Back at Advanced Nurturing High School.
After the settlement was finalized, the Black Sphere had generously announced — with the school's blessing — that everyone was welcome to remain aboard the luxury cruise liner for the rest of the day and enjoy their leisure time.
But once rationality clawed its way back to the surface, almost nobody was in the mood to enjoy anything.
The consumption points the Black Sphere handed out looked like a lot on paper — and truthfully, they were. Even the bottom-ranked Ryuuen's class, boosted by two of Sukuna's Fingers, had each received upwards of six hundred thousand points. Factor in next month's school allowance, and everyone was sitting on at least a seven-figure sum.
Yet somehow, the money felt less like a reward and more like a live grenade in their hands.
Like a death notice whispering directly in their ear: Spend it. Splurge. Have fun. You'll be back in the exam hall before you know it — the clock's already ticking~
Human psychology is endlessly complicated. The heart said: eat, drink, and be merry while you can. But under the long shadow of death, the brain instinctively recoiled from that kind of blood-bought celebration.
Caught between the two, most people chose to simply... opt out.
So when the students trickled back onto campus one by one and found a notification on their phones — "The school has arranged special counseling sessions for all students" — a fair number of them quietly went to seek comfort.
Chris was among the rare few who didn't.
He hadn't even figured out what to do with himself next when Chabashira Sae stepped directly into his path.
"Normally, I wouldn't be bothering you with this right now," she said.
Chabashira Sae was rolling an unlit cigarette between her fingers out of habit, scratching irritably at her hair. "But the people arriving today will be your future classmates — and someday, maybe the allies fighting beside you in the exam. So."
Chris frowned. "Greet them...? So another transfer student is coming?"
Chabashira nodded, her tone carrying something complicated. "Her name is Nanase Tsubasa. She voluntarily requested a transfer here — specifically to pursue the Black Sphere's Miracle."
She looked up at Chris. "Which is why I think there's no one in Class D better suited to receive her than you. Even if Hirata stepped in, he wouldn't have the presence to hold the room."
Chris thought it over, then didn't refuse.
"Coming all the way here for the Black Sphere's Miracle, huh..." He rubbed his chin, his tone carrying a quiet weight. "Sounds like she doesn't know yet what actually happened on that uninhabited island."
Chabashira gave a noncommittal hum, and simply let out a cold, flat remark: "The moment they signed that transfer agreement, they forfeited any right to regret it."
"It's like sitting down at a gambling table... once you take your seat, there's no getting up and walking away. Not for them. Not even for those of us who are teachers."
"Chabashira-sensei is the mysterious merchant — not even death scares you," Chris remarked offhandedly, the jab casual enough to be almost polite. "The rest of us aren't quite so fearless."
The fingers holding the cigarette tightened almost imperceptibly.
But instead of getting angry at the slight, Chabashira answered with surprising candor: "Who knows if that damn sphere will bother giving me another resurrection next time... Same as all of you — I'm plenty afraid of dying."
She said it, and then something seemed to surface in her memory — something pleasant — because the exhaustion in her face softened, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth:
"That said... thanks to you all and that Black Sphere, Class D's class rating has shot all the way up to Class A standards in less than a month. I suppose you could say that's... put an old regret of mine to rest."
Chris stared at her with a perfectly blank expression and delivered his verdict with zero fanfare:
"You really are a selfish woman, Chabashira-sensei."
She was terrified to her core — and yet she could sit back in perfect comfort watching her students bleed themselves dry in the exam hall, even using it to satisfy her own long-buried obsession.
"I won't deny it." A pause. "Maybe that selfishness is exactly why the Black Sphere chose me to be punished."
Chabashira smiled slightly, tucking the cigarette back into its case. "But... as an adult, let me offer you one piece of sincere advice: there is no woman in this world who isn't selfish."
She leaned in closer, dropping her voice to just below conversational — words meant only for the two of them — and said with an impish lilt: "I've been watching Karuizawa, and then Sakayanagi from the old Class A, and Ichinose from Class B... they've all been looking at you with a very particular kind of interest lately."
"So — before any of them snap and act on that selfish possessiveness of theirs... wouldn't you like to get a head start and claim what's yours while you still can?"
Chris couldn't even summon the energy to roll his eyes. He excused himself on the grounds that he had a new student to receive, and walked away, ending the conversation before it could sink any further.
Honestly — Chabashira Sae, purely in terms of looks and figure, was objectively quite attractive.
But at the end of the day, she was a woman whose personality had been warped by obsession, and her general behavior ran along the same lines as Hoshimiya Chie — not exactly something to write home about.
So Chris had never thought particularly well of her.
Though, strictly speaking, he had no real rebuttal to that last thing she'd said.
