My youth story cannot be a knight war

A gentle voice sounded from the side, but Akiyama Mio still hadn't recovered. It wasn't until she felt an extremely cold touch on the left side of her face that she let out a startled cry like a small animal.

This scream quickly attracted the attention of those who were also hiding from the rain. Seeing the inquiring glances coming from all directions, the already shy Akiyama Mio blushed and turned away in shame and anger.

"Zaimokuza-san! That's too much!"

"Sorry, sorry~ I found your dazed look so funny, Mio, so I couldn't help but tease you~"

Zaimokuza, who was shaking a cold drink next to her, said this with a smile. Akiyama Mio puffed up her cheeks, took the cold drink, and turned away angrily.

"Hmph! You're so mean! I won't forgive you just like that!"

"Well, this cold drink is my apology to you, Mio. After all, it was me who asked you to accompany me to buy ingredients, and we ended up encountering this kind of weather."

Zaimokuza lifted the pile of fresh ingredients in his left hand and said with a wry smile. He looked at the delicate profile of the girl in front of him as she drank a cold drink, a trance and complex colors flashing in his eyes.

[In this world, are there really people who are so similar? After such a long time?]

Zaimokuza has actually been brooding over the relationship between Akiyama Mio and Miou for quite some time now. It's impossible to say he doesn't care, as he witnessed the latter's sacrifice to save him, and perhaps it's also because of the lingering memories of another person in his mind.

But after seeing the girl's reaction, his inner doubts finally turned into relief. There are some things you don't understand that you don't really need to dwell on. After all, there are so many incredible things in the world, and there are always some that don't require a thorough investigation.

[Whether it's Akiyama Mio or Miou, they are both important people in his life. Just understanding this is enough.]

But just because Zaimokuza figured it out doesn't mean the other person has figured it out, so looking at the uneasiness and worry that flashed across Akiyama Mio's eyes, he finally spoke softly.

"Mio, you've been troubled lately, right? Because of Miou?"

【“——”】

Akiyama Mio paused in her sip of her cold drink at these words. A few drops of drink spilled from the corner of her lips, which were pressed against the bottle. She quickly wiped them away after regaining her composure.

【"……Um."】

Turning her head and meeting Zaimokuza's gaze for a moment, Akiyama Mio lowered her head under his gaze, which was filled with tolerance and warmth. She held the cold drink in both hands and responded softly.

She hadn't thought she could hide her feelings from him, and in fact, she didn't want to hide them either, so she immediately chose to reveal her recent concerns.

“Lately, I’ve been feeling really lost… because a lot of the time, I can’t even tell who I am anymore.”

[She rubbed her palm against the bottle of cold drink, but the cool feeling didn't dispel the confusion in Akiyama Mio's eyes; there was even a hint of fear hidden within.]

[This feeling was especially heightened when he caught a glimpse of the bracelet on his right wrist.]

"That's a strange thing to say, isn't it? I've been an ordinary girl since I was born, but something that's happened recently has made me feel a little different... The memories of another person have appeared in my mind, and it feels like I've gained a whole new life."

[Touching the bracelet, Akiyama Mio couldn't help but shrink her body, as if she wanted to shrink herself into the down jacket.]

“It’s really hard to describe this feeling, because often I even mix those memories with my current life. I know clearly that those memories are not mine, but I just can’t help it.”

“Is my current life…really real? And am I really myself?”

Akiyama Mio's words revealed her deepest anxieties. As she had said, she had always been just an ordinary girl, but due to a chance coincidence, she had a memory of another person in her mind. It was impossible for her not to feel anything.

Furthermore, the owner of that memory was incredibly unique. Much of what she had experienced was beyond Mio Akiyama's comprehension. This "uniqueness" had a crushing advantage over Mio Akiyama's original "ordinariness," easily dominating the fusion of memories.

This also caused Akiyama Mio to often question her own identity, wondering who she really was. Was she an ordinary girl living in the modern era, or a resident of another era so far away that it wasn't even recorded in history?

[Especially since they both have the same face, there must be some secret hidden in it, and it also became the last straw that broke the camel's back.]

"Hey, Zaimokuza-san..."

Finally having the chance to reveal her innermost thoughts to someone, Akiyama Mio looked up at Zaimokuza hopefully, hoping to gain some reassurance from his answer.

"To Zaimokuza-san... who is better, me now? Or is Miou—wuwuwu~!"

Two rough hands touched Mio Akiyama's cheeks. Before she could react, they gently pulled her face apart, forcing her to make a funny expression.

"Stupid~ So, Mio, you've been thinking about these things lately?"

