The day proceeded like it was supposed to, or unlike what Kaharu had wanted to. During the rest of the lessons, other than the strange company of Naomi Shirazawa during the lessons, Kaharu kept getting glances from a new-found, unintentional rival by the name of Onata Kakiwaru. Despite the action of saving her from delinquents before, which was supposed to make their relations friendly, there was a playful rivalry brewing between them. It wasn't one-sided either, Kaharu, filled with his usual flare of self-righteousness, actively participated in that interpretation with his inner thoughts. Even the fact that Tsukino continued to steal glances went by him as he was already focused on three things in his head. The interactions with his 'intellectual rival' Naomi Shirazawa, The build-up of tensions between him and his 'delinquent rival' Onata Kakiwaru, and finally the face of Amatsuyu.

There was a sense of danger looming over him, like the intuition of certain animals before an earthquake, he felt something wrong about him.

But there wasn't necessarily any logical reasoning to his feeling, however, as even though Amatsuyu's behavior differed from his expectations: A lot could've changed in those years.

He took a slight glance at his uniform as he continued his day, removing the third thing from his mental list.

Even if there was to be trouble from him, as the protector of the student body, and the winner of that day's battle, there was no way Amatsuyu would stand a chance.

*STAB*

The sudden stab of a pen to the side of his torso woke Kaharu up from his ramblings, and a smug smile awaited his sight as he turned to his left and caught the sight of Naomi. She started whispering with a hand held up by her mouth to reduce visibility

"Hey, let me ask you a question. When did the battle of Sekigahara take place?"

Kaharu's pupils shrunk as he was confronted with a subject he didn't know anything about, worsened by the fact he'd barely paid attention during the lesson.

Another smile lit up on Naomi's face, a chance for retribution. Although the inherent maliciousness in her intentions had dwindled severely since the last time. She said

"What? You don't know even that? Even though you're so good at math, you seem to be a little bit useless at history."

Kaharu let the insults guide themselves to his head instantly as he got fired up, clenching his hand in a swift motion. As if a fire was lit in his eyes, he said

"Shut up! It's not like---"

But he soon realized the loudness of his voice as everyone turned their head around to look at him. The fact that people were looking at him wasn't the thing that annoyed him in that situation, it was the laughing Naomi Shirazawa hiding behind a textbook that made him feel played. Like a chess piece that had been moved to a certain position, with the explicit intention of being sacrificed for a greater good. Although there was no greater good in that situation, there was only the amusement of another person at his expense.

- She toyed with me! She led me to this situation, you piece of-------- -

The teacher adjusted his glasses after having to have stopped his reading, and said calmly, but with a hint of distraught in the back of his voice

"Please be quiet, Kaharu. Sit down."

Kaharu swiftly turned himself around and pointed at the teacher, saying

"You shut up too! You and your talking…!"

Despite it being his occupation to talk, Kenjiro showed his distaste for it in a quick declaration. The teacher stood stunned, with the remainder of the class also reacting, although significantly less. There was an electricity to the air as Kaharu pointed at the teacher and adjusted his collar.

His index finger was put to rest as he put up his foot on the chair he previously sat on, broadening his shoulders and said

"No one in here cares about this lesson, nor do they about school in general! You're all so focused on your grades and your future, you see nothing else!

You evaluate your existence through the letters you get on a paper, you validate your effort through empty words from those above you in society, a place you all want to reach one day, to get the same authority one day.

You're falling to the ground at 100 kilometers per hour, but you don't try and pull your parachute because the clouds stand in between you and the ground, so you don't see it.

I don't want you idiots to follow that fate! As the protector of the student body, I want all of you to thrive in personal ways, building the happiness you can through your own choices!"

Before anyone had the time to react, Tsukino reacted quickly to the speech

- Why would you say 'idiots'!? That sure is a harsh word to use for people you want to protect! -

There wasn't a single audible reaction in the classroom, as the topic immediately fell into a strangely uncomfortable space for most. Some got slightly upset as the speech tried to invalidate the time they'd spent on studying, but a lot of people were mostly confused about what to think. It just felt out-of-place, and complex.

