My youth story cannot be a knight war

[“Ms. Asahina! I have a small, unwelcome request. Please give me a warm hug so that I can confirm that I have escaped from the difficult life before—Puwaa!!!”]

[Just as he was giving a speech of gratitude and about to hug her, a heavy dictionary suddenly appeared from the blind spot of his sight and slapped his tearful face! ]

[His handsome face was distorted in an instant, and a huge force "pulled" him off the chair and slammed him towards the wall.]

【boom!!!】

【Zaimokuza's entire body formed a large character and slammed heavily against the wall with a "bang!". He then kept this position and slowly slid down the wallpaper, leaving only a bloody mark on the wall.】

【“Material—wood—seat!”】

[Kawasaki Saori waved the dictionary in one hand, lowered her head and with black air all over her body, she slowly spoke under the horrified eyes of Asahina beside her, her voice as cold as a ghost demanding death. ]

[“——Three minutes! Just three minutes! I just asked Mikuru to wake you up for work and let her out of my sight for just three minutes!”]

[“As soon as I came here, I saw you harassing the new female employee in the store. You finally showed your true colors. You are no longer satisfied with the female customers in the store and the frequent police officer Kosaka. Instead, you have turned your attention to your juniors in the workplace. Are you going to act on your instinct to eat grass in your own backyard!?”]

[She raised her head and stared fiercely at the wooden seat lying on its back on the ground. She threw the Xinhua Dictionary in her hand and hit him in the face, causing him to let out another indistinct scream.]

[“Congratulations, your dinner is gone again! Mikuru, let’s go downstairs!”]

【“Hey——But, but what about Zaimokuza-senpai?”】

[“Don’t worry about this Bugs Bunny, he’s very lucky! Last time he went fishing with Officer Takasaka, he got into a car accident and was injured. He just stayed in the hospital for a few days. These few hits won’t kill him!”]

【"Oh well."】

[Amid Kawasaki Saki's impatient words and Asahina Mikuru's timid responses, the footsteps of the two gradually faded away, and the attic room returned to its former silence, leaving Zaimokuza lying dead on the floor with his face covered by a dictionary.]

[After a long moment, a pair of fingers covered the open dictionary, and after pulling it off, Zaimokuza's dazed face was revealed.]

[“…So it was just a dream?”]

[He looked up at the light cast from the skylight above his head, closed the dictionary and placed it beside him.]

【“——Puff.”】

[Zaimokuza, who was looking at the bright sunlight outside the window, suddenly made a strange sound, and then his face, whose nose was still bleeding, slowly smiled and laughed happily.]

[“Hahahaha? Why do I keep having these weird dreams with no beginning or end recently? Reality is really better! Apart from those unconfirmed life forms, there aren’t so many weird things.”]

[“Okay! Lie down for a while, then go brush your teeth, wash your face, eat, and welcome a wonderful new day!”]

【“Hahahaha?”】

【Zaimokuza continued to laugh loudly, with great joy and happiness.】

[However, at this moment, new tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes that were narrowed in laughter, flowing down to both sides of his temples, and shining like short pearls of clear light under the morning light.]

[Looking at the sun rising outside the window, representing a new day, Zaimokuza smiled and cried at the same time. 】

[He really looks like a madman.]

4. A Tragic Day Begins with a Reunion (Two in One)

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, health room.

"What are those eyes--?"

When everyone saw the pair of dead fish eyes that appeared in Zaimokuza's dream through the light curtain, they reflexively turned their gaze to Hikigaya Hachiman, who had a stunned look on his face, even Zaimokuza himself who was sitting next to him.

There is no other reason, the presence of those dead fish eyes and the impression they leave on others are so strong that they have basically become someone's iconic feature, without a doubt.

So even though the figure in the dream had the blurry and unreal filter that is unique to dreaming, everyone still recognized the true identity of its owner at the first sight of those familiar dead fish eyes.

"That was... me? I appeared in the dream of Future Zaimokuza?"

"Does this sign mean... that I will finally appear in this 'story'?"

After his initial shock, Hikigaya quickly calmed down, and murmured in thought with a slight twinkle in his eyes.

"But, but! If it is really as everyone speculated, then the future Dunjia has already appeared! Already——then how could he still appear in the light curtain!?"

Yuigahama Yui opened her mouth immediately, but her words got stuck when she reached the juncture of her words, and she couldn't utter the word "death" that was already on her lips.

