That's right, the pseudo-humans are definitely among them

If he had spent more time with his child, would he still be here? If he hadn't been so careless, would his child not have disappeared? If he had searched more thoroughly, could his child have come back?

The emotions buried deep in his heart needed an outlet.

Asakusa Toru willingly became that outlet in this moment.

...No, calling it an outlet didn't seem quite right.

At first, he'd been cursing Natsuki-san's missing son for being a simp, but the more he went on, the more the contents of Simp Diary seemed to make sense.

It was practically like telling a story, like recounting an utterly genuine journey through another world to Natsuki-san.

The more he listened, the more it seemed possible that someone really had been taken to another world.

...Of course, she knew that sort of thing was impossible.

But if—if Natsuki-san's son really couldn't be found, if he truly couldn't be brought back...

Even if it was only a story, if it could help him accept that...

"'Take off your shoes when you enter the house, but when stepping into someone else's heart, barge right in with your shoes on. That's the Natsuki family's way.'"

Those words were like a sudden dousing of icy water over Natsuki-san's head.

The noisy cursing abruptly stopped. Asakusa Toru fell silent right along with it, leaving only Ichinose Honami's repeated apologies as she bowed, echoing down the hallway.

Just then, the brown-haired woman returned.

It was Mrs. Natsuki.

"—Axian, I heard someone was causing trouble at our house. I've already called the police. They'll be here soon!" she announced.

At this point, Ichinose Honami let out a laugh like silver bells.

"I really never expected Mrs. Natsuki to call the police. When I heard they were coming, I was so nervous."

"I almost grabbed Asakusa-kun's hand and ran away."

"Luckily, even though the police came later, Natsuki-san didn't press charges. Mom and my little sister were worried because I hadn't come home that day, but everything worked out in the end, so it's all right."

No matter how you looked at it, yelling through a megaphone outside someone's house was going too far. If the police had taken them away, they wouldn't have had any grounds to complain.

"At the police station, Natsuki-san asked Asakusa-kun why he'd done that, right?" she said. "What Asakusa-kun said back then was the same as what he said today."

"It was purely for my own satisfaction."

I wanted to do it, so I did it.

How you chose to interpret that was up to you.

Asakusa Toru: "..."

...You remembered that really well.

"I'm grateful to Asakusa-kun. And I admire how you can do whatever you want, just as you please."

"If only I could be like you, Asakusa-kun." Ichinose Honami twirled a lock of hair around her fingertip. "I can't help thinking that."

Unfortunately, she and Asakusa Toru were ultimately different.

She probably couldn't do the things Asakusa Toru could, even if she spent her whole life trying.

So her admiration would remain just that: admiration.

The only person Ichinose Honami could become was Ichinose Honami.

"To me, Asakusa-kun is actually pretty important, you know?"

That was why she'd been so disappointed when she learned he might have given up on enrolling.

That was why her heart had skipped a beat when she saw him standing with Class C's homeroom teacher.

But luckily, he hadn't given up on enrolling, and he hadn't forgotten her.

"This is just me talking to myself," she said. "But if possible, I want you to see a version of me that's different from the one you knew before."

Ichinose Honami didn't know if this counted as growing up, or whether she'd changed at all.

But if she could, she wanted Asakusa Toru to see how she had changed.

The one who'd been lost was her old self.

Her new high school life needed someone to witness it.

"..." Ichinose Honami had said a lot, but to be honest, Asakusa Toru's feelings were complicated.

It wasn't the first time someone had come looking for him. After doing so many things on a whim, it was inevitable that people would find out where he lived.

Sometimes it was a pretty girl, sometimes a boy, sometimes a middle-aged man, and sometimes a thug.

But it was rare for someone like Ichinose Honami to pick up on his ways and just talk to herself like this.

Ah, what a hassle.

Maybe he should switch classes after all.

...Just kidding.

If only he could use those twenty million points as an extra life. Switching classes would be such a waste.

Besides, although Ichinose had the potential to become a yandere, she was still pretty normal for now.

But being a witness...

"Since things have come to this, let's eat first," he said hollowly.

After all, Ichinose had said from the start that she was just talking to herself.

If that was the case, then it didn't matter if he acted like he hadn't heard anything, right?

"..."

...His hands were itching. How was it only halfway through the day, and he was already itching to write in his diary and draw a reward?

Chapter 26: That's right, the pseudo-humans are definitely among them

The lunch break ended, and the afternoon classes weren't especially long. Before long, it was five o'clock and time to leave school.

"Starting at five o'clock this afternoon, Club Orientation will be held in the First Gymnasium. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in the First Gymnasium. I repeat. Today—"

The broadcast that had played once during lunch was repeated, a cute female voice once again promoting the event.

