After Fang Wuwei returned to the Chuunibyou world yesterday, Yuta and Rikka were the first to come knocking. To be precise, Rikka came to recruit Fang Wuwei into the association, bringing Yuta along to help.
"My Evil King's True Eye has seen it. You and I are destined. There is evil energy on your body. To dispel it, you need the power of Black Flame. As long as you join our Far Eastern Magic Napping Society of Summer, I will make an exception and exorcise it for you..."
"Alright."
The conversation was concise and clear. Fang Wuwei was just thinking about how to reasonably join the most crucial association when it appeared, and Rikka herself came to invite him.
Just as he felt sleepy, someone brought him a pillow...
"Did someone just say sleepy?" Koushou suddenly sat up from the pillow, her face still bearing that unchanging smile, "Sleeping is very comfortable, you know~"
"Koushou, aren't you afraid of catching a cold sleeping here?" Fang Wuwei sat on the ground, sitting unreservedly beside the magic circle.
"So, Scarlet-Eyed Honored One, how was your exploration of the Other World these past two days?"
Just then, Rikka suddenly asked Fang Wuwei. With the strange title and the inexplicable question, it took Fang Wuwei a full seven or eight seconds to realize Rikka was talking to him.
"Exploration, huh..." Fang Wuwei stroked his chin. The world of Bocchi the Rock! did seem to be an Other World, so he just casually said, "Ah, it went pretty smoothly, though I did encounter quite a few powerful enemies along the way, which once left me gravely injured." Fang Wuwei waved his left arm, "This arm was even severed once, it hurt a lot. But, the goal was achieved, so that's good, right."
"Oh oh! Sugoi!" X3
"Wuwei, why are you joining in the commotion too! And Koushou, you shouldn't join in either!"
Facing Yuta's roar, Fang Wuwei pursed his lips. In this day and age, no one believes you even when you tell the truth~
"Tell me more about Death, Totsuka wants to hear Death!"
"Alright, alright, but I have a condition..."
Just as Rikka and Totsuka were pestering Fang Wuwei with questions, there was a knock at the door, which then opened, and a somewhat shy Nibutani poked her head inside.
"Ah, hello everyone~" Nibutani revealed a gentle smile, which shot directly into Yuta's heart like an arrow. At this time, Nibutani's Chuunibyou past had not yet been unearthed; she was still in the stage of maintaining her persona, her true personality hidden tightly. She joined this association only to obtain and destroy her past Chuunibyou dark history, the "dark scripture," which was in Totsuka Sanae's hands.
However, Yuta didn't know about this yet. In his eyes, Nibutani was still the perfect goddess, and she joined the association for him, Yuta.
There was no helping it. When Nibutani joined the association, she had said, "I joined Yuta's association." How could that not make one think more deeply?
"Sorry, I said I'd join but never came. The cheerleading association was too busy." At this time, Nibutani was still wearing a cute gymnastics uniform, which made Yuta's heart race even more, but Fang Wuwei didn't feel that way. Women only affect my drawing speed!
"It's alright, the exploration of the invisible boundary line is still progressing steadily, and a few days ago, our vanguard, Scarlet-Eyed Honored One, returned from the Other World, bringing valuable intelligence!" Rikka took over Nibutani's words, as Chuunibyou as ever, then directed the topic to Fang Wuwei, recounting with great care the information Fang Wuwei had revealed, such as 'the bands in the Other World sing beautifully!', 'the technology in the Other World is more advanced than ours!', 'the main currency of exchange for people in the Other World is no longer physical, but rather flotsam in the electronic ocean!' and so on.
(The animated version of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! premiered in October 2012, and Bocchi the Rock! premiered in October 2022, a difference of a full decade.)
Well, this Fang Wuwei is not normal either. Nibutani thought silently to herself, is Togashi-kun the only normal one in this entire association?
Forget it, as long as I get the dark scripture, I'll leave. What others are like doesn't matter.
But the Other World... it sounds super exciting!
Even Nibutani was actually a little curious deep down.
