CHAPTER 359: NEW SEMESTER

Even after all of that back and forth, Kouhei still didn’t manage to squeeze a single piece of real information out of Yuzuha.

No matter how many chances he gave her, it was as if she had already decided from the very start that whatever secrets she carried, she’d take them straight down with her into the grave. She wasn’t going to tell him anything, not even a hint.

Because of that, Kouhei told her to go back to Hell. She would return to Souichiro’s side. Before leaving, she gave her word that she wouldn’t attack again.

"It seems your love for her is genuine," Yuzuha said with a faint but piercing smile, her voice carrying that sharp edge of warning. "But just so you know, if anything ever happens to her... I will follow you to the very ends of this earth, and I will kill you myself."

"I won’t resist if that happens," Kouhei answered, his tone steady, without the slightest hesitation.

For the first time, Yuzuha’s expression broke. The cold mask she always wore slipped away, and on her lips bloomed a smile unlike any before. It wasn’t the mocking smirk, nor the half-hearted grin she usually forced. This one came from deep within her heart. It was real.

And that’s when Kouhei realized something important. Yuzuha didn’t actually hate Nagisa. Not at all. She never had. The thought that she might despise her was completely wrong. There wasn’t a shred of hate in her. If anything, it almost felt like the opposite. Of course, this left everyone even more confused than before.

What really happened to Yuzuha? What was the truth that pushed her to betray her own clan? That answer still lingered in the dark. For now, it was a tale left for another time.

***

Time moved on, and before long, winter vacation came to its quiet end. It was finally time for them to go back to school.

Kouhei couldn’t help the nerves crawling up inside him. His stomach felt heavy and his chest felt tight. This was going to be the very first time he returned since that incident... the one where he had actually died.

Luckily, Misuzu had taken care of things, weaving lies and reshaping perceptions so that everything looked as though Kouhei had simply been out on a long sick leave. But even with all of her careful work, Kouhei still felt a restless unease gnawing at him. It was hard to ignore the fact that he’d basically cheated his way back into normal life. Still, what could he do? The truth was he really had died.

"...My uniform feels kind of... tight," Kouhei muttered under his breath as he tugged lightly at the sleeves.

The jacket clung closer than usual, pressing against his frame. The fabric strained just a little with each movement. It wasn’t just the fit, either. The sleeves, too—they were shorter now, riding higher up his arms.

"Fufufufu... That’s because you’ve grown taller, and not just taller—you’re bulkier now too. I’m certain that the moment you step into your classroom, everyone will be shocked. I doubt most of them will even recognize you at first glance. Your appearance has changed so much," a voice teased knowingly. It was Yuuna.

"Is that so?" Kouhei tilted his head slightly, as if the thought hadn’t really registered. From his own perspective, he couldn’t see that much of a difference.

"Fortunately, Kou-kun, I already got you a brand-new uniform!" Nagisa cut in with a playful grin, flashing a peace sign right by her eye in a cheeky pose. "Since I knew you’d never notice or bother to do it yourself, I took the liberty of measuring your size beforehand."

She set the new uniform in his hands, and Kouhei slipped it on immediately.

It fit perfectly, hugging him just right without any of the tightness from before.

"Hehehe~! Nice, isn’t it? Perfect, right? Go on, praise me!" she said, rocking back and forth in excitement.

"It’s good. Thank you, Nagisa-san," Kouhei answered with a warm smile.

Her face lit up almost instantly. For some reason, she looked completely overjoyed, almost giddy in a way he hadn’t seen before.

"Fufufu... It seems like it’s not just Kouhei who’s changed," Yuuna commented from the side, her eyes observing Nagisa with a soft kind of affection.

Kouhei noticed it too. Nagisa was different. There was an air of joy around her that hadn’t been there before. Not strange exactly, but surprising—like the weight she had carried for so long was suddenly gone.