Club Orientation.

In short, it was when all the school's clubs recruited new members.

They used all sorts of promotional tactics to trick the new students into joining, then made them work their way up by seniority.

To be honest, Asakusa Toru didn't think much of it.

The only club worth mentioning was the Student Council.

At Advanced Nurturing, the Student Council had a fair amount of authority.

Whether it was making decisions about conflicts between students or offering suggestions about future Special Exams, the school generally took the Student Council's opinions into consideration.

It was worth mentioning that the current Student Council president was the Low-Spec Yukino he'd written about in his diary the previous night: Horikita Suzune's older brother, Horikita Manabu of Class 3-A.

"But the Student Council, huh..." He couldn't help recalling a response he'd once seen online, though he knew the two situations weren't exactly the same.

"Question: What happens if you offend the student council at university?"

"Answer: It's like the world of mathematics losing Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike. You might not know who Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike are, but they're two defective students in Class 1-D, and in a few days they'll score less than half the class average on a quiz."

The university student council and the Student Council at Advanced Nurturing weren't really the same thing, but Asakusa Toru still found it hard to feel any respect for student councils.

"...Forget it. I'm not going." He shook his head and headed straight for the dorms.

He was going back to write his diary early.

The Diary didn't say he could only write in it at night. The first time he'd written in it at night was because he'd spent ages figuring out its rules, and before he knew it, it was nighttime. The second time had been purely intentional: he'd deliberately waited until that hour to start writing so certain people would lose sleep after reading it.

He meant Horikita Suzune.

Although he couldn't be sure whether Horikita Suzune had a copy of the Diary, if she did, she definitely wouldn't sleep well.

Actually, by that logic, he should go to Club Orientation.

Even if he didn't join a single club, he could observe Horikita Suzune up close.

If she was a Diary reader and had seen what he wrote, she might really go looking for some damn pseudo-human.

It was even possible that she'd inexplicably go up to her brother and give him the name of someone she thought was a pseudo-human.

...Right, the event!

Once he thought it through, Asakusa Toru's reasoning suddenly became clear.

Wasn't this the perfect chance to confirm whether Horikita Suzune was a reader?

Suppressing his urge to write today's diary, Asakusa Toru turned and headed for the gymnasium.

Horikita Suzune had spent the day observing her class. The more she watched, the more convinced she became that she was right.

That was it. The pseudo-humans were definitely among them.

"Hey, Haruki, do you feel like Horikita keeps looking over here?" Although classes were over, Kanji Ike wasn't in a hurry to leave. He was hanging out with his good buddies, Haruki Yamauchi and Ken Sudō.

Calling them good buddies was a bit of a stretch. They'd simply ended up together because nobody else ever approached them.

They had a bit of an Unpopular Group vibe.

And yet, today, of all days, Horikita Suzune had been looking their way again and again!

"Hey, could it be..."

"...No way, right?"

"You never know."

"No, no. I'm not into that kind of woman. She's pretty, sure, but she seems to have an awful personality."

"Just say whether you'd accept if she confessed to you!"

"Of course I'd accept, if only reluctantly! Heh heh heh..."

Yamauchi and Ike snickered, while the bored Ken Sudō stood up.

"I'm leaving," he said.

"Where are you going?" Ike looked up and asked.

"To the gym. They're holding Club Orientation, right? I'm thinking of joining the basketball club."

"Whoa, the basketball club. Yeah, with a build like yours, you'll definitely be popular once you join." Kanji Ike let his imagination run wild, then sighed. "Pretty girls are sure to come up and ask you out. Must be nice."

"Enough chatter. Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!"

The trio left the classroom, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's voice came from beside Horikita Suzune.

"So, is what they said true? Do you have a crush on someone?" he asked, his voice calm.

Horikita Suzune replied irritably, "You should know that's impossible, shouldn't you?"

She could understand a pseudo-human drawing the wrong conclusion just because she'd been watching them. But why had Ayanokoji come to the same conclusion?

"Huh, so it's impossible?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seemed a little surprised, though not all that surprised.

"It's impossible." Horikita Suzune shook her head and stood up.

Seeing her rise, Ayanokoji asked, "Are you planning to go to the gym?"

"I'm not interested in clubs," she said.

"You're not joining a club?" he asked again.

Horikita Suzune took a deep breath and said,

"...I believe I already told you I'm not interested in clubs."

"Not being interested doesn't mean you won't join one, does it?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still seemed intent on getting a definite answer out of her.

"Talking to you is a waste of time." Giving up on trying to get through to him, Horikita Suzune walked straight out of the classroom.