Driven by some emotion in her heart that she was not willing to admit yet, she had no choice but to simply omit the word and then finish the whole sentence somewhat stiffly.

"No, Hikigaya-san's appearance...is not completely unreasonable."

But Yukinoshita Yukino shook her head slightly, refuting her friend's words, and continued calmly before she could speak.

"Combined with the current situation, I roughly understand why the story belonging to this chapter is called "Origin". It really deserves the name."

"There is no story in the world that has no beginning or end. If there is a process, there must be a corresponding past and future. According to the chapter title "Origin", plus the afterimage of Hikigaya-kun that appeared... This chapter is probably about the Service Club, that is, the past of the future, and the story that happened in our present future."

“——That means!?”

After hearing what she said, Zaimokuza suddenly realized something. He couldn't help but swallow his saliva and looked nervously at Yukinoshita Yukino who was thinking.

"Yes."

Yukinoshita Yukino nodded, and her expression gradually became serious.

"Since this is a story related to our service department... then it must be about that incident."

"——It's the incident that was revealed in the previous video, when the family members of Hikigaya and Zaimokuza died!"

boom! ! !

A loud thunder suddenly exploded in the sky outside the window, and a thick dark cloud gradually floated in from afar, slowly covering the entire Sobu High School below it.

The patter--

Tiny raindrops fell from the sky like a beaded curtain, creating dark circles on the playground and hitting the glass of the infirmary, making it ring softly. A blurred filter was cast on the images of everyone inside, and everyone's figure was distorted by the rain running across the glass.

"...!"

A chill ran down his spine and his hands clenched into fists. Zaimokuza took a deep breath and calmed his emotional heart.

Finally... is it time?

Both of his parents and his best friend's sister died in the future.

This incident had always been a thorn in Zaimokuza's heart, and although on the surface it had calmed down after learning that his parents were safe, that was just an appearance.

In fact, Zaimokuza never let go. The biggest reason why he had been concentrating on watching this light screen was that he wanted to know what happened in the future? How did his and his friends' families die? Is there any way to avoid or remedy it?

He believed that the other person also had the same strong doubts and desires as himself.

Zaimokuza glanced sideways at himself, and although Hikigaya Hachiman next to him didn't say anything, his hands, which were flat on his knees, were tightly grasping his pants, pinching the surrounding fabric and stretching it straight.

Under the cover of the jet-black bangs, the pair of dead fish eyes completely disappeared at this moment. The eyes became as sharp and clear as swords and guns, flashing a cold arc of light that pierces like a samurai sword.

"Well!?"

When Miura Yumiko turned around, she happened to see those eyes. She subconsciously took a few steps back and accidentally bumped into the bedside table behind her, making a dull collision sound, which attracted the attention of others.

"Yumiko, what's wrong with you?"

Hayato Hayama, who was closest to her, immediately reached out to steady her unstable body and asked with concern.

"No, it's nothing! I just accidentally tripped into the cabinet, that's all, Hayato, you don't have to worry about me."

Yumiko Miura quickly shook her head and said with a forced smile with a somewhat unnatural expression.

Although her acting skills were so bad that people could tell at a glance that she was lying, since she had said that, everyone shifted their attention back to the light screen in front of them.

However, Miura Yumiko's smile quickly disappeared the moment the other person turned around. It was hard to tell whether the expression on her face was worry or strangeness. Her eyes were trembling constantly, and she didn't dare to look in the direction of Hikigaya Hachiman.

Those eyes, it turned out that they had not been hallucinating before, nor were they seeing things wrong.

Thinking of the pair of eyes that had replaced the dead fish eyes on the light screen just now, and the look in his eyes that she had seen in a flash when she had a conflict with the frustrated Hikigaya before... her body couldn't help but tremble slightly a few times.

That was definitely not the look from Hikigaya Hachiman!

【Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, bellissimo ricordo restaurant.】

08:47 PM

【“Welcome! Please come in and have a meal?”】

[“Asahina, another table please. This time, four beautiful ladies, okay?”]

Zaimokuza, wearing a slim-fitting waiter uniform and a band-aid on his nose, stood at the doorway, smiling. He invited the several middle school students who had wandered into this den of evil, blushing and drawn to his appearance, to sit at a nearby table.

【“Oh, oh!? Okay, another table for four!”】

[Asahina Mikuru, who was holding a stack of record books next to her, stared blankly at the whole process. She came to her senses after being reminded by Zaimokuza and hurriedly took a pen and started writing.]

