155: Confidence from Supercomputing

Hearing Nao's words, Hakuto was momentarily stunned. Then, he sighed and shook his head.

"What's wrong?"

"[Collapse] is an ability that puts its user in danger..."

"What do you mean?"

"For example, once activated, the ability erupts from its user as the center, causing an earthquake powerful enough to reduce buildings to rubble."

Hearing this, Nao's hands paused as she washed the vegetables. 

She instinctively turned her head to glance at Ayumi, who was sitting on the sofa interacting with Yusa.

Japan was a place where earthquakes were common, and people had long grown accustomed to them. 

However, an earthquake strong enough to destroy buildings would be lethal.

If this ability could be controlled, that would be one thing. But if it was uncontrollable, then it was truly dangerous...

"That's a dangerous ability. Can Ayumi control it?"

"I'm not sure if she can activate it at will, but in special circumstances, this ability will trigger automatically."

"What kind of special circumstances?"

"Emotional instability..."

Upon hearing this, Nao fell into deep thought. Based on Hakuto's description, Ayumi was basically a ticking time bomb.

It wasn't that Nao was scared, but she was genuinely concerned for Ayumi's safety.

She turned her gaze back to Hakuto. In her mind, he surely had a solution.

"Do you have a way to prevent the ability from activating?"

"Hmm? My dear president, do I look like some kind of deity to you?"

Hakuto put down the kitchen knife and lightly tapped Nao's forehead with his finger.

She paid no mind to this action—right now, all her thoughts were on this so-called [Collapse] ability.

"Should we put Ayumi under special protection?"

Aside from special protection, Nao couldn't think of any other way to safeguard Ayumi and those around her.

"Why not just have Otosaka Yuu steal Ayumi's ability? I'm sure he'd be more than willing to do so."

Although [Collapse] was a dangerous ability in anyone's hands, at least Otosaka Yuu, with his power to steal abilities from others, had some built-in safeguards. 

At the very least, he wouldn't die from it.

"Should we tell him? About his ability being one of plunder..."

"I've never been against that idea. The only concern is whether, after learning the truth about his ability, Otosaka Yuu will turn into one of those righteous fools who refuse to eat beef."

Thanks to Hakuto's interference, Otosaka Yuu had been spared a lot of hardships in this timeline. 

That also meant Hakuto couldn't be certain whether Otosaka Yuu would be blinded by power.

Or whether he might lose control while stealing abilities—there were too many unknown factors.

Although Hakuto often joked about leaving the task of saving the world to Otosaka Yuu, now that the time had come, he realized he couldn't just sit back and watch.

At the very least, he had to act as a safeguard to ensure Otosaka Yuu wouldn't lose control.

If countless abilities were converging in one person's mind, it was already a miracle that they hadn't gone insane.

Hakuto wasn't sure if he could withstand the pressure of all those abilities. 

But even if he could, it was meaningless—after all, he didn't have the power to plunder others' abilities in the first place.

"Let Shunsuke decide. Neither of us has the right to make that call..."

Hearing the name Shunsuke, Nao looked at Hakuto in surprise.

"What? Are you that shocked? Don't forget what my ability is."

"When did you figure it out?"

"From the moment I first saw you."

Nao hadn't expected supercomputing to be this ridiculous—it could even predict things about people he'd never met before!

"Now I'm curious... just how many secrets do you know?"

"Want to hear one? For example, Shunsuke's full name is Otosaka Shunsuke. Does that count?"

Upon hearing the surname Otosaka, Nao furrowed her brows.

"Otosaka? Are you saying Otosaka Shunsuke is related to Otosaka Yuu?"

"He's his older brother."

"Huh?! Shunsuke is actually Otosaka Yuu's brother?" Nao felt overwhelmed by the amount of information she was receiving.

She naturally trusted Hakuto completely. Setting aside their relationship, there was also no reason for him to lie to her.

"So what do we do now?"

"As far as I see it, the safest way to ensure Ayumi's safety is for Otosaka Yuu to take her ability. That's what I would do. But what Otosaka Shunsuke will choose... I don't know."

"But there's no rush. I believe it won't be long before Otosaka Shunsuke contacts me himself. And as for Ayumi, the ticking time bomb, I'll handle it."

With the confidence granted by supercomputing, Hakuto had everything under control!

Hearing this, Nao nodded. As she had already said, she trusted Hakuto unconditionally.

Perhaps it was because of their bond, or perhaps because supercomputing was simply too incredible.

"Then I'll leave it to you, oh great chibicon."

"Huh? We just finished talking about serious matters, and now you're picking a fight?"

"Hah? I was just stating the facts."

And so, thanks to Hakuto's efforts, a lavish dinner was soon served on the table.

After dinner, Hakuto and Nao took their leave, while Yusa, due to work, had to leave before even getting the chance to eat.

As the two walked down the street, Hakuto suddenly spoke to Nao beside him.

"President, I'd like to take the day off tomorrow."

"Are you going to watch Sora Ginko's match tomorrow?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

"As the strongest female shogi player, her promotion match was even reported in the newspapers."

As she spoke, Nao somehow pulled out a stack of newspapers. In the top-right corner of the page was a mention of Ginko's match tomorrow.

"The Queen of Shogi's match, huh? Sounds interesting."

"Pfft!!"

Honestly, hearing Nao say that nearly made Hakuto spit out his drink.

Putting aside the fact that the two of them together would definitely lead to arguments, if Ginko saw Hakuto bringing another girl along, she would absolutely explode!

And not just any explosion—the terrifying kind! The kind that would ruin her concentration! The kind that would make her tear Hakuto apart!

"Are you planning to go?" Hakuto asked cautiously.

"There's still work to do at school, so I won't be going."

"What a shame..." Hakuto put on a regretful expression, but deep inside, he was practically celebrating.

Not going? Perfect! That saves me so much trouble!

Meanwhile, Nao remained oblivious to Hakuto's relief. She was still pondering whether he had uncovered any of her embarrassing secrets.

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