After all, he'd long since started treating this world as his personal playground. Being selfish came as naturally to him as breathing at this point.
Still — watching Chabashira, who was clearly scared half to death on the inside, performing the composed, unflappable, icy-cool teacher act in front of her students... that was genuinely entertaining to observe.
Let's see if you can keep that effortless facade intact next time you're face to face with a monster that makes a mockery of rational thought.
Just like how Kushida Kikyo would eventually self-destruct from the sheer weight of her own mask — Chabashira Sae, having built her entire sense of self-worth on an illusion of status, had sealed her own collapse from the very beginning.
Except for the true mastermind pulling the strings behind the curtain.
Who could really claim they stood apart from all of it?
Before long, Chris arrived at the school's welcome reception area.
He hadn't expected it to be this crowded.
At a glance: mostly new students, beaming with excitement, lining up to collect their uniforms.
Chris walked up and casually grabbed the arm of a boy who looked harmless enough. "Hey — you're a new student? But we're already halfway through the semester..."
The boy turned around. The moment he recognized the face — the same face marked as a high-priority target in the top-secret files Tsukishiro Tsunenari had provided — a bright, sunny smile immediately spread across his features.
"Yeah... how do I put it, I'm honestly surprised myself that I got to skip straight into Advanced Nurturing."
Yagami Takuya scratched the back of his head with a perfectly carefree air. "But the recruiter told me tuition was completely free, room and board included, monthly allowance provided, and university placement guaranteed after graduation... so I figured, why not?"
"Honestly, it's pretty hard to say no to a deal like that, right? Senpai."
Chris reached out and gave his shoulder a firm pat.
"Then I hope you enjoy your time here."
He added offhandedly, "By the way — which class did you get assigned to?"
Yagami Takuya rubbed his hands together a little awkwardly. "The teacher said class rankings aren't fixed here, so I'm not totally sure. All I know is that the person coming to pick me up is apparently called... Ryuuen Kakeru?"
"A new addition to Ryuuen's class, huh..." Chris murmured under his breath.
Before he'd even finished the thought, a cluster of familiar voices drifted over from nearby.
He turned to look. It was Ichinose Honami — and beside her, the unhurried Sakayanagi Arisu, along with an unmistakably irritated Ryuuen Kakeru.
"Senpai!" Ichinose quickened her pace and came over, glancing at Yagami Takuya. "You're here to receive the new student too?"
"Yeah, Chabashira-sensei sent me."
Chris nodded, then smoothly nudged Yagami Takuya toward Ryuuen Kakeru, his tone carrying a particular weight: "This is your class's new addition. Ryuuen — this kid's got a solid build on him, and something sharp hiding behind those eyes. Worth keeping tabs on."
Ryuuen Kakeru gave Yagami Takuya a sidelong look and clicked his tongue in disdain.
If he didn't already know that Chris wasn't the type with Nagumo Miyabi's particular... proclivities, he might have almost wondered if Chris was acting as some kind of broker.
Yagami Takuya, for his part, put on a perfectly convincing expression of confusion. "Senpai, what do you mean by that?"
"Heh heh..." Ryuuen cracked a grin loaded with malice. "Don't rush it. You'll understand soon enough."
Once someone landed in Ryuuen Kakeru's hands, it didn't matter what they were made of — they were getting stripped down to the bone first.
Ichinose watched the exchange and sighed in exasperation. "Ryuuen-kun — whether it's for the harmony of the class or for facing future Black Sphere exams, you really need to do proper introductions beforehand. Please stop defaulting to violence as your first solution."
Ryuuen gave a dismissive snort in response, then turned his head toward Sakayanagi Arisu, who had been silently drifting closer to Chris's side.
"Hey — I'm talking to you, wheelchair girl. Handle the introductions properly. You hear me?"
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't even bother to spare him a glance. She simply nudged Chris's arm lightly with her elbow:
"I just saw Horikita and Karuizawa head back to the dorms together, you know. And you didn't follow to check on them? Come on — be honest. What are you really up to?"
Chris waved it off. "Chabashira-sensei asked me to come receive someone named Nanase Tsubasa — apparently she came here for the Black Sphere's Miracle. She might end up being a future teammate, so I was curious enough to come see for myself."
At that, Ichinose's brow furrowed, a worried look crossing her face.
"Someone's already showing up specifically asking about the Black Sphere's Miracle by name... I was afraid of this — so the news really has leaked outside the school..."
Yagami Takuya produced a perfectly timed expression of bewilderment. "Black Sphere? Miracle? Teammate? Senpai, Senpai — what are you all even talking about?"
Chris glanced at him briefly.
