Little Tricks for Fishing at School

[Love is a terminal illness unique to humans.]

[If humans lost the ability to love, could they still be called human?]

[Some people are searching for [love]. Having severed my own nerves, I can no longer be called [human], can I?]

[Perhaps to me, "love" is merely a product of civilization. It is formed by two factors: the physiological awakening of our emotions and the interpretations of our minds.]

"I'll make sure they take good care of you. Have you ever heard of a particularly unusual torture method? [Hair Silk Milk Tea]."

"You grind up hair and mix it into coffee or milk tea. Hair is hard to digest and sharp, so it can puncture the lining of the stomach and intestines, making your stomach hurt like hell."

Just hearing the description had already made him tremble. What a fragile mind... Star Color mused.

Then he crouched down with a sinister grin, facing the fool's terrified expression: cold sweat pouring down his face, throat too dry to speak. When it came to destroying someone's mental defenses, Star Color still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

A warped, bizarre, sinister presence—that was what he truly looked like beneath the colors of the stars: a beautiful, alluring monster that brought death, devouring color and life in its madness.

Right across from the school gates stood the [Police Station], and the school's phones had an emergency call function. It was understandable that they'd included it, given their concerns about students getting into trouble. Of course, the real purpose was to protect the heirs and daughters of the financial elite. If anything happened, the school couldn't escape responsibility. The ordinary students? Just a convenient bonus. Still, there was no denying the design was fairly considerate.

"Unless they call in that useless Ghost Island, this school has no authority to interfere with the police. You'll be expelled and kicked out of here, saddled with an enormous bill for damages. If you can afford it, fine. If you can't..."

Star Color looked at him meaningfully.

"Then enjoy your loan repayments, work your whole life to make yourself useful, and then die."

Star Color had never thought much of Ghost Island. Unable to control adults who'd already entered the workforce, he'd started controlling [education] instead, brainwashing [the new generation of children] into becoming tools for his [political arena]. Ever since Ghost Island had taken power, that trend had become unmistakable. That was why Star Color had called him useless to his face, without the slightest restraint, right there on his turf.

And just like that, the whole mess was taken care of perfectly. Star Color took off his wig.

"Phew~."

Two black briefcases appeared in Star Color's hands. Zhou Changqing had gone out to [Headquarters] to pick up the things Star Color needed.

Copper coins engraved with various designs, modeled on the 78 tarot cards, along with a deck of silver playing cards.

The rest was up to the shop's owner to handle. After all, his days as a [Gambling Officer] were behind him. He no longer had the right to interfere. He'd entrusted the remaining money to the owner, who would convert it from [Neon Yuan] into [points] and deposit it in the pawnshop, putting the shop to work recovering those [Copper Coins]. Whatever was left would go toward the commission fee and Zhou Changqing's payment...

If he'd been his old self, that [Cheater]'s mind would probably have collapsed long ago. Star Color was quite confident in that particular area.

After all, Star Color had once been known as [Human Scum].

But he was a student now. He couldn't just reveal his true nature whenever he pleased. Star Color sighed, then put on what he considered a perfect smile.

He'd have to keep an eye on [Ayanokoji Kiyotaka], too. As for Sakayanagi Arisu, she was one of his trump cards against [Shigemori Sakayanagi]. He hadn't drawn a good hand yet. Star Color would only show himself to his opponent once he had a strong hand firmly in his grasp.

"Still a long way to go."

He left behind a meaningless phrase to encourage his own numb, hollow spirit and soothe the higher-dimensional presence in his brain. Then he left Keyaki Mall.

(Afternoon)

"You sure have a lot of free time."

Star Color was sprawled on the grass. A well-shaped wooden stick had been stuck into the lush lawn, and he was rubbing another stick against it, rolling it between his hands.

The bag beside him was full of earthworms he'd caught with his bare hands. They wriggled like living soba noodles, their soft, boneless bodies stretching and contracting at will, reeking of earth.

Kohei Katsuragi eyed the bag of worms and frowned.

"Otonashi, I could come with you if you want to catch beetles, but catching these is... a little weird."

Kohei Katsuragi covered his face. [Seishiki Otonashi] and [Morishita Ai] were both so unpredictable that he had absolutely no idea how to deal with them.

Kohei Katsuragi had come over specifically after hearing Star Color say he'd [found a way to exploit a school bug].

"Would you like fishing, Little Fist Stone?"

"Don't call me Little Fist Stone. Fishing? Never tried it."

At the word "fishing," Kohei Katsuragi's frown eased a little.

"Earthworms catch fish faster. It's thanks to all the money the school spends maintaining its landscaped grounds that there are so many worms around."

"You're not planning to fish here, are you?!"

"Just what I'd expect from my Pokémon, Little Fist Stone! You get me so well."

Star Color snapped his fingers. His mischievous grin made him look like a playful little girl at that tender age.

"Putting aside the question of when I became your Pokémon... you really are planning to fish at school, aren't you?"

Kohei Katsuragi had no idea where Star Color had come up with this absurd idea. Fishing at school? What kind of lunatic would think of that?

[Paying homage to the legendary author who fished by the school lake and got chased off by security.]

"There are fish in the school's artificial lake and waterways. Look, if we catch fish, we'll have all the fish we can eat!"

"The problem is, we don't have fishing rods. Even if we did, they'd draw too much attention. It wouldn't be good if the campus security spotted us on patrol and caused trouble or made a scene."

Kohei Katsuragi meant to nip Star Color's [ridiculous idea] in the bud.

"I already thought of that, so I made a Spinning Bottle!"

Star Color pulled the [Simple Poor Man's Fishing Rod: Spinning Bottle] out of his pocket of holding.

Materials: [Homemade Fishhook + Foam Board + PE Line + Drink Bottle].

It was a skill Star Color had learned while he was homeless, and he still remembered it vividly. It could even be counted as one of life's little pleasures he'd learned along the way.

(For a picture of the finished product, see the author's note for this chapter.)

Kohei Katsuragi's face was full of question marks. Then he gave in, letting out the helpless sigh of a weary father.

"You really came prepared."

"Come on, try fishing. This spot is hidden from two cameras with alternating coverage. Hardly anyone comes here, either. I went to a lot of trouble to find the perfect fishing spot."

"You never put this much effort into your classes. You go and spend all that energy on something like this... I don't even know what to say to you."

"What's wrong with being a good kid most of the time and trying to be a bad kid once in a while?"

Star Color stuck out his tongue playfully.

"I'll teach you how to fish."

Star Color guided Little Fist Stone through using the [Spinning Bottle] to fish, starting from scratch.