Mash-Up: Anything for Money

"Shat... shattered...?!" Nino was so shocked she could barely speak. She knew Hakuto was in great shape, but not this good, right?

"Wait, Shiratori, is your hand okay?"

Seeing Nino's stunned expression, Hakuto smiled and spread his hands, showing his clearly jointed fingers to indicate he was fine.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. But hey, shouldn't you be more concerned that I just crushed a phone with my bare hands?"

"Well, yeah, I am concerned..." Nino waved her hand. "But Shiratori, you crushed your phone—are you really okay with that?"

"It's fine. I've been wanting to replace it for a while. Plus, there wasn't anything important on it..." As he spoke, Hakuto flipped his hand, and a SIM card appeared between his fingers.

Due to his past professional habits, Hakuto never stored important things on a phone he carried around. It was usually on a computer or in a notebook.

And honestly, he'd wanted to change that phone ever since the first time he met Nao.

OP-level! Like a cheat item in a game!

"Hope I didn't scare you, Nino?"

"Hah? Like I'd be scared by something like that?"

Lies! Nino was scared.

Especially the moment the phone shattered! The flash of fire that burst from Hakuto's palm almost made Nino scream!

"That's good then..." Hakuto chuckled. "Nino, do you think a normal person could crush a phone with their bare hands?"

Hearing that, Nino first shook her head, then nodded.

Back in the day, Nino would've never believed someone could crush a phone by hand. Those muscleman competitions? Total frauds jacked up on substances.

And now someone casually crushed a phone with their hand—what is this, Baki the Grappler? Yet, it had just happened right in front of her eyes.

"Kung fu?" Nino asked cautiously.

"Not really... I'd say it's more like... a superpower."

"Superpower? Are you kidding me, Shiratori?" Nino raised an eyebrow.

Seeing her disbelief, Hakuto sighed. "Ugh, if I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have crushed the phone. Might've sold it for a decent price online..."

"Hah?" Nino frowned. She was just about to say something when, the next second, Hakuto vanished from sight.

"Ah?" Nino's pupils shrank. She instinctively looked around. "He... he's gone?"

But just as she was scanning her surroundings, a pair of hands gently rested on her shoulders.

"Stop looking. I'm right here."

"Did I just zone out?" Nino first assumed it was her fault, but she quickly dismissed the idea.

If zoning out caused her to miss that, she might as well check into a psych ward.

"You didn't zone out. Like I said—superpowers."

"I can suddenly appear behind you, Nino. Who knows—maybe next I'll be on your..."

"Left?"

"Right?"

"Above?"

From Nino's perspective, Hakuto's voice came from all directions. And each time, she could see him from a different angle.

"Now do you believe me, Nino?"

"Wait, give me a second..." Everything that just happened was challenging Nino's understanding of the world.

She'd lived a normal life for so long, and now someone tells her superpowers are real?

It was like everyone else had been hiding their abilities all along, and when danger struck, they flew off into the sky while she was stuck running on foot, leaving a trail of sparks behind her.

"This is the story I wanted to tell you, Nino. Every 75 years, a comet passes by Earth..."

Hakuto squatted next to her, softly telling her the story of Charlotte.

To someone like Nino who'd lived a perfectly ordinary life, this was mind-blowing.

She didn't recover for a long time.

"Shiratori, are you saying... when you said you were going to join some school event for a few months, you were actually in a life-or-death battle?"

"And when you became an exchange student, you were really going somewhere to better use your powers?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it life-or-death..." Hakuto paused, surprised that this was where Nino had focused her attention. 

He thought she'd be more interested in the powers part.

"Isn't 'almost dying' close enough?" Nino felt a bit hurt—Hakuto had hidden so much from her.

It was as if from this moment onward, she finally began to truly understand Hakuto.

What she'd seen before was just a surface illusion...

And that stung her a little.

"Why... did you keep this from me?"

"Because it's dangerous. Really dangerous. At least for someone normal like you, Nino."

To people like Nino, even if they never encountered power users, if Hakuto's calculations glitched and he touched her by accident, she'd be in the hospital.

Hearing his explanation, Nino nodded. She knew Hakuto was trying to protect her. Still, the empty feeling in her chest wouldn't go away.

"No wonder Tomori-san transferred to Hoshino Umi..."

Even though Hakuto was just narrating, Nino could tell his relationship with Nao was anything but ordinary.

"Do you remember what you asked me... about my relationship with the student council president?" Hakuto propped his cheek on one hand.

Nino nodded. At this point, she kind of regretted asking. She already had a vague idea.

"I like you, Nino. That's undeniable!" Hakuto said firmly.

"Wh-Why are you bringing that up?! You were supposed to tell me your relationship with Tomori-san!"

"Alright, alright..." Hakuto smiled. "To me, the president is the same as you..."

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