The three afternoon classes passed.
A hazy drizzle began to fall outside the window.
Aozawa watched the rain, thinking he would visit Tokyo Tower later.
Whether it's Tokyo after the rain or during it, the view from Tokyo Tower is always worth seeing.
"Aozawa, why do you look so poetically contemplative?"
Phoenix Academy Maggie turned around. A flicker of curiosity crossed her delicate, doll-like face as she naturally folded her arms across her chest, her elbows encroaching on more than half of Aozawa's desk space.
His math textbook was crushed underneath. If it could speak, it would surely be wailing, "So heavy! Help !"
Aozawa didn't break eye contact. Instead, he propped his chin on his right hand, his expression growing even more profound. "Do I look cooler this way?"
"HAHA." Phoenix Academy Maggie giggled, tapping his elbow with her right hand. "No, you just look dumber."
Aozawa shrugged, withdrawing his hand. His eyes scanned her for a mont. "Hey, when did you get your ears pierced?"
"They're not pierced. These are ear cuffs."
Phoenix Academy Maggie brushed aside her golden hair, revealing an ear as flawless as white jade. A ruby ear cuff was clipped to the plump earlobe.
The gems were real, the gold authentic. On that tiny piece of gold, the designer had etched intricate patterns, lending the ruby ear cuff an air of mystery reminiscent of an Egyptian Queen.
"They're really beautiful."
"You're a bit late with the complint. I've been wearing them since this morning."
Phoenix Academy Maggie grumbled, letting her golden hair fall back, concealing her ears again.
If Aozawa hadn't caught her at just the right angle, he would never have spotted the ear cuffs. "They're so inconspicuous. Expecting to notice them is asking a lot."
"Are you only just figuring out my personality today?"
Phoenix Academy Maggie feigned a stern expression, but the twinkle in her curved eyes betrayed her amusent. She dropped the act and pulled out her phone. "As an apology, help decide what to wear to my mother's birthday party tomorrow."
"Is it your birthday tomorrow?" Aozawa asked, a flicker of curiosity on his face.
Phoenix Academy Maggie shook her head. "No, it's my mother's. She's turning thirty-three."
"Don't they say won hate celebrating birthdays the older they get? Is this really sothing to celebrate?"
"My mother isn't old at all! If you saw her, you'd understand. Her beauty seems to have frozen ti when she was around twenty."
Phoenix Academy Maggie arched an eyebrow, her expression turning a bit sharp.
Aozawa didn't press the issue. He smiled and said, "Well, money certainly makes a difference, doesn't it? In that case, please wish your mother an early happy birthday from ."
"I'll pass on your thanks to my mother."
Phoenix Academy Maggie smiled, dropping the subject. If her mother knew about Aozawa, no amount of birthday wishes would do any good.
"So, help choose. What should I wear tomorrow?"
Phoenix Academy Maggie turned her phone towards Aozawa and swiped to an image.
The young lady's wardrobe was clearly extraordinary, with over seven hundred pictures of outfits.
Just looking at the sheer number made Aozawa's scalp tingle.
If each picture featured a person, he might have found it interesting. But it was just an endless parade of clothes.
Trying to imagine Phoenix Academy Maggie in each one was more ntally taxing than any exam.
Aozawa ventured cautiously, "Out of seven hundred and sixty pictures, surely there are so outfits you particularly like?"
"There are. I think this dress is quite nice, for example."
Phoenix Academy Maggie leaned closer, starting to explain which one she favored.
At such close range, Aozawa caught a faint, sweet fragrance. He instinctively wanted to take a deeper breath but quickly suppressed the urge, fearing Phoenix Academy Maggie might give him a disdainful look.
He quickly dismissed the thought.
Their animated conversation did not escape Ayatsuki Ayaka's notice.
She slowly clenched her fists.
Lately, I've been so focused on that old witch that I almost forgot about Phoenix Academy Maggie, a truly formidable rival.
They're so close! What on earth could they be talking about?
Damn it!
I'm dying to know what they're discussing!
The thought flashed through her mind, and for the first ti in her life, she found herself wishing for class to start imdiately.
As soon as the class bell rings, Phoenix Academy Maggie won't be able to bewitch Aozawa anymore.
Aozawa, having been 'educated' by that old witch, has no resistance to that sort of thing. If things go from a couple to a threeso, it'll be a real ss!
Following Ayatsuki Ayaka's gaze, Takahashi Saeko glanced over and comnted, "I think this one's nice. The pattern on the dress really suits my taste."
Ayatsuki Ayaka looked up, bewildered. "Saeko, what are you talking about?"
Miyahara Kaoru chuckled. "I think Saeko's reading their lips. She's translating what Phoenix Academy Maggie and Aozawa are saying for you."
"That's incredible! Saeko can actually read lips!" Ayatsuki Ayaka exclaid, utterly shocked.
She had only ever seen such a skill in movies, where spies would watch people talking from afar and magically know what was being said. This was the first ti she had encountered it in real life.
A wave of dejection washed over Ayatsuki Ayaka. She slumped onto her desk. "You're all so talented," she said miserably. "It makes feel so useless. And we all spend the sa amount of ti goofing off."
