Yuta and Rikka were both having a tough time.
On Yuta's side, ever since Rikka left, he had often been distracted. Even at home, he was dazed, and he frequently broke things while cooking and washing dishes. His mental state was worrying.
Even when Kuzuha called Fang Wuwei, he said he couldn't help and that Yuta had to get through it himself.
Every morning upon waking, the first thing Yuta did was open his phone's email. He hoped there would be a letter, an email from Rikka... but there wasn't. Each time, he only saw an empty inbox.
Walking out the door with a face full of disappointment, Yuta was distraught, partly sad at not seeing Rikka, and partly... blaming himself.
"Good morning, Big Brother. Your letter is on your desk," Kuzuha said.
Kuzuha saw her brother come out of his room, looking listless. Even when she spoke to him, he only responded symbolically, and she had no idea if he even heard her.
Clearly, he hadn't. Yuta walked straight to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, but he was completely devoid of energy.
His mind was filled with Totsuka Sanae's crying and Rikka's expectant gaze...
The truth he understood, the truth Totsuka Sanae understood, how could Rikka not understand it? If she understood, then why would she...
Yuta thought of Fang Wuwei. His words, perhaps, could... No, he was just a Chunibyo too.
What is Chunibyo, and what is a normal person?
Leaning his head against the door, Yuta began to ponder... In a daze, he seemed to hear movement from the ceiling, which instantly drew his attention.
He thought Rikka had returned, so he immediately rushed up, knocked on her door, and shouted for Rikka to open the door.
But he noticed that the calculator, which had been stuck to the door and that Toka and her mother hadn't torn off, had just disappeared... and he had never even noticed.
It just... disappeared... Rikka couldn't possibly be back now. He knew that; it would be at least a few more days...
He knew Rikka wasn't there, but he still wanted to try. How foolish!
When he arrived at school, Yuta was distracted because of Rikka. If Rikka hadn't contacted him, had she contacted anyone else?
So, he sought out the small group Rikka had previously joined to inquire about her whereabouts, but he was told she hadn't contacted them either.
Amidst the girls' teasing arguments, Yuta left dejectedly. During lunch break, he came to Club, preparing to clean up as usual. Time was running out; he needed to clear it out quickly for the next association, as someone had reportedly already applied...
But when he opened Club's door, he quickly froze. He saw a beautiful girl with long, golden hair squatting on the ground, dismantling the LED light tubes of a magic circle.
Is she from the new association? Is she here to help clean up?
No... she looks so familiar.
"Excuse me... who are you?"
"Oh, you're annoying, Senior. I'm Totsuka Sanae, death!"
The golden-haired beauty stood up, her voice unnaturally affected, and smiled at Yuta.
Yuta was stunned. He felt a little... nauseous.
"Nauseous? Could it be from eating the roots of the Dark Tree?"
Although Totsuka Sanae had changed her hairstyle, she was still a bit Chunibyo and seemed quite happy.
"Who would eat that kind of thing?! You're the one who's disgusting! What's with your hair?!"
Yuta, accustomed to Totsuka Sanae's identity as the Thunder War Hammer User, found it a bit unsettling to see Totsuka Sanae without her pigtails, the ends no longer weighted with sandbags. Now, Totsuka Sanae's long hair fell all the way to her calves, looking exceptionally beautiful, which actually made him a little uncomfortable.
"No~ I just thought pigtails were too childish, right, Senior~"
Listening to Totsuka Sanae's affected and completely unnatural "Se♦nior♦," Yuta got goosebumps.
Pulling Totsuka Sanae's hair to make her stop, Yuta's attitude towards Totsuka Sanae was still the same as before.
"Let go, Senior! Hair is a woman's life! How can you just grab it like that, death!"
You actually know that hair is a woman's life?!
Looking at the completely transformed Totsuka Sanae, Yuta sighed deeply and let go of Totsuka Sanae's hair. Since she was already like this, he couldn't treat her the same way as before.
"By the way, your change was too sudden. What happened?"
You have the nerve to ask?!
Facing this question, Totsuka Sanae just smiled and squatted back down to dismantle the magic circle.
"Actually, after that day, I thought a lot. Just like what... no, what Takanashi Senior said, what Togashi Senior said..."
Before Yuta could marvel at Totsuka Sanae's great change, Isshiki Makoto's anxious cry suddenly came from behind him...
"Yuta! Koushou... Koushou, she..."
Then he saw Totsuka Sanae and was dumbfounded...
Regardless of that, led by Isshiki Makoto, the three of them rushed together to the second-year floor and hastily pushed open the classroom door.
Then they saw Koushou sitting in her seat, covering her head with a pained expression, her right eye covered with an eye patch, her left hand wrapped in bandages, and wearing a very Chunibyo ring.
Her friends surrounding her were all speechless~
Oh my god... what's going on?
Even Koushou's vocabulary had become Chunibyo, identical to Rikka's Chunibyo, and she deliberately lowered her voice into a Chunibyo bass.
"Could it be a cold?"
"Hmph... If only it were just a cold."
Koushou was completely in character, smiling bitterly as she pulled out a small black medicine bottle with no label or instructions from her school bag. Amidst her friends' surprise, confusion, and worry, she opened it, drank it, and then started coughing violently...
Koushou was quite difficult to deal with now, responding coldly even to her friends' concerns...
It left Yuta and the others dumbfounded. Instead, Totsuka Sanae beside him covered her mouth and laughed.
"Oh my, what on earth is going on? This outfit is really embarrassing."
"You have the nerve to say that!"
Yuta delivered a hand chop, making Totsuka Sanae yelp in pain. Her reflexive 'death' suffix made Isshiki Makoto realize who she was.
"You're that middle school kid?!"
"You just figured that out?"
The three argued at the door. Koushou's goal was naturally achieved; others weren't important, only Yuta had to come. She had calculated that Isshiki Makoto would bring Yuta.
Koushou was just spacey, not stupid; on the contrary, she was very meticulous.
"You've come, Dark Flame Master!"
"Don't call me Dark Flame Master."
An expected reaction. Next, according to Rikka's instructions...
"My eye, do you want to see it?"
"See your head!"
"Eh~~ How can you be like that~~"
An unexpected reaction. Koushou instantly broke character, reverting to her old tone, that soft and gentle tone.
"No, about that... why are you imitating Rikka?"
This... um, this is in the script! I know this one!
Koushou resumed her Chunibyo tone, covered her eye, and smirked evilly.
"This isn't an imitation; this is the inheritance of the Evil King's True Eye!"
"Inheritance?"
"That's right. It was on the last moonless night that she entrusted all her dark power to me... which means I am now the successor of the Evil King's True Eye."
"You don't need to inherit something like that!!"
Isshiki Makoto looked at the greatly changed Koushou, unable to accept reality, and cried out in despair.
"That won't do!"
Koushou recalled her lines, covered her eye, and looked at Yuta mysteriously.
"The Evil King's True Eye must endure, as long as... the Dark Flame Master still exists in this world..."
Yuta understood what this was. Perhaps Rikka was afraid he would be lonely here alone, so she specifically asked Koushou to inherit her persona and accompany Yuta and Totsuka Sanae.
But he never expected Koushou to go to such lengths.
So, what exactly happened that made Rikka specifically arrange for someone to accompany him?
Yuta had a very, very bad feeling.