Esper

Early morning.

His phone rang, waking the boy sleeping in bed.

Kuromori Haruto opened his eyes, yawned, picked up the phone, and answered: "Good morning, Mafuyu-chan…"

There was a brief silence on the phone, followed by cold, biting words.

"...Insult."

Kirisu Mafuyu silently bit her lip: "Get up quickly."

"No, I still want to sleep unless Mafuyu-chan comes over..."

"Beep... Beep..."

Mafuyu hung up the phone with a cold expression.

"He really keeps calling me Mafuyu-chan..."

"How embarrassing!"

Mafuyu took a deep breath and decided to ignore it.

After leaving her room and glancing at the door next to hers, she hesitated.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

After hesitating for a moment, Mafuyu pursed her lips and chose to knock on the door, though her expression remained cold, as if distancing herself from everyone.

Haruto opened the door, his eyes lighting up.

Standing outside was a beautiful woman in a professional outfit—it was Mafuyu.

She had waist-length cherry-colored hair with straight bangs and sideburns styled diagonally.

Tall and slender, with long legs and a well-balanced figure, she had a certain flexibility from her past in figure skating.

She usually appeared in front of students wearing dark business attire, dark skirts, and black high heels, but in her personal life, she often wore red sportswear from her high school days, with most of her underwear and swimsuits being black.

Mafuyu made an effort to maintain her dignity: "Now that you're awake, don't be late today."

"With the wake-up service provided by Kirisu-sensei, I promise I won't be late!"

"...Insult."

Mafuyu turned to leave.

Haruto grabbed her wrist. Mafuyu showed a hint of panic, immediately glaring at him with icy eyes.

Haruto calmly released her hand and said seriously, "Kirisu-sensei, it's still early; you probably haven't had breakfast yet. Please come in and have breakfast with me."

Because she was hardworking but had poor cooking skills, Mafuyu often ate instant noodles or convenience store bento boxes.

In the morning, she usually had instant noodles or bought bread from the convenience store.

Of course, Haruto couldn't stand this.

"I've already eaten..."

Mafuyu wanted to refuse. How could a dignified teacher eat and drink at a student's house?

Haruto knew her personality and immediately said, "Then how about an omelet rice, come in quickly."

"..."

At that moment, footsteps could be heard. To prevent any misunderstandings from others, Mafuyu gritted her teeth and reluctantly entered, closing the door behind her.

"I've already had breakfast."

She sat on the sofa, straightening her back and pursing her lips.

"Then eat again."

"Insult."

Mafuyu bit her lip, her deathly stare enough to make anyone feel cold and scared.

However, Haruto didn't care at all.

He had long known that Mafuyu was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and they had known each other for over a year.

So, he wasn't afraid at all.

Mafuyu was aware of this, too, and there was nothing she could do.

Of course.

There was another very important reason.

Haruto was no ordinary person—he was an Esper who had awakened a kind of "imaginary" superpower.

Mafuyu had been saved by him.

After a series of events, out of guilt, Mafuyu had accompanied Haruto, who was at his lowest, to Sobu High School in Chiba City.

Then...

Haruto recovered, but Mafuyu had to pay a price.

This included some things that Mafuyu found "embarrassing." such as providing wake-up calls, lap pillows, and other services.

Therefore, their relationship was actually quite good.

But teacher and student relationships and so on.

Absolutely forbidden!

Mafuyu sat upright, glancing at the busy figure in the kitchen, her expression softening slightly.

"I heard about another oddity occurrence last night, Haruto-kun, are you sure these oddities don't affect reality?"

Haruto paused: "That's impossible..."

In fact, the rate of the oddities invading reality had never stopped.

However, Haruto didn't intend to reveal this. As a result, Mafuyu never fully grasped how serious the situation was.

But she wasn't foolish.

Through some clues, she sensed something.

Mafuyu pursed her lips, her voice suddenly deeper: "Do you believe all of this is real?"

She had seen cities reduced to rubble.

Under the blood moon.

The desolate ruins of cities were truly terrifying.

She had also seen horrifying monsters appear, and humans were as fragile as ants before them.

Having experienced despair and witnessed horror, Mafuyu knew how difficult it was to maintain the peaceful world they now lived in.

"It's true."

Haruto's voice paused for a moment, then he spoke seriously: "Because I am the Demon King, and wherever I go, I bring calamity, and in the end, I'll contribute to the world..."

Mafuyu's beautiful face hardened: "Enough, go brush your teeth!"

'You're the one who asked, and you're the one who made me shut up. Don't think just because you're pretty and a teacher, you can do whatever you want!'

After Haruto finished washing up, he walked into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast.

A year ago, he had returned to Chiba City.

He was currently living in this city.

Because there was a crack in the sky, right above this city.

Moreover.

Haruto believed he was a Demon King who brought calamity. Although he was just a high school student, there was a reason for this. It seemed the oddities only started appearing after he awakened his superpowers, and there might be a connection.

Of course, it was also possible... only after gaining superpowers could he qualify to touch the real secrets.

But no one knew for sure.

After eating the delicious omelet rice, Mafuyu hurried off.

As a history teacher, assistant principal, and club instructor, she was very busy every workday.

Haruto cleaned up and headed toward Sobu High School.

The sky was blue, and the sun shone brightly.

It was sakura season, and the scenery along the way was beautiful.

The blooming cherry blossoms filled the air with a faint floral fragrance.

Let the air now polluted by industry be beautiful.

Passersby walked by and moved away.

Everything was so beautiful.

Except...

Haruto looked up, squinting his dark eyes slightly, and saw the blue sky suddenly split by a terrifying black crack, which was shocking.

It was the crack in the sky.

The reason Haruto had returned to Chiba City.

Except for him, no one could observe it, as if it were just an illusory crack, so the world remained peaceful.

The crack in the sky was the strongest evidence of the oddities' invasion of this world.

"Woooo..."

At that moment, a wailing sound followed the wind.

Haruto snapped back to reality, and as he passed the first intersection, he saw a little girl squatting in the corner, crying...

A ghost.

An existence invisible to ordinary people.

As Haruto's gaze shifted, he saw flowers placed on the roadside to commemorate the deceased, kicked all over the place.

Beside them, three young men were still cursing.

"It's so unlucky to come across this kind of thing so early in the morning, ugh!"

As he said that, he stomped on the flowers under his feet, crushing them hard.

The same went for the other two.

They cursed and scattered the flowers everywhere.

A few nearby passersby distanced themselves, and no one dared to reprimand them.

But no one noticed that the crying little girl near the wall started to emanate an unknown aura.