Tsukiji Tōmaru

After leaving the student council room, Michael found that the boy who had left earlier had not gone far. Instead, he was waiting at the other end of the corridor. Seeing Michael emerge unharmed, he let out a long breath of relief, though his relief was mixed with confusion.

"Tsukiji Tōmaru."

He held out a hand to Michael and introduced himself, while curiously looking him up and down. Could he really be Aozaki Aoko's boyfriend?

No, no... He simply couldn't imagine what that demon would look like acting coy. Maybe the world would end.

He shook his head, driving the tangled thoughts from his mind. Such a terrifying idea could not be allowed to remain in his head for even a second, or it would make one question life itself—especially for someone like him, who understood Aozaki Aoko's true nature.

"Michael Stefan Animusphere."

Michael lightly clasped Tsukiji Tōmaru's outstretched hand, a practiced smile appearing on his face. "Just call me Michael."

"Michael, are you a foreigner?"

The moment the question left his mouth, Tsukiji Tōmaru wished he could shove it back in. The answer was obvious. Asking that had been completely unnecessary.

"I suppose you could say I'm English."

"Then why did you transfer here?"

Suddenly realizing that he had asked too many questions about someone else's privacy, Tsukiji Tōmaru smacked his forehead, looking annoyed with himself. "Sorry, I was just curious. If it's inconvenient, you don't have to answer."

"It's nothing inconvenient. The elders of my family know the elders of Aozaki's family, so I transferred here."

Though the explanation sounded rather abrupt, Tsukiji Tōmaru immediately filled in the gaps with a three-hundred-episode television drama: the elders arranging things, a marriage alliance for the benefit of their families, and so on. He had personal experience that could serve as a reference, so it was not entirely baseless speculation.

"I only met Aozaki recently myself. You seem to know her well. Could you tell me something about her?"

"About President Aozaki?"

Tsukiji Tōmaru shuddered instinctively, then glanced toward the student council room. His voice lowered several degrees. "I know a little."

The two wandered around campus during the lunch break, chatting idly about Aozaki Aoko. As an ordinary person, Tsukiji Tōmaru naturally failed to notice Michael setting magical runes at certain locations. Those runes happened to form a Magic Circle large enough to cover the entire campus.

"I really didn't expect you to be the vice president."

"Don't call me vice president. It's no different from being called a dog or a bastard. In the end, I'm just the president's dog."

Tsukiji Tōmaru shrugged and said it self-mockingly, but he did not seem dissatisfied.

"I rather like dogs. They're humanity's loyal companions, after all. I used to keep a few."

"Mm, Michael, you keep dogs too?"

Sitting on a stone bench beneath a cherry blossom tree, Tsukiji Tōmaru took out an instant dumpling from his pocket and put it into his mouth, wearing an expression as though it tasted awful.

"I like them, but I'm really not good at keeping pets. I ended up giving them all away."

Michael took out his own lunch as well: udon purchased from a vending machine. It was his first time seeing a vending machine that sold noodles, so he could not resist buying a serving out of curiosity.

"Tch, this flavor..."

After tasting the first bite, Michael set down his chopsticks with a complicated expression. His face bore a striking resemblance to Tsukiji Tōmaru's earlier expression.

"I can't get used to vending-machine udon. It feels like it has no soul."

Tsukiji Tōmaru offered him the instant dumpling in his hand. "Want to try this?"

"Is it that bad?"

Michael accepted the instant dumpling but did not immediately put it in his mouth out of caution. Tsukiji Tōmaru's earlier expression was still fresh in his mind.

"It's not exactly good, but it's not exactly bad either. Sigh—just try it and you'll know."

Tsukiji Tōmaru took out another dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth, speaking indistinctly. "No matter what it is, people always want to save effort and get it over with quickly. That's even more true when it comes to the three primal urges."

