217 Akira’s Mindset Changed

The bus arrived at the place where the funeral was held after 20 minutes of travel.

Class 1-A's group of students got off the bus, and with Kiryu Yuzuki, they entered the building.

In that room, there are many chairs prepared for pilgrims.

Akira and the other students sat on chairs, nobody making a fuss, calmly waiting for the event to start.

(They both look a lot like Aharen-san. Are they twins?) Akira thought when he saw the two people who looked exactly like Aharen Eru.

(Two women... No, one of them is a boy!)

Akira thought they were both women, but he changed his mind after noticing an Adam's apple on one of them.

Aharen's family members sobbed over the loss of one of their family members.

(Haaa... If only this was a normal kidnapping case...)

He cursed Takuma's deviant behavior.

It would be fine if Takuma just kidnapped and raped. At least, Eru was still alive despite the trauma. However, that scumbag actually enjoyed having sex with corpses!

This is no longer a fetish, but a mental illness.

While waiting for the event to start, Akira played with his cell phone.

Twitter, Facebook, and other social media are full of news about Mamoru Takuma.

He read the comments of like-minded netizens who condemned and ridiculed Takuma's heinous deeds.

"Akiracchi, the show is about to start."

Kise nudged Akira and reminded him.

Keeping the phone in his pocket, Akira looked ahead.

A monk stood in front of the coffin, his mouth reciting a sutra as he tapped on a bowl.

In Japan, they use Buddhism as a funeral ritual.

Akira didn't know much about Buddhism, but he knew there really was a real Buddha in this world. After all, the DxD universe is also mixed into this world. Mythology isn't just a legend, it's real.

Finally, the monk had completed his task. Aharen's family members placed flowers near the casket, then relatives and co-workers. After that, it was class 1-A's turn.

Akira lined up behind the classmates while holding the chrysanthemums that the committee had prepared.

Unlike men, who rarely cry, women are more emotional. When placing the flowers, several female students cried at the loss of Aharen Eru.

Grief infected the other grieving female students, even some of the male students' eyes turned red from holding back the urge to cry.

When the turn came, Akira put the chrysanthemum flowers among the other flowers. Seeing Eru's beautiful face behind the coffin boards, his heart ached.

(Sorry... Sorry for not coming on time...)

Even though this was not his responsibility, he felt somewhat guilty. If only he had immediately put forth his full effort after hearing about the kidnapping of young girls, maybe the result would have been different.

However, he was too indifferent because the missing victim was unrelated to him. Akira is sure, if the girls who disappeared were Hitori, Shouko, Miharu, and the people closest to them, he definitely wouldn't be indifferent.

This is human nature, they don't care about other people's fate as long as they don't involve themselves.

...

After the funeral was over, the class 1-A group of students returned to Glance by bus.

Arriving at class 1-A, the atmosphere was not as noisy as usual.

Because there was no study schedule, Akira did not return to the classroom with the others.

He sat alone on a bench near the baseball field.

"Are you all right, Master?" Skadi voiced her worries.

"I'm fine. Just reflecting on my actions recently."

"Master, don't blame yourself. Everything that happened was not your fault."

"Yeah, I know, but... I have the power to help them! But because of my passivity, one of my classmates became a victim when I was able to prevent it from happening."

"Although Master is strong, you are not a hero of justice. You can't save everyone in this world who needs help... No one can..."

"At least I can protect the people around me. In my opinion, the best human being is the most beneficial for other human beings."

"..."

Skadi was captivated by her Master's words.

(The best human being is the most beneficial for other human beings...) She repeated those words in her heart.

*🌧️🌧️🌧️*

The sun's rays were covered by dark clouds that covered Tokyo City, then a heavy rain suddenly fell without warning.

Akira didn't intend to take shelter and let the rainwater wet his body.

Skadi didn't send her Master away, she knew this rain wouldn't have any negative effect, given his physical fitness.

Now Akira was drenched, but he didn't care. He hoped that the rainwater would wash away the guilt in his heart.

Suddenly a young girl with an umbrella in her hand appeared, and the umbrella prevented the rainwater from getting on Akira.

"Don't just stay silent. You'll catch a cold and have a fever."

Akira looked up to see the girl who was talking to him.

"It turned out to be you, Miharu. Aren't you still angry at me?"

"I've never been angry at Akira. I avoided you because it took me some time to organize my thoughts. Let's go, don't talk here."

Ayase Miharu pulled Akira's hand. Then they both went to the medical room.

Of course this was Miharu's initiative because she was worried that Akira would have a fever.

"Oh, what's with this student? Why is his whole body wet?"

Tachibana Chizuru who is a school nurse, she is nicknamed [Absolute Zero Tachibana] because of her cold and expressionless attitude towards students.

"Tachibana Sensei, can we use the infirmary for a bit? Akira has been caught in the rain and will probably catch a cold if he lets it." Miharu said.

"Sure, please use it." Chizuru nodded.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Saying her thanks, Miharu sent Akira who looked lethargic to the bed.

"Akira wait here, I'll get sports clothes."

Then she left the infirmary.

This is the first time Miharu has seen Akira depressed like this. She didn't know the reason, but her intuition told her it was related to Eru's death.

She didn't remember Akira and Eru's relationship being good, the two of them looked like your average classmate. Precisely this is what makes confused about why Akira looks so devastated.

"She's a good girl." Chizuru said coldly.

"Yeah, Miharu is a good girl. Too good that I think a bastard like me doesn't deserve to be with her." Akira mocked himself.

"What's your name?"

"Nakano Akira, 1st year student."

"How old are you?"

"13 years... Why is Sensei asking this?"

"Don't put on an expression like you are the most miserable person in the world. Sensei doesn't know what kind of trouble you're in, but you're still too young, don't think too complicatedly."

"..."

Akira didn't know what Chizuru was really getting at, but his mood got a little better.

(Don't repeat the same mistake.)

He is determined to eradicate strange cases that the police cannot solve so that the people closest to him are not involved.

If he just stood and watched like this time, once he took action, it would be too late.

(Looks like I'm too low profile that no one is afraid of committing crimes in Tokyo. The five major clans can't be relied on, I have to show the majesty of Ars Nova, and make people with bad intentions think twice before acting.)

Akira decides to become the guardian of Tokyo behind the scenes with the identity Ars Nova.

This decision has advantages and disadvantages. But it didn't matter, he was sure that his true identity would not be discovered.

Until now, he still didn't know the source of Mamoru Takuma's superpower. He's worried that someone else is awakening superpowers.

If he continued to be passive, he was worried that those people might target his sister. After all, the beauty of the Nakano quintuplets is irresistible to men who only think with their lower bodies.

"I brought you sports clothes."

Miharu returns to the infirmary. She was surprised that Akira's expression looked the same as usual.

"Thank you, Miharu. Sorry to trouble you."

Akira took the sportswear from Miharu's hand.

"No problem, it's not a bother at all.' Miharu replied with a smile.

Then Akira changed his clothes behind the curtain and drank the vitamins that Chizuru gave him.