"Psychos!"
The two girls, flustered and angry, cursed and stormed off.
Hayama Hayato wore an odd expression, caught between amusement and awkwardness. "That line you said just now was kind of…"
Makoto replied, "If you're interested in them, I can call them back for you."
Hayama's smile froze. He sighed. "Senpai, that's too savage."
Makoto smirked, "You need more practice, kouhai."
Aota, their classmate, asked nervously, "You think they'll come back with reinforcements or something?"
Hayama Hayato smiled gently. "Unlikely. In a place like this, unless they seriously outnumber us, no one would dare pick a fight."
Though Aota and the others weren't particularly tall, Makoto had a solid, tall build, and Hayama Hayato had blonde hair.
In a mixed-bag district like Kabukicho, a blond guy is practically marked as a delinquent.
With the three of them standing together, they looked like a team from a delinquent high school manga.
Seeing how calm their leader Makoto was, Aota and the others felt reassured. "So what do we do next?"
Makoto pointed behind them. "You guys can stroll around a bit. Just don't come in here."
Hayama caught on that Makoto wanted to "split lanes" and asked, "You got something to do?"
Makoto raised his phone and shook it. "Not really. Just looking for some inspiration."
"Inspiration? Oh, got it."
They didn't question him at all.
After all, their student film had gained traction online, and Makoto had been the one who wrote the script.
Now that he said he was looking for inspiration, it made perfect sense.
"You're already prepping for a second short film?" Hayama perked up.
Ever since that shoot, Hayama had admired Makoto even more.
In his mind, no other high schooler could juggle writing, directing, and everything else so perfectly like Makoto.
"We haven't got any concrete plans yet. That's why I need inspiration."
Makoto parted ways with them and walked deeper into the crowd without looking back.
Hayama led his friends in the other direction. To keep them entertained, he even suggested taking photos of the nightlife and exploring a bit.
"You're right, Hayama. I'd actually planned to take some pictures as keepsakes, but totally forgot."
The two classmates quickly pulled out their phones.
Hayama looked back—Makoto's figure had already vanished into the crowd.
He kind of wanted to follow Makoto for inspiration too. But since Makoto chose to go solo, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
"Still not close enough to be best friends, huh?"
He recalled Makoto's talk about "living behind a mask," and zoned out for a moment.
Because of that, he didn't notice the luxury car parked nearby.
"Those three kids came out, but where's Fushimi?" asked Sayuri inside the car, watching the high schoolers taking photos.
Mrs. Yukinoshita was puzzled. "They came together. Why would Makoto split off?"
"Maybe they all wanted to explore different things, so they just split?"
"Maybe…" Mrs. Yukinoshita replied casually, though she didn't quite buy it.
She had a feeling Makoto had something else in mind.
And indeed, her instincts were right.
Makoto had separated from Hayama and the others because he wanted to stir up some chaos.
As he made his way deeper into the crowd, he mentally calculated the radius of Yumiko's halo.
Yes, he planned to activate Yumiko's halo here.
He wanted to see just how many kinds of buffs it could provide.
He turned down several enthusiastic girls along the way, then climbed up on a trash bin. Once he confirmed Hayama and the others were well outside the halo's range, he relaxed.
[Yumiko's Queen Aura], activated.
In an instant, the aura spread out from Makoto at the center, covering everyone around—men and women who had come out for some nighttime thrills.
Buffs appeared above people's heads.
A guy with the [Overstimulated] buff suddenly did several backflips and, after barely chatting with a friend, broke into a fistfight.
A girl with the [Burning Passion] buff tried to drag her date into something, but he had [No Desires] over his head, and they froze in an awkward stalemate.
From a nearby brothel, a bunch of men burst out yelling, [Extremely Disciplined], screaming, "We agreed on three minutes, and three minutes only!"
The girls waiting for sugar daddies suddenly had [Focused on Studying] floating above their heads.
To the stunned onlookers outside the aura, these girls calmly took off their masks, pulled out their phones, and started looking up answers and studying earnestly.
The whole scene was chaotic—but somehow, it didn't feel out of place in Kabukicho.
The only issue was there were too many [Overstimulated] buffs, so fights kept breaking out.
Those not yet caught in the aura began backing away, excitedly filming everything on their phones from a safe distance.
"What the hell is going on?"
Hayama and the others were completely dumbfounded.
They had just been happily taking night photos, and now the same place they were moments ago was utter bedlam.
No, "chaos" wasn't quite right—it was like a live version of a compilation of abstract weirdos from the internet.
"Fushimi's not in trouble, is he?"
Hayama immediately thought of Makoto and picked up his phone—just in time to see a message from him:
[I'm fine. You guys stay back.]
"How is he, Hayama? Is Fushimi okay?" a friend asked.
"He must've gotten out in time. We should call the police. Look—some of those guys are bleeding."
"Yeah, let's do it."