"That's rather philosophical. Maslow's hierarchy of needs divides human needs into five levels, and the first level is physiological needs. The three primal urges also fall under physiological needs, don't they? If one can't eat well, people will be affected too."

Michael carefully put the instant dumpling into his mouth and finally understood why Tsukiji Tōmaru had made that expression earlier.

"It doesn't taste like anything at all. It feels like eating dirt."

"Exactly. This stuff is like a life without games."

Tsukiji Tōmaru agreed, stuffing another instant dumpling into his mouth. Though it had no taste whatsoever, it could still satisfy a craving and fill his stomach.

"It seems everyone is afraid of Aozaki. Is she usually that terrible?"

After a brief moment of reflection, the topic returned to Aozaki Aoko.

"Do you know about the tragedy from a year ago? Uh... you probably don't. Otherwise, you wouldn't know nothing about Aozaki."

As he spoke and answered his own question, Tsukiji Tōmaru rose from the stone bench and stared seriously into Michael's eyes. "Given your situation, I think it's necessary for you to understand the real Aozaki."

"The real... Aozaki?"

"That's right."

Tsukiji Tōmaru nodded heavily. Though he did not like talking about people behind their backs, for the sake of a young man's bright future, he could only do this.

"It was when Aozaki was in her first year. Everyone had just enrolled and didn't know what she was like. Judging by appearances alone, she was an undeniable beauty, and every boy was so happy they practically danced with joy."

"But later, something really did happen that made everyone dance with joy—literally. A great many people were dragged into it, from upperclassmen to underclassmen."

"Did they fight over Aozaki?" Michael asked half-jokingly.

"Not exactly. It was just some behind-the-scenes fighting between boys. It doesn't matter whether we talk about those losers or not. Back then, if you wanted to invite Aozaki to lunch, you had to book three months ahead. There were still plenty of idiots who refused to give up."

"After all the messy conflicts, the guy who won said that he hoped they could date. What did Aozaki say then? Something about not being sincere enough? No, it was about lacking courage. Anyway, something like that. She ignored him. She didn't accept a single one of them and politely rejected them all."

"That just sounds like an ordinary failed confession. Where was the problem?"

"What happened afterward is what matters."

Tsukiji Tōmaru took a drink of water to wet his throat, then continued. "There was a third-year student whose brain seemed to have some problems. It's not very nice to put it that way, but that's the only way to understand it."

"He insisted on following her everywhere, from around the school all the way to the Aozaki Family home. Aozaki was already getting annoyed, and she finally reached her limit. With a flying kick, she sent that third-year student flying. Everyone was dumbfounded. No one had expected Aozaki to have such a violent side."

"That was the Blood Public Trial Incident. That third-year student voluntarily transferred away, while Aozaki received a month-long punishment of reflection. If you want the details, go ask her yourself... though that would probably be troublesome. You could also go to the news club. Their president is very capable, and you can find out quite a few interesting things there."

"That does sound interesting. Aozaki really is an interesting person."

Michael patted Tsukiji Tōmaru on the shoulder and spoke earnestly. "By the way, Tsukiji, we're friends now, right? Could you do me a small favor?"

"What is it?"

Tsukiji Tōmaru suddenly became wary and instinctively took a step back. "If it has something to do with Aozaki, I'm afraid I can't help you."

"I just want to take the afternoon off. Consider it a friend's request. Surely it would be no trouble at all for the vice president?"

"Well, it's not impossible, but..."

"The sun is shining so brightly. Wouldn't it be too wasteful to stay in school and study?"

"That really is a domineering reason."

Tsukiji Tōmaru complained, though he did not know whether it was because they were friends or for some other reason. He stuffed the last instant dumpling into his mouth. "Then I'll help you out. But the final exams are coming up soon. If your grades are too terrible, you won't be able to take leave."

"Don't worry. Studies have never been a problem for me."

Michael smiled with unquestionable confidence as he watched a crow land on a branch, letting out a harsh caw.