Sakayanagi Arisu gave a light, amused laugh. "It's common knowledge you're going to have to reckon with sooner or later. As for the details... ask your upperclassman Ryuuen. We don't have time to hold a pre-school orientation right now."
With that, Sakayanagi Arisu — with the most natural motion in the world — looped her arm through Chris's and started pulling him off in another direction, toward the as-yet-unseen Nanase Tsubasa.
Chris didn't resist the pull. But watching Sakayanagi, whose legs being just a little too short meant she had to quicken her steps to keep pace with him — lurching slightly forward every few strides to avoid tripping over herself — he couldn't help finding it a little funny.
Sakayanagi Arisu caught the direction of his gaze. She stopped mid-step and tilted her small face up at him with obvious displeasure.
"How very strange, Chris-kun. Given that we're on our way to meet someone who's about to be dragged into a death game — quite the serious occasion — I distinctly heard you laughing."
"Are you celebrating their naivety, or mourning their ignorance?"
Chris sighed. "You definitely came here with some kind of agenda too, didn't you? Is it really fine to just drop everything and tag along with me like this?"
Sakayanagi Arisu waved a dismissive hand. "It's fine — I'm hardly the only one here to receive new students... Kamuro! Shiraishi!"
Kamuro Masumi, who had just been called out, came walking around the corner alongside Shiraishi Asuka from Class A.
At the sound of her name, Kamuro turned back with barely concealed impatience. "What? Something else?"
Then she spotted Chris standing there, linked arm-in-arm with Sakayanagi, and immediately rolled her eyes. She added without missing a beat: "Are you two... going on a date?"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked delighted. She gave an appreciative nod. "You really get it!"
The girl beside Kamuro — Shiraishi Asuka — had a gentle, graceful air about her. She stepped in diplomatically: "I'm sure it's more that something's come up and you need to step away for a moment."
"Close enough," Sakayanagi said cheerfully. "Find someone, and squeeze in a date while we're at it."
She beamed and issued her orders with breezy authority: "So the welcoming duties from here on — I'll leave that to you and Kamuro, all right? Keep it casual. Just cover the basic rules, and let them figure the rest out on their own."
Because frankly — anyone who managed to wedge their way into Advanced Nurturing High School at this point, Sakayanagi didn't for a moment believe was some ordinary, run-of-the-mill student.
If there was some poor soul unfortunate enough to be the exception, then that was simply their own bad luck. Nothing to be done about it.
Having delegated the work, Sakayanagi suddenly turned toward Chris:
"Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever formally introduced Shiraishi to you... She's quite the rare beauty, and her personality is wonderfully gentle too. Want me to play matchmaker?"
Chris's mouth twitched. A look of profound suffering crossed his face.
"Following your logic, shouldn't I be collecting everyone I meet — you included, plus Kamuro, Shiraishi, and this Nanase Tsubasa I'm about to encounter — one by one, until I've assembled a complete set?"
Sakayanagi Arisu nodded with great conviction and even clapped her hands together. "Exactly! You catch on fast! That's precisely what I mean!"
Though given the theatrical, chaos-stoking expression she was wearing, it was difficult for anyone to believe she actually meant a single word of it.
Still — the comment did catch the attention of a girl standing not far away.
"Um... Senpai. Senpai."
"Were you just... calling my name?"
A girl walked over — shoulder-length blonde hair, her bearing composed and gracious — her gaze moving between Chris and Sakayanagi.
Sakayanagi Arisu raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down. "So you're the one who came for the Black Sphere's Miracle — Nanase Tsubasa?"
Nanase Tsubasa met Sakayanagi's gaze without flinching and gave a straightforward nod. "That's right. I came here for the Black Sphere's Miracle — because there's something I need to accomplish... and that Miracle is the only way to do it."
Chris threw a bucket of cold water on it immediately.
"In that case, you'd better steel yourself to die at least once first."
Kamuro Masumi, standing nearby, couldn't bite her tongue any longer. "Hey — don't go scaring her the second you meet her... At least let the girl have a few peaceful days before the nightmares start."
"No, Kamuro-kun."
Sakayanagi Arisu cut her off, her gaze going cool. "She clearly came here already knowing what she was walking into."
"And do you honestly think that running away would keep anyone safe? If another uninhabited island exam rolls around — who gets to stand on the sidelines and call it someone else's problem?"
Kamuro Masumi fell silent. The memory of the previous night surfaced, and all she could manage was a long, hollow sigh.
Chris dispensed with any further preamble and looked directly at Nanase Tsubasa, offering her one final piece of advice:
"If you want to gain something, you have to be ready to lose something first."
"In a bit, I'll send you Horikita's LINE contact. Go seek her out yourself — she's one of the people who's lived through a Black Sphere exam firsthand, and she's been pushing herself to get stronger ever since."
