Chapter 304

So...

"Healed."

"Huh?"

The Konno couple's minds went blank; the words their attending physician suddenly uttered left them momentarily unable to process what was happening.

What does it mean to be cured?

Who? What was cured? Why?

"Perhaps a miracle happened, or maybe your usual love had an effect... Okay, okay, actually I don't know anything. Yesterday she was still in a very dangerous state, but today's examination suddenly changed everything. I even suspected that the examination was done wrong, so I dragged her to have her blood drawn again for another test, and patiently waited for the results."

"And the fact is, he was completely cured."

"Aside from perhaps not being quite used to walking normally due to being bedridden for so long, she recovered overnight as if blessed by the gods."

"This is a complete miracle, an absolute miracle."

"If we could get her to cooperate with the hospital in conducting more research and investigations—"

"No, I'm sorry, I misspoke. Now that she has just recovered, it's more appropriate for you parents to accompany her and do things that she couldn't do in the past."

"You can be discharged now."

That's what the doctor said.

They exchanged a glance, and the Konno couple could both see the dizzying light in each other's eyes.

It was like a gift from heaven, even more surprising than that, leaving people stunned.

Finally, after a long eye contact and a long silence, they began to gradually awaken.

The way they were pinching each other's waists and the pain they felt told them that this wasn't a hallucination caused by excessive stress.

The illness that had tormented their family for who knows how long will disappear without a trace starting today.

They can now live a 'normal' life.

Is that normal?

Such distant words.

It was so hazy and indistinct that everything seemed so unreal.

But even if it's not real, even if it's vague, it doesn't matter.

Things are getting better.

That's the truth.

"That's great, that's great, that's great..."

Mrs. Konno's tears flowed uncontrollably as she repeated these words over and over, as if she had lost the ability to speak and could only repeat these words.

"Yes, right, we should tell him, we should tell Xiao Che. This is such good news, we really need to let him know."

Mr. Konno was initially delighted, but he soon remembered something.

Besides them, there are others who deserve even greater joy, and we must inform them of this.

"But... I haven't seen him for a year, and I haven't been able to contact him at all during this year..."

He hesitated for a moment before making the call.

However, he quickly gripped his phone again.

Even so, he absolutely needs to know this good news.

"... Xiao Che?" Just as he was about to make the call, Mrs. Konno finally stopped crying and raised her head, "I got in touch with him yesterday."

He was in school before.

Because of the heavy financial burden and their completely inappropriate demeanor and attitude towards their age, they always forget that Asakusa Toru is of school age.

"... Going to school, going to school is good, going to school is good, next year the Yuuki will also be able to go to school," he murmured.

"However, I've dropped out of school now." Without pausing for breath, Mrs. Konno continued, "Because this year was a complete period of isolation, we lost contact. It wasn't because anything unexpected happened."

"But..." she paused slightly, "He asked me for the address yesterday, he should be coming."

Just as she was feeling so confused...

Suddenly, a voice rang out in front of me.

"Brother Che, you came yesterday, right?"

Although they weren't quite used to it, they still walked slowly, supporting themselves against the wall, removing all sorts of messy wires that maintained their bodily functions. And there stood before them, a girl named Yuuki Konno, whom they hadn't seen in a long time.

"He was so gentle, so very gentle, he came to see me."

Actually, he was the first person to know that he had recovered.

You could even say that he was the one who healed himself.

Although I really wanted to tell my parents, and although I really wanted to tell everyone that he was the one who saved me.

But the girl quietly kept this secret deep in her heart.

She wanted this secret to remain a secret between herself and him alone.

A little scheme stirred within the girl's heart.

Or rather, it's a clever idea.

What has been done, what has not been done, lingering regrets, and outcomes that could have been changed.

For Asakusa Toru, most of the things he needed to keep on his mind could now be put to rest.

The names on the list were crossed off one by one, and some things that had been weighing on my mind were finally resolved.

After wandering around, Asakusa Toru finally returned to the rented room he had before the start of the school term.

They should have terminated the lease a long time ago.

Since he had already decided to enroll, he wouldn't need this room for the next three years.

