The next day felt painfully normal.
The teacher kept talking in front of the class while students quietly copied notes from the board. Pens scratched against paper. Someone yawned near the back window. A bird landed outside for a few seconds before flying away again.
Everything looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Kazumi sat frozen in her seat, staring blankly at her notebook.
Yesterday, she almost died.
And the boy besides her casually sliced a monster in half like it was another Tuesday.
"…Miss Kazumi?"
Kazumi suddenly snapped back to reality.
"Huh?!"
The entire classroom looked at her.
The teacher adjusted his glasses.
"Would you like to answer the question?"
Kazumi looked at the board.
There was an equation on it.
Or maybe a historical date.
Or maybe ancient alien language.
Because of the unexpected queation she doesn't even know what to say..
"I… believe the answer is… seven?"
"…This is literature class."
The classroom burst into laughter.
Kazumi slowly lowered her head onto the desk in shame.
Meanwhile, Kiyoshi sat near the window, completely relaxed, spinning his pen like nothing happened.
How is he so calm?!
But a sudden gin in her face as he is trying to hold his laugh.
Kazumi inner self is currently dying in embarrassment...."Ahhhhhhh i wanna die!!!"
...
For the rest of the class, Kazumi kept glancing at him every few seconds.
Kiyoshi noticed.
Of course he noticed they are only inches away to eachother.
But instead of saying anything, he just sighed like a tired old man.
Kiyoshi thought..."Cmon give me a break."
...
Lunch break.
Kazumi carefully followed Kiyoshi through the hallway while hiding behind corners.
Poorly.
Very poorly.
At one point half her body was sticking out from behind a vending machine.
Then behind a tree.
Even the the student just passing by felt uncomfortable seeing her.
Kazumi thought..."If i could get some clues..."
Until Kiyoshi finally had enough.
Kiyoshi suddenly stopped walking.
Without even turning around, he spoke.
"You know… if you're gonna stalk someone, you should at least hide your butt properly."
Kazumi froze.
"…EH?!"
Kiyoshi finally turned toward her with a deadpan expression.
"That thing's been sticking out for the last five minutes."
Kazumi immediately covered herself in embarrassment.
"H-ho did you!?"
"..."
"BUT I THOUGHT I WAS DOING GOOD!"
All of the students around them looked at her as there eyes narrowed like they all saying "No its not good."
Kiyoshi then said to her "You sucks at hidding."
Kazumi's soul nearly left her body.
Kiyoshi sighed.
"So what do you want?"
Kazumi crossed her arms.
"How can you ask that so casually after yesterday?! I almost died!"
"Technically you only almost got eaten."
"THAT DOESN'T HELP!"
A few students nearby slowly walked away from the conversation.
Kiyoshi rubbed the back of his neck.
"I already told you to forget about it."
"How am I supposed to forget about it?! I couldn't even sleep properly last night!"
"And i was late to cook rice yesterday."
Kazumi stared at him in disbelief.
"Hey did you just compared my trauma to House hold chores?!"
"Maybe."
"Hmp!"
He looked at her for a moment before sighing.
"…Fine. But after I explain everything, you stop digging into this stuff, okay?"
Kazumi immediately nodded.
Way too fast.
Way too excited.
Kiyoshi looked mildly concerned.
"…You look like a conspiracy theorist discovering aliens are real."
"They ARE real apparently!"
"Fair point."
The two sat near the school courtyard Together alone.
Kiyoshi leaned back against the bench as he take his luch and started to talk.
"1000 year s ago—actually never mind, I don't know the exact timeline."
Kazumi look at him.
"…Great start."
"Well apparently the monster yesterday was a demon."
Kazumi blinked.
"A demon?"
"Yeah. I call them demons because they look demonic. Very creative naming sense, I know."
Kazumi ignored the sarcasm.
"So that girl…"
"She was the demon."
Kazumi shivered slightly.
Kiyoshi continued.
"Along time a go when yhey came to our wold they disguise themselves as humans. They blend into society by messing with people's memories and taking human form."
"…That's horrifying."
"Yep."
"How did you know that? And do they eat people?!"
"Apparently human flesh are like cracks to them and gives them power or something."
"…WHY ARE YOU SO CASUAL ABOUT THIS?!"
"I've had a while to adjust."
Kazumi held her head.
"This sounds like the plot of a cheap horror movie…"
"Well the budget's terrible too."
Kazumi stared at him.
"…Fair enough."
Kazumi then leaned closer.
"So how did you know that girl was faking it?"
Kiyoshi counted on his fingers.
"Base on my experience demons can copy appearances pretty well, but there are things they can't hide."
"Like?"
"They smell faintly like sulfur."
Kazumi sniffed her uniform.
"Noted."
"They avoid salt and sunlight."
"Like vampires?"
"Discounted version, yeah."
"And?"
"Their stories are inconsistent. That girl claimed she was our classmate…"
But i found her name didn't exist in the school records."
Kazumi's eyes widened.
"I know. You're probably thinking. Oh my he's so cool, well heck yhea COOl is my middle name."
"You literally tripped over a chair yesterday."
"That is part of the plan."
Kazumi sighed deeply.
"…You're unbelievable."
Kiyoshi smirked slightly.
"And i also have a special card on my sleeve, i have special eyes that help me detect them easier."
Kazumi narrowed her eyes.
