Chapter 78: Sakurai-kun Has Communication Disorder
Wednesday.
Sakurai Saki's morning today was anything but peaceful.
Since yesterday's superpower had no side effects, he had a very good sleep. Unfortunately, that high-quality sleep only lasted until six o'clock in the morning.
That was exactly when the daily superpower would change.
Unless he randomly got a no-side-effect superpower for two days in a row, Sakurai Saki would wake up exactly at six every morning. He deeply treasured the chance to sleep in. Yesterday, he even stayed in bed until it was almost time for class before leaving the house.
But today, he was clearly not as lucky as the past two days.
[Today's superpower: Word Spirit
Effect: Everything you say has a chance of becoming reality
Side effect: Your words carry a weak enchanting effect]
Sakurai Saki felt that it was best not to open his mouth at all today.
Today's power was pretty straightforward, the easiest example — [Holy Grail].
In legend, anyone who drinks the water from the Holy Grail will gain immortality. In some damn cursed gacha games, it's the device that grants any wish. But this superpower wasn't as beautiful as it looked on the outside.
Want to make a wish come true? Something simple like: "I want world peace."
If this sentence is treated as a Word Spirit and takes effect, then what will the result be?
The answer is — [Destroy the world!]
How do you achieve world peace? Not just temporary peace, but eternal peace. The answer is simple: destroy the world! If Earth explodes, who's left to fight? The Word Spirit will choose the most radical solution to deal with the problem — how wonderful!
This wasn't Sakurai Saki's first time activating this power.
So he wasn't too worried, because this time the side effect had been weakened, not as terrifying as before.
Speaking of the first time he activated Word Spirit, the side effect back then was:
[You will become a chatterbox who loves to brag and talk nonsense]
Yeah, scary, right?
Fortunately, those first few times happened two years ago, and back then there was a device that could suppress part of his superpower. Otherwise, this world would've already been distorted beyond recognition.
Even though now, the world it's already quite bizarre — after all, spirits, angels, and demons do exist — as for other things hiding in the dark, even Sakurai Saki wasn't sure.
Let's temporarily set aside the new superpower. Seems like we haven't talked about Sakurai Saki's usual morning routine.
He usually woke up at six, then made bento. After that, if he had time, he would go for a morning jog in the nearby park. Once he finished running, he would shower, eat breakfast, and then head to school.
Every day was the same, every month was the same — Sakurai Saki was an extremely disciplined person. But just like how he wasn't good at handling the unexpected direct flirting from Fujiwara Chika, he also wasn't fond of unpredictable events disrupting his daily routine.
If possible, Sakurai Saki wanted to live a peaceful everyday life — and he was working hard toward that goal.
However, he still had a long way to go. The reason Sakurai Saki knew he had to keep being "Unpredictable Sakurai" for a while longer, was because recently he discovered he was still awakening new superpowers! That meant his potential… hadn't run out yet!
To Sakurai Saki, only when he could completely control the uncertainty that was superpowers, could he live a life like a normal person.
And that required a lot of time.
Weak superpowers usually took three random occurrences before he could fully grasp them. Stronger ones needed more times — for example, the power to erase existence from last time. If it showed up again, maybe the side effect wouldn't include Sakurai Saki himself anymore.
Weak ones took three days, strong ones took even longer.
Chickens eating all the grain, dogs licking clean the flour, fire burning off chains — the difficulty for Sakurai Saki to return to being a normal person was no different from those three things.
...
After finishing his usual morning tasks, Sakurai Saki picked up his bento and school bag, then left the house.
Getting on his bicycle, Sakurai Saki didn't rush to depart.
He took out a frequently used notebook from his jacket pocket. After confirming there was still enough space to use, he began pedaling.
If he couldn't speak, then written words would have to do for communication.
In situations where speaking wasn't necessary, he would absolutely avoid it — aside from the risk of accidentally saying something that would become reality, Sakurai Saki was even more concerned about today's side effect.
Though it said the enchanting effect was weak, these kinds of things were truly unpredictable.
An elephant steps on a rabbit — it thinks it didn't use much strength, but what about the rabbit? It can't think anymore, because one stomp sent it straight to meet its ancestors!
Similarly, even if it's a weak effect, it's still very frightening to normal people.
If this power only worked on girls, maybe Sakurai Saki wouldn't worry so much. But it worked on boys too!
For example, Ishigami and Shirogane lookings Sakurai: (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) Σ(°ロ°) (ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈♡)
Creepy!!!
In short, Sakurai Saki decided not to talk today.
...
Riding his bike to the gate of Shuchiin Academy, Sakurai Saki rubbed his nose. His pollen allergy hadn't gone away yet — after all, the cherry blossoms hadn't all fallen.
He quietly passed by Iino Miko without saying a word.
Iino Miko watched his back, until he disappeared from view on the way to the bicycle parking area, then she withdrew her gaze.
∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?
She looked at the school gate, then turned her head back toward where Sakurai Saki had vanished.
Miko-chan was feeling really upset now!!
( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)
Before, at the very least, Sakurai-senpai would talk to her! But today, he didn't say a single word! Not even a "good morning"!
