As Yuto Amakawa settled into his chair, a classmate approached with enthusiasm.
"Yuto, did you see the game last night?" asked the classmate, his eyes sparkling with the fervor of recollection. "It was amazing, a turnaround in the last minutes!"
Yuto looked at him, a bit surprised by the intensity of the question, and responded with a single word: "Wow!"
The teacher, with a patient smile, intervened, seeking to bring the attention back to the lesson. "Yuto, could you tell us what the next step is in the equation we are solving?"
Caught off guard, Yuto shook his head, still processing the subject change, and automatically responded, "Wow!"
During the break, a friend came running, barely containing his excitement. "Dude, you won't believe it. I got tickets for the concert of that band we like!"
Yuto, genuinely impressed, let out a heartfelt "Wow!"
Himari, noticing Yuto's standard reaction to the day's news, approached with a concerned look. "Yuto, you seem distant today. Is everything okay?" she asked.
Absentmindedly, Yuto turned to her, his expression somewhat confused, and said, "Wow!"
Later, at the school assembly, the principal announced with grandeur: "And to celebrate our centennial, we will have an entire week of special events!"
Yuto, listening from the back of the room, let out a murmured "Wow!"
At lunch, while contemplating his plate, a companion sat next to him, showcasing the new dish served in the cafeteria. "Looks good, doesn't it?"
Without diverting his gaze from his own lunch, Yuto nodded and expressed his standard agreement: "Wow!"
In a church, Yuto, dressed in a suit, awaited the bride. Then he saw a woman in white wearing a wedding dress enter, and he murmured aloud: "Wow!"
"Nooo!!"
With a loud scream, Yuto woke up.
"Young master, speak softly, speak softly..."
Himari, by his side, gestured for silence.
Yuto, disoriented and still pondering what had just happened, could only speak "Wow!"
"Yuto-kun, be quiet!" said the teacher in a commanding tone.
Some students looked at him, laughing.
However, Yuto didn't care about that at the moment.
The experience of his dream was so realistic that he didn't know what to express, except to think: "W..."
Thinking he was going crazy because he couldn't get the word "Wow!" out of his head, Yuto shook his head vigorously and almost thought again: "W..."
"Teacher, the young master isn't feeling well. I'll take him to the infirmary," announced Himari loudly.
Looking at Himari, Yuto could only think of...
"Ahhh," he let out a soft moan.
"Okay," replied the teacher, understandingly.
Himari bowed in thanks to the teacher and quickly pulled Yuto by the hand out of the classroom.
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Outside, Himari looked from side to side. Then, she quickly reached towards Yuto's nape.
Suddenly, something jumped from Yuto's neck before Himari could grasp it.
"Don't run away!" Himari exclaimed, surprised. "I didn't expect a 'Wow' Ayakashi to be bold enough to try possessing the young master's body..."
Upon reflection, it really was strange; she knew it shouldn't have been possible. After all, even if Yuto couldn't control his power yet, that didn't change the fact that he possessed the 'Light Ferry,' which was supposed to prevent an Ayakashi from influencing Yuto's mind.
However, she didn't have time to ponder on this. Himari ran after the Ayakashi, which was as small as a flea. She was only able to see it because of her good vision. At that moment, she spotted the 'Wow' Ayakashi trying to escape through the window.
"Damn..."
She was one step behind, but then, suddenly, a flash of light appeared.
Almost instinctively, Himari looked for Yuto, but, seeing that he was still in the same place as before, also lost without understanding what was happening, she let out a resigned sigh.
Meanwhile, the light was fading, and a silhouette emerged in front of the window through which the Ayakashi was trying to escape. A hand that seemed made of light reached out and soon captured the 'Wow' Ayakashi between its fingers, which quickly changed color from gold to a more vivid and human hue.
"Light-sempai?!" Himari exclaimed, genuinely surprised.
"Oh, Himari-chan." Light looked in her direction.
Suddenly, a "Puff!" sound echoed when, between Light's fingers, the poor Ayakashi was crushed.
"Sorry, I ended up killing it by accident." Light apologized. "Did you need this small and weak Ayakashi for something?"
"No, no, you did well, Light-senpai." Himari said. "About what you just did, is that…"
"Mm, my power, I can control light, but don't tell anyone, okay?" Light said in a low voice.
Seeing her nod seriously, he laughed. "I'm joking, it's not like I've been trying to hide it. Actually, I think many know about it, although I haven't made an effort to make it widely known on purpose."
Somehow, she laughed a little. She felt more at ease in front of him.
Himari stated her opinion: "Well, a human capable of producing so much light power would obviously attract attention wherever they went."
"That's true." Light agreed.
When she witnessed the flash of light and, if she wasn't mistaken, Light seemed to be made of light at that moment. To think of Light as being made of light was somewhat ironic, but well, assuming she might not have seen correctly, she decided to relegate her doubts to the back of her mind for the time being.
Yuto, feeling overlooked, lowered his head while clenching his fists.
This time, he had no excuse; he was simply too weak, and had let his rival solve the problem. The worst part was seeing the problem resolved so swiftly and smoothly, and hearing Light's words, saying he accidentally killed that Ayakashi by exerting a little force. Even though he wasn't seeking to become strong or anything like that, Yuto felt diminished in some way.
"Are you okay, Yuto-kun?" Light looked his way, asking gently.
Himari, watching this, formed an even better impression of Light; after all, whenever Yuto saw Light, he tried to oppose him for no apparent reason.
Yuto, still in a somewhat dazed state and unable to expel the word 'Wow...' from his mind, remained still.
Light approached and said, "I sense something dark in you. Stay still for a moment, I'll help you get rid of it."
"Don't touch me, wow?" In the end, Yuto clenched his teeth tightly.
Seriously... He was more annoyed than he had ever felt!
"Relax, I don't even need to touch you, I'll use my light to heal you," Light spoke calmly.
"Yuto, let him do it!" For the first time, Himari called him by his name and shouted at him.
Yuto lowered his head and bit his lower lip, but remained motionless.
Taking the opportunity, Light brought his hand close to Yuto's head, and a light began to envelop the boy's body.
Yuto, who thought Light would take the chance to get revenge, instead of feeling any pain, felt an incredible comfort. Even his troubled mind began to clear, and the damn word that haunted him began to lose its hold over him.
"Done." Light asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Mm, I guess okay?" Yuto replied, noticing nothing else strange.
"Light-senpai, thank you so much for your help!" Himari thanked, bowing in his direction.
"Haha, there's no need to be so formal," Light waved his hand in a relaxed manner: "I'm leaving now that I'm done."
"I..."
Yuto wanted to say thank you, but for some reason, he just couldn't feel gratitude.
Realizing this, Himari sighed. She was even more disappointed with Yuto.
However, because of the promise she had made, she would continue to protect Yuto as long as he still needed her protection...
After leaving, a playful smile formed on Light's face.
If Yuto saw that, he would be in shock and shout, "I should have known?!"
As for what exactly he should have known... Well, why waste time thinking about someone like him?
Light delighted in the system notifications as he saw his Destiny and Fortune points increasing and Yuto's Fortune value decreasing.
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• [You have successfully created a rift between Himari Noihara and the Fortune's Chosen, Yuto Amakawa! Yuto Amakawa has lost 30 points in Fortune value. You received 150 Destiny Points!]
• [The Heroine, Himari Noihara has had a significant change in her perception of the Host. Her Fortune increased by 50 points and her Destiny points by 250.]
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