“Um… this… how should I put it…”
Faced with Yukino Tendou’s somewhat accusatory question, Shion didn’t know how to answer. She stammered and glanced aside.
Strange? There’s absolutely no reason to be nervous, is there?
From Tendou’s point of view, I shouldn’t know she’s a student. I should just admit it openly and confidently. Why am I so tense?
“Yes.”
But before she could admit it, the distant girl spoke first and walked over to them.
If nothing goes wrong…
Shion glanced at her phone screen out of the corner of her eye, and as expected, as the notification chime sounded, a message bubble popped up:
“You have encountered the second student.”
“Yumiya Sothoth, Student Number No.00002, under the Academy Student Council, codename: ‘Avatar of Yog-Sothoth’.”
It’s actually…
Shion’s eyes widened slightly.
Yog-Sothoth, one of the most powerful evil gods, master of time and space, unifier of all things.
Even when Shion was still an investigator, all she ever received was indirect guidance from Him. Even if it’s just an avatar, Shion didn’t think that the Investigation Bureau could possibly contain her within this cage.
Why is that…?
Before her curiosity could dig any deeper, Yumiya had already walked up to the two, or rather, she stood in front of Yukino Tendou with a faint smile.
The two girls stared at each other, their foreheads nearly touching. From Shion’s perspective, Tendou was clearly in the lead.
“According to the information I received, the new teacher would arrive this afternoon to go through the onboarding process. I figured it was getting late, so I thought I’d come out and take a look. Looks like I made the right choice.”
Yumiya’s tone was very formal, giving off a dignified and elegant feeling, but in this situation, it almost sounded like she was openly mocking Tendou.
Yukino Tendou’s expression didn’t change much, but her tone was much colder than when speaking with Shion:
“Excuse me, but you are?”
“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me…”
Yumiya placed her slender jade hand over her chest and spoke unhurriedly:
“Yumiya Sothoth, President of the Academy Student Council. My main job is to assist the teachers, help share their workload, and handle various miscellaneous matters between the academies.”
“In simple terms, she’s basically a secretary.” Tendou replied blandly.
“If you want to put it that way, that’s fine.”
Yumiya seemed completely unfazed by the sarcasm in Tendou’s words. She touched her cheek with her index finger and said,
“Well, that’s enough explanation. Teacher?”
Her silvery-gray eyes looked toward Shion. Immediately after, a pair of light blue eyes also looked over.
“Uh…”
Under the gaze of two evil gods, Shion touched her face, showing an awkward but polite smile.
Is this situation supposed to make me choose between the two of them?
Well, I am the teacher. If I refuse, there’s nothing a student can do to force me, at least in theory…
She looked at Yumiya, who gave her a gentle smile.
She looked at Yukino Tendou, who remained expressionless, her eyes fixed dead on Shion.
It felt just like when your parents suddenly ask, “Do you like Mom or Dad more? If you choose the other, we’ll kill you, okay?”
“Ahaha… Even though I’d really like to go eat at Miss Tendou’s place, work is still the priority, right? So I’ll excuse myself. Miss Tendou, you must be tired after such a long trip, you should hurry home and rest~” Shion said in a lighthearted tone.
Though Yumiya was a bit suspicious as well, Shion really didn’t want to stay by Tendou’s side any longer. She needed to keep her distance from this evil god ex-girlfriend and sort out her thoughts.
And since she put it this way, even if she chose Tendou, no matter how unwilling, she probably wouldn’t try to stop her…
“Since Teacher says so…”
Just as Shion nervously guessed at Tendou’s thoughts, Yumiya moved closer and took her hands in both of hers:
“Shall we go?”
Thump thump—!
Shion felt her heart skip a beat. She instinctively tried to pull her hands back.
No, Yukino’s still here!
If she saw this…
She quickly snuck a glance at Tendou, only to see her gazing calmly at them.
Huh?
Ah…
Shion’s action of pulling her hand away came to an abrupt stop.
That’s right, I’m no longer Ye Xi. Yukino… Tendou and I are no longer connected. There’s no need to feel uneasy or guilty… is there?
“Teacher?”
Yumiya waved her hand in front of her face, snapping her back to reality.
“Ah, sorry, let’s go.”
Shion pulled her hand free from Yumiya’s, hesitated a moment, then turned to stand in front of Tendou and spoke:
“I know it’s hard for you, Miss Tendou, but Mr. Ye Xi… is already gone. Forget about him and live well.”
She still couldn’t help but say those words.
Even if it was strange to say such a thing in her current identity, seeing Tendou like that, her body reacted before her mind could stop it.
Then, Shion noticed that Tendou’s eyes, as calm as a frozen lake, rippled for a moment, as if someone had tossed a tiny stone into the placid water.
But she couldn’t read the emotion in them. She just smiled and waved her hand:
“I’ll go ahead now. See you next time, Miss Tendou.”
With that, she hurried off, Yumiya following closely behind.
“Goodbye, Shion… Sensei.”
She softly spoke to the retreating figure.
The sky had turned completely dark. It was winter in Dreamscape Metropolis, and the temperature at night was very low, but Tendou remained standing in place for a long time, her eyes fixed on the direction Shion had disappeared.
“…How could I possibly forget?”
The white-haired girl murmured, pulling a scarf embroidered with little snowmen from her small backpack.
The color of the scarf matched her eyes: light blue.
She exhaled a breath of white mist, wrapped the scarf around her neck, then buried half her face in it, cupping it in her hands and sniffing the faint lingering scent with her reddened nose.
Only after a while did she lift her head and walk toward that cold rental room.
A place without him could only be called a place to stay, not a home.
Yukino Tendou gazed into the darkness ahead, and the figure of Ye Xi slowly surfaced.
Even though she had witnessed his funeral with her own eyes, for some reason, she didn’t believe he was dead. There was always a voice in her head telling her Ye Xi was still alive somewhere.
So for seven days after the funeral, she barely rested, exhausting herself investigating any clue about Ye Xi, but found almost nothing. It was as if, from that day on, the person called Ye Xi had vanished into thin air, his existence erased entirely.
That only confirmed her suspicions even more.
The Investigation Bureau was hiding something.
But even knowing this, she was powerless: the Investigation Bureau’s secrecy was impeccable. She couldn’t find a single trace of Ye Xi.
Until, one day, she received a message:
“Go to Dreamscape Metropolis. The answer you seek is there.”