In the car—
Mrs. Yukinoshita saw the sudden outbreak of chaos up ahead and immediately got out without thinking.
Sawamura Sayuri quickly grabbed her. "Calm down. We can't go over there like this!"
Mrs. Yukinoshita froze and realized her outburst. Staring at the melee of brawling youths, she said in a low voice, "Makoto is still in there."
Are you a bit too worried about him?
Sayuri's eyes flickered, and she tried to persuade her.
"I know you're worried about Fushimi, but it's clearly out of control over there. Rushing in would be dangerous."
Even the driver stepped out. "It's too risky for you. Let me go instead."
"Please do," Mrs. Yukinoshita nodded, regaining her composure.
The driver promised to find Makoto—he'd seen him before.
But he never came back…
The moment he entered the aura, a [Meditation] buff appeared above his head.
So he sat down cross-legged amid the chaos, looking completely serene as he finally found peace.
Mrs. Yukinoshita and Sayuri: "???"
"Why is your driver sitting down? And why does he look… relaxed?" Sayuri was baffled.
"I don't know… Right, I should just call Makoto."
She slapped her forehead, realizing her concern had made her irrational. She had his number—she could just call and confirm his situation.
Less than five seconds after dialing, the call connected.
"Aunt Yukinoshita?" came Makoto's voice, background noise full of commotion.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm also in Kabukicho. Are you alright?"
"Huh? You're here too? Wait, you didn't follow us, did you?"
"We'll talk about that later. Just tell me—how are things on your end?"
"Oh, I'm fine. I saw the riot breaking out and ducked out early."
"Can you get out now?"
"Might take a little while."
"Alright. Be careful when you do. If necessary, I can send someone to pick you up."
Sayuri stood silently beside her.
She stared intently at Mrs. Yukinoshita on the phone.
With her insight and experience, she could clearly see the worry behind her calm exterior.
Sure, Mrs. Yukinoshita kept a steady expression—but Sayuri wasn't just anyone.
As the call ended, she casually asked, "Feeling better now?"
"Yes. That boy's smart—he knew to find a safe spot," Mrs. Yukinoshita nodded.
"Good."
Sayuri replied, then smiled teasingly. "You care about Fushimi way more than I expected."
Mrs. Yukinoshita remained composed. "Once you get to know him, you'll understand why I value him so much."
"Because of his potential?"
"He and my younger daughter are very close."
"Ohh."
Sayuri's suspicions were confirmed.
So the goal was to make Makoto their son-in-law?
No wonder she was so anxious.
Sayuri remembered her own daughter mentioning she was friends with Makoto.
"Looks like my Eriri doesn't stand a chance~ She told me about Makoto, and also mentioned Kasumigaoka-san.
I thought I'd get a chance to meet that outstanding boy someday." She teased intentionally.
Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't reply.
Elsewhere—
Makoto wasn't hiding.
And he certainly hadn't left.
Since it's a time loop, he didn't need to worry about his safety at all.
In Yukino's mother's eyes, maybe he was in a dilemma he couldn't escape from.
But in his own eyes, he was riding the tiger and had no intention of getting off at all...
He picked up his phone and recorded the chaotic scene in front of him, then found Yukino from his contacts and sent it to her.
Soon, Yukino replied with a question mark.
Yukino: [Where are you? Is this still Tokyo?]
Makoto: [I'm in Shinjuku.]
Yukino immediately called via voice.
As soon as Makoto answered, Yukino's anxious voice rushed in, "What are you doing in Shinjuku? And what's going on in that video just now?"
"They're doing a free-for-all brawl. Run fast and you get nothing, run slow and you get beat up," said Makoto.
Yukino: "If you can still say stupid things to me, that means you're okay."
"Relax, I'm fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to record that video and send it to you."
"Here's a suggestion—come back immediately."
"No problem."
But hearing his response, Yukino's tone cooled down:
"Knowing you, if you agreed that quickly, it definitely means you're still planning to wander around for a while."
Not giving him a chance to respond, the girl snapped, "Do you want me to come and drag you back?"
"No need for that, because your mom already arrived on the battlefield before you."
"?"
Why is my mom involved now?
As Yukino went silent, Makoto caught sight of a corgi squatting by the trash can, its little legs trembling, clearly terrified by the chaos.
Makoto reached out and patted the dog's head. The corgi looked up and whimpered in fear, then curled into a ball again.
This was quite literally a canine in full tremble mode.
A few seconds later, Yukino finally spoke again: "I remember now, the background in your video is Kabukicho in Shinjuku?"
"Yup," Makoto admitted.
"Then tell me—what are you doing there? And why did my mom go with you?"
"She came because she was worried about me. As for me…" Makoto deliberately paused and smiled.
"You didn't come hang out with me, and I didn't want to disturb your studies, so I had no choice but to wander around alone."
"…I'll come find you in a bit. You hurry up and come back."
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