The story we started

[“The debugging has been equipped, and Yihui can transform.”]

【"clear."】

【Looking at the OK sign that Ebina Hime made to him, Kousaka Kyousuke nodded, raised his head and asked Zaimokuza who was standing in the middle of the laboratory behind the glass in front of him. 】

[“Zaimokuza, are you ready?”]

[“Ok. Any time!”]

【Faced with Zaimokuza smiling and showing his teeth and giving a thumbs up, Kousaka Kyoukai nodded with a serious look in his eyes.】

[The reason why they stayed here so late today was to conduct an experiment on the awakening of the almighty element. ]

[A week has passed since the defeat of the powerful unidentified life form No. 21. During this time, Zaimokuza and Kousaka Kyosuke were also discharged from the hospital. ]

[During this period of time when a new unconfirmed life form has not yet appeared, Zaimokuza hopes that Kousaka Kyousuke and Ebina Hina can help him awaken the red form of the element. ]

[So far, Zaimokuza has been able to use four forms, namely the All-Powerful Form, the Blue Dragon Form, the Pegasus Form, and the Titan Form. The last three forms acquired later can already use the Elemental Awakening Mode to fight.]

[In contrast, the All-Powerful Form, which he obtained first and used most skillfully, has been unable to use the Elemental Awakening Mode. According to what Zaimokuza said, the other three forms can have a strange premonition at the beginning of the transformation when using the Elemental Awakening, but the Red Form also has this premonition, but has been unable to use it. The previous private attempts all ended in failure, which has always puzzled him. ]

[And we don’t know when the next enemy will appear. It is estimated that the strength of the unconfirmed life forms that appear later will become stronger and stronger. Sooner or later, there will be a strong enemy that even the first three forms of elemental awakening modes cannot deal with. Just like the 21st this time, the elemental awakening of the Azure Dragon form could barely resist its attack. Fortunately, the Titan form later awakened a new elemental power to defeat the opponent, but there is no guarantee that the next enemy that appears will not be so strong that even the elemental awakening of the Titan form cannot deal with it. ]

[It is precisely driven by this thought and anxiety that Zaimokuza is eager to improve his strength, and the fastest way to improve his strength at this stage is obviously to awaken the elemental power of the omnipotent form and increase the means and methods to fight the enemy. ]

[But Zaimokuza had no idea about the previous failures, so he decided to take advantage of the gap when this enemy appeared to gather the strength of others to help him find the problem. After all, there is always strength in numbers. ]

【So this experiment took place. 】

【"call--"】

【Zaimokuza put down his right hand which was showing a thumbs up, and after the smile on his face faded, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then suddenly opened his eyes and suddenly covered his waist with both hands.】

【“henshin!”】

【Om—】

[A red spirit stone appeared at his waist with a buzzing sound. With Zaimokuza's routine movements, the red reinforced muscles and black skin covered the helmet he was wearing. A pair of red compound eyes that reflected the figures of the two people outside the glass replaced the clear black eyes. A pair of golden horns like a stag beetle extended from the helmet.]

[“No matter how many times I watch it, it’s incredible. This amazing technology was left over from an ancient time that no one knows how long ago? As a scientist, it’s really a shock.”]

[Looking at the red warrior in the laboratory who no longer had any trace of Zaimokuza on his body, especially the spiritual stone belt on his abdomen, Ebina Hina couldn't help but push her glasses and said in an amazed tone. ]

[“Ms. Ebina, please concentrate. The next part is the important part.”]

[Kousaka Kyosuke, who had already seen Zaimokuza's transformation countless times, had lost the initial sense of surprise, and his expression did not fluctuate at all. He knew that what was coming next was the main purpose of this experiment.]

【"--drink!"】

[After Zaimokuza transformed into the red all-powerful form of Kuuga, his muscular chest bulged, and white air was sucked into his mouth from the edge of his mouthparts, and then into his lungs. The infusion of a large amount of oxygen gave his body the illusion of being gradually filled with power. Zaimokuza shouted and slapped his hands on both sides of the spirit stone on his belt again.]