"Then, let me introduce you. The purpose of our association is to discover the legendary invisible boundary line. For this, it requires the concerted efforts and joint progress of me, the Evil King's True Eye User, the Thunder War Hammer User, the Scarlet-Eyed Honored One, and..."
"...the Dark Flame Master." Rikka pointed at Yuta, revealing a title Yuta would never want to hear again in his life. Fang Wuwei, who had just listened to Rikka's string of words, had just opened his mouth but then closed it, lowering his head and covering his face, silent... Even with his thick skin, his ears were slightly red.
"Hold on! I told you, don't call me by that name again..."
"What are you whispering to my Master, Dark Flame Master?" Yuta leaned close to Rikka, speaking in a voice Nibutani couldn't hear. He didn't want Nibutani to know who he was; to be precise, he didn't want anyone to know about his past Chuunibyou deeds. But Totsuka Sanae conveniently came over and immediately blurted out "Dark Flame Master."
Seeing that she had silenced Yuta with one sentence, Totsuka pressed on: "Why aren't you talking, Dark Flame Master?"
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"What's on purpose? Dark Flame Master." Totsuka Sanae smiled, clapping her hands on Yuta's shoulders, delivering the final blow, "Dark Flame Master!!"
Yuta, exasperated, grabbed Totsuka by the collar of her shirt at the back of her neck with one hand and lifted her up. At the same time, he quickly opened a nearby cabinet door and, with lightning speed, threw Totsuka inside. Then he quickly closed the cabinet and locked it.
It was a smooth combo, elegant, swift, with no wasted movements, making Fang Wuwei clap his hands in admiration.
No matter how Totsuka raged impotently inside the cabinet, making it wobble, Yuta paid no attention. Nibutani, however, felt sympathy.
Fang Wuwei leaned aside, watching the every move of everyone in the clubroom, feeling deeply gratified. Like this, everyone was present, the plot began to move forward, and if there were Transmigrators or Reincarnators, they could be better concentrated and protected, greatly improving work efficiency...
"It's gone, Death! My dark scripture seven-color manuscript is gone, Death! I remember clearly putting it in this cabinet! Could it have disappeared into a parallel world..." Just as Yuta and Nibutani were chatting, Totsuka suddenly shouted from inside the cabinet.
"Ah... that thick folder of yours from before? Don't worry, it's at my house." Yuta said, opening the cabinet door. As soon as the door opened, Totsuka stumbled out and fell to the ground.
Nibutani, hearing this, her eyes instantly sharpened for a moment, then quickly recovered to normal, mindful of her persona.
"When I was tidying up earlier, I accidentally took it home. I'll bring it back for you then."
"No! No, Death! Give it back to me immediately, Death!" How could Totsuka just accept this after hearing that? The dark scripture was her most precious possession, and she wanted it back right now, Death! Totsuka grabbed her two long ponytails with both hands, using the sandbags tied to them as weapons, spinning and hitting Yuta with the sandbags, shouting "Give it back to me, Death!" as if she had suffered a great injustice.
The information he needed to gather was gathered, and the goal of showing his face and becoming familiar was also achieved. Nibutani found an excuse to slip away.
"Ah, cheerleading practice is about to start, I have to go first."
"Also, Togashi-kun, could you come over for a moment? There's something I want to tell you."
Watching Yuta, whose face was slightly red, walk out the door with Nibutani, Fang Wuwei's eyes held a smile.
Youth is truly wonderful.
Watching Yuta return alone, his face even redder, Fang Wuwei shook off Totsuka Sanae, who was clinging to him, walked over, patted Yuta's shoulder, and spoke meaningfully.
"Brother, don't say I didn't warn you. Humanity's three great delusions: [phone vibrating], [I can counter-attack], and... [she likes me]. Heh heh, Nibutani joined our association for other reasons, so don't think too much~"
"What is it... you act like you know everything."
"Heh heh, look at my face, guess how many girls confessed to me when I was in junior high?"
"...Bastard! Explode, normie!"