I'm a weird expert in Japan

You can't blame him, it was just that Hanekawa suddenly gave a very magical answer, which scared him to death.

"It's hard to understand?"

"Well...I don't deny it." Lian muttered.

"Then try to understand it slowly. If you rush for success, you will achieve nothing." Hanekawa's gaze was gentle and penetrating, as if it went straight into the soul of the person being stared at. "Ren has never craved for such a thing. All you need is a companion with whom you can coexist."

"Well……"

Lian couldn't really refute it.

Although she says from time to time that she respects Mr. Hanekawa and wants to marry him.

In fact, he was just shouting. He couldn't understand what entering into a marriage relationship meant to human beings. He had observed his parents' relationship for more than ten years, but he still couldn't figure it out.

He showed all kinds of kindness to Teacher Hanekawa, but in fact it was only because Teacher Hanekawa never regarded him as a half-blood vampire, but as an ordinary, useless, problem student who needed the teacher's supervision.

"Well, if Lian really figures these things out one day, it's not impossible for the teacher to start considering your current thoughts."

“It always feels like it’s a long way off…” Lian hummed, pulling at the brim of her hat.

In fact, he felt neither disappointed nor happy.

"But speaking of it, Shijo-kun did a great job this time." Hanekawa raised his finger, "I didn't expect Touma-san to really accept the guidance and come to participate in the competition--"

"Teacher, don't worry. I heard the performance just now. It's not flawless, but it's better than the other contestants here," Lian said with a proud expression.

"Well, don't be so confident. I think there are so many talented players in this competition." Hanekawa supported his chin with one hand. "It's better to be cautious."

"No way, I have worked with so many pianists after all—" Lian shook her fingers, "Ah, come to think of it, I have worked with a pianist named Touma Yoko before... We both have the last name Touma, what a coincidence."

Hanekawa half opened his eyes, "Um, Ren-kun... Touma Kazusa-san is the daughter of the Touma Yoko you mentioned."

"Huh? Is that so?"

"Didn't you notice? Or do you not know?"

"I really don't know." Lian clapped her hands to express her surprise, and then suddenly realized something else, "Teacher, what did you call me just now?"

"Ren-kun." Hanekawa reached out and flicked Ren's forehead. "Since you've been so attentive in arranging things for me during this period, I decided to call you by your name from now on. I think you'll be happier this way."

"Well, this... rather than being happy—" Lian twisted her body, "I feel like when Mr. Hanekawa called me like that, my back is itchy and has goose bumps."

He really felt it was very strange. He didn't feel anything every time Shiyu called out, but as soon as Teacher Hanekawa changed her words, he felt something was unnatural.

"Really? If you're not used to it, then change it back."

"No, it's fine like this. I'm used to the itchiness..." Lian smiled awkwardly.

Teacher Hanekawa nodded and lowered his voice slightly, "Speaking of which, regarding turning Lian-kun into a bat—"

"Hmm...ah..." Lian was stunned for a moment before she reacted.

In fact, he had almost forgotten about it. After all, it was just a minor accident, and he hadn't even discussed it with Woyan Izuko.

Although she thought about how she was almost swallowed by the "darkness", in the end, nothing happened, so Ren put it out of her mind.

Thinking about it carefully afterwards, I realized that there were actually big problems with the way that incident happened.

Turning Lian into a bat did not change his nature, but it made it impossible for him to move easily, making it easier for him to stray from his own path, and thus making him unable to do anything when "Darkness" appeared.

In other words, the curse was meant to get rid of him.

"Ren-kun actually felt something was wrong." Hanekawa said, "According to the information we have so far, the weird expert who did this is already dead."

"died?"

"Well, the body was found a few days ago. He has been dead for at least a month. The scene has been completely destroyed, and it is extremely difficult to collect clues." Hanekawa's tone became more serious, "Ren-kun should not have gone to look for Miss Woyan--"

"Just knowing is not enough? Or... does the other party have any means to avoid Miss Woyan's 'omniscience'..."

"That's hard to say." Hanekawa shook his head. "At least that's the case for now. Anyway, after staying at Lian-kun's house, my conclusion is... I should try not to live alone from now on."

Regarding the place where I live, I can’t say the safety is bad. After all, it is a famous high-end residential area in Tokyo, and the public security must be very high.

But compared to the residence of the Shijo family, it is completely not on the same level.

There are special protections against both humans and monsters.

"I understand. I will discuss it with my uncle's family and move back." Lian said.

Teacher Hanekawa was slightly surprised. "I thought Ren-kun would take this opportunity to say 'I want to live with Teacher Hanekawa'."

"Well... they already know someone is coming to 'eliminate' me, and they're planning to make it like a natural extinction..." Lian raised her head, "I can't put Mr. Hanekawa in danger, right?"

"Really? In that case, I will accept Ren's consideration." Teacher Hanekawa was silent for a while, then smiled and nodded. "But I will continue to investigate the malicious intent directed at you. If you have time, go and exchange information with Araragi-kun. After all, it has become a criminal case. Contacting him will make it easier to learn about the latest developments of the police."

"..." Lian did not respond.

"Did you hear that? Or do you just not want to trouble others?"

"No, it's nothing."

Chapter 131 Ending Who would have thought of this! (2)

In fact, Ren had no aversion to bothering others, especially to bother Araragi Koyomi.

Regarding the previous incident, I just thought that contacting Araragi Koyomi directly would be equivalent to contacting Oshino Shinobu, so I didn't go to find Hanekawa Sensei.

——Of course, being stopped by Shiyu that day was also a reason.

