Chapter 104: My High School Life?!

"Hmph...!" Gokou Ruri looked at Aoki Tsukasa's innocent expression, patted the dust off her bottom, stood up, and smoothed her long skirt before snorting, "What do you want coming over here this late?!"

"Uh, I just wanted to check on the natto and the others..." Aoki Tsukasa rubbed his head with an embarrassed smile. He knew his face probably looked even scarier at night, so he couldn't really blame Gokou Ruri for reacting that way.

Gokou Ruri continued closing the shop door, her voice tinged with displeasure: "I already fed them ages ago. They need their sleep this late too. Please come earlier next time."

Aoki Tsukasa said helplessly, "I know I came a bit late today, but there's nothing I can do about it—my workplace just wouldn't let me leave."

At the club, Matsuyama Iwa had probably grown somewhat jealous of Aoki Tsukasa's talent. He'd dragged him through who knows how many drills all evening, and by now Tsukasa felt like his legs would give out just standing there—which was highly unusual for his current body.

Sigh. This damn talent.

Aoki Tsukasa unceremoniously attributed the power of his skills to his own talent, then shrugged at the skeptical Gokou Ruri. "What, can't I have a legitimate job?"

Gokou Ruri said expressionlessly, "No, I just think if you were, say, watching over someone's turf for the yakuza, or getting into fistfights, you'd probably be really good at it."

"Oh...?" Seeing the look of disgust on the girl's face, Aoki Tsukasa deliberately put on a fierce expression, lowered his head slightly, and let out a deep voice: "You got me... Well, there's no helping it now. My job really is beating people up for money."

Gokou Ruri stumbled back two steps in fright, pressing herself against the wall with a terrified expression. Th-this guy... why is he making such a scary face? Is he... is he going to silence me?!

"I-I have the protection of the Fallen Angel! If you, if you do something bad, you'll be cursed with horrendous luck! You'll, you'll go bald for the rest of your life!" Gokou Ruri stammered. "N-no, no, I mean—if you do something bad, I'll call the police! There are lots of people around here, you know! I'll scream really loudly!"

Aoki Tsukasa frowned. "Wait a second..."

"You..."

"Is your screen name 'Black Cat'? Also known as..."

"'The Fallen Angel of Chiba'?"

Aoki Tsukasa narrowed his eyes.

Gokou Ruri's expression grew even more panicked. "Y-you actually investigated me... Do you want money or...? I still have a little sister to support. If, if you want to do something..."

"Come at me then! I... waaah..." Gokou Ruri actually started crying!

Why, why does a girl like me always have to suffer disasters like this? Is the Fallen Angel of Chiba really going to end here? Gokou Ruri crouched down with her head in her hands, trembling and sobbing quietly.

---

Watching the black-haired girl crouch down slowly against the wall, clutching her head with both hands and wearing a look of helpless despair, Aoki Tsukasa panicked. "No, no, no! I was joking! I was just joking!"

"I once ran into some chuunibyou girl in a game who called herself a fallen angel or something... uh." Aoki Tsukasa quickly tried to change the subject. "Anyway, I was only messing with you! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I'm not a bad person—absolutely not! I'm a high school student at Wuyang School! A totally ordinary high school student! I have nothing to do with whatever you're thinking!"

Gokou Ruri cried into her hands for a long while before finally looking at the guy in front of her and realizing he really didn't seem to be up to anything bad. She stood up, half-embarrassed and half-furious, still sniffling as tears rolled past the beauty mark at the corner of her eye. She looked utterly pitiful. "You... you! You're the worst! Vile! Disgusting!"

She turned and ran off, covering her face, crying as she shouted, "I curse you to go bald for the rest of your life! Idiot! Bullying a minor and making a girl cry—you're absolutely the worst! You'll be struck by divine retribution! I'm going home to curse you! You vile demon king! I, the Fallen Angel of Chiba, now curse you to be arrested by the police! You'll have terrible luck! You'll die alone! Waaah..."

"I..." Aoki Tsukasa reached out a hand, utterly innocent. He genuinely hadn't known... he was actually capable of scaring someone to tears.

