"Rainie Love"

"...It doesn't look promising."

"So that's how it is... I understand."

It wasn't merely unpromising. Judging by the way Chisa looked at him, Lu Guan guessed that the future she had seen definitely couldn't be summed up as "unpromising." It had to be an utterly tragic ending.

But... the future wasn't set in stone. As long as he was willing to try to change it, there was a chance of overturning the chain of cause and effect and changing the outcome.

Lu Guan didn't particularly mind. Or rather, being given a second life was already the greatest gift heaven could have bestowed on him. Now, all he wanted was to make this life on Solaris as extraordinary as he could.

"...I'm sorry." An apologetic look appeared on Chisa's aloof face. "As for your resonance ability... I don't think I can help you..."

"You can't put it that way, Teacher Chisa." Lu Guan shook his head. "Learning so much from you has already been an enormous help to me..."

He smiled slightly and added, "Besides, you don't necessarily need to find the person who posed a problem to find a way to solve it."

Chisa looked at Lu Guan. "You mean..."

"Since your resonance ability is Future-Seeking Self, Teacher Chisa, I imagine you've used different powers from your future selves, haven't you?"

"I believe the principles of the world must have things in common. Perhaps Teacher Lacerta asked you to come teach me how to control my resonance power with that same idea in mind-that knowing one thing could help you understand another."

Chisa stared blankly at Lu Guan, her lips slightly parted.

After a long while, she let out a quiet sigh.

"You really are different... Perhaps the me from that time..."

"Never mind. In that case, let's begin."

[Beep! An eligible character has been detected. Add her to the list of romanceable characters?]

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[Beep! The character list has been updated. Please check it-]

[Character updated: Chisa.]

[Chisa]

[Current affection: 14]

[Opinion of host: He... might be able to open the way to a new future!]

Chisa rose from her seat, her face returning to its previous aloof expression. "What can your resonance ability do right now? Show me."

"H-here?" Lu Guan looked around at the seats and furnishings. "I can't control or guarantee the power of my ability. If I use it here, one slip and the teaching building might need to be rebuilt..."

"Teacher Lacerta would let out a piercing shriek."

"Pfft..." Chisa chuckled, then quickly composed herself and returned to her aloof, tranquil demeanor.

"...That was an oversight on my part."

She tied her bell back on, flicked her sleeve, and pointed toward the plain outside the academy. "Follow me, then."

"I'm so tired..."

Carrying the late-night snack she had just bought from the cafeteria, Dania dragged her body, which felt exhausted to her, toward the dormitory like a zombie.

"It's all that guy's fault... Following him around at noon was already a whole week's worth of exercise for me." Dania muttered to herself, "But I did get to eat cake in the end... So I guess it wasn't all bad."

"That's strange... Why is it a little cold?" Dania suddenly felt a chill and unconsciously pulled her outer garment up a little to cover her bare shoulders.

In theory, her body shouldn't have been so susceptible to the cold... Besides, thanks to the "core," nights underground in Lahai-Roi weren't particularly cold.

Looking in the direction the chill came from, Dania saw a tall, silver-haired woman in shrine maiden attire not far away, and following behind her... Lu Guan?

"Where are they going this late?" Dania thought about it for a moment, then decided it took too much brainpower and gave up.

"Whatever, whatever. It's none of my business."

Dania shook her head and headed for the dormitory.

Back in her room, the girl put down her snack and opened the Star Torch Forum, ready to find a post to read while she ate...

But no matter how much she scrolled, she had no interest in opening any of the posts. It was as though someone had torn a piece out of her heart.

The girl, who had never grown up the way a normal person did, didn't understand what a heart was, but she did know that what she was feeling was called... disappointment.

Her finger scrolled faster and faster until she soon reached the bottom of the forum. A little irritated, she tossed her terminal aside and complained glumly.

"It has nothing to do with me... So why do I care a little?"

The Etching Plain.

Lahai-Roi had no sky. The stars scattered overhead were all projections created by the Deep Space Union's weather system. Yet precisely because they were fake, they seemed so beautiful and pure.

"Here will do." Chisa stopped and turned back to Lu Guan. "Don't worry. Unleash your power without restraint. I'll take care of everything."

"...All right." Lu Guan didn't waste any time. His brow relaxed, and he began singing "Rainie Love (DJ version)."