There was also the fact that Kaharu Kahari was the one saying it, the delinquent who lived on violence so the example of going out of line wasn't too attractive to most students present.

The teacher was the angriest in the room, as he didn't like what Kaharu had offered in words. Although he could agree on basic terms with the message, he disliked the arrogance and self-righteousness Kaharu displayed through his actions. Like he understood anything, the delinquent who never bothered to pay attention during class. The person who completely disregarded the feelings of the people in the system, earnestly wanting to share knowledge with others. The people who dedicated themselves to the scholarly, the disingenuity of Kaharu Kahari slightly annoyed him.

But even he was partial.

Two extremes, with the only middle-ground being the space between them, stared at each other. Tensions were being built up as a silent staring battle was undergoing, but it was unsure of what direction to head in. Like an unreliable car.

All the students were anxiously observing the situation, trying to see the path of the car driving out in the dark black night. It was a futile task however, the unknown adding to the tensions.

Finally, as sparks could be seen from its front wheels, an engineer tried to make herself known and fix it before it accidentally drove off a cliff. Tsukino, almost breaking her unintentional and unofficial neutrality, felt the desire to stand up quickly and qualm the fire.

But, like she'd been denied attention previously, there was no need for her intervention, a mechanic from within the car had arrived.

Kahari smiled as he smugly said

"What's wrong, 'teach? I thought we had a lesson right now. You're not gonna continue it?"

The car was fixed completely as the teacher let his unnecessary feelings go with a

"Yes, we are continuing..."

Kahari placed himself on his seat again hastily as he smiled. To him, it was a victory. He didn't need to push some point against the teacher, he'd made himself clear. Although it would've been ideal to make sure everyone understood him, but no one would've listened to the mostly-shunned delinquent of the class. Yet they'd been forced to do so just a couple of minutes ago.

Naomi felt a sliver of guilt as she comprehended the situation that took place, all because of her prank. Something she thought she was going to stop doing, as it only proved to be a nuisance, but the feeling kept burning within her. Something dark that wanted to gobble up the hearts of other people, perhaps as a form of venting.

The smile on Kaharu brought peace to her heart as she looked over, a strange phenomenon. Like a subtle way of communicating acceptance of some sort, although it was in its core a malicious acceptance. It wasn't like the trait she perceived to be accepted was good or anything, but it felt good to be understood in some way.

That feeling of guilt forced her hand to grab a pen and write down the words

"I'm sorry"

As she shyly pushed it to Kaharu's side of the dual-desk, he took a look at the foreign inscription and said somewhat quietly

"Tsk.

Can't read that.

A continuation of your previous shenanigans, huh?

Thank you very much, Bully-mi..."

Naomi instantly went into a state of mental panic

- Bully-mi!? What's that for nickname!?

Also, didn't this have the exact opposite of what I wanted!? I figured he'd be able to read it at least, are you kidding me!?

AAHhhhhh!

I wanna correct the misunderstanding so badly, but we're in class.

I'll just tell him later, I guess...-

That weight was forced on her shoulders for the rest of the lesson, as even Kaharu paid a little bit of attention during it.

…

"What do you mean my powers are weak!?"

By a tree stump where a tall tree once stood, and slightly too tall grass, signaling that someone from the shrine hadn't been there for a couple of days, that's where I was told of my lack of powers. A shocking revelation as I had the impression of me being really strong. By the power of imagination, I could already feel the electrons of my power slowing down in a power weakening. But they jolted again as I rejected the idea in search of proper answers. I'd managed to use it against several people effectively, after all.

The god with three horns stood opposite to me, in an unnatural pose with a disturbed face, as he held his eyes closed for the moment.

He responded

"I didn't really tell you this last time, but…

your powers completely depend on popularity."

The god quickly threw his hands above his head in a defensive preparation, making it seem like the roles were reversed.

