Anime, but the Phantom Thieves of Heart

At first, Lan Ke didn't quite understand why this kind of "fairy" would possess Shinji Matou, but they soon found out.

“Stop fighting! Stop fighting!!”

Don't be fooled by Shinji Matou's arrogant appearance before. The "devil" living in his "shadow" is also a powerful existence like "La Nancy", but it depends on who he is compared with.

There's no need for Lan Ke to even take action, Shirou Emiya can handle him alone.

In order to save time, the final match was naturally mixed doubles. Shinji Matou, who was beaten up, was very spineless and put his hands on his head and repeatedly admitted his mistakes.

Although boys will inevitably fight in private, the key lies in 'fighting' rather than 'playing'. Emiya Shirou's right foot, which was about to kick out, unconsciously hovered in the air.

"Huh~ So, what exactly is your 'desire'?"

Faced with Shirou Emiya's questioning, Shinji Matou, who had originally held his head in his hands, was no longer sleepy!

"My desire! Of course it's to become a real person!!"

"???"

Emiya Shirou and Lan Ke, who had already prepared themselves mentally, were stunned for a moment.

Lan Ke was purely motivated by the residual impression of Matou Shinji from 'FSN', while Emiya Shirou was already prepared to peek into his friend's darkest and most twisted desires, but... that's it?

Although Lan Ke and Emiya Shirou were both wearing "personality masks" on their faces, Shinji Matou seemed to feel their gazes and stood up!

"What do you mean by those looks?! Is my 'ambition' wrong?! Do you understand how painful it is to be a solo virgin when all your friends are so popular?! I'm so jealous of them!!"

Facing Shinji Matou's questioning, Lan Ke remained very calm.

Isn’t it just maternal SOLO?

Who isn't?

He cares about something else!

"Are you talking about your friend 'Emiya Shirou' or 'Ryudo Issei'?"

"That's right! It's them two!!"

Should we say it is worthy of being called 'Shadow'?

He blew himself up without even hesitating!

Emiya Shirou also fell completely silent. Although he had prepared himself mentally when he came, when he really heard what his friend said in his heart, he was really shaken.

As if seeing through Shirou Emiya's thoughts, Lan Ke patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, and at the same time to prevent Shirou Emiya from being influenced by him and going berserk.

Although it seems that the condition for Shirou Emiya to "turn evil" is his own sister, who knows if there will be other situations?

While Lan Ke was stopping Emiya Shirou, 'Matou Shinji (Shadow)' on the other side was also tirelessly self-destructing.

"That guy, Ryudo Issei, not only has good grades, but he's also handsome and popular with girls. More importantly, he doesn't cherish them at all. Even when a girl confessed to him, he rejected her with the excuse that 'I need to return to my hometown to inherit the temple after graduation.' I once confessed to a girl who rejected me!!"

Although Shinji Matou looked very painful, Lan Ke really wanted to complain. Isn't this a complete personal grudge?

And this is better than wishing the girl you like to be with her friends, right?

Just as Lan Ke was silently complaining in his heart, the matter about Shirou was finally mentioned.

"There's that guy Shirou! I hate him too!! He's obviously not as handsome as me?! Why do so many girls like him?!"

Appearance is a subjective aspect, but at least in Lan Ke's opinion, Shirou Emiya is not less handsome than Shinji Matou. Not to mention that Shirou Emiya's popularity with girls has little to do with his appearance, but more with his personality.

Being liked by the opposite sex, as long as you have a good appearance, then most of the problems are not big;

Maybe being liked by the same sex is not an easy thing;

Not to mention that the two of them appear at the same time, which is even more difficult. Coincidentally, Shirou Emiya happens to be the kind of person that both of them like.

After all, who would hate a gentle and sunny boy who is helpful and never gets into trouble with others?

Lan Ke felt that what Shinji Matou said was too subjective, so he was a little worried about Shirou Emiya's condition. After all, from the previous interactions between the few of them, it seemed that Shirou Emiya really regarded Shinji Matou as his friend.

But at this moment, Shinji Matou changed the subject and said something that surprised him greatly.

"I had just transferred to Tokyo at the time, and I was really happy that Shirou was willing to be my friend. Later, when I learned that he was also from Fuyuki and had been adopted, I felt like I had found someone in the same situation as me..."

"Wait! Also adopted? You were adopted?"

Before Shinji Matou could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lan Ke, and Shinji Matou nodded without hesitation.

"That's right. My mother died shortly after I was born, and my father died in the fire ten years ago. I was later adopted by my uncle. Although my uncle was very good to me, he was even better to my adopted sister!"

