Chapter 6: A Glance for Eternity

"Why do you look like that? Did I do something wrong?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka asked innocently, walking right into the situation.

Yukinoshita Yukino, surprised that someone actually came, quickly adjusted her expression and smoothed her raised eyebrows.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, you forgot to knock again."

"Ahem, next time, I promise,"

the teacher said, though her face showed no sign of regret.

She suddenly squinted, closely examining Yukinoshita's cute face.

"What happened to your face? Are you hurt?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka was naturally referring to the two small scar-like marks under Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes. Yukino pursed her lips and looked away, saying,

"It was just an accident... Sensei, is there something you need?"

I've heard that young people nowadays like to get all sorts of piercings and tattoos on their faces. Could it be that Yukinoshita has also picked up these bad habits?

Faced with Yukinoshita Yukino's awkward attempt to change the subject, Hiratsuka Shizuka considered whether to inform her family. Meanwhile, she calmly pulled a boy who was hiding behind her to the front.

"This guy is Hikigaya Hachiman. He's here to join the club."

Like a vampire seeing sunlight, or a mouse seeing a cat, Hikigaya's eyes darted around nervously, and he fidgeted with his pants. It was clear that this boy with dead fish eyes was very uncomfortable in this environment and wanted to escape at any moment.

"Huh? I never heard about joining any club!"

Upon hearing Hiratsuka Shizuka's words, Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't even care about the discomfort of being scrutinized by the beautiful girl known as the

"ice queen."

He quickly retorted.

Hiratsuka Shizuka raised her iron fist and lightly knocked on his head, saying sternly,

"This is your punishment for writing that trash essay! Yukinoshita will correct your twisted and chuunibyou personality. This is my request as your teacher."

Being in the same room with such a prickly beautiful girl, this is beyond punishment—it's torture!

Feeling extremely uncomfortable under Yukinoshita Yukino's gaze, Hikigaya Hachiman tried to refuse. However, seeing the iron-blooded teacher smiling and raising her fist, he swallowed his words.

"Please allow me to refuse. Being in the same room with this boy makes me feel like my life is in danger,"

Yukinoshita Yukino said calmly.

In reality, it was Hikigaya whose life was in danger. According to Hayashizaki, powerful curses could come after her at any time. With this reason, Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't let anyone join the service club.

"Don't worry. Although this guy has rotten eyes and a rotten personality, he's very good at assessing risks and won't do anything out of line,"

Hiratsuka Shizuka said, patting Hikigaya Hachiman's shoulder.

"Please call it normal human perception and moral baseline,"

Hikigaya Hachiman muttered, but no one paid attention to his rebuttal.

"I see, so he's a cowardly delinquent,"

Yukinoshita Yukino said, understanding.

"But I still refuse."

"What? Even the great Yukinoshita can't correct this guy's personality?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka used reverse psychology, but it didn't work.

Yukinoshita Yukino calmly opened her book and started reading.

"Even if you use reverse psychology, it won't work. No means no..."

'Agree with her.'

A voice suddenly echoed in my mind. It was Hayashizaki.

'Why? Don't you know my situation well? What if I get attacked by a curse at school?'

Yukinoshita Yukino frowned and said in her heart.

'Even without you, he would eventually be attacked by a curse. Just agree for now, and I'll explain later.'

The conversation in her mind ended quickly. Hiratsuka Shizuka and Hikigaya Hachiman only saw Yukinoshita Yukino frown first, then awkwardly say,

"Alright, since it's a request from teacher, I'll take it."

Hikigaya Hachiman's smile froze before it fully appeared.

What? Why did you change your mind all of a sudden?

The smile didn't disappear; it just moved from Hikigaya's face to Hiratsuka Shizuka's face. Although Yukinoshita looked a bit strange, Hiratsuka felt a sense of relief from passing a problem student to another problem student.

"Alright, alright, I look forward to your results."

Hiratsuka Shizuka laughed three times and left the classroom, closing the door behind her, leaving a nervous boy with dead fish eyes standing there.

Yukinoshita Yukino sighed helplessly and went back to reading her book.

'Can you explain now?'

'Before explaining, let me give you a lesson. All humans have curse energy in their bodies. Curses are formed from the accumulated curse energy that leaks out from humans. Those who can control curse energy are called sorcerers.'

Yukinoshita Yukino listened carefully and silently noted down what Hayashizaki said.

'I understand what you said, but what does this have to do with me accepting Hiratsuka-sensei's request?'

'Most people can only see curses when they are about to die or in special situations. But that boy, like you, can see curses. His curse energy is not at an ordinary level.'

'People with a lot of curse energy are a rare delicacy for curses.'

Yukinoshita Yukino was startled and glanced at Hikigaya Hachiman, who was still standing there, seemingly observing her.

When Hikigaya noticed Yukinoshita's sudden gaze, he immediately looked away and stared at the floor.

This floor is really floor-like.

"Don't just stand there. How about finding a chair and sitting down?"

Yukinoshita Yukino's cold voice came, and Hikigaya Hachiman quickly grabbed a chair, cleaned it, and sat down.

However, sitting down only changed his nervousness from standing to sitting. The awkwardness didn't decrease at all, and it even increased because he was caught secretly observing.

Fortunately, Yukinoshita Yukino didn't continue talking to him, allowing Hikigaya to digest the awkwardness and gradually enter a meditative state.

'Do you have any evidence?'

'Can you loosen the restrictions on me a bit?'

'You won't do anything bad, right?'

'Oh, stop talking and just do it.'

...

...

Awkward, really awkward.

It felt like ants were crawling all over my body. In this situation, even the great Hachiman, who holds the record for staring into space for eight hours, couldn't zone out.

I shouldn't have written that essay.

But if I didn't express my shock and doubt about the world through writing, Hikigaya Hachiman thought he might go crazy.

Maybe he already was.

This morning, on my way to school, I saw those terrifying monsters, and the people around me were completely unaware.

In that moment, besides the uncontrollable panic, Hikigaya Hachiman had a surreal feeling that the world was a game, everyone else was an NPC, and he was the only player.

However, when he pinched his cheek, the pain told him that everything in front of him was real, not a dream.

The monsters were real, the world was real, was I the fake one?

Fortunately, those monsters didn't attack him. After nervously rushing to school, Hikigaya Hachiman finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At least there were no monsters in the school, giving him time to think.

Only I can see them... Did I suddenly awaken some superpower? No, no, I graduated from that phase long ago.

The boy with dead fish eyes couldn't figure it out. His mind was a mess, and he happened to have a small test in literature class, which led to the essay that Hiratsuka-sensei harshly criticized.

After a morning to calm down, Hikigaya Hachiman finally convinced himself that it might have been an illusion caused by staying up late playing games, being groggy in the early morning, and a relapse of his delusions.

Yes, that must be it! After all, how could supernatural creatures like monsters really exist?

Just as Hikigaya Hachiman was thinking this, a strong sense of oppression suddenly erupted from Yukinoshita Yukino, who was sitting by the window. He turned his head and saw a shadowy figure with four eyes and four hands, like a demon god, staring at him.

...

...