The Raven Dark Hero 39

Chapter 39: The Troubles

TL:SummerPeanut

-Sunday.

Last night, Kouki told Azusa what he had been keeping bottled up in his heart.

However, Azusa was probably Kouki’s first love. He said what he wanted to say and felt a bit better, but in the end, he had so many thoughts running through his head resulting in him only falling asleep in the early morning before waking up in the early afternoon.

(..subconsciously...I must have wanted Azusa to call out and comforted me when I was upset from unable to manifest my gift. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said something irresponsibly...feels really pathetic here.)

Recently Kouki might have appeared to be more positive. But ever since he manifested his gift, the case at Nerima Branch, and the case yesterday night with Azusa.

He noticed that he was not able to control his own consciousness for some reason.

(What the heck is wrong with me? Was I this kind of easy to lose control person again?)

The emotion he can't control. Anger. No matter how trivial the matter is, what would normally be just a little annoyance becomes something he can't stop himself from taking aggressive action.

(It’s like I'm a psychopath.... Maybe it's the influence of Revived Hunter?)

The Revived Hunter is an undiscovered gift even from the past to now. What if, as a constraint to its usage, it promotes rage and desire to kill? ...No, it's the fact that he is already experiencing such symptoms that make him all the more uneasy.

That whether someday he would hurt people that are precious to him.

There was a text message on the Kuroyume terminal from Teaser, [Are you not coming today?] Feeling that it’ll get troublesome if he does go, he replied with [Next week].

Sunday afternoon. He felt it was already a little too late to take any missions now and he was wondering if he should stay in his room and goof off or not.

(...Sometimes it's nice to have a peaceful time like this. I've been through a lot lately... I mean, how many times have I died already? Didn’t I die too many times?

But I'm still alive... I'm in the situation where I will revive no matter how many times...)

What he said to Teaser the other day. It might be more for himself than to her. Else, he will be swallowed by his guilt...and dominated by his anger and desire to kill. Basically denying his own existence.

It's not so easy to accept those two’s deaths, but for now, he can force himself to do so and enjoy the peace.

Since his gift manifested, Kouki's daily life has changed dramatically. It was the first time in a long time he remembered being so idle.

But if you're alive, you're going to get hungry. It seems that his parents are not home, and for Kouki, who can not cook, this is a difficult situation.

(That's right! There was a new noodle shop in front of the station.... It's a bit of a hassle, but I can go there.)

Kouki who lost to his hunger quickly readied himself and left the house.

As usual, the area in front of the station was crowded with people, and although the area where Kouki lives suffered a lot of damage during the phenom attack in 2020, it has been completely rebuilt and looks similar to that before the phenom attack.

As he was walking towards the destination, he saw a noodle shop…

(Ugh! There's a queue at the ramen shop?!)

The ramen shop that Kouki was looking for had only been open for about a month, but it had already gained quite the fame, and thus there was a long queue. The waiting time was about 30 minutes.

(I don't want to wait in line... I'll just get a cheeseburger from the restaurant across the street I guess.)

In the end, he gave up on ramen and decided to have lunch at a major family restaurant chain across the road.

A man entering a family restaurant alone. Kouki doesn’t mind such gazes thanks to all the years of him being alone. However, when he was guided to his seat, he saw…

(Ugh!?)

He could see Azusa and Haruka at the table behind him. Fortunately, they were not aware of his presence so Kouki activated Silent Stealth as he sat down.

(Seriously? It’ll be awkward as hell thanks to yesterday. Well, it should be fine as long as they don’t notice me like this. Just in case, I should wear my sunglass and muffler.)

The season is June. Muffler makes him feel really hot but Kouki decided it’s better to quickly order his food and get away than being thrown into an awkward situation.

But the problem was that although he was not trying to listen to the two behind him, he could hear what they are saying behind him. And since his name appeared many times in the conversations, he couldn't help shifting his attention to their voice.

(...Aren't you two being a little loud?)

"..so you are claiming that everything was Hiro-sama’s lie?"