[Buzz—buzz—buzz—buzz—]

[After he slapped his hands on his belt, the red spirit stone on his waist suddenly began to flicker, but very unsteadily, flickering like a traffic light at an intersection that was about to enter a countdown. The red light flickered in the laboratory, and also illuminated the faces of Zaimokuza after his transformation and the two people outside the laboratory who were observing the situation through the glass.]

[As the spirit stone flickered, Zaimokuza's body surface began to undergo strange changes, and the red muscles of the almighty form also emitted a faint light that was sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and the frequency was completely synchronized with the spirit stone on his waist. ]

【"here we go!"】

[Kousaka Kyosuke's expression changed as he looked through the glass seat, and his dark pupils reflected the changes in his body.]

[As time passed, the frequency of the spiritual stone on Zaimokuza's waist flashing became faster and faster, and tiny sparks began to rise from the surface of his shoulders, and gradually began to spread to all parts of his body.]

……

【Zaimokuza felt like he was traveling in a warm space filled with red light. He seemed to be able to see the red spiritual stone on his waist. The burning and dazzling light was shining from the spiritual stone. His spirit was absorbed by it. The sounds around him gradually faded away. His own strong heartbeat replaced the echo of the world.】

[Plop—plop—plop—]

[He could clearly hear the beating of his heart, the blood flowing through his veins, and the rise and fall of air as it was inhaled into his lungs... He was aware of every second of his body's changes. The red space in front of him faded and became dark, and his mind gradually sank into a deeper realm of subconsciousness.]

[In the darkness deep in his subconscious, Zaimokuza felt a faint red light gradually appearing not far away, and it was getting brighter and warmer.]

[He felt that as long as he reached out and grasped this ray of light, he would gain new power and become even more powerful! ]

[If I just hold it──! ]

[Zaimokuza suppressed his inner excitement and slowly stretched out his "hand" towards the light. The next moment, he was about to touch the light that represented a new power.]

【However, something unexpected happened. 】

[——Just when Zaimokuza was about to touch the light, the light that had been stable before suddenly flickered and twisted rapidly, and then suddenly expanded, swallowing up Zaimokuza who had not yet reacted! ]

……

[The red flames grew stronger, illuminating the shocked faces of Umina Hime and Kousaka Kyousuke outside the tempered glass.]

[“Uooa ...

[The originally weak flame on the almighty form was like being doused with gasoline at this moment, and the fiercely spreading flames wrapped around Zaimokuza's body and turned him into a pillar of fire. The screams of pain echoed in this sealed laboratory. ]

【"Zaimuza/Yoshiki!?"】

【Two different screams were heard outside. Ebina Hina had never expected the experiment to get out of control in this way. She panicked and pressed the water spray button. The consumption device in the laboratory immediately began to spray water mist downwards, landing on Zaimokuza who was rolled on the ground and engulfed by the flames. However, the fierce fire made this move have little effect.】

[Kousaka Kyousuke's body started moving the moment he called out, and he quickly ran to the side and stretched out his hands to grab the door handle of the laboratory sliding door.]

[Bang!!!]

[With the sound of the door lock breaking, Kousaka Kyosuke actually used brute force to break the lock of the sliding door, opened the sliding door and rushed into the laboratory. ]

[When he came in, he took a fire extinguisher from the door, quickly removed the lead seal and pulled out the safety pin, held the nozzle with one hand and pointed it at Zaimokuza who was rolling on the ground, and with the other hand he lifted the fire extinguisher and pressed down the handle, and white fire extinguishing spray sprayed out of the nozzle and sprayed on Zaimokuza.]

