any dumber than it already is. Probably…”
“Alice-chan, will you take responsibility?”
“I told you to stop calling me Alice-chan.”
Perhaps feeling it was too much to hit him repeatedly, Alice gave Kazuma’s head a light chop.
“Oh… I feel the kindness.”
“To feel kindness from just that… you…”
“Oh, Shunsuke? Morning.”
Where Kazuma turned, Shunsuke stood looking exasperated.
Apparently, he had witnessed the whole exchange.
“Yo. You’re full of energy for a Monday morning, Kazuma.”
“Well, yeah. That’s my strong suit.”
“You’re not the ‘energetic character’ type, though…”
“That’s true, but being gloomy isn’t like me either, right?”
“True. I can’t imagine you looking gloomy, Kazuma.”
“How rude! Even I get gloomy sometimes, you know!”
“Oh really? Like when?”
“Like when I’ve had my heart broken.”
“You’ve had your heart broken!?”
“Yeah. Countless times, actually…”
As Kazuma stared off into the distance, Shunsuke’s mouth hung open as if he were looking at something unbelievable.
“That’s surprising. I thought you were completely unrelated to things like that, Kazuma.”
“Tsuyoshi, I’m a man of many loves.”
“Is that so. You’re having a tough time too, huh.”
“Yeah. You get me, right?”
“I can’t say I truly understand, but I can at least offer some encouragement. If there’s anything I can do to help, I will.”
“Huh? Seriously? In that case, to get straight to it, do you know any kind and graceful girls?”
“…That’s not what I meant by that, though.”
At this, Tsuyoshi too was exasperated and closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, Kazuma, whose eyes were sparkling with anticipation, felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, Kaede was there, staring at him with a reproachful gaze.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Kaede-san…”
“I’m kind and graceful, you know?”
“A kind and graceful girl wouldn’t squeeze my head like a vise…gh!”
Kazuma, his head being squeezed tightly by Telekinesis, cried out in anguish.
Sadly, it seemed unlikely that a kind and graceful woman would appear before Kazuma for the time being.