Amatsuyu pointed his finger at the student as he said

"Let's figure this out...!"

The student wore another surprised face as he said

"What do you mean? Did I just make that person disappear?"

Amatsuyu looked at the person with a complex face. He didn't know what to reveal to the student, and what to hide from him. There was no true telling of how the student was as a person.

The student bent down and scooped up the diverged pieces of the pen, with a face in grief and anger.

Amatsuyu felt those puzzle-pieces sneak back upon him, but the situation was different.

He, as the central puzzle piece, had a complete overlordship over the other two puzzle pieces, he was the one who decided over them.

- So what should we reveal to him?

Well, there's a more pressing matter upon us before that. What are the conditions for his power? Before we even do anything, we need to figure that out.

Let's just attack him right now, so he'll release Kaharu in the process.

Shut up, Amatsuyu. If we use the only reference we have right now, the disappearance of Kaharu Kahari, what could've triggered that?

Uh, well he bumped into him, so maybe abrupt physical contact is the thing that activates it…

That could be it!

Wait--- what's that? -

Amatsuyu looked down at the bent-over student who picked up the pieces of the pen with that face. He didn't know that Kaharu stepped on something like that, which immediately paused his own decision that it was the abrupt physical contact that made it happen.

Judging from the face the student was making, the breaking of the pen seemed to have pained him for some reason. Perhaps contact with, or breaking, one of the things the student owned triggered it. That would've made more sense, since Kaharu didn't disappear immediately after bumping into the student.

Amatsuyu presented a warm smile to invite a more positive atmosphere than the slightly suffocating one the student put out. He said

"Umm, may I ask what your name is?"

After putting the pieces of the pen into his bag, he said

"You seem to be quite a silver-tongued delinquent. Probably some con-artist in your spare time. You usually tell your own first as well, don't you?"

Amatsuyu felt a nerve pop slightly, but he bore through it as he said

"Of course, my name is Amatsuyu Kougaku from Akuma High School."

"Amatsuyu, huh. I'm Akira, why have you come here all the way from Akuma? Weren't we gonna 'figure' out what this was about as well."

Akira's face had returned to its previous neutral, slightly smug, face. Like he knew something Amatsuyu didn't, but didn't want to reveal it.

Amatsuyu observed the face as he stumbled upon another conundrum, what would he say in return to that? It was hard to come up with a reasonable reason for having come there all the way from across the town. He hesitated as he stood still, locking his eyes to Akira.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Akira shrugged while looking at the remains of his pencil, its colors glimmering in the sun's rays, he didn't allow Amatsuyu to respond to his own question. He said

"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter.

Although I don't know what just happened to that boy, I don't really care either. As far as I'm concerned, he deserved it."

Akira whipped his hair up as he started walking towards the entrance to the school, touching shoulders with Amatsuyu as he walked.

Amatsuyu was left in shock for a moment as he thought

- Deserved… it…? What does that mean? -

He quickly turned around and half-yelled

"Wait, what do you mean 'I don't care'!? My friend just disappeared out of nothing!"

Akira felt a surprise at the fact that Amatsuyu continued, an unusual thing for him. He flipped himself and said

"You're gonna ask me further about this?

I don't care about other people in general, I only listen to what I want.

I hated him for that brief moment as he destroyed the precious pen that my grandfather bought me. What about that one's life? Huh!?

You don't care about that, do you? The same's for me, but the opposite.

Are you gonna replace this!? Amatsuyu!?

Maybe I should make you disappear as well?"

Chills went down Amatsuyu's spine as he involuntarily took a step back, there was too much to process at once for him. The threat of disappearing was the fear that made him take the step back, Amatsuyu realized that he in reality didn't know that much about his opponent at the moment.

He might as well've been lying, maybe he knew everything about the powers he possessed, but didn't reveal them for his own personal reasons. He didn't need to suppress Amatsuyu either, what was he going to do?

He was, as before, hopeless.

Akira walked closer to Amatsuyu a couple of steps, which made Amatsuyu physically move his upper body back in fear. With a smug smile presented on Akira's face, he said

"As if.

I told you that I don't know anything about this disappearance thing.

Let's just call your friend's disappearance even for destroying my pen"

Akira turned around again and started walking with his careless steps hitting against the floor ringing in Amatsuyu's ear as he looked at the ground with desolate eyes.

He felt deceived for some reason. Like Akira had just put on a mask, or maybe it was the opposite. His initial confusion led to a cooperative attitude, but as soon as he stabilized within, the mask he had put on was taken off and his natural state. He probably never wore a mask anywhere at school either, nobody wanted or cared enough to approach him and interact with him to discover it.

Amatsuyu hadn't stabilized however, his inside was grumbling around in a confused mess. The courage he had found before was still there, but it had taken a background role compared to the fear within him at that moment. It would be much safer for him if he just ran away, especially when the culprit had no idea himself of how it worked.

He gritted his teeth at the frustration, the fact that he had to even make that decision annoyed him deeply. He looked forth at the easy-going Akira with a pair of heated eyes.

To be able to just walk away from anything like that, with no care must've been nice. To just have the power, without even knowing, to never stumble into a real threat must've been nice.

Amatsuyu took a step

Towards the back of Akira that faced him.

Jealousy was what ultimately shaped his decision to confront the problem again. A part of the old Amatsuyu returned as he started walking towards Akira, the puzzle pieces gained some more power within. He felt like a small animal trying to go up against a prehistoric dinosaur, with the same chances of success. He thought

- This guy has the audacity to face me with such a lackluster attitude? For him to compare his pen to the existence of my comrade… I shall make him pay! I don't care if I disappear in the process, I need to take him down with me. I don't want anybody to just have power like that, I don't want anybody to be that much stronger than me…!

Calm down though, Amatsuyu. If we want even a sliver of a chance in taking down this guy, much less completing the objective, we need to buy time or something to come up with something.

Alright, let's just do this. -

Amatsuyu took a moment to change his facial expression to a smile as he whispered to himself

"We delinquents really are selfish in the end..."

He then lifted his head and exclaimed to the strongest person to ever roam that city

"Akira…! I know a person who can repair that pen, if we go to him will you help me free my friend?"

Akira displayed a slightly annoyed face as he responded

"I told you I don't know anything abo---"

"I know, but will you at least cooperate with me?"

Akira felt a little bit intrigued as he had been given an opportunity to fix the pen he cared about so much, even if it perhaps was a ruse. He apparently had some sort of ability to make people disappear, after all. He said

"If you compensate me for my lost hours at school, then perhaps."

Amatsuyu lit up as he responded

"Of course, I'll pay you for lost time here."

"Alright, let's walk then."

Amatsuyu turned around and faced the school gates in front of him, he fixed his school uniform quickly as he smirked to himself, thinking

- All that's left now is to find some way to weaken him -