NOVPUBWhen he arrived at the doorstep, Kagura Hikaru got out of the car and almost lost his balance, collapsing to the ground.
Many people have likely experienced the annoyance of being harassed by a mosquito before going to sleep. Kagura Hikaru's feeling right now was somewhat similar.
Only, instead of one mosquito, it was tens of thousands, if not more, harassing him. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
And they were talking to him all the time, impossible to chase away or kill.
The countless thoughts and ideas inside the people around him were revealed in his heart without any concealment, the vast amount of meaningless information causing dizziness and swelling in the brain, making it impossible to concentrate, with uneven steps.
Kagura Hikaru couldn't even remember how long it took him to get home from the hospital. It might have been an hour, or maybe two; even his sense of time had become blurry.
"Hikaru? Are you all right?"
Kagura Hikaru's staggering state drew his father's puzzlement.
"Yeah, it's nothing...." Kagura Hikaru pretended to be calm, then said, "I need to go somewhere. I'll be back later."
"Huh?"
"That's all."
"Wait, Hikaru—!"
Struggling to stay conscious, he quickly walked away, using his gaze to stop Komori Ai from following him.
Although he was very reluctant, Komori Ai becoming closer was increasingly agonizing for him; she had become his poison.
Kagura Hikaru reached the street, took a taxi, and traveled all the way to the outskirts.
When he got out of the taxi, despite not having exerted himself, he was gasping for breath, with a strong sense of anxiety making his heart pound.
As previously mentioned, the population density in Tokyo was so high that the contamination level of the ability 'Hearing the Voice of All Things' also experienced a dozens or even hundreds of times increase. Passing by high-rise buildings crowded with people, the dense noise would submerge Kagura Hikaru, a situation that only slightly eased when the taxi left for the suburbs.
His reaction was correct; there were too many people in the city center. Therefore, finding a less populated place, the influence of the ability would be reduced.
After taking the taxi to the outskirts, this conjecture was confirmed. Surely, the range of this new ability wasn't boundless.
Kagura Hikaru bade farewell to the taxi driver and walked alone into the mountains.
He hoped to relieve his fatigue in the wilderness and contemplate strategies.
But strangely, the deeper he went into the forest, the more voices he began to hear, and they became unusually... simple?
"Hungry hungry, so hungry..."
"You have gained through inner vision: Plant Cultivation +1"
"Are my feathers pretty, are they, are they not?"
"You have gained through inner vision: Bird Taming +1"
"Sunshine, good!"
"You have gained through inner vision: Plant Cultivation +1"
"Soft and chubby."
"You have gained through inner vision: Dog Taming +1"
"Eat eat eat, friend, yummy."
"You have gained through inner vision: Arthropod Taming +1"
What on earth is this...?!
Kagura Hikaru looked perplexed into the depths of the forest. Was there someone there?
No, that wasn't right.
He widened his eyes, looking towards the familiar sights around him.
The lush trees, the birds on the branches, the small animals darting through the bushes, and the roaches climbing on the dry leaves on the ground.
He finally understood why this ability was called 'Hearing the Voice of All Things'—it could read not only the hearts of humans but also included unintelligent plants and animals!
Although he hadn't tested it, maybe even inanimate objects like stones could...
"—Damn it!"
He punched a tree trunk.
Ignoring the tree's inner voice that was crying out in pain, Kagura Hikaru, with a fierce expression, covered his face, looking unprecedentedly awful.
He realized.
There was no escape; no matter where he went, he couldn't hide from these voices. Even if he ran to the ends of the earth, the sea would talk to him!
Why, why must it be him who has to suffer this torment? What had he ever done wrong?!
If only he hadn't held on to that ridiculous fantasy of being an "All-Powerful Super Man," if only he hadn't coveted convenience, and had lived like a normal person, none of this would have happened!
Could it be that this was fate? When he acquired his mind-reading ability, had his end already been determined...
Unable to escape the influence of his powers, coupled with the recent foresight of death and the constant agitation caused by contaminated thoughts, the combination of the three outcomes rapidly pushed Kagura Hikaru to the edge of negativity.
