[Master K] The bad one next door

"—Hey, I said Hatta, are you listening?"

His forehead was knocked hard by his knuckles.The orange-haired boy shrank his shoulders in pain, and suddenly woke up from his daze.He covered his head and jumped up, staring murderously at the person in front of him: "What are you doing, Chitose? It hurts!"

The brown-haired young man in a plaid shirt withdrew his hands and smiled casually: "We are discussing about Yazawa-chan."

"Then it's none of my business... huh?"

It was mid-October at this time.The timeline gradually enters autumn as the weather turns cooler.

Suddenly hearing the name of his childhood sweetheart, Hatta couldn't help raising his eyebrows in displeasure: "What's wrong with Mami?"

"Hey, why are you so nervous, back then you broke into the bar with Yazawa-chan covered in blood on your back and scared all the guests away, we didn't say anything, now just mentioning it a little bit, you are acting like a guard, idiot You." Chitose complained, and before the orange-haired boy blushed and jumped up to deny it, he quickly changed the subject, "Do you know that Tokyo Butei High School has a school festival in November?"

Hatta's expression about to explode instantly froze on his face: "Huh?"

"School festival, school festival." Akagi thought he didn't hear clearly, poked his head out from behind the computer and explained enthusiastically, "Tokyo Butei High School holds a school festival in November every three years, this year It was exactly the third year since the last time."

Hatta was stunned.He looked around the Barbara bar, everyone had a look of excitement on their faces.

"Isn't it the school festival, and it's not like I haven't seen it before..."

"No, no, this is Butei High School. The school festival is definitely more interesting than ordinary schools." Bando interrupted him with certainty.He turned his head to look in the direction of the computer desk: "Hey, it is said that the school festival of Butei High School still has a tradition of 'strange events must happen every year'?"

Chicheng responded, and scrolled the mouse to browse the webpage, the pupils of his eyes reflected the fluorescence of the screen.

Hatta saw them singing together, and his head hurt inexplicably: "Let's not talk about this strange tradition... What does this have to do with Mami?"

The whole bar was silent for a second.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and then Chitose Yang smirked and moved his face closer.

Hatta quickly leaned back, leaning his back against the cold bar counter, and suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart: "What, what are you doing?!"

"Look, isn't Yazawa-chan a student of Tokyo Butei High School?" The brown-haired youth said in an ambiguous tone, "So we wanted to ask her if we could get a ticket."

"Huh? If you want, you can go—"

"But after all, we don't know her very well, so I feel embarrassed to tell her such things casually. After thinking about it, you are the one who is most familiar with her here..."

——What nonsense.Who doesn't know that this group of people is as thick-skinned as the corner of a city wall, especially Chitose Yang, who can skillfully chat with a girl within a minute, and is so familiar to the point of outrage.They will live with Misaki Misaki Hatta, whom they have known for more than two months.

Then, Chitose said what he least wanted to hear right now——

"So I'm counting on you, Hatta."

……

There was an apologetic smile on Maya's face when she welcomed him through the door.

"I'm sorry, Misaki, I called you over suddenly." She said, turning sideways to let him into the room, "Please come in. I'll get some drinks."

Hatta closed the door behind his back with an unnatural expression, and changed his shoes at the entrance.He watched the black ponytail jumping behind the girl's head and disappeared into the kitchen door, feeling a little absent-minded for a while.

It had been two weeks since Maya had revealed her identity to him.

Under the excellent medical conditions of Tokyo Butei High School, most of her body has recovered, and her basic movements are no longer a problem, but she still has some inconvenience when walking.Thinking of her unsteady steps when she ran into the kitchen, Hatta always felt as if there was a breath in his chest, and he couldn't get up or down, which made him especially upset.

After a while, Mami came out of the kitchen with two glasses of orange juice.She caught sight of the orange-haired boy who was still standing in the entrance, and blinked in a daze: "Misaki? Why don't you sit down?"

Hatta woke up suddenly, his face was as red as a boiled shrimp.He quickly lowered his head, and while responding indiscriminately, he put the skateboard at the door, walked slowly to the sofa and sat down, his whole body was so stiff that he didn't dare to look up at her.

Maki gently placed the cup on the coffee table.Hatta heard the light sound of the bottom of the cup knocking on the table, and couldn't help raising his eyes quietly.What catches the eye is the girl's home clothes in autumn, with loose white sleeves and a pale pink rabbit on the chest, which looks very playful.Then she sat down on the sofa opposite the coffee table, her black hair hanging down her back slightly raised following her movements.

He quickly lowered his head again, his fingers stretching unnaturally on his knees.

"Isn't Misaki cold?"

"—Um, huh?"

He raised his head in a panic, looking at her with a flushed face.

"Because it's already autumn." Maki said, casting a worried look at him, "But Misaki is still wearing summer clothes...is it too thin?"

"No, it's okay!" Hearing her concerned words, he raised his voice immediately, and at first it sounded like he was arguing, "I...how can I say that I'm a member of Baruwuluo, and my ability to resist the cold must be better than ordinary people Well... yes, right?"

After the flustered response, there was no further text.

Maya fell silent, obviously not knowing how to respond.This atmosphere is simply a capital embarrassment.

The orange-haired boy couldn't help but castigate his incompetence in his heart.Just as he was feeling remorseful, Shinmi said softly, "I understand, but it's better to pay attention to your clothes."

"……what."

Hatta responded in a low voice.After that, there was another long period of silence, the air was so quiet that the sound of bubbles in the cup rising and bursting on the surface of the soda could be heard.He picked up the glass and poured a mouthful of orange juice into his mouth, calmed down by letting the cold liquid slide through the gap in his throat, and then said, "B-By the way, what can I do for you today?"

