Inside Shizuka's office, cigarette smoke filled the room.
She smoked one cigarette after another, as though only nicotine could suppress her nerves that were already on the verge of snapping. Darius sat directly across from her, back straight, both hands resting on his knees, looking like a prisoner undergoing interrogation.
The two of them had been silent for ten minutes.
Shizuka finally crushed out her cigarette butt, lifted her eyes reddened from exhaustion, and fixed Darius with a sharp stare.
"What is it that you actually want?"
Her voice was hoarse, heavy with weariness.
"Turning the Student Council completely upside down, transforming a social gathering into a farce... is this what you call 'social rehabilitation'?"
Darius did not answer, only watching her calmly.
"You have talent, Darius. I have never denied that." Shizuka's tone softened slightly, even carrying a faint undercurrent of pleading. "Your mind, your capacity for action, your sophistic ability to twist flawed logic into truth... If you used it on the right path, you could become anyone you wanted to be."
She leaned forward.
"Are you planning to keep pretending to be mad like this forever?"
The question, sharp as a blade, cut through all the pretense and absurdity within that office. For the first time, a ripple of emotion showed in Darius's eyes.
The composure that usually emanated from his face — the composure of someone existing outside this world — vanished. He lowered his eyelids, his long lashes casting shadows beneath his eyes.
A deeper silence settled over the office. Shizuka did not press him; she simply waited with patience. She felt she had never been this close to what truly lay inside her student's heart.
After a long while, Darius slowly looked up. The corner of his mouth lifted into an almost imperceptibly thin curve. It was not the mischievous or chaotic smile he usually wore, but a smile that carried immeasurable sadness and self-directed mockery.
"Hiratsuka-sensei."
His voice was very soft, like a breath.
"Those who are aware... suffer the most."
In that instant, Shizuka felt as though her heart had been seized and wrung hard. She froze. She looked at the teenager before her — the lunatic who was always raving and leaving the world in disarray. Yet in this moment, his gaze was so clear, as clear as a bottomless pool of cold water.
What was reflected in those eyes was not madness, but the extreme loneliness of someone who had seen through all the world's pretenses and rules.
(So he understands everything. He isn't mad — he simply chose madness as a way to resist a world he could not accept.)
Shizuka opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her throat was dry and not a single word came out. A powerful feeling surged in her chest — pity, regret, and a helpless anger.
But right at this rare moment of emotional current... the expression on Darius's face suddenly changed.
The melancholic smile vanished in an instant, replaced by an extraordinarily bright and sincere-looking grin, reminiscent of a salesman. He produced a small bottle of green liquid from his uniform pocket and placed it solemnly on Shizuka's desk.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, I've noticed your stress levels have been quite high lately — your hair has been falling out quite badly, hasn't it?"
"This is the latest scientifically researched product I obtained through 'internal channels' — the 'Spring of Life' anti-hair-loss shampoo. All-natural plant extracts, containing negative entropy ions, effectively reversing the heat death of hair follicles and activating the life-force field."
"Given the teacher-student bond between us, I'll give you a twenty percent discount — just 9,980 yen. Cash, card, or trade-in of equivalent value are all acceptable, for instance, the spare tire from your Aston Martin."
The expression on Shizuka's face hardened inch by inch.
Three seconds later.
"DA-RI-US—!"
A roar sufficient to bring down the ceiling reverberated throughout the entire special building. Followed by the loud crash of a desk and chair being overturned, and the sound of a heavy, decisive impact.
"Ow!"
Darius's cry of pain sounded remarkably human. The atmosphere returned to what it should have been.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Several minutes later, Darius staggered down the corridor with a clearly visible lump on his head. He rubbed his head, but his face wore a relaxed smile.
Sure enough, dealing with intelligent people was exhausting. It was far more comfortable to just be mad.
He pushed open the door to the Service Club activity room — no, the SCP Sobu High Branch.
"I'm back. Today's 'purification ceremony' was a great success, and Instructor Hiratsuka-sensei's emotions are also very stable..."
His words stopped mid-sentence. In the activity room, besides Yukino who was wiping down a wooden stick and Yui who was packing up cake, there was someone else sitting on the sofa.
A stranger — a girl. Long blonde hair tied up in twin high pigtails, as though proudly displaying the haughty personality of their owner. She was wearing the uniform of a different school.
Hearing the door open, the girl looked up, revealing a face as beautiful as a porcelain doll. When she saw Darius, a flash of puzzlement crossed her green eyes, which then shifted into an undisguised look of appraisal and contempt.
"Are you a member of this 'Service Club'?"
Her voice matched her bearing, carrying a high, arrogant note.
"You don't look like much."