【The flames weakened significantly after being sprayed by the spray, but they still stubbornly entangled Zaimokuza, just like the flames of napalm, and Kousaka Kyousuke did not get tired of it, and continued to spray the fire extinguishing gas with a solemn face, coordinating with the water mist sprayed by the laboratory fire extinguishing device to continuously extinguish the fire on Zaimokuza. The gas from the flamethrower soon filled the entire laboratory and even floated out from the open door.】

【"Yihui! How are you!?"】

[Hina Ebina waited anxiously at the door until a familiar pair of black leather shoes and white canvas sneakers stepped out of the door through the white mist. The next moment, Kousaka Kyousuke walked out of the laboratory holding Zaimokuza's shoulder. She immediately walked forward worriedly and held Zaimokuza's other shoulder. Her tone and expression were full of worry and fear that Kousaka Kyousuke had never seen on her face since he met her.]

[This made Kousaka Kyosuke, who was covered in white spray, raise his eyebrows in surprise. He was surprised to discover another side of Ebina Hime for the first time, and at the same time he became more curious about their past. ]

[You know, the Ebina Hime he knew was always synonymous with cynicism and unreliability. Her words and deeds were always different from those of ordinary people. Although she was a genius, she was also an out-and-out weirdo. Surprisingly, she also had such an ordinary side. ]

[“Cough, cough, cough!”]

【Zaimokuza, who was being held up by two people, looked very miserable. Not only was there white spray from the fire extinguisher all over his body, but even his clothes and skin had traces of burns. His bright and transparent white hair was curled up by the flames. He did not have the demeanor of a male god who could easily attract girls with his appearance in the past. He looked disheveled and dirty like an American homeless man or beggar.】

[“I, I’m fine… Himena.”]

[Zaimokuza lowered his face, which was covered with white spray and burnt marks, and smiled bitterly at the face and worried eyes of Himena Ebina who was close at hand.]

[“But as expected, I failed again.”]

58. Therefore, Hiratsuka Shizuka wants to resign

[Shortly before Zaimokuza, Kousaka Kyosuke and others conducted the almighty form awakening experiment at the Metropolitan Police Department. 28lu.com]

[Saitama Prefecture, Sakakino Gakuen, teacher's office. ]

【05:34 p.m】

[“Hey, teacher Kujo, have you heard? Suzumiya from Class 3, Grade 3, died during childbirth. It seems that she was emotionally agitated after hearing that her boyfriend was killed by Unidentified Lifeform No. 21 while on vacation in Tokyo, which led to internal bleeding and an abnormal fetal position.”]

[“I heard that the principal strictly prohibited the spread of this matter in the meeting today. They should tell the public that Kimura-san transferred to another school. But it’s really surprising. They just entered the third grade and they actually did such a thing.”]

[“Actually, this isn’t the first time. Similar things have happened in this school before. A student named Ito got many girls in the same grade pregnant. Some of them even committed suicide because they couldn’t accept it!”]

[“Really? You are kidding, how come I don’t know about this?”]

[“Because this matter was also suppressed by the principal, so the principal was so angry after this incident. He must have been thinking about what happened in the past.”]

[“Teacher Kiyono, how did you know about this?”]

[“Well, this is what Teacher Saotome told me. She said that she was also a student of this school back then, and happened to be in the same grade as the student named Ito, so she knows some inside information, and she also warned us to pay attention to the students…”]

[Two female teachers were whispering to each other. They turned their heads to look in the direction of a desk from time to time. As they were talking, they walked out of the teacher's office door. The sound of their conversation became farther and farther away.]

[Pfft. 】

[The flint of the lighter flew sparks as the trigger was pulled, igniting the butane gas that spewed out of the flame vent. The blue tail gushed out of the flame vent and ignited the hand-rolled cigarette that was close at hand.]

【"call out--"】

[The lit cigarette was bitten by a pair of moist lips, and it burned quickly to the middle of the cigarette with the sound of inhalation, and then stopped. ]

【"well……"】

[A thick white smoke ring came out of the teacher's open mouth and slowly dissipated in the air. She looked down at the class roster on the table in front of her and sighed silently.]