But in the end, he stayed, whether it was to have a place to return to or to store some odds and ends that he would never use but would still think about.

A few messy manuscripts, and some gifts from others.

... Actually, I don't have as few friends as I imagined.

At least, although it started as a favor, she can still be called a 'friend,' and she is just a friend.

He did have one.

"Good morning, Meiko." Upon returning to his front door, Asakusa Toru greeted the silver-haired girl who seemed nonchalant as she leaned against his door.

Long silver hair, blue eyes, slightly short bangs, a round face with a touch of natural childlike innocence, and a petite figure that is slender and without any undulations.

Honma Meiko

Nickname, Menma.

"Good morning... Xiao Che!" She instinctively wanted to greet him back, but what she saw was the face she had longed for for so long. Overjoyed, she shouted, and the girl instinctively wanted to take advantage of her close relationship with him to pounce on him and have some unrestrained physical contact.

It's just a pity, however, that before she actually did that.

A huge, huge girl with red hair and golden eyes peeked out from behind him, her hands casually wrapped around Asakusa Toru's waist.

"Oh, good morning! I don't know who you are."

Okay, okay, it's not actually that huge.

It's the normal range of motion for a young girl, with slight fluctuations, just right.

However, if they both bow their heads in comparison...

That would be very lethal.

"--girlfriend?!"

Suppressing the budding emotions that arose within her from the Honma Meiko uttered a resounding voice.

"They said they were going to study for three years, but they came back after only one year with a girlfriend. Was it actually because they got someone pregnant and were forced to drop out?!"

The girl shouted out something completely fabricated...

Rumor.

Side Story: This Stat Allocation Involves Angel, Ascetics, Magical Girls, and NPCs

Diary.

Mysterious gadgets that fall from the sky can be taken out at any time, and will follow you wherever you go.

Like a shadow, always by your side; a ghostly companion.

Many owners initially mistake it for something cursed and are afraid to take action.

Especially when they discovered that no one else seemed to be able to see the Diary except them, and even when they took the Diary to ask others to confirm, they only received a '?' response.

No, no, the truth is, there was absolutely no response.

Because Diary itself is the biggest Cognition Filter.

The development of Diary has gone through many iterations. In the early days, they would be updated with some content from time to time.

For example, leaving a message.

For example, adding points.

For Advanced Nurturing girls, leaving messages was the most frequent method, as it was their only means of communication with Asakusa Toru back then.

As for adding points...

They appear magical and powerful, a direct manifestation of the supernatural beyond the Cognition Filter.

However, the conditions are too harsh.

The points accumulated each day can take ten or more days to accumulate even one point, and for some, it can take hundreds of days. And the change of just one point is not something that can be clearly felt.

Moreover, since Reading Points are used as currency to provide the bonus effect, it's possible that Reading Points will have other effects besides this bonus later on.

For various reasons, the girls selectively abandoned this feature after their initial attempts.

Until the day he left.

Only then did someone flip through his old diaries, secretly observing his life outside of school.

I found this feature.

He dropped out of school and left without taking them with him, without even asking if they wanted to come with him.

To put it bluntly, although they indulged themselves all night on the last night, many people still feel somewhat resentful about it.

For example Kushida Kikyo.

The more she looked at the scumbags in Class D around her, the more she forced a smile to deal with their various negative emotions every day, the more she began to reflect deeply.

Why should I go to such lengths to get closer to them?

Too much unconditional love and excessive kindness can make such intimacy seem cheap.

Although the worst few, the kind of losers who were so disgusting they were practically morbidly repulsive, dropped out, the rest were still a bunch of mediocre students.

Therefore, from the very first day that Asakusa Toru was no longer by her side, Kushida Kikyo clearly felt a sense of unease and regret.

I should have spoken up.

I should have said we should go together.

... but he didn't call me.

Is it because I'm useless? Is it because I'm of no use? Is it because he's already tired of his body?

Self-doubt and self-criticism are the things that are most likely to occur in Kushida Kikyo.

Originally, her desire to be everyone's best friend and to be closer to everyone than anyone else was born out of a sense of superiority and a desire to be needed.

The more someone lacks a sense of being needed, the more likely they are to become the giver.