Ch. 37 - Meeting Between the Victor and the Defeated
Even if his prayer had been sent to the wrong god, Harutaki had to admit— even though the girl sitting here wasn’t Shirasaki-senpai but Nogami Izumi, he felt not a trace of disappointment.
Her long, sleek orange-red hair spilled over her shoulders; her reddened eyes framed by a veil of sorrow made those once-fierce, predatory pupils look impossibly soft—
Wasn’t she… far cuter than usual?
Compared to the proud, domineering aura Nogami always carried, this fragile girl sitting here now—her armor shattered, her mask gone— was the one who truly looked like a noble princess.
That staggering contrast, that vulnerable aura, for Harutaki, had a dangerous kind of pull.
“I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
Looking down from above at the dejected girl, Harutaki opened the conversation first.
Even if he knew this was a poisoned chalice, he would still raise it to his lips without hesitation.
Even if he knew this was a burning fire, he would still throw himself into it like a moth to a flame.
He’d lived through a second chance; he knew the weight of his choices.
But he still believed in this truth: Life only happens once. Youth only happens once. If you don’t reach for more, isn’t that the real waste?
When a treasure that rare sits right before you, even if the path is lined with thorns and traps, Harutaki would never turn away.
If he believed he had the ability, he’d go after it without hesitation and still save enough for the finish line, to snatch the crown cleanly and perfectly—
That was the aesthetic Harutaki lived by.
“Sorry to intrude. I’m going to sit here for a while too.”
He didn’t use the careful tone he’d taken with Shirasaki-senpai.
No question marks, no ‘may I?’—only a statement.
Because he knew if he asked “can I” or “is it okay,”