Hakuto was wandering around on his motorcycle without heading home or having a clear destination.
Shunsuke had been doing a pretty good job in politics these past few years.
At the very least, researchers couldn't use official power openly to arrest the students of Hoshino Umi Academy.
If they dared to lay a hand on Shunsuke, it meant going against the higher-ups, so now, the only ones who might target Hakuto were either foreign forces or the Japanese mafia.
Actually, the Japan mafia wasn't that big of a threat.
After all, the gangs like Orochi Eight Families, Uesugi Clan, or Minamoto Clan from novels didn't really exist.
There were indeed mafias in Japan, but they still couldn't compete with the government.
So the only real threat was from foreign forces...
"If I went back to China now, would it be safer...?" Hakuto wondered.
But it was impossible for him to really return. After all, there were things he had to face eventually.
"There shouldn't be any problems on the president's side..." The base Shunsuke had painstakingly built was still highly secure.
And people like Rikka and Ginko shouldn't have too many problems either. Logically speaking, they were all considered ordinary people.
If someone targeted ability users, Japan politicians might turn a blind eye, but going after ordinary people was a different matter.
Speaking of which... Would Japan really just watch Hakuto and Otosaka Yuu get captured by other nations...?
Hakuto was fine—after all, unless he explained personally, no one could figure out his ability even after witnessing it firsthand.
But Otosaka Yuu...
Could it be that Shunsuke had done such a great job maintaining secrecy that even with an ability user right under their noses, those people were forced to hold back...?
Anyway, it wasn't something Hakuto needed to worry about. Otosaka Yuu was much safer than him now, at least not facing life-threatening danger.
Because Otosaka Yuu could be controlled. Even though he had the memory leap ability and was a plunderer, he was still manageable.
But Hakuto was different—he couldn't be controlled, a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.
An unstable factor needed to be eliminated, so right now, Hakuto was definitely the most dangerous target...
Maybe right now, in some room, someone was already plotting how to deal with him.
Heh! Damn it, if he got really pissed off, Hakuto could just hack into all the world's defense ministries and control the missiles to wipe everything clean!
Hakuto stopped his motorcycle, parked it by the roadside, and sat down on a bench in a park.
At that moment, he looked utterly lost.
Being in a situation where the enemy was hidden but he was exposed made him very uncomfortable, like having strength but no outlet for it.
He had to stay vigilant too—otherwise, who knew when a syringe might suddenly get jabbed into his neck...
While he was pondering countermeasures, Hakuto suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Didn't expect to run into you here."
Hakuto slowly raised his head. Pink hair, butterfly hair clip, cheeks slightly flushed.
"It's Nino..."
Nino, seeing Hakuto's gloomy expression, sat down beside him and asked,
"Hm? What's wrong? Why the long face?"
"Nothing..." Hakuto glanced at Nino sitting next to him.
Originally, he had planned to tell Nino to stay away from him for a few months to avoid trouble, but after thinking about it, he decided against it.
After all, if someone really wanted to target him, they probably already investigated which hospital Nino and the others were born in long ago.
Avoiding contact for a few months would be completely meaningless. Plus, Hakuto still felt that if they wanted to threaten him, it would be Nao who would be targeted...
After all, this was a matter between ability users; no one would be foolish enough to drag ordinary people into it and make a huge scene.
So there was no need for Nino to avoid him.
"Nothing?" Hearing Hakuto's answer, Nino frowned. "Your face is so dark it looks like it's about to rain, and you're telling me it's nothing?"
Hearing her words, Hakuto couldn't help but chuckle and half-jokingly said, "Nino, if I died, would you cry at my funeral?"
"Huh? What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
"I'm serious."
"I ditched my friends and skipped shopping just to come listen to you spout nonsense?"
Nino waved her hand dismissively, clearly unwilling to engage with such a heavy topic.
"Alright, alright, I'm done joking..." Hakuto leaned his head back, dropping the subject.
"By the way..." Nino pursed her lips. "That girl at your house last time—what's your relationship with her?"
"Hm? The girl at my house? You mean Ginko or Rikka?"
"Obviously Ginko! I know Takanashi already..." Nino crossed her arms. "But don't get me wrong, I'm just curious."
"What's our relationship..." Hakuto paused. "If I had to use a word to describe it, it would be childhood friends."
"Huh?" Hearing that, Nino jumped up from the bench like a startled warrior.
"Childhood friends?!"
"Yeah... I met Ginko when I was four years old. Doesn't that count as childhood friends?"
Hakuto could understand why Nino reacted so strongly—after all, in Japan, they seemed to have a special sentiment about the 'childhood friend' archetype.
Anyway, in Japan, Hakuto rarely saw childhood friends actually end up together.
Even in fake harem anime, childhood friends were often at a disadvantage... But regional differences aside, he wouldn't comment too much.
"Why have you never mentioned it before?"
"Because, Nino, you never asked."
Hearing this, Hakuto frowned slightly. Since when did he have the habit of talking about one client in front of another?
Honestly, when she heard the words "childhood friends," Nino was a bit surprised.
But then she quickly recovered—being childhood friends wasn't exactly a huge advantage.
Especially with the precedent of Eriri, Nino didn't think Hakuto had any special feelings for his so-called childhood friend.
Come on, who would fall for someone with such a flat chest...
Hakuto noticed Nino smugly hugging her chest and raised an eyebrow.
Although he didn't know what she was thinking, it was probably not anything positive.
"By the way, how's the ear piercing you did a while ago?"
"Hm? I adapted pretty well..." Hakuto raised his left ear slightly.
At the moment, he was wearing the earring gifted by Nao. Originally, he was worried about inflammation or something.
But only now did he realize that after being enhanced by the supercomputer, minor problems like inflammation basically didn't exist for him.
Whether that was a good or bad thing, he wasn't so sure...
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