In a crossover anime, do you believe that a machine spirit can defeat a fake human?

"Never heard of Mai Sakurajima? She's a national idol! I remember she's acted in a lot of TV dramas, right?" Chen Yi swiped up to exit the call interface and opened his phone's browser to search.

"Miss Mai, what are some of your more well-known dramas? Just name one," Chen Yi said to Mai Sakurajima beside him.

“Hmm… white chocolate,” Mai Sakurajima replied after thinking for a moment.

Chen Yi searched, and the results left him speechless.

The actress who plays the female lead in the drama "White Chocolate" is an unfamiliar name.

"Hey? Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing, Hiratsuka-sensei. I'm still at the scene, and there might still be potential dangers, so I'll hang up now."

So he began to recall the original plot of "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai".

Anisophora?

Adolescent Syndrome: Chapter 81 Psychological Intervention

"Hiratsuka-sensei?" Chen Yi spotted the red sports car parked on the side of the road as he followed the rescue workers downstairs.

Regardless of why she was there, Chen Yi urgently needed her help with something.

"Chen-kun." Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded when she saw Chen Yi waving.

"Ms. Hiratsuka, please send these two samples to Futaba as soon as possible. Her address is..." Chen Yi handed two sealed bags containing minced meat to Hiratsuka Shizuka and instructed her.

“You…” Hiratsuka Shizuka wanted to say something more.

"If we wait too long, some of the substances might spoil." Recalling the rate at which the evil spirit's corpse pieces degraded last time, Chen Yi was more cautious this time. He was worried that Mai's possible aftereffects might prevent him from getting to Futaba Rio's place as soon as possible.

"That's all for now. We can talk about anything else later!" Chen Yi waved his hand and led the two ghosts, Sakurajima Mai and Kroos, into the police car.

Hiratsuka Shizuka's half-raised hand froze in mid-air, and in the end, she could only helplessly rub her forehead.

On the other side, the security officers watched as Chen Yi blatantly handed samples from the scene to an unrelated person, but they all pretended not to see it.

There's nothing we can do. It's one thing for the other party to be connected to Sangvis Ferri, but the tactical android camera footage shared by Sangvis Ferri clearly shows evidence of close combat between this civilian and multiple fake humans... For both reasons and circumstances, let it be.

......

"Miss Mai, you will be conducting the psychological intervention once we go inside. Please remember that," Chen Yi instructed her.

"Yi Jun, what about you?"

“A friend of mine introduced me to a specialist doctor,” Chen Yi said, indicating that the other person didn’t need to worry.

"Hello, is this Chen Yi?" The police's psychological support room was a peaceful place with several soft sofas.

On the other side of the coffee table, on a single sofa, sat a middle-aged man dressed in ordinary clothes, wearing glasses and looking very refined.

So I really can't see her. Does that mean I'm the only one in the whole world who can see Mai? Chen Yi came to a not-so-good conclusion in his mind.

Chen Yi sat on one side of the sofa, Sakurajima Mai sat down next to him, while Kroos chose to stand near the door, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes to rest.

"Nice to meet you. I am a psychological consultant specially invited by the Metropolitan Police Department. You can call me Matsumoto Daigo, Matsumoto or Daigo is fine."

Daigo Matsumoto's smile is very peaceful, with a kind of magic that calms people down.

"The crisis is over, so there's no need to worry anymore. This is the Metropolitan Police Department's Security Division, one of the most well-prepared security facilities in all of Japan."

"Is the crisis... over?" Mai Sakurajima seemed a little dazed, as if she had become confused and disoriented after her nerves were no longer on edge.

Chen Yi repeated it in the same tone.

"Relax, the crisis is over. This is the first time you've experienced a disaster of this magnitude, isn't it? It's okay, please trust our officers."

"The crisis... is over." Mai Sakurajima murmured to herself, and Chen Yi cooperated in the performance.

“Yes, if you feel a little cold, there’s a blanket here to cover yourself with. Some people feel more secure with some weight on their body.” Matsumoto Daigo pointed to the wool blanket folded on the sofa armrest.