I activated my electric powers and slammed against he stub in between us, only to witness it shatter in many pieces that fell in between the slightly too tall grass on the ground, disguising itself among it. A show of power was necessary, in my mind, but I had other reasons, a memory that flashed by quickly. I looked up from staring at my hand, placed on what used to be a tree stub, and said

"It seems pretty strong to me, what do you even mean by "popularity"!?"

The god displayed a slight frown at the display of aggression, and with a strangely terrified face, continued to answer the question I posed

"Well, the strength of your powers depends on the number of followers who come and pray at your shine. So the more popular you are, the stronger your powers will be. Although the powers themselves are suited to the individual God Candidates as they receive them.

This shrine is, uh, how should I put it… kinda obscure, so there aren't that many people that use this shrine to pray."

My brain was frying, all of the new information entering my head made it feel hot. It didn't help that I'd actually tried to pay attention in class that same day, which I regretted doing. Like putting sausages on the pan for a little bit too long, the end result wasn't too good. But I wanted to add another sausage onto the pan as I, in a state of pure confusion, commented

"God… Candidate…?"

The three-horned god, seemingly with some sort of complex, lightly laughed my subtle question away as I got annoyed. Like he was laughing at my lack of knowledge, how was I supposed to know that stuff? Despicable bastard, amusing himself at my expense.

The three-horned god noticed the quiet hostility from my side, as I suddenly burst out

"What are you laughing at, huh!?"

He suddenly switched to an anxious face as he waved his arms in the air frantically, trying to diffuse the situation, he said

"No, you see, I was just thinking that it would be best if I didn't tell you right now. You seem to be overloaded, after all."

I just turned to my right and scuffed out an aggressive "Huh..."

"See ya, then."

I left the scene as soon as I could, petting Puri quickly before I did, leaving the three-horned god alone by the tree stump that was once there. He looked down at it and noticed the hidden tree pieces, if only he moved the grass a little bit, he could see the tree parts clearly.

As he did that, he smiled to himself as he thought

- I guess he, as well, has a lot to think about.

Strange guy…

Sorry for thinking that, Kaharu! -

…

A beautiful river bank was placed beside Kaharu as he walked home, a peaceful quiet around him as no one was walking there. No one dared to walk beside him, at least.

The sun setting set up ideas within Kaharu that he started thinking about.

His powers, were they really that powerless.

The faces of the three teenagers he beat up for Yusuke flashed in front of him as he thought about it, as much as he'd rather not.

- Is powerlessness able to cause so much damage? Not only physically, but mentally as well…

I just can't agree with Yusuke, I think I was in the right to beat them up. They were doing despicable stuff, after all.

But he's exactly how I was before, have I gone jaded?

Did those two screw me up that much?

Or did I…?

AGH…!

But if weak powers did that, then, what would the really strong ones be like?

AAAGHHHH! I DON'T KNOW!

THIS IS ANNOYING ME-

Kaharu messed up his hair as much as he could as he couldn't find the answers to his questions, as they were too grounded in reality for him to make his mind up as to give an answer. He wanted to blame everybody for his actions, but a sliver of him directed it at himself, and that minority caused greater distress than it should've.

Like a hidden scar being brought up in haste.

His walk home remained confusion, until he forgot about it at his arrival.

...

"Soon… I shall control everything here."

Taking in the view of an empty school standing above many nearby buildings, the kid looked up towards it. An almost indescribable happiness filled him as he thought about his near future, the fantasies were within reach. With his status, they were justified as well. Everything was going according to his desires.

Even that annoying brat would be taught a lesson when he got the chance.

Everything doubtful had left his heart, they'd been quietly but surely been erased over the past couple of days. There was no longer any confusion to be felt, only the clarity of running towards a goal in front of you.

Everything…

Everything would get better from then on.

There was no doubt about it.

The red-haired, with an angle-filled school uniform, smiled broadly with twisted eyes as he left his future domain, starting his walk home.

- It's not leaving the palms of my hands after all,

It's all mine. -