Chapter 434: This Is Very Scientific

Lightning, one of nature's most mysterious forces.

It's beautiful, yet terrifying.

Each strike generates billions of volts, heating the air instantly to over 27,760°C—five times the temperature of the sun's surface.

Now, lightning descended from the sky like a giant hammer and struck Rinji directly.

Crack.

The impact released a burst of smoke and the smell of burning. Fujiwara Chika stood frozen in shock, her umbrella falling to the ground.

She didn't even notice that she was completely soaked. She just stared blankly, her mind in chaos.

"Rinji…-kun…"

That same student who was always restless at school, but hardworking in the student council, had just been struck by lightning right in front of her.

She couldn't believe what she saw. It felt like a dream.

A nightmare.

Even though she didn't want to believe it, the smell of burning mixed with mist was too real.

Her friend—someone she'd known for over half a year—had just died… right before her eyes…

But then, the smoke cleared.

Rinji was still standing there.

There were no wounds on his body, nor were there any scorch marks on his clothes.

Despite being struck by lightning, he neither panicked nor got angry. He didn't say a word—just slightly lifted his head to look at the sky.

"…"

"Rinji-kun!!"

As Rinji seemed lost in thought, Fujiwara suddenly rushed over and hugged him tightly, tears streaming from her large, glistening eyes.

"Waaah! Rinji-kun, you're okay! I'm so glad!"

"Yeah…"

"I was so scared when I saw you get struck by lightning!!" Fujiwara sobbed uncontrollably. "I mean, you've done plenty of reckless things before, so maybe it was only a matter of time before you got struck, but… I didn't expect it to be this soon! I'm just glad you're still alive…"

"Your words are incredibly irritating, but… thanks for your concern."

Maybe it all happened too fast—from being struck to still being alive—Fujiwara's emotions had gone on a complete rollercoaster.

After crying for quite a while, she finally calmed down and looked at Rinji with concern.

"Rinji-kun… are you really okay?"

"I'm fine."

"...I don't know." Fujiwara still couldn't relax. "I saw you get hit by lightning with my own eyes. There's no way you'd be totally fine from that."

"No, this is perfectly normal."

"How is that normal?! You got hit by lightning!! Show a little concern for your own condition!"

"This is absolutely normal."

Watching Fujiwara flustered and scrambling around in panic, Rinji calmly explained.

"The survival rate for being struck by lightning is actually 90%."

"...Huh?"

"Lightning in nature doesn't just randomly strike someone's head. Fatal lightning strikes generally fall into two categories."

Rinji raised two fingers.

"The first is when lightning strikes an object a person is holding—like an umbrella or a golf club—and the current travels into the body. That has the highest mortality rate."

He paused, then continued.

"What happened to me is the second type: side flash. The lightning struck somewhere nearby and jumped to me."

"...Eh?"

Chika looked totally confused.

"Since the ground has higher resistance, current tends to travel through lower-resistance conductors. Humans or animals are good options. Lightning usually breaks through the air around head height and discharges through the body."

Rinji continued.

"When lightning discharges to the ground, it creates an electric potential field. The closer to the strike point, the higher the potential. If your feet are standing at points with different potentials, it creates a voltage between them. This is called 'step voltage.' The further apart your feet are, the greater the voltage—and the more severe the injuries."

"Ugh… I don't get it at all."

Fujiwara's head was spinning.

"Basically, because I had my feet together when I was struck, I didn't trigger the step voltage and got lucky."

Saying that, Rinji picked up the umbrella from the ground and covered Fujiwara's shoulders with it, gently turning her toward the exit.

"Anyway, surviving a lightning strike is a completely rational and scientifically explainable outcome. Don't dwell on it."

"Oh… well, if you say so, I feel better."

Fujiwara didn't think much of it. Even if she didn't understand, she let it go.

"But that really was terrifying… I thought my heart was going to stop when the lightning hit you."

"Forget the unpleasant stuff. That's the end of today's investigation."

Standing behind Fujiwara, Rinji smiled, then looked up again at the swirling thunderclouds above and the torii gate in the corner of the rooftop.

He now understood—something didn't want him getting close to that torii.

In Shinto belief, a torii represents the boundary between the mortal world and the divine realm. Trying to pass through it meant reaching toward the heavens.

And that "something" didn't want him going to "heaven" or coming in contact with whatever was behind the torii—so it sent lightning straight at him.

In truth, all that science talk Rinji gave Fujiwara was nonsense.

It wasn't some side flash. The lightning had struck him directly on the head. The extreme heat and shock force had acted on his body full-force. It didn't miss at all.

All of that had just been a lie to justify to Fujiwara why he wasn't dead.

Fujiwara wouldn't question it anyway, so Rinji didn't mind making something up.

As for the real reason he was still alive—it was simple.

Lightning couldn't kill him.

"Tch. A few years ago, this might've actually killed me. That was close…"

After getting Fujiwara out of the Yoyogi Kaikan building, Rinji sneered up at the sky.

Now he understood the seriousness of the situation.

The one who gave Hina her power likely resided behind that torii gate—and could control the weather.

Combining this with the vanishing of weather maidens, Rinji figured they were probably taken to the so-called "heavens" and offered up as sacrifices to some deity.

"That lightning strike just now… I'll consider that your declaration of war."

Rinji grinned viciously at the sky.

"Or maybe it was a provocation, you bastard hiding up there too afraid to show your face."