He wandered unconsciously through the woods, one hand covering his head, enduring the voices of trees, birds, and all things in the world—even though he didn't want to hear them, the world mercilessly unfolded everything before him.
Was this truly a blessing, or a curse?
This scene precisely matched the last future vision Kagura Hikaru had premonitioned on the ride home, yet he was completely oblivious to it.
The sun rose into the sky and then set.
When Kagura Hikaru emerged from the woods in disheveled clothing, it was already the afternoon.
The winter sun, as if devoid of warmth, shone on his face, casting a pale glow.
Once again, he took a taxi and returned home.
As soon as he entered, his father and stepmother looked at him worriedly.
"Hikaru, where have you been? How did you get so dirty?"
".....It's nothing, leave me alone."
Kagura Hikaru's blunt impatience made his father and stepmother hesitate.
But he didn't have the luxury to maintain politeness right now, he stormed upstairs, opened his room, and saw Komori Ai absent-mindedly sitting on the floor watching television.
"Ah!"
Upon seeing his return, Komori Ai stood up as if awakened from a start.
However, the first time he laid eyes on Komori Ai, Kagura Hikaru closed his eyes as if not wanting to see her.
It wasn't his subjective consciousness, to put it accurately, it wasn't that he loathed Komori Ai. The reason was obvious, this damned mind-reading ability.
Ever since their first encounter in Sendai, every time Kagura Hikaru read her mind, he was involuntarily bombarded with a series of cruel and bizarre memory images—memories of her real experiences within the Happiness Cult, mostly too bloody and unbearable to face.
And when the mind-reading ability spiraled out of control and couldn't be turned off, Kagura Hikaru was forced to endure these memories every second—unless he kept Komori Ai out of his line of sight.
But Kagura Hikaru couldn't do that.
He had made a promise to Komori Ai that she could live openly in this home; how could he now drive her away? He couldn't bring himself to do such a thing.
This girl had already suffered too much unfair treatment since birth; he shouldn't hurt her anymore.
Kagura Hikaru hadn't even begun to speak when Komori Ai solemnly said: "Big brother, there's something wrong with your powers, isn't there."
"Hmm?" Kagura Hikaru was surprised, "Why do you say that?"
"Actually, I know your real ability is mind-reading, and I can feel when I'm being read—just like now. You're reading my thoughts, right, big brother?" said Komori Ai.
"Hmm....."
Kagura Hikaru thought it figured, she had been so confrontational with him in Sendai, indeed it was because she had noticed him reading her mind the first time they met.
"Before today, big brother, you have never used mind-reading so frequently. What exactly has happened?"
Komori Ai's usual playful atmosphere was gone, replaced by an unusual seriousness, like a detective taking down a statement.
Feeling guilty for worrying her, Kagura Hikaru told her the truth.
"Hmm.....I'll try to help big brother then! Doodly-doo, this one's service with a smile~"
Komori Ai blinked and hopped up, pointing her index finger at Kagura Hikaru as if activating an ability.
[Big brother cannot read minds, big brother cannot read minds, big brother cannot read minds.]
[You have acquired through peering into the heart: Gaming Skill +1]
Rather than a wish, it was more like self-deception. At the moment of Komori Ai's 'deception' ability activation, Kagura Hikaru felt the unstoppable mind-reading pause for a fleeting second, albeit less than a second long.
Kagura Hikaru's face showed astonishment, but Komori Ai put her hand down in disappointment: "It's no use, big brother, I'm sorry, Xiao Ai's training is still not enough. I need to be at least a Super Saiyan Fifth Generation to defeat the enemy!"
The child had started talking nonsense again.
Kagura Hikaru, on the contrary, found this Komori Ai more reassuring, patting her head and comforting her in a low voice while internally enduring the torment of her cruel memories.
At this rate, what would he become...
And when would that wretched future he had seen come to pass?
On the first night following the mind-reading ability's rampage, Kagura Hikaru predictably did not sleep a wink.