A few minutes later.
Hayasaka Ai walked through the school gate, caught sight of Miko, and noticed that today Miko unexpectedly looked a bit lifeless — what's going on?
After observing for a bit, she felt that the other girl's eyes were like a little puppy that had just been ignored by its owner.
Miko: ૮ ◞ ﻌ ◟ ა
Hayasaka Ai thought this wasn't good!
"Good morning, Miko-chan!" — she proactively greeted her.
Iino Miko raised her head slightly and said weakly:
"Good morning… Hayasaka-senpai isn't wearing the uniform properly."
"Did something unhappy happen to Miko-chan?" — Hayasaka Ai asked with concern.
"Sakurai-senpai is acting really strange today! No! Extremely, extremely strange!" — Miko spoke up.
Hayasaka Ai was confused, her face full of question marks.
(｡· v ·｡) ?
Strange? Sakurai Saki is strange every day...
"He didn't greet me today."
(っ˃̣̣̥ -˂̣̣̥ς)
"Maybe he's… bored of playing with you now…"
¯\_(- > -)_/¯
Hayasaka Ai guessed.
"What?!"
( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
Miko felt like she had just heard something incredibly strange.
No, she must have misheard.
Hayasaka Ai brushed it off: "It's nothing, maybe he just isn't feeling well today."
Hearing that, Iino Miko looked a bit worried.
"Then I hope Sakurai-senpai gets well soon…"
Being a good child, Iino Miko didn't doubt Hayasaka Ai's words at all.
Hayasaka Ai walked past Miko, changed into her indoor shoes, and went to class.
...
In class 2-A, Shinomiya Kaguya glanced over at the seat next to the window. There, Sakurai Saki was writing something.
What was he doing?
Studying vocabulary to memorize?
Shinomiya Kaguya knew of a memorization method — write unfamiliar English words on a memo note, and take it out to look at during free time. Since memo notes are small, they're very convenient.
Sakurai studying vocabulary? No — he was writing down sentence templates to use when answering questions today.
"Huh? Sakurai, what are you doing?" — Kazamatsuri Go, a classmate, leaned over to take a look.
A transfer student from another school, Kazamatsuri was quite close to both Sakurai Saki and Shirogane Miyuki, having been in the same class as them last year.
Sakurai Saki held up the memo note in his hand.
[My throat isn't feeling well today.]
"Your throat's not well?"
[So I decided to communicate this way.]
"Cough~" — Sakurai Saki let out a hoarse cough.
Just a single syllable didn't trigger the enchanting effect.
Kazamatsuri didn't suspect anything. He asked again:
"What did you do yesterday to end up like that?"
Sakurai Saki continued writing:
[I slept with the window open last night, ended up catching a cold.]
"I see… Well, take care of your health then." — Kazamatsuri patted him on the shoulder and walked away.
A minute later, Hayasaka Ai entered the classroom through the door.
She glanced at Sakurai Saki sitting by the window, then naturally walked straight over to him. While he was still showing a helpless expression, she suddenly hugged him tightly.
"Good morning, Sakurai-chan~!" — Hayasaka Ai hugged him for a few seconds before letting go.
(っ˶ ˘ ᵕ˘)(⋆❛ ہ ❛⋆)!♡
Every morning, she would use a hug to recharge Sakurai's energy.
"Huh? What's this?"
Hearing that, Sakurai Saki handed her each of the memo notes with prewritten answers.
"Your throat's not well?"
Sakurai responded: "Cough cough."
He didn't even dare say out loud that he caught a cold last night.
Because he was worried that if he said it, his word-spirit ability would activate, and he'd actually catch a cold. Being a person with supernatural powers and still having pollen allergies was already embarrassing enough — he didn't want to add to it!
Hayasaka Ai asked: "Do you want me to go get some medicine from the infirmary?"
Sakurai Saki shook his head.
[No need.]
Then, he flipped to another note.
[Thank you.]
...
After that, a whole morning passed, and nearly the entire class had already found out that Sakurai Saki had a sore throat today.
During lunch break, Sakurai Saki carried his bento and went to the student council room.
As soon as he walked in, he saw Shirogane Miyuki sitting there.
"Oh, good afternoon, Sakurai. You seem to have a sore throat today, right? I have some throat lozenges here — I'll give you a few later." — Upon seeing Sakurai enter, Shirogane immediately spoke with concern.
Sakurai Saki, looking puzzled, walked over to the sofa, pulled out his phone, opened a blank page, and began typing. In class he couldn't just use his phone freely, but in the student council room, the phone was more convenient.
This morning's class had been truly unpleasant for Sakurai Saki.
When the teachers called on him to answer questions, he couldn't avoid speaking.
Since he had already claimed to have a sore throat to avoid talking, Sakurai Saki was forced to speak in a hoarse voice.
Fortunately, he hadn't answered a single question incorrectly.
Sakurai silently thanked his own intelligence. If he were as dumb as the Nakano sisters, then who knows — maybe in this world, 1 + 1 would become 3 tomorrow.