Of course he didn't come to Maya's house because of Chitose's instigation.

More than an hour ago, when Chitose said "Please" to him irresponsibly, Maya just called him.

When he suddenly heard the girl's familiar voice from the opposite side of the watch, Hatta was so frightened that he almost fell off his chair.Amidst the snickers of the crowd, he just fell to the ground, stammering and responding indiscriminately, his mind went blank the whole time, and he didn't realize until the end of the call that he agreed to go to her house later, which can be described as extremely embarrassing.

Hearing his words, Mami looked serious: "Ah, yes, there is indeed something."

"So……"

She sat upright, with her fists squarely placed on her lap: "It's actually about the case two weeks ago."

"……Eh?"

I didn't expect this to be the first thing she said.

Hatta really wanted to know the situation at first, but due to the confidentiality of the Butei mission and some personal factors, he had no choice but to give up.I don't want Zhenya to take the initiative to bring up this matter today.

Maya took out a stack of printing paper from the document bag beside him and handed it to him: "First of all, it's about the man in the black hood."

Hatta took the printing paper.The profile of the man in the black hood is clearly displayed on the first page.He stared at the man's head for a long time, always feeling familiar, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

"Hey, this guy..."

"His name is Kota Fujiwara. He is 32 years old this year. He obtained a double Ph.D. Beta-level ability users—of course, this was established two weeks ago. But, look here..."

With her index finger, she clicked on the vacant position next to "beta-level ability user": "It doesn't say whether he belongs to the clan or an outsider."

"——I have seen the files of other ability users. Whether they are members of the clan or outsiders, they are all very famous, but Kota Fujiwara has nothing marked. If it is a mistake of the recording team, it is impossible to miss Fujiwara alone. Well, what's more, he is also the recently discovered serial murderer."

"Then, I think there are two possibilities." Shinya held up two fingers, "First, he is a member of which clan or an outsider who belongs to a certain organization, but for some reason the official cannot make it public; second , he does not belong to either of these two, so it cannot be marked."

Hatta listened to her speaking in a calm and very methodical tone, and was stunned for a long time before returning to his senses.

At this time, Maya took his hand back from the copy paper, showing an embarrassed smile: "I can only think of so much, and there is no evidence, so it is not convincing... But there is one more point."

Speaking of this, her usual docile eyes gradually became serious.

"Does Misaki think Takata Fujiwara looks familiar?"

Hatta nodded subconsciously: "Ah, if you are talking about this photo..."

Mami raised her head to look at him, her black eyes were suddenly filled with heat that surprised him.

"So, Misaki, do you still remember that there was a physics teacher named Fujiwara in your middle school?"

……

When Hatta left, Maya insisted on sending him downstairs.She stood at the top of the stairs and looked at his back, clenched her fists in front of her chest, and bowed slightly: "Then please, Misaki."

Hatta, who walked to the entrance of the community, jumped on the skateboard: "...It's nothing, I have nothing to do anyway."

The eyes of the girl behind him gradually softened, but inexplicably made him feel sharp.He didn't waste any more time, quickly kicked his left foot on the ground, and slipped out of the community.The girl's figure gradually became smaller, and when he was about to turn a corner, he turned his head quietly, and saw that she was still standing downstairs in the apartment building watching him, her home dress skirt and long black hair fluttering in the autumn wind.Seeing him turn his head, Maki waved at him, showing a gentle smile.

He immediately withdrew his eyes like an electric shock, endured the burning sensation in his ears, and tried his best to focus on the bustling street that was about to fall at night.

——At that time, Maki asked him to help inquire about Fujiwara's information.

Of course he would not refuse her request, but after she sat up straight, she said something like this——

"Actually, what I care most about is not about Fujiwara. What happened to him has nothing to do with me. After all, he is already a thing of the past for me after he was caught. However, Misaki..."

As Miya said, she looked straight into his eyes, with undisguised worry in her eyes: "...Misaki, what's on your mind recently?"

When she said this, Hatta understood.

——In the end, she still found out.

Hatta gritted his teeth, stepped on the skateboard and jumped over the steps, feeling more and more tense in his chest.

——Since two weeks ago, he has been avoiding Maya.

It's not that he hates her, nor is he angry with her, it's just that he doesn't want to see her for no reason.

...No, it's not quite accurate to say that I don't want to... To be precise, I should be looking forward to "meeting her", but I don't know why I dare not meet her.

Hatta began to reflect seriously.

Every time I see her, I feel uncomfortable, and I can't help but stare at her in the dark, but when I look at her inadvertently, my nerves feel numb as if being electrified, and even the roots of my ears feel faintly hot.

Since Maya said such strange words as "protecting him" two weeks ago, he has become so inexplicable. Out of a feeling of "I don't want her to see such a strange self", this kind of evasion also It's a matter of course.Thinking about it now, this behavior is simply naive to the extreme.

Probably Chitose and the others couldn't stand it anymore, so they used the school festival to encourage him.What a bunch of nosy guys.

As a result, his thoughts were completely disturbed by Maki's words, and the matter of the school festival was completely forgotten.

"...Ah, what the hell is going on, I'm so annoying!"

Bada scratched his messy hair hard, felt a pain in his brain, but couldn't think of a reason, so he simply stopped thinking about it and put the matter aside.He turned a corner on his skateboard, and the streetlight behind him "snaked" on as the night fell.

Seeing the light coming from the gate of Barbara Bar not far away, and thinking of the school festival tickets being sold for nothing, the boy couldn't help muttering again.

"How can I borrow a computer from Chicheng later..."