Damn it... Aoki Tsukasa clutched his shaved head in frustration, watching Gokou Ruri grow smaller and smaller until she vanished around the street corner. He awkwardly scratched his smooth scalp, then suddenly his face changed drastically as he shouted, "Curse me all you want... just don't curse me to go bald!"

"Please!!!" His loud shout received no response from the already-disappeared Gokou Ruri, but it unexpectedly drew someone else's attention.

"There he is! That bald guy! Stop right there!" Looking at a middle-aged police officer charging toward him with a baton, looking like he was facing a life-or-death crisis, Aoki Tsukasa raised his hand in complete bewilderment and pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Don't move! Stop right there!" The police officer's expression was dead serious, his heart pounding wildly. God, how he wished he could pretend he'd never received that emergency call and just let Aoki Tsukasa go!

I've got a family to feed and a mortgage to pay... Please, don't pull out a gun!

Seeing Aoki Tsukasa's terrifying face, the police officer ran while pulling out his radio: "Spotting the suspect from the report, requesting backup, requesting backup!"

"Don't move!" The officer shouted once more for good measure.

Standing in place without even moving a finger, Aoki Tsukasa shoved his hands in his pockets with a look of utter despair, raising his head to the sky. "The curses that girl just casually throws out... are they all this terrifying?"

"Terrifying..." Remembering that she was probably going to set up some ritual to curse him into eternal baldness, Aoki Tsukasa's expression grew even more hopeless.

Seeing Aoki Tsukasa's face grow increasingly desperate, the police officer broke out in a cold sweat, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat. This guy... this guy... is he thinking there's no escape and he's about to fight to the death?! He really is a desperado!

"Requesting support! Requesting support!" The police officer clutched his radio tightly, tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke into it with deep solemnity. "If I die in the line of duty, please tell my wife."

"I'm a good cop, damn it!"

Watching the middle-aged officer charge at him with a baton, Aoki Tsukasa raised his hands expressionlessly. "Sorry... I'm just an ordinary high school student..."

The nervous officer saw Aoki Tsukasa suddenly raise his hand, and in terror, he immediately dropped his baton, slammed to a stop, and raised his service pistol with trembling hands. "Put both hands up! If you make any other suspicious moves, I'll shoot!"

---

Luckily, the higher-ups had issued guns today because there was a wanted criminal reported in the area—otherwise I'd be dead! The police officer swallowed hard, his gun barrel shaking so badly it looked like a blur.

Aoki Tsukasa was so aggrieved he wanted to cry out loud, but he could only comply, raising both hands high as the officer cuffed him with all the caution of someone disarming a bomb.

Why are tears always welling up in my eyes...

Because the handcuffs behind my back are digging in so painfully...

"Aoki-kun?"

A familiar voice reached his ears. Aoki Tsukasa turned his head with a numb expression. Teruhashi Kokomi and three or four girls who seemed to be from his class were standing not far away, holding shopping bags filled with desserts, staring at him in horror.

It's over...

My high school life is completely ruined...

Or maybe... it was already ruined long ago...

Aoki Tsukasa slowly raised his head, tears trickling unbidden from the corners of his eyes.

"Officer, please don't tighten the cuffs any more... they're about to break..." Aoki Tsukasa's voice was choked with emotion. He really, truly wanted to turn back time to half an hour ago.

The police officer just kept his face stiff. "Don't talk!"

Teruhashi Kokomi stood beside her friends, watching in a daze as Aoki Tsukasa was surrounded by three or four police cars that came screeching in, pushed into one under the watchful eyes of seven or eight officers, and driven away with sirens wailing. Only then did she snap out of her frozen state.

"Ko-Kokomi-chan, should we still go visit Kasugano-san?" Her female classmate's voice trembled.

The box containing cake in Teruhashi Kokomi's hand clattered to the ground. Confusion, disappointment, and grief flickered across her face in turn before settling into a dazed expression. "Le-let's... go some other day, okay? Today... I... I'm going home..."

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PS: The author tremblingly raises a water gun: Same rules as always—hand over your recommendations and whatnot! Or, or I'll throw you all into a tiny dark room to keep me company while I write!