"If you can't even earn her approval... then stay out of the way and keep your head down."
With that, Chris lost all further interest in the conversation, turned, and walked away.
Sakayanagi Arisu followed after him with a smile, and waved a little goodbye to the group behind her as she went.
Kamuro Masumi looked at the slightly stunned expression on Nanase Tsubasa's face, walked over to her, and said with helpless reassurance:
"Don't take it personally. Chris may come across as blunt — even brutal — but he's... genuinely a good person."
"If you want to survive in this place long-term, you'd do well to take his advice. Getting on good terms with Horikita is solid advice too."
"Shiraishi-san, wouldn't you agree?"
Getting no response, Kamuro Masumi looked over in mild confusion.
She found Shiraishi Asuka standing completely still, gazing in the direction Chris had walked away — eyes distant, lost in thought.
"Shiraishi...?"
Kamuro Masumi waved a hand in front of her face.
Shiraishi Asuka snapped back to herself, a faint flush rising across her fair cheeks. She hurried to explain:
"Ah — sorry, I spaced out for a second."
"It's just... when I heard Chris-kun's voice, I got this strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity."
"It feels like the memory is important — but no matter how hard I try, I can't remember why. It's a little unsettling..."
Upon hearing this line — practically the opening scene of a shojo manga —
Kamuro Masumi's jaw dropped. She slapped herself on the forehead with a dead-eyed resignation.
"Oh no... another innocent girl is about to go under..."
"Wait, no — Sakayanagi Arisu can hardly count as 'innocent.' She's a full-on deliberate latcher!"
Meanwhile, walking along the tree-lined path toward the gymnasium.
"Chris-kun, your class really does have a remarkable number of problem girls."
Sakayanagi Arisu, trailing half a step behind, studied his profile and spoke up softly. "Karuizawa puts on a front of being tough, but she constantly needs reassurance to feel safe. Horikita leads with her emotions and has an ego the size of a mountain. And as for Kushida... heh — let's leave it at that."
"In an environment this extreme, none of them even go to counseling — they just channel all their dependence onto you, one person. Is that really not a problem for you?"
She drew out the end of her words just a little: "That sounds exhausting~"
Chris didn't break stride. He answered without looking back:
"Just doing what's easy."
"If a few of them develop into actual combat assets who can carry their weight in the exam hall — then it's a success. If they don't, then fine — consider it a reasonable investment within the limits of what I'm able to do."
"Same as stocks. Nobody wins every trade."
Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head, something like admiration in the gesture. "You really are kind, Chris-kun."
"But you should know — people who are too kind always end up getting burned in the end~"
Chris finally stopped walking and turned to look at her.
"You've been lecturing me a lot today."
"On another note — since you bought the [Romantic Cannon], why haven't you been putting in time at the shooting range? The Imperial Arms' trait may be that the more danger the user is in the stronger it gets — but if you can't hit your target, all of that is moot. Relying on near-death desperation shots every time is not a sustainable habit."
Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head back — the long white line of her neck catching the light — and glanced at the shooting range signboard not far ahead.
"I was just about to head there, actually. It's right on the way."
"And since you've purchased [Demon Possession], you ought to be putting in practice too — there's a martial arts hall inside for training with a spear. Want to join?"
Chris shook his head and declined outright.
"No thanks."
"The spear that comes with [Demon Possession] doesn't suit me. The Black Sphere war blade handles better — not only can I adjust the length on the fly, but it's great for catching people off-guard at close range."
Sakayanagi Arisu pressed her lips together thoughtfully at that, something turning over behind her eyes.
She stopped walking and tilted her head at him.
"In that case... that means you don't actually have anything to do right now, does it, Chris-kun?"
"Then why did you walk me all the way over here?"
Chris answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"No reason. Just taking a walk."
"Your health is back to normal now anyway. I figured — since I had the time today — I'd make good on the time I still owed you. So you'd stop bringing up how I owe you hours."
Sakayanagi Arisu blinked.
A moment passed before the logic buried inside Chris's decidedly un-romantic delivery fully registered.
The girl let out a laugh despite herself — exasperated, but with very little real anger behind it.
She reached out with clean decisiveness, grabbed Chris by the sleeve, and pulled him off in an entirely different direction.
Chris stumbled along in complete bewilderment. "Where are we wandering off to now?"
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't look back.
"Shopping mall. Shopping for clothes."
"Shopping for clothes?" Chris looked even more baffled.
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled sweetly.
"Chris-kun, don't tell me you've forgotten... Last time, up on the rooftop — I did make a bet with you, didn't I?"
"A deal's a deal. Since a certain someone happens to have time today — I'm here to collect on my one day of exclusive maid duty, naturally~"
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