When he said this, there seemed to be flames burning in Shinji Matou's eyes.

"So I will never forgive that guy Shirou!! He actually has such cute sisters! And two of them!! They actually call him 'Onii-chan'!! I've never been called that by a sister in my life. That guy always calls me 'Hey', 'Shinji', or 'that guy'!!"

Looking at Shinji Matou who was still obsessed with him even after his "twisted desire" had been eliminated, Lan Ke opened his mouth and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Although "stealing twisted desires" does not mean losing desires, just like Saeko Busujima's "bloodthirsty impulse" has not disappeared, it is just not as difficult to control.

The same is true for Shinji Matou, but his "desire" is so unsettling that one doesn't know how to complain about it.

"there is none left?"

"What else?"

Looking at Matou Shinji's righteous expression, even Emiya Shirou didn't know what to say.

In the end, seeing that he couldn't get anything useful out of the other party, Lan Ke waved his hand to signal the other party to leave, while he stood beside Emiya Shirou, opened his mouth and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Should you be sad because your best friend is secretly jealous of you?

Or is it because he is glad that the other person's jealousy of him is so... childish?

Shirou Emiya didn't know either, but he felt a little complicated.

But at this moment, the space created by the "shadow" suddenly began to collapse. Shirou Emiya didn't care about so much. He grabbed the "dropped items" of "Matou Shinji (Shadow)" and rushed out with Lan Ke.

"What is this?"

Although he also has a "Personality Mask", the "Alternative Dimension Navigation (Gun Version)" was given to him by Lan Ke. Since Shirou Emiya can only enter the cognitive world with Lan Ke's authorization, he naturally does not have the help of the "system" to be firm, so he simply handed it to Lan Ke.

Lan Ke was stunned for a moment when he took the USB flash drive handed to him by the other party.

Could it be the 'study materials' that Matou Shinji treasured?

After all, this is probably the only thing that Lan Ke remembers that can be connected to the other party.

However, the identification result of the "system" gave Lan Ke a surprise.

Hacking Program

Description: Contains a malicious computer virus specially crafted by someone. Once inserted into a target, it can forcibly damage and destroy electronic programs (because it is violent destruction, it will attract the attention of others, please use with caution)

A special item, and it looks like it should be quite useful. After all, the hall they need to conquer next is the 'Cyberpunk' hall.

But what Lan Ke was puzzled about was why such a prop would appear on Shinji Matou's body?

You should know that "dropped items" are often related to the owner who dropped them, such as the "demon sword" born from Saeko Busujima's bloodthirsty desire.

But why would Shinji Matou drop such an item? Is he very good at electronic equipment?

Lan Ke told his doubts to Shirou Emiya, and Shirou Emiya pinched his chin and shook his head.

"I don't know either. I just use computers normally, but I know Shinji knows how to repair computers because I heard that it's popular with girls..."

Faced with Shinji Matou's explanation, Lan Ke really wanted to complain why he didn't let the other party get a cat and try to teach it to do a backflip. This would be more reliable than repairing a computer.

But in the end I endured it.

After the work was done, Lan Ke and Emiya Shirou said goodbye to each other.

After all, this time he had to identify 'Matou Shinji (Shadow)' entirely for Emiya Shirou's personal reasons, so after he was done, the two of them left to deal with their own affairs.

Shirou Emiya still needs to go home to cook dinner, and Lan Ke needs to go to the "Bushima Dojo" to work today. After all, if he doesn't work, he won't have the money to support the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts".

So the two of them didn't waste any time and agreed to continue exploring the 'Palace of Saburo Arasaka' tonight before going their separate ways.

After returning home, Shirou Emiya started cooking as usual, while on the other side, Lan Ke rushed to the "Busu Island Dojo" as usual to start today's work.

He just wanted to take this opportunity to try the 'back of the knife' attack.

After practicing with several apprentices who had entrusted him to practice, Lan Ke also realized that the "back of the knife strike" was not a fixed move, but a special way of exerting force.

But when Lan Ke was having so much fun practicing, he seemed to have forgotten one thing.

That is, Busujima Saeko, who is the "Master Instructor of Busujima Dojo", is actually secretly observing Lan Ke.

Almost all the moves that Lan Ke mastered came from his studies in the 'Kendo Club'. Apart from that, there were some 'wild tricks' that he learned during battle. However, most of these 'wild tricks' could only be used in specific situations and were basically not popular. However, the 'back of the knife strike' used by Lan Ke attracted the attention and curiosity of Busujima Saeko.