[“Manager, another table of guests has arrived!”]

【“Okay? Got it!”】

[She quickly ran to the counter and handed the order to Kawasaki Saki behind her. Then she looked back with some shame at the store that had gone from quiet to full in just ten minutes, and she murmured with her mouth almost unable to close.]

[“How impressive, Zaimokuza-senpai…”]

[“Well, that guy is only talented in using his looks to seduce young girls, the rest is rotten.”]

[Saki Kawasaki, who was chopping carrots, rolled her eyes after hearing this, but her knife speed did not slow down at all, and the carrots that were cut into even pieces showed her superb knife skills.]

[“But I have to admit that after that guy came to the store, the business has been getting better and better. Girls from some nearby schools are almost treating this place as a must-check-in spot now.”]

[“Are handsome men so popular now? I really don’t understand the girls nowadays. But now it seems that it was undoubtedly the right decision to pick Zaimokuza up from the street!”]

[“Thanks to his hard work, I can buy a second car this year! Hehehe?”]

[“Um… How did Zaimokuza-senpai come to this restaurant? What was he doing before?”]

[Asahina Mikuru hesitated for a few seconds, and finally she mustered up the courage to interrupt Kawasaki Saki, who was laughing strangely because of her delusions, and asked about some information related to Zaimokuza in an inexplicably cautious manner.]

[“Hmm? Mikuru, why are you asking this? Oh?”]

[Kawasaki Saki's eyes suddenly became weird, and she stopped cutting the radish and said with a sly smile.]

[“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Could it be that even you, Mikuru, are interested in that guy? No wonder I always feel like you’re always looking at Zaimokuza whenever you have free time? But unfortunately, there’s no way that white-haired rabbit would be interested in Mikuru.”]

[“Because that guy is not only already in a relationship, but he’s also gay!”]

【“That’s not the case! I just——Ahhhhh!? Zai——(whispering) Zaimokuza-senpai’s sexual orientation is male???”】

【Asahina Mikuru's fair face turned red because of the teasing of this unscrupulous capitalist. Just as she was about to shake her head in panic to deny it, she opened her pink lips in shock at the news she heard and stared blankly at Kawasaki Saki.】

[“Yes! Do you want to know the details? Actually, it’s like this—”]

[“I, I’m not, actually, not interested in this kind of thing (voice gets lower and lower)…”]

……

[“Hi, hi, hi, hi?”]

【Zaimokuza, who was unaware that his boss was slandering his reputation, smiled happily and placed the tray of pasta in his hand on a table near the window.】

[“Rumi-chan? The breakfast you requested is here! Come eat it quickly?”]

[“…I’ve told you so many times, don’t keep calling me “chan”! I’m not a child anymore, okay?”]

[Her beautiful eyelashes twitched a few times, and Tsurumi Rumi's cheeks puffed up like a hamster, and she angrily stretched out her sneaker-clad feet and stepped on Zaimokuza's shoes.]

【"it hurts!"】

[“Hmph, Yihui, you idiot!”]

[As Zaimokuza screamed, Tsurumi Rumi angrily picked up the fork and stabbed the noodles on the plate, then raised it to her lips and opened her mouth, sucking in the whole noodle in one go.]

[“Why is there another wound on Yoshihiru’s face? Did you make Sister Saki angry again and get punished?”]

[Looking at the bandage on Zaimokuza's face, Tsurumi Rumi asked with a somewhat speechless expression, knowing his suicidal nature.]

[“Rumi-chan? How can you say that Miss Saki punished me because she was angry? It was clearly a boss’s loving beating to his employees!”]

[“This is proof that Miss Saki, who has a sharp tongue but a soft heart, actually loves me! The reason why I work for her for free is because I am grateful for the job she gave me! Withholding my dinner is just a test for me! Hahaha——”]

[“…Has Saki-san transformed him to this extent?”]

[Looking at Bugs Bunny, who had been completely transformed into a beast of burden by unscrupulous capitalists and accepted his fate, with a desperate smile on his face, sincerely defending his exploiting boss, the girl ate her breakfast in silence, looking at him with a mixture of sympathy and pity.]

[“By the way, Yoshiki, how are you and…those guys doing lately?”]

[She gently placed the fork on the porcelain plate, looked at Zaimokuza who was trying to have fun despite the hardship, hesitated for a few seconds, and then asked softly.]

[“Hmm? Ah…you mean them?”]

【"Um."】