[Rubbing the girl's soft cheek, the scene before him blended with past memories. Zaimokuza's eyes were dazed for a moment, but he immediately came back to his senses.]

"To me, both Miou and Xiao Mio are the same, but at the same time, you are yourselves, not substitutes for anyone else."

He chuckled and said, loosening his grip on Akiyama Mio's cheeks. He put one hand on his hip and looked at her, rubbing her cheek with a look of distress, tilting his head.

"There might be some connection between you two, but I don't care... because the one who's with me right now is you, Mio."

【"well?"】

[Hearing this, Akiyama Mio looked up blankly, staring at his smiling face, her brain a little confused for a moment.]

[Could it be that this sentence is saying… "Come here for a moment."]

Zaimokuza's action interrupted Akiyama Mio's thoughts. She felt her left wrist being grabbed, and then Zaimokuza took Akiyama Mio's hand and hid behind a crowd of people.

"Shhh~ Look up."

Zaimokuza withdrew his hand and raised a finger to his mouth in a silencing gesture. Then he extended his right hand toward the sky above the people in front of him, his index finger extended like a pen.

【"?"】

Akiyama Mio looked at him in confusion, and the next moment, the scene before her eyes made her lips open wide unconsciously. At the same time, the people hiding from the rain ahead suddenly let out incredible cries.

A golden light flashed beneath Zaimokuza's dark pupils, and then with a light stroke of his right hand, a huge gap suddenly appeared in the dense black clouds in the sky.

Under Akiyama Mio's dazed gaze, Zaimokuza's right index finger moved continuously without stopping. Following the trajectory of the movement, the dark clouds in the sky were also outlined with gaps that were identical to the gaps in his fingertips.

This scene truly felt like a fairy tale, as if Zaimokuza held the legendary Ma Liang magic brush, capable of bringing paintings to life, and the sky was his canvas. As his fingers traced the lines, the sky was painted with the same painting.

[But this is not a fairy tale, but reality. Zaimokuza does not have the magic brush of Ma Liang, but he has one of the most powerful powers in the world today.]

With his ultimate elemental manipulation abilities, many incredible things, like wild imaginations, are no more difficult for Zaimokuza than painting. After about ten seconds, his sketching fingers finally stopped.

[And above the sky, a "smiley face" had appeared amidst the dense black clouds. The background of the smiley face was a silvery color with the shimmering moonlight.]

It was a very cute smiley face, but it was clearly a girl's, as long lines like hair ran down the sides of her cheeks. Her face was oval, with a hint of baby fat. Her eyes were two crescents, and an L-shaped line formed the bridge of her nose. Her mouth was slightly pouty, as if pursing her lips.

However, the scene was truly outrageous. A truly anthropomorphic, Q-version smiley face appeared in the sky, so large that it could be seen by almost everyone in the area. Those in the front were astonished and pulled out their phones to record or film, hoping to capture this unprecedented "astronomical phenomenon."

Zaimokuza, the instigator of this scene, had already lowered his hand. He turned to look at Akiyama Mio, who was watching the scene with her mouth wide open. He placed his right hand on her head and gently rubbed her soft hair.

"Look, this is how I remember you smiling, Mio. A little shy and timid, but very happy smile... And Miou's smile is different from yours, Mio."

“Everyone’s smile is different from everyone else’s, and each of you with a different smile is a different person to me, but your smile is equally precious to me.”

After hearing this, Akiyama Mio subconsciously turned her head and saw a pure and flawless smile, as warm as the sun shining down, dispelling the shadows that had recently accumulated in her heart.

"And I know very well that Miou is no longer here... but you, Xiao Mio, are right here in front of me."

Zaimokuza's voice paused, and his eyes dimmed for a moment as he spoke these words, but were then filled with tenderness and joy once again.

[“So, I want to protect you, protect your smile.”]

【“…”】

[Looking at Zaimokuza's smiling face, Akiyama Mio's eyes trembled several times, and finally she quickly lowered her head and clasped her hands tightly together.]

“…Too cunning.”

【"Um?"】

A barely audible voice came from Akiyama Mio, who lowered her head. Zaimokuza simply tilted his head in confusion. "Is there something wrong with what I said?"

——This is a huge problem!

Many people in front of the screen clapped their hands on their faces at this moment. In addition to the same speechless expression, there were additional differences on their faces. The men's eyes were mostly full of envy, jealousy and hatred, while the women's eyes were full of twinkling stars and longing.

"... Zaimokuza, you really don't have any experience in love? Which girl can withstand this trick of yours?"

