After spending the whole evening hanging out with Nibutani Shinka, Hanadasaki Ame still had not sensed the slightest sign that she possessed a Key of the Heart.
At present, the only reasonably reliable way he had to verify such things was still his simulation ability—either passively listening for inner voices in daily life, or actively using it for exhaustive probing and inference.
As for Nibutani Shinka's complete lack of reaction, he had no idea how her Key of the Heart might ever be activated in the future.
Hanadasaki Ame carefully recalled the circumstances of that first simulation, but found very few clues.
Perhaps because it had been the first time, the information he had obtained had been relatively limited.
All he knew was that her appearance did not age.
Beyond that, he understood almost nothing.
Once he had simulated everyone around him at least once, he would definitely have to run another simulation with her.
Right now, he could only use the ability once a week. The efficiency was far too low. He really needed to find some way to accelerate the recharge of his power.
"Shinka, do you have any regrets in your heart that are impossible to make up for, or some wish you desperately long for?"
Hanadasaki Ame suddenly asked.
"Uh… no."
Nibutani Shinka shook her head. The only thing she truly wanted was to win Hanadasaki Ame for herself, but that was obviously not something she could say to his face.
"Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Don't tell me you started thinking about your own scars and now you want to hear about mine too?"
"Not exactly. I was just thinking that if you did have some regret, maybe I could help you make up for it. Vacation isn't that busy anyway. Finding more things to do wouldn't be bad."
Hanadasaki Ame spoke softly, but what he was really pondering was whether this kind of method—making up for regrets, fulfilling wishes—might be capable of activating a Key of the Heart.
His guess was that Nibutani Shinka had activated hers sometime in university. The major event at that point had been their marriage. That might have fulfilled the wish she had long carried, which then allowed the Key of the Heart to activate successfully.
In reality, however, he was not very optimistic about this method.
After all, Shinjou Akane had most likely not awakened hers that way.
Still, it was not impossible that it might work.
Perhaps every Key of the Heart had a different activation method, and each one required deeper exploration.
"Hmm… let me think."
Nibutani Shinka seriously tried to think it over.
"Oh, I know!"
Hanadasaki Ame suddenly slapped his hands together as if struck by revelation.
Nibutani Shinka looked at him blankly.
No, wait, what exactly had he figured out?
"Shinka, you must want to recover the power you accumulated over five hundred years as a mage!"
He declared it with absolute certainty.
Nibutani Shinka froze for a beat, then her face flushed scarlet at lightning speed. She immediately grabbed the little deer plush toy beside her and hurled it at him.
"You jerk! Stop bringing that up already!!!"
She had thought, for one fleeting moment, that he was actually trying to care about her.
And this was what he had been building up to!?
There was no escaping her chuunibyou past, was there?
Hanadasaki Ame dodged lightly and looked at her with a smile.
"I'm serious, you know. A miracle will definitely come one day—granting you magic to command nature and an ageless youthful beauty. Sooner or later, Shinka, you'll understand!
"Well then, good night!"
With that, he fled.
Nibutani Shinka sulked for a little while, then eventually collapsed onto her bed with a weary sigh, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Again…
No matter how she looked at it, the way she and Hanadasaki Ame interacted was still terribly far from that of lovers. There was not the slightest trace of romance between them…
And whatever tiny bits might have existed were always politely snuffed out by him.
How was she supposed to cross that barrier between them?
Tch. What a headache…
Still, after moping for only a short while, Nibutani Shinka perked back up again.
She was, after all, very good at encouraging herself and giving herself courage. She would not be crushed so easily.
If she could not think of a solution herself, then…
why not learn from other people's successful experience!?
The moment the thought struck her, Nibutani Shinka picked up her phone and started scrolling through her friends lists on various social media platforms.
She fully intended to cast off her chuunibyou past and become a bright, outgoing, dazzlingly charming extrovert in high school, so naturally she had not neglected the necessary preparation.
Aside from studying fashion trends, makeup, and how to dress, she had also been steadily expanding her social circle, constantly chatting with people online and rapidly correcting the odd phrases and habits she had picked up during her chuunibyou phase.
She had added many upperclassmen and underclassmen from Inaba High, as well as a fair number of incoming freshmen. She had at least exchanged a few words with most of them. Naturally, among those people, some had childhood friends.
After browsing for a while, her eyes stopped on one contact note:
Yanami Anna.
She remembered that this was a very sunny, cheerful girl—and, more importantly, someone who had a childhood friend she had known for twelve years!
Perfect. She could have a proper talk with her!
But just as she had typed the first line of her message, she paused, hesitation appearing on her face.
A certain problem had occurred to her.
Twelve years of knowing each other…
In other words, twelve years and still no success?
Uh…
…
Meanwhile, at the Hanada house, Hanadasaki Ame took a bath, dried his hair, and then went to the study.
Recently, because he had been busy with the villa renovations, his study time had been reduced somewhat—but it could not be reduced to zero.
Today's simulation had also given him quite a bit of new knowledge, and he needed to digest it properly.
After scanning the large bookshelves in the study, he soon pulled out one volume, then sat down in the armchair nearby and began reading through it slowly.
The simulation had mentioned using magnetic spin technology to block the transmission of neuronal information. In truth, the application of spin-related phenomena was already widespread. Setting aside the more obscure cases, there was one term everyone would definitely know—
nuclear magnetic resonance.
Although he had obtained quite a bit of knowledge about magnetic spin technology, he still lacked part of the foundational theory and mathematical framework. What he needed most right now was to finish the university-level material and thoroughly fill in those missing basics.
Before, he had first been occupied with making money through stock trading. Once his capital had accumulated to a sufficient level, he had started running around the world investigating peculiar places mentioned in the information his simulation ability captured.
For example, Mount Fuji, which had been referred to as Soukai Mountain. Strange as it sounded, he had still personally gone there to see whether it was really divided into seven layers.
In short, he had not actually spent that much of his life on formal study. He had only prioritized the knowledge he found necessary.
But now that he intended to conduct proper scientific research, both breadth and depth of knowledge were required. It was time to raise the intensity of his studies accordingly.
Only around midnight, when he finally felt a little tired, did Hanadasaki Ame leave the study.
He cooked himself a bowl of soba, then ate while playing on his phone, checking the news and exchanging a few messages with several overseas trust institutions.
The reason he could live so leisurely most of the time was precisely because his assets were not managed entirely by himself.
A great deal of the more troublesome investment operations were handled by those trust institutions on his behalf. He merely gave a bit of guidance and then waited to collect the profits.
After dealing with that for a while and finishing most of his noodles, Hanadasaki Ame went to wash up and handle a few personal matters.
It was nearly two in the morning by the time he finally lay down on the bed in his bedroom.
He was not sleepy yet, so he started idly checking his phone to see whose messages he had not replied to today.
Very soon, he spotted one from Nagasaki Soyo, sent while he had been bathing.
[Soyo: There's a performance tomorrow at a live house I often go to. Want to come watch a live show with me?]
Hanadasaki Ame thought for a moment. It did not seem like he had anything especially urgent to do tomorrow, so he replied:
[Ame: Time and place?]
[Soyo: 6:30 in the evening, over in Funabashi. We can meet first at Hamacho in Minami-Funabashi, then I'll take you there.]
The reply came back in only a few seconds.
So she was still awake, huh?
…
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 119)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter79)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter125)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 73
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 66
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 63
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 55
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 31
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 31
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 31
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