Tama Chan gently patted her head. "Ayaka, you have to rember," she comforted, "even a single sheet of toilet paper in this world is unique, let alone a whole person like you. You have your own talents too."
"What talents do I have?" Ayatsuki Ayaka lifted her head, a glimr of hope in her eyes.
Tama Chan pondered for a mont, then smiled. "You're cute, brave, and always ready to help others. Those are things Saeko, Kaoru, and I can't always manage."
"HEHE." Ayatsuki Ayaka scratched her head, a trace of embarrassnt on her face. "That's not true. You're all good people."
"What do you an, 'good people'?" Takahashi Saeko interjected. "I've always been a bad girl."
Takahashi Saeko rapped Ayatsuki Ayaka lightly on the head. "Phoenix Academy Maggie's mother is having a birthday," she explained. "She and Aozawa are discussing what she should wear to the party."
"If they're just talking about that, do they really need to be so close?" Ayatsuki Ayaka muttered, her tone laced with envy.
When it's Mom's birthday, I'll get that close to Aozawa to discuss what I should wear too!
Actually, why not just invite Aozawa to Mom's birthday party?
Too bad it's not until next year.
Ayatsuki Ayaka's thoughts drifted to how she could get Aozawa to et her future mother-in-law.
By noon, the rain outside had long since stopped.
After lunch, Aozawa used his usual excuse of needing a nap to part ways with Hojo Tetsuji.
He strolled to their usual spot and used Catalyst Induction to scan the surroundings. Confirming no one was around, he activated Schrodinger's Cat, his body gradually turning translucent.
With a re thought, he appeared at the summit of Tokyo Tower. He used his Transformation Ability to take on Dio's appearance, then switched his state back to Schrodinger's Cat.
His body materialized from the void.
Standing on the tower's peak amidst howling winds, he looked down and saw the ground dotted with ant-like specks.
A closer look revealed them to be people.
Aozawa surveyed the surrounding cityscape: towering skyscrapers stretched in every direction, and in the far distance, Mount Fuji lay veiled in clouds and mist.
He activated his Elent Replacent superpower.
Instantly, a series of choices flashed through Aozawa's mind. His thoughts beca incredibly rational, as precise as a supercomputer.
This new clarity allowed Aozawa to understand the nature of Elent Replacent: it was simply the ability to swap his body's constituent elents with desired ones.
Aozawa pondered for a mont, then decided to replace the water elents within his body with Fire Elents.
BOOM! To accommodate the Fire Elent, his other organs automatically converted into pure fla.
He transford into a being of living fire but felt no pain.
Instead, his mind filled with countless red dots, as nurous and clear as stars in an untainted night sky.
They resembled markers on so kind of topographical map.
The dots blinked continuously, yet they didn't bother him.
While using Elent Replacent, his ntal state was similar to when he used Catalyst Induction; his brain remained shielded from the overwhelming influx of information.
Driven by curiosity, Aozawa focused on one of the red dots.
In that instant, his perspective shifted.
He found his upper body erging from the flas of a gas stove, face-to-face with a plump, forty-sothing housewife.
Their eyes t.
Aozawa understood. In his fire-form, he could freely teleport between any existing flas and even absorb fuel, like gas, to intensify his own fiery power.
"AH?!" The housewife shrieked, dropping the pot she was holding, which clattered to the side as her spatula clanged to the floor.
Staring at the fiery figure on the gas stove, she yelled, "W-what are you?! Husband, co quick! There's soone in the stove flas!"
Hearing the housewife's screams, Aozawa snapped back to his senses and hastily withdrew.
"What are you yelling about?" a man's voice called from the living room as he walked into the kitchen. He looked at his wife, her face a mask of terror, then at the food spilled on the floor.
Sauce from the dish was spreading across the clean white floor.
The gas stove flas burned normally. There was no one there.
But seeing his wife so terrified, the man doubted she was joking. She must have really seen soone in the fire.
"Hanako," he said gently, "have you been under a lot of stress lately? Maybe we should get you checked out at the hospital. Hallucinations are serious."
"I am not hallucinating!" Hanako insisted, her voice rising. "There really was a face in the flas just now! A handso man, looked like a Westerner, with sharp features!"
"His upper body just floated out of the stove," Hanako continued, trying desperately to describe the scene. "And he looked right at !"
Watching Hanako earnestly describe the apparition, the man's expression grew increasingly worried, but he remained silent.
In this state, denying what she says might just make things worse.
"Okay, okay, I understand you saw... sothing," he said soothingly. "Let's not worry about dinner now. We should go to the hospital, just to be safe."
"I'm not lying! Soone really did co out of the gas stove flas!" Hanako cried, extrely agitated.
How could I be mistaken? I even rember his chest muscles clearly—he had two of them! It was definitely a man!
"Actually," the man said, choosing his words carefully, "I'm the one who's not feeling well. I need to go to the hospital. Will you co with ?" Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel✦fire
These hallucinations are a serious problem.
Hanako was speechless. But I really did see soone erge from the flas of the gas stove!
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