Zero

They do not go out for the next few days because Lila seemed oddly suspicious and clung to him. But when he did get a chance, Haruka did not hesitate to ring that person.

"I'm sorry for calling you out here. The other day you helped me."

Haruka could not see the man's face clearly due to the hood and mask he wore, but he felt that he could trust him for some reason.

"You do not fear me?"

"If it's about your mask, I do think it's strange. But the world is like this now."

Maybe he is an important figure and does not want people to recognize him. He read in the news that many politicians are hiding because they do not want the brunt of people's anger.

"I see, then, for now, you can call me Zero."

What an unusual code name. It is almost like he prepared for this situation.

"Also, I have a favor." He trailed off. "You see I'm Karashima Haruka."

It still felt strange to him to use his name; something was off about it.

'You cannot reveal your name to anybody.' Austin Kiryu insisted on this several times as a condition to take him out when Lila was asleep. But he needed to know.

"I see." Zero trailed off. "Are you saying that knowing that you have a connection to the people who caused the state of the world?"

It was just a single sentence, yet it already revealed his suspicions and doubts. Even if the state of the world is like this, the others in the mansion's behavior.

No Lila's behavior was the most unusual. She seemed afraid of the idea of him stepping out of the manor. It took him a while to persuade her to allow him to go out into the backyard. But even during those times, she acts so strangely.

"You do not seem too surprised."

"I figured it was something to do with that. If I am related to the attackers, their behavior and suspicion of me is normal."

The only ones who seemed genuinely worried for his wellbeing were his wife and Austin Kiryu.

Austin Kiryu did not have to agree to his request; it was clear that he was very reluctant too. At the start, Kiryu stuck to him like glue, but the man started to leave him on his own after a while.

'Sometimes I think I should go with him, but he gets that frightening look in his eyes.' But then again, it would be hard to get any information with Kiryu around.

"I will not tell you that I am one of the people who are not hostile; that would be plain suspicious." Zero nodded. "But at the very least, I can give you the information you need."

"It is fine if the information is small. I just need to learn."

"First, let us start with the state of the world now. There are the normal humans, the evolved humans, the special evolved humans, the hanyou's, and the corrupted. What separates the evolved humans, the hanyou's and the corrupted?"

"The special evolved ones already knew about their unusual abilities before the world became like this. The hanyou's lineage has more to do with their ancestor's blood and the corrupted-" Haruka paused and frowned. "This is as much as I know."

Whenever he tried to ask about the corruption, Lila would get very upset. She would insist that he does not have to hear about unpleasant things. For some reason he cannot argue with her.

He felt like their relationship would fall apart if he pried too much. Although others may say she is leading him along with that behavior, he would not mind.

Lila can do whatever she wants with him.

At those words, the man sighed. "It seems that part of you has not changed."

"Huh?"

"You're still obsessed as ever with your wife."

Haruka blinked when he heard those words. Based on Zero's tone, this was common knowledge to everyone.

"I looked on the net; there were many bad rumors about other women and me. But are you saying everyone knew I was into Lila?"

"Not at the start; nobody knew who your special somebody was. You kept it as a tight secret after all. But when she went to your town. People started to pick up the pieces." Zero trailed off. "You seem more interested in this than the talk just now."

"Uh sorry-"

Zero shook his head. "I understand you feel pressed for time. But maybe it would be better to talk about your relationship with your wife? How much do you recall?"

"I am afraid I have no memories of anything at all."

"But you knew she was your wife?"

At those words, Haruka nodded. It was hard for him to explain to others, but when he saw Lila crying like that, he immediately felt this urge to protect her and wipe her tears.

"Yes."

"I see." Zero nodded. "You truly loved that girl. As you saw on those internet rumors, many people did not believe it. Those people tried whatever they could to break you two apart by using despicable methods. But each time they did that, you proved to them that your love for your wife was far stronger."

'This man knows more than the average person. Moreover, he did not react much to my name. Perhaps they knew each other?' That would make more sense than a random stranger willingly helping out.

"Do you know why separated from each other?"

"You two went on a trip to New York, but before you went there, you had a bit of a fight." Zero trailed off, and Haruka could not miss the look of discomfort on the man's face.

"Please say it."

"There was another woman involved. Although you pushed away those who flocked to you, you could not do the same with this one because she was your ex-girlfriend. You seemed to have regrets when it came to her and treated her far differently than the others."

"Did something happen with this woman and me?"

"It seemed you slept with her; you mistook her for your wife due to the influence of some heavy drug. Although she forgave you for it, your relationship became strained because of it. Eventually, your wife could not take it and you two fought. Just as she was about to let you go for good, she passed out. It seemed you took her with you to New York then."

Huh?

"Wait, I just took her away when she was like that?"

"Yes."

'Don't yes me, that is not normal!' So it was something like this; there was another woman involved. Now that he thought about it, "Was this ex of mine called Rikka?"

At those words, Zero nodded. "I am surprised they told her about you."

It is more like whenever his wife visits this Rikka person; she does so secretly. He found this odd; after all, she insists on ensuring that he knows where she is at all times. But when it came to her visiting that person, she acted secretively.

Moreover, a message on her phone the other day caught his attention.

I know it is wrong for me to say this, but I want to be completely honest with you. Even now, I cannot forget about Haruka.