Seeing that Sakurajima Mai didn't react, Chen Yi considerately draped the blanket over her, while also keeping an eye on Matsumoto Daigo's expression out of the corner of his eye.

Unmoved.

In other words, my act of covering Sakurajima Mai with a blanket is being justified? Chen Yi silently made a mental note of it.

He wants to know how he is behaving on the surveillance footage.

"There are no security cameras here." Seeing Chen Yi subconsciously look up, Matsumoto Daigo explained as if he knew everything.

"Can you tell me now where you feel the most discomfort? Is it physical discomfort, or is it something you're thinking about?" Matsumoto Daigo pushed up his glasses and spoke slowly, while observing Chen Yi's expression.

"I feel like I can still see those bird-like people flying around when I close my eyes..."

Chen Yi repeated his reading, blinking nervously.

Would Matsumoto realize that he didn't have any psychological problems at all? Chen Yi felt that his performance was quite stiff, and his facial muscles were almost unresponsive after entering the room.

"Do you ever feel like you might hurt yourself? Or that life is meaningless?"

“No… I’m just still a little scared.” Mai Sakurajima shook her head.

"Okay, then stop thinking about those things for now, think about what you like the most, and then feel it."

Favorite things...

“Yi-kun…” Mai Sakurajima muttered to herself, lost in some kind of fantasy.

"?" Chen Yi opened his mouth, but his imitation of Mai Sakurajima's performance finally froze. He opened his mouth again, not knowing what to say.

How can I answer that for you?

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. Let's change the subject." Matsumoto Daigo spoke as if they were just chatting with ordinary friends, without pressing for details.

"How about we move beyond that memory now? Focus on the present and see if we can get back on our feet?"

Upon hearing this, Mai Sakurajima silently stood up.

“Commander,” Kroos suddenly spoke up.

"Can't you relax even in this environment?" She stared at Chen Yi's bandaged hand. In the past few minutes, the hand that was naturally resting on his thigh had twitched a few times, making it clear that he was trying to hide his condition.

'I'm fine. Now is the time to help Miss Mai recover,' Chen Yi told the other person in his mind.

“It has nothing to do with her, Commander. You always like to put yourself in a very insignificant position, sometimes even disregarding your own life. You say you're afraid of death, but in the most dangerous situations, you do the opposite of what ordinary people do. Isn't this a manifestation of trauma?” Kroos’s words were like daggers to the heart.

"..." Chen Yi wanted to refute, but following the other party's logic, it seemed to be correct.

"Chen, if you're really feeling unwell, you can skip this part," Matsumoto Daigo whispered a reminder.

"It's nothing." Chen Yi glanced at Sakurajima Mai, who had turned around. A fragile rationality clung to her trembling eyes as she looked at him with concern.

'I'm fine,' he thought to himself, but this time not to Kroos.

"..." Krueger's eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and helplessness, which finally turned into a sigh.

Because she is not a psychologist, she has no idea what it feels like to have psychological problems.

At least this kind of stubbornness was expected, and it can be considered good news in a bad news situation.

For the remainder of the time, Matsumoto Daigo's tone of voice did not change much. He simply performed a basic psychological treatment for Chen Yi according to the psychological intervention procedure. Further follow-up by a professional psychiatrist would be required.

Chen Yi took the business card, glanced at it, and put it in his pocket.

Although Mai Sakurajima's situation has stabilized, it's too early to say what will happen next.

Seeing Mai looking somewhat weak, Chen Yi took out his phone to check the time and saw Hiratsuka-sensei's car at the door.

"Kid, come to my house." Hiratsuka Shizuka leaned against the sports car, smoking, and tapped the car body with her knuckles.

P.S.: I'm taking my driving test (Part 2) tomorrow, I'm a little nervous.

Adolescent Syndrome: Chapter 82 The Reverse Meme Entertainer

"Who is that girl you mentioned on the phone earlier?" On the way back, Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't help but ask.

"Does Professor Hiratsuka know the concept of an anisophora?" Chen Yi thought for a moment and uttered the word that best explained Mai Sakurajima's state so far.