"Although she didn’t uncover the truth about why Yuzuha betrayed their clan, it feels as though something heavy that was burdening Nagisa has finally been lifted from her shoulders," Yuuna continued. Her gaze lingered on Nagisa, who seemed to shine more brightly than ever. "You know, Kouhei... before you, Nagisa was always our light. Even though she carried so many burdens, she still brought warmth and brightness into our lives. Honestly, we never realized it until recently, but the truth is... without her, there wouldn’t have been any light at all. That’s why I’m grateful to her."

Yuuna smiled then, a smile so gentle and warm it resembled the way a mother would look at her own child.

"And I’m grateful to you too, Kouhei—for bringing even more light into her life. She’s shining brighter now than I’ve ever seen." Yuuna turned her eyes toward him as she spoke.

Kouhei smiled in return. Even if he didn’t feel like he had done anything special, he was grateful for her words.

With that, they all readied themselves for the new semester.

***

The first day of the new semester.

The school hallways buzzed with life again. Classrooms filled with chatter as students reunited with friends, excitedly sharing everything about their winter break. Who had gone where, who had started dating who, and all the latest bits of gossip flew across desks and groups of friends.

Hiyori sat quietly at her seat, joining in lightly with a smile as she spoke with her classmates. On the surface, she seemed fine—cheerful, even.

But every so often, her eyes would drift, just for a moment, to a particular desk. That empty seat. The one that had been unoccupied for a while now, even before winter vacation began.

Every time she looked at it, worry gnawed at her heart.

Her memories may have been tampered with, altered so she wouldn’t remember the truth, but her feelings hadn’t changed. Deep down, she still carried the weight of that moment. She had seen Kouhei die. She no longer remembered it clearly, thanks to Misuzu, but the emotion remained—the unease, the lingering dread and the ache of fear.

"H-Hey! Th-There’s a super handsome guy walking around the school! And he’s wearing our uniform! Do you think he’s a transfer student?!"

"W-Where?!"

"There! Look, he’s walking with the goddesses!"

"I-It looks like he’s already close with one of them. Damn it... there’s no way we could even try to butt in."

Excitement erupted as the girls in Hiyori’s class scrambled toward the windows, gossiping loudly about the mysterious new arrival.

But Hiyori didn’t even budge. Her classmates’ chatter washed over her like background noise.

Because in her heart, her mind was still locked on one thing—Kouhei. The boy she couldn’t stop worrying about, no matter how much her memories had been twisted.

"H-Hey! He’s coming this way?! D-Does that mean... he’s actually going to be our classmate?!"

"N-No way. Maybe it’s the next room over... Oh wait, no—he just walked into our classroom! That means he really is...!"

It became clear—the transfer student was actually their classmate.

"H-Hey, are you joining this class? What’s your name?"

"Where did you transfer from?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

The girls immediately blocked the entrance, forming a wall around him. The person standing there, none other than Kouhei, scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Um..."

It all happened so suddenly. This was the very first time he had ever been surrounded like this by a group of girls.

Yuuna was right—they didn’t recognize him at all. They couldn’t possibly connect the timid Kouhei they knew with the guy standing in front of them right now.

"I’ve been... a student in this class, though... since the beginning of the school year," Kouhei said quietly.

The girls tilted their heads in unison, utterly confused. There was no way they could’ve overlooked someone this handsome. Not in their entire lives. And if they had... then that would’ve been a huge, unforgivable mistake.

But, the truth was unavoidable—he really had been a student in this very classroom all along.

Hearing those words, Hiyori finally turned around. The moment her eyes landed on him, she instantly recognized who it was.

"O-Okumura-kun?!"

She shot up from her seat in shock, her chair screeching against the floor and clattering loudly behind her.

The moment Hiyori shouted that name, the rest of the girls froze and looked back at Kouhei.

Now that they really focused on him, he did look like Kouhei. They knew he had been getting more noticeable lately, steadily becoming more and more handsome, and they also knew about his closeness with the goddess. But still—how the hell could someone change this much in less than two months?

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Their voices rang out in unison, filled with both shock and utter disbelief.