"Special eyes?"
"Yeah."
"What kind?"
"…Cool ones."
"That explains nothing."
"It explains enough."
Kazumi suddenly remembered something.
"Wait. Yesterday… the sword you used disappeared after the demon died. How is that?"
"Oh yeah."
"And the way you fought wasn't human!"
"Probably."
"PROBABLY?!"
Kiyoshi looked up at the sky.
"Well… that's because of something that happened when I was a kid."
Kazumi leaned forward immediately.
"I knew it. A tragic backstory."
"Not really."
"Aw."
" What do you mean by that?!"
"Nothing please continue."
"When I was around six, I met a weird old man on the road while walking home."
Kazumi immediately frowned.
"…Did your parents never teach you not to talk to strangers?"
"I was kid back then"
"THAT'S THE POINT!"
Kiyoshi eys then tried to avoid her extreme stares.
"-So he said that I was chosen to become a contestant for something called 'Admin.'"
Kazumi blinked.
"…Admin?"
"Apparently some god-like being or whatever."
"OR WHATEVER?!"
"I wasn't paying attention."
Kazumi looked physically hurt hearing that.
Kiyoshi continued proudly.
"The old man present me 2 candies, one is red and the other ow is blue. He told me to choose only one and each one of it will give special powers for the contest."
"…And?"
"Well you see my dad once taught me if ever i had opportunities in front of me i should take it all."
Kazumi slowly realized where this was going.
"…No don't tell me."
"So I ate both."
"…NO."
"The old man started screaming."
"Kiyoshi!"
"He looked genuinely terrified actually."
"BECAUSE THAT WAS STUPID!"
"Worth it though. They tasted like strawberry."
Kazumi stared at him with absolute disappointment.
"I can't believe humanity's fate depends on someone like you."
"Me neither."
Kiyoshi continued.
"After eating them, my stomach felt like World War III was happening inside me."
"…Graphic."
"Then I passed out."
"And?"
"When I woke up, the old man was gone. But there was this floating screen in front of me."
Kazumi blinked.
"A floating screen?"
"Yeah. Like a game system."
He cleared his throat dramatically.
"'System Error. Two candies detected. Player verification denied. Due to an unexpected error, user can only access ten percent of total potential.'"
Kazumi stared silently.
"…You're telling me your powers happened because you almost accidentally broke reality by being greedy?"
"…I'll rather call it being opportunistic. But yhea basically."
Kazumi covered her face.
"This is the dumbest origin story I've ever heard."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Kiyoshi shrugged casually.
"I can only use my full power for about five minutes anyway."
"ONLY?!"
"After that my body starts dying."
"…YOU LEFT THAT PART OUT SO CASUALLY!"
"Details."
Kazumi sat beside him quietly for a moment.
The afternoon breeze passed through the courtyard.
Honestly…
Everything he said sounded insane.
Demons.
Magic systems.
Admin candidates.
Candy powers.
And somehow…
The weirdest thing was still Kiyoshi himself.
Kazumi looked at him carefully.
"…So what are you gonna do now?"
Kiyoshi looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… aren't you basically a superhero?"
"…Who told you that?"
"You literally fight monsters."
"Nah."
"Nah?!"
"I just wanna live a normal high school life."
Kazumi blinked repeatedly.
"…Then why fight demons?"
Kiyoshi answered immediately.
"It's kinda my hobby."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Kazumi slowly turned toward him.
"…Your hobby?"
"Yep."
"People collect stamps."
"Too expensive."
"You hunt demons for FUN?!"
"Mostly for exercise."
Kazumi looked at him like he was mentally broken.
"You're insane."
"You bet."
"In a bad way tho"
"Oh.."
Kazumi leaned back on the bench, exhausted.
At this point, her brain had simply given up.
Maybe accepting insanity was easier than understanding it.
Kiyoshi suddenly stood up.
"Alright. Pay up."
Kazumi looked horrified.
"…What?"
"I just told you top-secret stuff you know."
"And?"
"At least buy me a drink."
Kazumi stared at him blankly.
"You risk your life fighting monsters but won't buy your own juice?"
"Hero work doesn't pay well."
"You literally said you're not a hero!"
"Exactly. No salary."
Kazumi sighed deeply.
"…Fine."
Kiyoshi smiled slightly.
"Nice."
Kazumi narrowed her eyes.
"…Why are you smiling like a stray dog that found food?"
"That's too specific."
"You absolutely deserve it."
"True.."
That night, Kazumi laid on her bed staring at the ceiling again.
After dinner.
After her bath.
After pretending everything was normal.
Her mind kept replaying the conversation.
Demons.
Powers.
Candy.
That stupid face of his.
Kazumi buried half her face into her pillow.
"He's so weird…"
Then she remembered him casually joking while talking about life-threatening monsters.
And somehow…
It made her laugh a little.
"…And kinda funny too…"
A small blush slowly appeared on her cheeks.
Kazumi immediately hugged her pillow tighter.
"…And maybe a little cute…"
She froze.
Silence.
Her eyes widened in horror.
"…WAIT."
Kazumi buried her entire face into the pillow.
"No no no no no—"
Her legs kicked around violently in embarrassment.
Outside her window, the night remained quiet.
Meanwhile somewhere else—
Kiyoshi sneezed.
"…Why do I suddenly feel insulted?"