Volume 2 - Top-Tier Character Ayanokōji-kun [DISCONTINUED] [READ THE REVISION]

Chapter 23 - Extravagance In An Adamant Adjutant

A once graceful land filled with angels and the fairest queen, destined to be doomed to shadow and darkness, or but a mere dream. 

Once brave heroes, now turned into weapons of mass destruction, under the possession of the corrupted queen's seduction.

The queen lies in wait at the island's highest peak in a garden filled with dying blooms, looking oh so bleak. Death is her desire, but even so, she will never acquire a liar.

 No history, no fame, no name. Still, the flame burning inside one's heart never departs and proclaims:

"Hero of the forgotten past, please wake up from this all too terrible nightmare, 

and outlast."

---

"Don't come too close to me."

"Sure."

"Watch your distance."

"Alright."

"Make sure to keep—"

"Look." I sighed. "I'm not going to do anything."

It was Saturday, and I was walking outside a train station in Tokyo with Hinami. A few days earlier, I had told her there was somewhere I wanted to take her. Of course, one may ask what our destination was, but it was a surprise supposed to be kept hidden for a while longer. I wanted Hinami to face the full "brunt" of my assignment. For this to work, I couldn't have her prepared.

I would have liked to take her there earlier, but we'd both been too busy to go in the last few days.

"And you still just look the same as always...," she murmured, her disappointment evident.

"I think these clothes are fine," I said and looked down on my long-sleeve polo shirt. "Your standards are seriously way too high. You'll never get a boyfriend that way."

"That joke wasn't funny."

"Can you just calm down for a bit? I agreed to all your terms. We're outside, surrounded by a lot of people and we're not going anywhere shady or thinly populated. There really isn't anything to worry about."

She eyed me coldly. "As if I'd trust you."

The expression on her face was worse than contempt for literal garbage and more in the realm of actual hatred. Slowly but surely, her fear towards me was transforming into anger, and branching out into unfiltered toxicity.

Maybe I should change up the topic of discussion. Would that douse her temper?

"How is everything going with Izumi and Nakamura?" I said casually, with both hands in my pockets.

"Considering that you basically threw her at me, I'm alright. What about you and Mizusawa-kun? Is your grand plan coming into fruition?"

"Grand plan?" I shook my head. "Not at all. Mimimi is taking over, and I'm just doing what she says. I'm her pawn, basically."

"..."

"Hinami?" I asked cautiously.

She rubbed her temples like she was sick of me. "Do you want to know why you piss me off so much? It's not because of what you did in the playground."

"Please enlighten me," I said in my usual monotone.

We both came to a stop at a single bench near a magnificent fountain. A few drops landed on my clothes, but it wasn't anything to worry about. There were a lot of other people here, too.