This special move was the first time even Busujima Saeko had seen it...

Chapter 35: Competition?

"hu~hu~"

In the "Poison Island Dojo", Lan Ke, with his hands leaning on a bamboo sword, kept breathing heavily.

It was obvious that the previous sparring had consumed a lot of his physical strength. In particular, in order to avoid being discovered that his attributes had skyrocketed due to the use of a high-level personality mask, Lan Ke had to give himself several DEBUFFs to reduce his attributes.

The dual consumption of physical strength and energy made even Lan Ke feel his breathing became extremely heavy.

However, compared to Lan Ke, the young man who was his opponent was in a very ungraceful manner, supporting himself with his hands and breathing heavily.

But even so, the other party still tried hard to stand up and bowed to Lan Ke before being helped to the side by other dojo apprentices to rest.

These apprentices didn't even dare to look at Lan Ke for a second. After all, Lan Ke looked a little "different" at this moment.

Lan Ke usually wears glasses and is taciturn. He always smiles when facing strangers, but rarely takes the initiative to contact them. However, after getting familiar with them, Lan Ke gradually reveals his true nature.

Just like Lan Ke, if he is in the dojo or when he is wearing the "Disciplinary Committee Member" armband, he will be meticulous, but after school he will be much more casual.

But just like a beast becomes more dangerous the weaker it is, when Lan Ke's physical strength is gradually depleted due to a round of "round-the-clock fighting", his level of danger also increases.

If they were a little jealous of Lan Ke at first because of Saeko Busujima's special care, then after experiencing so many days they have deeply realized the difference between Lan Ke and them.

What’s scary is not that Lan Ke is stronger than them, but that even though the other party is already so strong, one can still see his growth visibly every day.

With the apprentice's "sparring" just over, Lan Ke's work for the day was theoretically over. According to usual practice, he should go to the locker room to take a shower and then come to collect the "work fee" prepared by Busujima Saeko.

But at this moment, Busujima Saeko suddenly blocked his way.

"Sister Poison Island?"

Lan Ke glanced at the other person's empty hands with a puzzled look on his face. Although he immediately looked away, the disappointment in his eyes was clearly seen by Busujima Saeko.

Busujima Saeko was not disappointed at all. Rather, Lan Ke's performance made her feel like the "reverse of Genji". After all, he was extremely mature in normal times, and his kendo training was progressing rapidly, which made her doubt who he was at one point.

But this slight desire for money makes Lan Ke look a lot more "normal".

It’s a pity that although Lan Ke saw the smile in Busujima Saeko’s eyes, he couldn’t figure out the source of the smile, and only showed a slightly puzzled expression.

Seeing this, the smile in Busujima Saeko's eyes became even brighter.

Younger than me, with talents no less than mine, and I can also personally train him...

In order to control her expression, Busujima Saeko had to speak up.

"Ming-senior, would you like to spar with me?"

Lan Ke was a little surprised by Saeko Busujima's sudden invitation, but he nodded without hesitation.

"Please advise!"

After all, the reason why Lan Ke came to the "Dokujima Dojo" was actually to learn combat skills. After all, as the leader of the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts", he couldn't really come here just for a little work fee, right?

And "competing" with Busujima Saeko is undoubtedly the best way to learn.

As Lan Ke gradually adjusted his breathing to normal and raised his bamboo sword, the apprentices who were originally practicing on their own gradually gathered around him.

There is nothing interesting about Lan Ke’s simple sparring, but it is a different story when he competes with Busujima Saeko, who is more than just a ‘teacher representative’!

Looking at Lan Ke's defensive posture of "lower level", Saeko Busujima, who was holding the handle of the bamboo sword with one hand, said nothing, but a smile flashed in her eyes.

When I just met Lan Ke half a month ago, he was just a "rough guy" who relied on his physical fitness far superior to that of ordinary people to squander his talent. Even after learning kendo, he was more inclined to the "upper end" of the attack. After all, only the upper end can maximize Lan Ke's advantages.

But at this time, the opponent changed his usual habit and adopted a defensive counterattack tactic. What does this indicate?

This shows that Lan Ke has realized that it is impossible to defeat her by relying solely on the upper level. Even though the lower level may put him at a certain disadvantage in the future, it at least brings him hope... the hope of victory!

It's not just about wanting to learn or asking for advice, nor is it about showing off.

Even if I know the probability is very low, I still try to find the most difficult path among countless paths, but the one that holds hope...

"That's really great~ You're worthy of being my favorite~"