Nakano Quintuplets: "૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა"૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა"૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა"૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა"૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა
Even though he didn't get anything wrong, Sakurai Saki still felt that the looks from his classmates were a little different today.
But thankfully, it wasn't too different, nor did it last too long.
It seemed like the side effect of this power only lasted for a certain amount of time — that thought made Sakurai breathe a sigh of relief.
Even so, as long as he could avoid speaking, he would still choose to remain silent.
[Thanks. But Shirogane, how did you know?]
Shirogane glanced at the screen of his phone, then replied:
"Just hallway rumors."
As everyone knows, all sources of information can be lumped together under the term "rumors" — such a convenient word.
Sakurai Saki nodded.
It was probably a classmate who spread it around again. Shuchiin only had around 600 students across all three years, and the speed at which news spread was beyond belief.
Sakurai Saki opened his bento and prepared to eat.
He had just picked up his chopsticks and hadn't even started eating when footsteps echoed from outside the door.
"Saki-kun!! Saki-kun! Are you in there?"
✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡
Fujiwara Chika's voice echoed from afar.
A few seconds later, the door to the room was pushed open.
"Hmph~ So you were here! I heard you're sick today!" Fujiwara Chika said as she glanced at Shirogane Miyuki, "Eh, President, are you sick too? You look like you're about to drop dead. Get some rest already!"
"Ah, I just stayed up studying a bit late last night." Shirogane Miyuki explained.
Sakurai Saki looked at him for a few seconds, then recalled the words of Atenbou Yume-senpai — president of the Paranormal Research Club — from the last club budget meeting. She had advised Shirogane to get more rest, or he might suddenly drop dead.
This world truly did have supernatural phenomena. Atenbou Yume's family was involved in religion — her grandfather held the Joukai rank among five religious tiers of Shinto Shrines: Joukai — Meikai — Seikai — Gonsekai — Chokkai.
It seemed she really saw something, so her words were worth keeping in mind.
Sakurai Saki typed:
[Shirogane, make sure to get more rest. Just leave the student council work to Shinomiya.]
Shirogane Miyuki looked at the phone screen and replied:
"I can manage just fine. Lately, the student council work has lessened a lot anyway, so don't worry."
The reason he stayed up late last night was because he had been too busy before, fell behind in his studies, and wanted to catch up. But that act ended up worrying Sakurai and Fujiwara, which made Shirogane feel a little guilty.
"But Golden Week is coming up soon! The president will get a few days off then! By the way, do you two have anywhere you want to go?"
Fujiwara Chika said as she sat down next to Sakurai Saki.
She opened her bento — as extravagant as always.
Sakurai Saki picked up his chopsticks, ready to resume the meal Fujiwara had interrupted earlier.
"Saki-kun, are you sick today?"
Shirogane Miyuki answered for him:
"Sakurai's got a sore throat today."
"I don't want to talk." Sakurai said in a deliberately hoarse voice.
He observed Chika's expression and noticed nothing unusual — same for Shirogane.
Chika: ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
What's this? Saki-kun's voice sounds so good today!
Fujiwara Chika wanted to hear more — just a few more lines!
♡〜(∩˃ω˂∩)〜♡
At that moment, Chika once again turned into that strange creature like before — just like during the "Nyan Nyan Sakurai" incident — and now she'd become someone who simply could not function without hearing Sakurai Saki's voice!
"Umm… can you say a few more lines?" Fujiwara Chika pleaded.
Sakurai Saki shook his head.
Chika looked down at her own bento, then glanced at his.
Then, activating her agile little brain, another "brilliant" idea took over her thoughts.
"Saki-kun~ since you're sick, you shouldn't be eating by yourself, okay?"
(≖⩊≖)
As she spoke, Fujiwara Chika snatched the chopsticks from Sakurai Saki's hand.
Then she picked up a piece of fried chicken.
"Ah~"
(✿◠▽◠)つ♡(｡· v ·｡) ?
Sakurai Saki was momentarily at a loss.
Chika's actions now were basically the same as feeding her boyfriend! That made Sakurai Saki incredibly flustered. Back when he was the one feeding Chika, it didn't feel like much because he was the one taking the initiative. But now that the roles were reversed — and with his defenses as thin as paper — he truly couldn't take it.
"Ah~" Chika held the chopsticks and opened her mouth: "Saki-kun, say it with me, ah~"
(✿◠▽◠)つ♡
She just wanted to hear his voice — completely unaware how intimate the two of them now appeared in front of someone else.
Sakurai Saki slowly closed his eyes.
"Ah~"
(,,> 〰 <,,)
He swallowed the bite.
Hearing his voice, Fujiwara Chika was pleased and grabbed another piece.
"Ah~" / "Ah~"
(✿◠▽◠)つ♡(,,> 〰 <,,)
Across from them,
Shirogane: (눈_눈)
Shirogane Miyuki sat there with his chopsticks still in his mouth, feeling like an extra.
Why haven't those two gone and registered their marriage already?!
...
Note: Okay okay, I've noticed a pattern here — somewhere between chapter 50 and 100, the chapter length suddenly doubles. Haiyaya...