"Don't move." He patted Sakurajima Mai, who was sitting on his lap, and she seemed a little uncomfortable.

"Simply put, the purpose of a meme is to make people remember it, while the purpose of an antimeme is to make people forget it. This kind of thing is self-enclosed in the information dissemination of the real world, creating a situation that no one is aware of," Chen Yi explained.

"...Does that mean it objectively exists, but we are not subjectively aware of it?"

"Yes, the brain 'fixes' such a bug with false memories—just like the form of an evil spirit, but slightly different. Remember the name I told you about? That's not her name."

"You mean Wakaba...?" Hiratsuka Shizuka frowned, realizing something was wrong.

"To determine the existence of an anti-meme entity, we often use the process of elimination, that is, to determine what elements it does not possess." Chen Yi put his arm around Sakurajima Mai, but felt that the position was somewhat ambiguous.

There was no way around it; Hiratsuka-sensei's sports car is a two-seater, and I couldn't very well stuff it in his trunk, especially since his guitar case would also need to be stored in the trunk.

"To give a more practical example, TA is neither male nor a sexual minority. This is the best way to infer the inverse meme property: the process of elimination."

“Oh…” Hiratsuka Shizuka understood. “Is this to prevent perception from being distorted?”

"Yes, so what I was doing just now wasn't me applying for psychological intervention, it was her who had a problem and needed to apply for psychological intervention."

"Yi Jun..."

"Relax," Chen Yi reassured him.

"You're not thinking about anything like that right now, are you?" Mai Sakurajima said, surprising everyone.

"I'm sorry," Chen Yi replied. It turned out that he had been trying to comfort himself, but it seemed he had failed.

This is incredibly embarrassing.

"If you don't mind the trouble, could you introduce me to that person?" Hiratsuka Shizuka listened with great interest.

“Okay, first of all, Mai Sakurajima is a high school student, and also a national idol-level celebrity…” Chen Yi introduced.

"Hmm, I can't hear anything after the names." Hiratsuka Shizuka keenly sensed something was wrong. When they were talking face-to-face, she didn't imagine a fictional character like she did on the phone.

It's as if she lost the ability to perceive and process information from the very beginning, starting with her name.

“Okay, let’s say there’s a really cute celebrity here who is also a high school student…” Chen Yi removed all the nouns that were supposed to be pronouns and started to create a fictional character as if it were a fantasy.

“…” Hiratsuka listened quietly, silently memorizing the characteristics.

Famous movie stars... I can't recall anyone who fits this description at all.

"Assuming the person you're talking about exists, is she in the car right now?" Suddenly, Hiratsuka Shizuka realized a question.

"exist."

"The trunk?"

"It's not there."

"..." Hiratsuka Shizuka seemed to understand something, but then fell silent.

"Remind me to drive an SUV next time I go out," Shizuka Hiratsuka added.

No, sister, when have you ever specifically called me to let me know you're going out?

However, Hiratsuka-sensei reminded him that for a long time to come, Sakurajima Mai would be inseparable from him.

"I should try to find a solution to this problem as soon as possible," Chen Yi thought.

......

"Does she sleep in the same room as you?" Hiratsuka Shizuka handed Chen Yi a set of clean clothes and asked casually.

"The stress response hasn't fully healed yet, but I think I'm feeling a bit better." Chen Yi sat in the living room, taking a sip of hot tea.

...It's as bland as water; this tea is of poor quality. Chen Yi told himself this.

"Can I go to school tomorrow?"

"I'm going to look for a new house tomorrow, and I also need to see a psychiatrist," Chen Yi told the other party truthfully about his itinerary.

"Go back to school soon." Hiratsuka silently agreed.

......

Night fell like a giant net, covering the entire sky and inspiring fear.

Chen Yi leaned against the window, quietly staring at the faded city.

He vaguely realized that he hadn't seen a bustling night in a long time.

"Yi-kun...aren't you coming up?" Mai Sakurajima, lying on the bed, asked the figure standing by the window.