"At the very least, according to Kouki. But when I heard his side of the story, I couldn't deny it."

(She’s consulting yesterday’s talk huh… She should have just let it be.)

"Then even the rumour of how Kouki-san called me a slut behind my back as well?"

"...Maybe. The same with the talk of him saying that I was useless and having my gift manifested is like throwing pearl before swine."

"Why? Why would Hiro-sama lie about that?"

"At first I had the same doubts with you but after listening to Kouki I can understand a little how it goes. When I was little, Hiro and I used to get help from Kouki whenever we were bullied. I was genuinely grateful to him... and there was even a time where I admired him.

But I wondered what it was like for Hiro who is of the same sex with Kouki? I wonder. Perhaps, he felt miserable or frustrated at being saved."

"Due to his jealousy, he deceived us? Are you saying he manipulated our impression on him by lowering Kouki’s reputation and raising his own?"

"...I don't want to believe it though."

(It’s not like I want you two to reflect on your mistakes, so can you two stop there please.)

"But Haruka, can you say that you still love Hiro?"

"I...I haven't heard anything from Hiro-sama yet, and I can’t believe him that easily."

"I know I shouldn’t come to a decision until I hear what Hiro has to say but..."

"Meaning you can’t believe him anymore? Is that what you want to say?"

"........."

"Here you go~. Cheese-in-hamburger with a big bowl of rice, enjoy."

"Oh, thank you."

(Nice timing! If I hear any more I might get involved needlessly, so let's just leave it at that and eat!)

Needless to say, their conversation still continued behind Kouki while the person himself began to eat.

"If you choose to believe so, the story will be how Azusa-san who originally had feelings for Kouki-san, but Hiro-sama planted a doubt in her mind, and as a result, she fell in love with Hiro-sama."

"........."

"To tell you the truth, I was interested in Kouki-san at first."

"...I knew it."

"Eh? I believe I had not told anyone about this, though? I was helped when I encountered a pervert on the train. Because he left without telling me his name, I became curious about him and I was really happy when I discovered that we are going to the same school.

...if what Azusa-san said is true, then all the more the reason to doubt Hiro-sama..."

"........."

"........."

(Whoa! It’s delicious! ...wait, Haruka likes me too..? I don’t remember much about the pervert case though.

Harem...... no no no, I have Fuuka! Well, it’s true that I’m a little happy knowing this. But it doesn’t change how more troublesome it’ll be if I get exposed here---let’s run now)

Kouki silently stood up from his seat...and the window glass of the family restaurant broke along with a loud explosion sound.

"Kyaaaaa!"

"Uwaaah!!"

Screams were heard from everywhere.

(What the hell? What's going on?!)

He hurriedly looked outside the restaurant and saw the clamorous street in front of the station.

"Goddamnit! I'm going to drag all of you down with me! Fuck you all!!"

From the broken window he saw a group of five, likely stray filths, was surrounded by police officers.

(...wow..somehow this feels like looking at a cinema screen~. I should evacuate quickly I guess.)

He took out his money worth the amount he had eaten from his wallet and put it on the table. Although the restaurant employee was already long gone.

(Good grief, they should have prioritized the civilian’s evacuation first... Well, it can’t be helped I guess. No one wants to die. ...maybe the people who were killed by me also...)

...... Again, Kouki’s consciousness sank into deep regret.

"Hey, Haruka. I wanted to talk to Hiro but he’s not replying at all, and Kouki suddenly just spew out so many things. I'm not going to lie, I'm actually quite irritated right now..."

"Oh? What a coincidence. I'm also annoyed in my own way."

"And I don't like the idea of them involving civilians in their rampage. Those stray filths...shall we hunt them down?"

"I suppose so. They seemed to be bad people, so let's hunt them down."

Azusa and Haruka (the troubles) stood up from their seats with silent smiles on their face before going out from the family restaurant.

(..............eh?! Why do you guys have to come out?! The opponents are stray filths you know, are you sure about these?!)

The passing by ally of justice, Sunglass Mufflerman, was surprised by their courageous action and at the same time worried about their safety too.

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