Kyosuke Kousaka complained with a twitching mouth, but his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He was extremely curious about how this scene would end.

Everyone has a gossipy heart, and eating melons is the instinct of all modern humans. Almost everyone likes to see this kind of thing.

Except for certain parties involved.

"~"

Ebina's face still maintained the same smile as before, but for some reason, a shadow that came from nowhere covered part of the smile, and an inexplicable feeling of coldness lingered around him.

"Uh... Ebisu has the same name——"

For some reason, Zaimokuza suddenly had an extremely strange feeling of guilt. He had done nothing, but he just couldn't stop feeling guilty.

"Hmm~?"

"...Hime, Himena, um..."

"What's wrong? Yoshiteru~?"

"Um, my shoulder..."

His eyes twitched slightly, and Zaimokuza pointed slowly at his left shoulder, where a slender hand was clasped.

"Suddenly, I feel a lot of pain. Can I..."

"Hmm~"

"...No, nothing happened."

"...Zaimokuza-san, I've really changed my mind about you."

"...Zaimokuza, I suddenly feel like you're dangerous."

"...Is this the so-called Shura Field? Or is it the void?"

Yukinoshita and Yuigahama silently moved away from Zaimokuza at a distance, while Hikigaya sat aside with a strange expression watching the scene. He didn't know why, but he suddenly no longer had any jealousy towards Xianmichi. Only deep relief and gloating surged in his eyes.

Fortunately, as a person who is strong and lonely as me, I don’t need to worry about falling into this situation one day.

Ignoring the look of help from Zaimokuza next to him, Hikigaya turned his gaze back to the light curtain with great interest. He was also very interested in knowing how the situation would develop next.

After all, this is a ready-made melon from someone I know, so it must taste great and you have to try it.

And it was this one glance that made Hikigaya unable to look away.

An unprecedented strong emotion surged fiercely in her heart. This overly intense and unfamiliar feeling made Akiyama Mio's shoulders tremble slightly.

"How cunning... Zaimokuza-san!"

"Mio-chan?"

Her voice also began to tremble. Memories from the time they first met to the present moment quickly emerged from her mind, washing over her heart, including every little detail between them... Like a flash of inspiration, Akiyama Mio understood.

She finally understood what this young man had meant to her. It was a feeling unlike any she had ever felt before, a feeling she had never experienced before, yet it made her want to get closer, touch him, and even understand him.

At this moment, fueled by the emotion in her heart, Akiyama Mio suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were filled with tiny tears, and her cheeks were as bright as if smeared with blush.

She gazed into Zaimokuza's eyes and spoke haltingly, each word seeming to draw upon all the courage and strength she had in her life.

"Zai-Zai Mokuza-san! I... I've always been so kind to you—"

"How interesting~"

[A voice suddenly came from the opposite side, but it seemed to be close to everyone's ears.]

[It was an innocent male voice, full of childlike curiosity and desire to explore.]

"Can I see more smiling faces like this?"

【“KUU~GA~”】

52. "Ultimate Lifeform" (8k)

【Time seems to have stopped at this moment in my senses.】

The sound of raindrops falling from the sky to the ground was so clear, and the people's screams were infinitely prolonged in the heavy rain, forming an eerie sound like a tape malfunction. Zaimokuza and Akiyama Mio stood facing each other, staring at each other.

But the strange atmosphere that had been brewing between the two of them following Akiyama Mio's words had completely vanished. They stared at each other, their pupils slowly shrinking as an overwhelming sense of shock overtook all other emotions.

Zaimokuza saw disbelief and fear in Akiyama Mio's eyes, while Akiyama Mio saw a sudden, suppressed chill in his eyes, a heavy pressure gathering deep in his eyes.

[At some point, the smiling face against the backdrop of a sky filled with dark clouds had vanished. A darker, deeper cloud stream surged, filling the gaps in the clouds. White thunder exploded within the clouds, illuminating Akiyama Mio's paler face.]

【"ah!"】

Zaimokuza quickly reached out and put his arms around Akiyama Mio's shoulders, pulling her behind him to hide her before she could react. He then slowly turned his head and looked in the direction of the voice.

His gaze passed through the crowd in front of him, and across the street, he met another pair of black eyes filled with smiles.

At the red light intersection across the street, almost completely enveloped by the torrential rain, a young man in white stood beneath the flashing red light, gazing straight ahead with a smile.

He wasn't wearing any rain gear, but the torrential downpour miraculously didn't soak a single part of his body. His short, smooth black hair swayed freely in the wind and rain, as if he were wearing a transparent raincoat that had shielded him from the rain.