A song of unclear meaning rang out. Though Chisa felt vaguely uneasy, she had no idea what Lu Guan was doing.

"The weather outside the window~

Hoo! Is just like~ your ever-changing expressions~

It's raining, and the rain cries with me~

I can't see clearly, and I don't want to~

Leaving you, I quietly pull↑ away↓

A story I can't bear to see revealed~"

Lu Guan's clothes fluttered without wind, and an astonishing aura radiated from his entire body. He extended his right hand, and with a flick of his fingers, a purple sphere of light brimming with an aura of destruction shot out.

"Hollow Technique: Purple!"

Chisa's pupils contracted. Even someone as powerful as her didn't dare take this world-destroying strike lightly.

The bell tied to her wrist rang out as she entered the Future-Seeking Self state. A chill radiated from her entire body, and she drew her blade.

"Blazing cherry blossoms scatter, exhaust my self in seeking!"

A slash powerful enough to shatter space collided with Hollow Technique: Purple. Perhaps because Lu Guan's resonance ability wasn't strong enough yet, the purple sphere of light was soon sliced apart. It split into two smaller spheres, one blue and one red, which flew off to either side before dissipating on the horizon.

Chisa darted forward and gave Lu Guan's chest a light poke with her scabbard.

"Cough, cough..."

Lu Guan choked on his own saliva and coughed repeatedly. His singing came to an abrupt halt, and the aura of a powerful expert dispersed.

Seeing this, Chisa also exited the Future-Seeking Self state and offered her assessment. "The power... is very strong, but the drawbacks are significant as well."

"It takes too long to prepare, and against a truly powerful Resonator, this move poses a very limited threat..."

"And... this power didn't originally belong to you, did it?"

"That's right..." Lu Guan nodded. "To tell you the truth, as long as the corresponding atmosphere exists, I can borrow a power that fits it."

"...I see. The information Lacerta gave me didn't explain your circumstances so clearly." Chisa looked thoughtful. "This ability is somewhat similar to my Future-Seeking Self..."

"But the ownership of the power is different. Although Future-Seeking Self draws on power from the future in advance, that power is ultimately still my own, so there's no difficulty in using it..."

"But your ability is different. Whether in efficiency or power, it shouldn't be able to reach the level of the power's original owner..."

As expected of the strongest person in Ashihara, Chisa needed only a few words to analyze the nature and drawbacks of Lu Guan's power.

The facts were indeed as Chisa had said. This Hollow Technique: Purple was nowhere near as powerful as the 200% Hollow Technique: Purple Satoru Gojo had unleashed at the start of the Shinjuku Showdown arc in Jujutsu Kaisen.

First, just as Chisa had surmised, Lu Guan was borrowing the power, so its strength was naturally much lower than the original Purple.

Second, the atmosphere wasn't strong enough. Although Lu Guan had gained the ability to actively create an atmosphere after his resonance ability development reached 10%, the original atmosphere still wasn't intense enough.

Third, Lu Guan's own resonance energy level wasn't high, and he was relatively inefficient at using his resonance ability.

These factors combined meant that this Purple was only good for bullying relatively weak Resonators like Xiakong.

"...If I want to develop it, where should I start?"

Chisa asked, "Have you used resonance stimulants?"

"Yes, but they didn't work at all." Lu Guan shook his head. The Lu Family was an established Huanglong family, so they had naturally tried buying such medicine to help him master his ability.

Unfortunately, whether they were low-, mid-, high-, or even special-grade resonance stimulants, none had any effect on Lu Guan.

"Then the only advice I can give you is... use it more," Chisa said. "Practice makes perfect. If using your ability doesn't place too much of a burden on you, practice more at the academy's simulated training grounds."

"It was the same when I first used Future-Seeking Self. My control over its power wasn't much better than yours."

"As long as you can control the amount of power you release, that's equivalent to taking the first step toward mastering your ability."

Lu Guan pressed his lips together. "But... I'm afraid I'll lose control again and damage the academy's equipment, or accidentally hurt another student."

[Beep! Chisa's affection +2]

[Current character affection: 16]

[Host, please keep up the good work.]

"It's all right." The corners of Chisa's mouth curved up ever so slightly. "I'll tell Lacerta to raise your access level at the simulated training grounds to the same level as mine."

"Then the holograms created there will be strong enough for you to use your full power."