Chapter 161 The Person I Like

Everything before my eyes is still frozen in time.

Tsukino and Chiya knew very well that the story within the Talent Academy was far from over. A few students remained alive, and their next task was to investigate and adjudicate the lie orchestrated by Ohma Kokichi and Hyakuta Kaito… By now, perhaps they had grown accustomed to this development? Or perhaps they would never get used to it, no matter how much time passed.

But for Ouma Kokichi... normally speaking, everything is already over.

How can a dead person know how the story will unfold in the future? So Wangma Xiaoji doesn't know how the collaboration between two people who seem least likely to cooperate will lead the story of this school in the not-too-distant future after his death.

The past events derived from Ouma Kokichi's memories thus came to an end. Tsukino and Chiya didn't know if Aurora was aware of what happened next... Judging from the abilities the doll displayed, it knew the original future trajectory of this world—the world with Hope's Peak—but its power to interfere with another world was limited... but that didn't matter.

After all, just like the death of Oma Kokichi that I just witnessed, it was something that had already happened, and whether I knew the outcome or not, it couldn't change anything.

The slight dampness on their fingers after wiping their eyes quickly disappeared. Tsukino and Chiya stared at their fingers for a second or two, and then heard a familiar voice behind them after the footsteps stopped.

"Hehe, I think I just saw something incredible!"

And the same very familiar tone of voice.

He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. Tsukino and Chiya recognized the person behind them just by their voice, and then he finally turned around, and sure enough, the familiar figure appeared in their field of vision.

The purple-haired boy looked over with a smile, his hands casually draped behind his head, looking completely relaxed, as if he was not affected by the surrounding scene at all.

Not only that, he even had the leisure to take in his surroundings and then comment: "I hadn't been here for a while, and I thought I would feel a little unfamiliar with the place, but when I came back, I felt like all my memories came back. Although I didn't lose my memory at all, I actually had a feeling of 'Oh right, right, I remember everything!'"

"And here...! Oh dear—not everyone gets to experience watching their own death from a third-person perspective, right?"

He suddenly tilted his head, his upper body leaning to one side, openly peering at the miserable state behind Tsukino and Chiyo.

"The amount of bleeding was astonishing... It really looks a bit scary, isn't it?"

"And it seems even Kozuki Kazuha was a little frightened. In this situation, shouldn't I, as the person involved, apologize? Should I?"

Although Wang Ma Xiaoji said those words, neither his expression nor his tone showed any seriousness. He quickly became dissatisfied with just peeking in, and walked over to Tsukino and Chiya, standing beside them and speaking casually.

"Because—it seems like Kozuki was scared and cried? Although I'm not the kind of person who easily apologizes to people, it's rare to see such a sight... Hehe, I just took some amazing photos."

"..." Tsukino and Chiya said, "Ohma, why... When did you arrive? How did you get here?"

"Hehe, actually I was here yesterday! Kozuki Kazuha's sleeping face is surprisingly cute~!"

"...Oma".

"Just kidding~! But, Kozuki really does seem to be in a bad mood right now, don't you think? So, I guess I can finally see through you a little bit now?" Ohma Kokichi said with a smile. "Actually, I haven't been here long. There are a lot of things I remember that I didn't see with my own eyes. I only came here right after the machine was pressed down... I really didn't see this with my own eyes."

His tone was so relaxed that it seemed he wasn't talking about the death he had experienced, but perhaps...

Tsukino and Qianye: "Ouma."

Wang Ma Xiaoji: "Hmm? What's wrong?"

Tsukino and Chiya: "You haven't answered my question yet."

"Alright, alright, there's really no other way... I'll just give you a little extra news today." Wangma Xiaoji shrugged. "But even if you and Tsukino ask me how I suddenly got here, I don't know either—after all, I'm just a weak, pitiful, and helpless person without any superpowers. When faced with supernatural abilities, I can only be at the mercy of people, um, puppets."

"And before I came here, I also saw some things from the past, just like you and Kozuki, but they were about you," said Ouma Kokichi. "So, what I said before about seeing Kozuki's sleeping face wasn't a complete lie, it was actually quite cute."

"Is that so? I understand."

Tsukino and Chiya nodded. Although Ohma Kokichi had said that he was in a bad mood, in reality, if a third person were present and saw Chiya's appearance, they would not be able to tell that he was in a bad mood at all.

"So," Tsukino and Chiya asked calmly and confidently, "have you had enough fun? Where is Ohma?"

"...Huh?"

The purple-haired boy, who had been completely composed, paused for a moment, as if he hadn't realized why the topic had suddenly shifted so quickly and become so strange. However, this surprise was only momentary; the next second, he responded with his usual demeanor.

"Hehe, you figured it out. Actually, I've already killed Wangma Xiaoji. The one standing in front of you now is actually... Ahahaha, you'll find out when you meet him after you die!"

"To be honest," Tsukino and Chiya seemed genuinely puzzled, "I've always been curious, since it's already clear they've been exposed, what's the point of trying so hard to pretend at a time like this?"

“Actually, there are still some,” the purple-haired boy said. Oma Shokichi still looked like Oma Shokichi, but his voice and tone suddenly changed.

The voice changed from a cheerful male voice to a emotionless female voice... It was Aurora's voice.

"Because there are also situations where people are uncertain but try to glean the truth from words, right?" Although his voice was indifferent, a curious look appeared on "Wang Ma Xiao Ji's" face. "So how did you figure that out? I don't think I did anything wrong, did I?"

Instead of answering immediately, Tsukino and Chiya asked, "Do you have to talk like this?"

"Wang Ma Xiao Ji" blinked, and the next second, the purple-haired boy transformed into a silver-haired doll. Aurora was surprisingly easy to talk to, and their conversation proceeded without any hint of hostility, as if there was no life-or-death relationship between them at all.

Upon seeing the purple-haired boy revert to his doll form, Tsukino and Chiya explained straightforwardly, "I'm not so bad that I can't even recognize the person I like."

"You just said it like that?" Aurora seemed genuinely surprised. "That's an obvious weakness. Is it alright to expose it?"

“Didn’t I just say that ‘pretending is pointless’?” Tsukino and Chiya calmly pointed out the fact. “Because you already knew this, that’s why you used him to threaten me. Even if you don’t understand what kind of feelings I have for him, you at least know that I won’t give up on him easily.”

"Besides that, you also made me bring weapons. Are you confident that I can't hurt you, or that you won't lay a hand on you?" Tsukino and Chiya were referring to the backpack he was carrying on his back, and the things inside. "Is it because you've already planned the threat, that you're so fearless?"

“Well…” Aurora chuckled softly.

The dolls cannot make facial expressions, but they can make laughter.

Aurora's voice finally warmed up a bit with a hint of amusement: "Don't be so hostile towards me."

"I just want to give you a choice."