But now that she had learned about the cause behind the curse and the deaths of the people involved, Lian actually had some bad associations in her mind.

If it was the Shinomiya family, it would be easy to understand.

No matter how close Shizhu and his sister are, they cannot deny the fact that their family is old and rotten.

But if we just say that it was done by the main family of the Shinomiya family just because someone died, there is really a lack of evidence.

There is a joke in the social circle that cannot be made public but is circulated privately. It says that if all the members of the Shinomiya family are shot, there may be some innocent people; but if every other person is shot, there will definitely be no innocent people.

In Japan, a country where it is extremely difficult to determine the death penalty, one can imagine how serious the spread of such rumors is.

After all, Lian actually didn't quite understand why his family came after him.

As a member of the Shijo family, Shijo Ren is neither a high-ranking heir nor has any real influence. At most, he is highly related to his father.

Getting rid of Lian won't hurt the foundation of the Shijo family...but with his fame and status, he can give the branch family a hard slap in the face.

But he was already in danger of being swallowed by the "darkness", and even if the main family did not take action, there was a high probability that he would disappear.

After investigating the incident, the conclusion reached was simply that Lian disappeared into the "darkness".

Then they can only declare to the outside world that they are missing or retired, which will not affect the reputation of the Shijo family at all.

That being the case...

Lian held his head and began to think hard. No matter what, with his knowledge and experience, he could not understand what the point of getting rid of himself was.

"Many times, things are not that complicated. You just make them complicated."

A can was handed to him.

Lian reached out to take it and was about to say thank you, but found that it was held by a hand through the sleeve and handed to her.

"Huh?" He was stunned for a moment.

"What's wrong? You don't like 7-Up lemon-flavored soda? That's a pity. I can only keep it for myself." Oshino Ogi was still smiling as he said this.

Then Lian snatched the soda, "Thank you for the treat - no, why are you here -!"

"Senior Hanekawa saw that you were silent, so I thought it was not appropriate to disturb you. The competition started again inside, so I went back to the concert hall first." Oshino Fan waved his arms, "It's pitiful to see you here alone, so I will show my compassion and come to visit you."

"...Are you really created by the subconscious of the veteran police officer? You speak so viciously..."

"Replacement guaranteed."

"What do you mean authentic..." Lian opened the drink.

"But Ren, you seemed really troubled just now, and it's not easy to disturb Hanekawa-senpai, so I think you should be troubled. It's really not easy. People who come from big families always have all kinds of troubles."

"Oh, um... I actually... don't have that kind of worry." Lian scratched his head.

Lian knew from the beginning that he was not an ordinary human in the biological sense, and naturally lost all the desires that belonged to humans.

Of course, there may still be some color. (guilty)

Even if, at this moment, everything Lian had gained because of her birth was taken away for no reason, he would not feel the slightest bit troubled.

Since I can't live like a human, I'll just become an immortal vampire who is not afraid of the sun. Lian had this ambiguous thought somewhere in her heart.

Humans and vampires were the same, at least to him.

This ambiguous identity between the two gave him an ambiguous self-identity.

Anything is fine, so it doesn't matter.

Therefore, Lian did not possess the distress that Fan pointed out.

What worried him was whether the Shinomiya family really had some plans for him.

If true, the relationship between him and Shizhu might become a deadly poison.

Since it is impossible to kill Lian, it will definitely cause great trouble to Shizhu.

As a result, whether as a monster or as a human, Lian brought trouble to important friends...

"Really? Really? You don't have that kind of trouble. It's really enviable."

"What are you envious of?"

"No, no, I said 'people to be envied'. The 'people' here don't refer to me, but to those who have a similar background as you. None of them can be as free as you."

As long as Lian wanted, he could break away from this identity and exist away from human society.

He found a well-sealed coffin and sank himself to the bottom of the sea to sleep for hundreds of years. When he returned to human society, everything had changed. His original interpersonal relationships had long disappeared with the passage of time.

This is Lian's privilege.

"Oh——" Lian drank the drink silently.

"It's just that it's true that danger is approaching." Oshino Ogi smiled a little weirdly, "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

"Uh... Could it be that you were created by my subconscious mind?"

"How could that be? You are different from Araragi-senpai. In some ways, you are more like his sister, Araragi Tsukihi."

"She's the Phoenix girl and I'm the vampire boy?"

"Pfft, wrong." Shinobu Osamu crossed his arms and made a sound effect with a voice without any emotion. "I mean the part where you are consistent inside and out."

“H…ah…?”

"Let's stop chatting here. If we don't go back now, we will miss the award ceremony for the winners."

However, Oshino Ogi once again interrupted the topic at a delicate point, as is her usual style.

Lian had no choice but to follow her back to the concert hall, stand by the wall in the last row, and watch the award ceremony in front of her.

Standing on the stage were today's contestants, including Touma Kazusa.

"The winner of the piano category of this Tokyo Metropolitan Comprehensive Music Competition——"

The host prolonged his tone to deliberately create suspense.

Lian looked away nonchalantly, thinking that the outcome of this competition should be a foregone conclusion.

"Chika Fujiwara from the Shuchiin Private Academy!"

"Aha--!"

Amid the applause, Lian stared at the smiling girl with wide eyes.

"Oh, I don't think Ren knows this. Since you're going to play with the winner, you've attracted a lot of retired contestants to join in the fun. After all, it's very impressive to be able to work with a famous artist."

Oshino Fan covered his mouth with his sleeve and sneered with a gloating look on his face.

"OH——MY——GOD——!"

Lian squatted down with his head in his hands.

Who would have thought of this!