[The female teacher pulled out the pen from the pocket of her white coat, made a fancy stroke, and then placed the tip of the pen against the roster. On the page filled with the names of the students in the class, she drew a sharp and neat stroke on the names of the two students named "Suzumiya" and "Narumi".]

[“They have not even graduated from high school yet and they have done something so outrageous. Today’s students are really a headache and a worry.”]

[“…But since you’ve both passed away, I hope you can still find your soulmate and get married in your next life, provided you don’t kill anyone in high school again.”]

[The female teacher put out the cigarette, which was only the butt left, into an ashtray filled with many other cigarettes with the same butt, and closed the class roster with a melancholy expression.]

[The nameplate on the female teacher's white coat has her name on it. The plastic surface of the nameplate is flickering in the sunset light.]

[Three years in the third group: Hiratsuka Shizuka, Yoshie: Served as a teacher. 】

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, health room.

"It's me who's appearing this time???"

Shizuka Hiratsuka looked at "herself" in the video smoking in the sunset with a melancholy look on her face and raised her long eyelashes, her tone obviously showing some surprise.

Ever since she saw her students appearing one after another as the main characters in this mysterious video, she has been harboring a hidden expectation in her heart, hoping that she could also appear in it and experience the addiction and treatment of being a world-class star.

But she actually knew that this was unlikely, because according to the images of several characters that appeared in the previous video and the intelligence information revealed, the scene in the video was already several years in the future. You see, Yukinoshita Yukino is even studying for a master's degree at Jonan University. According to this clue, unless she skipped a grade, she has at least finished college.

In the real world, Yukinoshita Yukino is only in the second year of high school. Comparing the two, the time in the video has at least seven years passed than now.

Except for Nagano Prefecture where the life form was not confirmed to have officially appeared at the beginning, the rest of the story in the video was all concentrated in Tokyo, the center of the country's capital. The students who appeared in the video were all adults who lived in society. Logically speaking, there would be no chance for me to appear in Chiba Prefecture.

But this thing that was originally not expected at all actually came true. Shizuka Hiratsuka was actually able to see her own appearance in the video. According to this situation, she might be a major character.

The only thing was that the location of the performance was not Sobu High School in Chiba Prefecture, but Sakakino Academy in Saitama Prefecture, which was quite unexpected to her.

"Sakakino Gakuen? I remember that this school's admission rate and deviation value were quite high, only slightly lower than Sobu High School. Hiratsuka-sensei, you actually appeared in the video as a teacher of that school instead of Sobu High School. It seems that the future Hiratsuka-sensei will be assigned there."

Yukinoshita Yukino sat beside the bed where Zaimokuza, who was originally lying unconscious, and Hikigaya Hachiman, who was now unconscious under his pressure, held her phone in both hands, watching the video of her own club teacher, then turned around and spoke to the current Hiratsuka Shizuka, with a hint of surprise in her cold voice.

However, her future self, Zaimokuza, and Yuigahama Yui and other members of the Servant Club had already appeared in the previous video. Except for Hikigaya Hachiman, who was suspected to be dead according to the information revealed in the previous video, the appearance of Hiratsuka Shizuka, who is now a club teacher, did not surprise her. What surprised her was that the future Hiratsuka Shizuka was actually assigned to another school as a teacher.

Yukinoshita Yukino knew very well how deep Shizuka Hiratsuka's feelings for this school were. This was not only her alma mater, but also the place where she had taught for many years. The time she had spent studying and working here was probably more than ten years in total. She had an inseparable bond with this place. If nothing major had happened, she probably would not have chosen to leave here.

"Huh? Why does it feel like the future Hiratsuka-sensei is basically the same as she is now? Obviously, if we count the time, she is almost 40 now---Eh!?"

Zaimokuza, who was watching the video next to Yukinoshita Yukino because his cell phone was left behind in the Service Club, looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka in the video with surprise, who looked almost the same as she does now. But when he was halfway through his words, he suddenly felt an incomparable chill coming from behind him, and he felt like a rabbit being stared at by some terrifying predator, and his body trembled with fear instinctively.

A white and tender hand gently patted Zaimokuza's shoulder. Zaimokuza turned his head with a stiff expression and looked. Hiratsuka Shizuka's smiling face, as gorgeous as a flower, was facing him at a very close distance. Her eyes were extremely gentle... but for some reason, they were a little empty and dead.

"Ah~ Zaimokuza-san, did you have something to say to your dear teacher just now? It's okay, don't be afraid, just tell the teacher honestly, even if it's a confession~"

Hiratsuka Shizuka's voice was so kind that it reminded Zaimokuza of his grandmother in the countryside, but he read another meaning from those emotionless, empty eyes:

I give you three seconds to think and reorganize your language. Don’t say that I killed you without teaching you!

Between the two options of risking his own safety and telling the truth, General Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who possessed admirable virtues such as courage, justice, honesty, and respect for the elderly, made his choice in less than a second.

"Teacher! I think you will be so beautiful in the future! Although you are as beautiful as a blooming flower now, that beauty will be more beautiful under the influence of time, just like the fragrance of mellow old wine, and like a lotus blooming in the valley under the abyss! If you are just a blooming flower now, then you in the future will be a gorgeous sea of ​​flowers with fragrance spreading all over the valley when you bloom. This shocking beauty is simply adding wings to a tiger! It makes all the onlookers admire it! It is comparable to the world-famous masterpiece "The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli, the representative painter of the Florentine School of Painting in Italy! Your existence is to this world as the three masters of the Renaissance are to the Renaissance in the Middle Ages. Without you, there would be no Sobu High School! Without Hiratsuka Shizuka, there would be no world! Hiratsuka Shizuka is the best in the world!"

Zaimokuza's expression was solemn, his voice was as sincere as a seeker under Lothric, his eyes were as sincere as Leonardo da Vinci who was looking for scientific truth when he was facing the female corpse he had stolen and dissected, and these words also emptied all the ink in his stomach.

But the effect was very significant. Hiratsuka Shizuka, who already had a kind smile, smiled even kinder and patted Zaimokuza's shoulder with satisfaction.

"Aiya~ Although I already know that I'm beautiful, your straightforward praise makes me, as a teacher, a little shy. It's better to be more tactful in the future. There's no need to be so blunt."

Zaimokuza: “…”

At this moment, Zaimokuza inexplicably understood the feelings of Hikigaya Hachiman, who was now sleeping on the hospital bed where he had just been.

The upright and honest Yukinoshita Yukino listened to Zaimokuza's shameless flattery and silently turned her head away with an expression of "I don't know this person". Hayama Hayato and others next to her also had a stern face and tried not to laugh, for fear that they would laugh and become the next unlucky person to be targeted by Hiratsuka Shizuka.

[In the teacher's office, which was almost dusk and left alone, Shizuka Hiratsuka stood by the window, watching the few students walking towards the school gate, holding another lit cigarette in her mouth and in a daze.]

[The lit cigarette became shorter and shorter as the fragrant mist drifted away and time passed, and it would soon burn to the end. Some of the ash formed after burning had already fallen on the white coat in front of her chest and the high-end leather shoes she was wearing because it could not bear its own weight. However, Shizuka Hiratsuka still stood in front of the window without moving, and ignored the fact that her clothes and shoes were stained by the ash. ]

[It was not until she subconsciously wanted to take a puff of the cigarette out of habit that she suddenly felt the scorching heat on her lips, causing her to spit out the cigarette with a scream of pain, that she reacted and immediately stomped her foot to extinguish the cigarette that had fallen on the floor.]

【"well……"】

[She sighed helplessly, picked up the stubbed cigarette and threw it back into the ashtray, then sat back in her chair, leaning back and letting the soft cushion support her body. She looked up at the unlit light above with a blank expression, emptying her mind.]

[Shizuka Hiratsuka has been very confused recently, and the reason is because of her work. 】