Hakuto left the base — after all, he had figured out the purpose of his visit, and next would be the Otosaka family's reunion. As an outsider, he had no reason to stay there.
"Really dead, huh..."
Leaving the base, Hakuto still found it a little hard to believe. After all, no normal person could easily accept the idea that they would die soon.
Although this outcome could still be changed, whether or not one could accept it was another matter entirely.
But for now, it wasn't too bad — at least Shunsuke had traded his eyesight to ensure Hakuto's survival.
And Otosaka Yuu had already taken Shunsuke's ability. As long as his own eyes weren't destroyed, there was still a chance to start over.
"A potion from a healing ability user, huh..."
Hakuto muttered to himself. Though he now knew how he would die, the manner of death was just absurd.
It was like being invincible under the heavens, only for an enemy to suddenly descend from the sky.
As Hakuto was lost in thought, Nao slowly walked out of the base and sat down beside him.
"It's rare to see you looking so troubled..."
Nao said, chewing on a chocolate stick.
"Hmm? I'm about to die — can't I be a little upset?"
"That's something happening in another world."
After learning about Shunsuke's ability, Nao classified things that had happened but hadn't yet occurred in this timeline as belonging to another world.
"Do you still remember that nightmare I had last night?"
"You mean the one where you dreamed all your money was stolen?"
"Yeah... actually, what I really dreamed about was being pinned under rubble, unable to move, and in immense pain..."
Hakuto sighed. "At the time, I thought it was just a normal dream, and I quickly forgot about it."
"Were there other people in the dream?"
"At least, I could only see myself..."
Nao nodded. "That's pretty similar to what I dreamed..."
"Would you call that a telepathic connection? We both dreamed of my death, and then I actually died!"
Even though Hakuto had just shown a troubled face, he actually had a pretty open attitude toward death.
After all, ever since getting the supercomputer ability, Hakuto had assumed he wouldn't live long.
Besides, death hadn't happened yet — it was still changeable.
"Shiratori... sometimes, Shunsuke-oniisan really made sense."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"A supercomputer ability user can't die..."
"Well, no kidding. It's not like I want to die."
Even though Hakuto was open-minded about death, that didn't mean he wanted it.
Loving life but not fearing death — that summed up Hakuto's character.
After all, he'd already technically died once before, so he was fairly familiar with death.
People are usually afraid of the unknown, but funny enough, death wasn't all that unknown to Hakuto.
Hearing Hakuto's carefree tone, Nao shook her head.
"What I mean is, your life is very important!"
"Whose life isn't important?"
"At least more important than mine..."
To be honest, hearing Nao say that left Hakuto a little dumbfounded.
"My dear president, your sense of values is kinda dangerous, you know?"
Although, from a certain point of view, the value of a human life can vary.
Just like how a graduate student's life might be considered worth more than that of a beggar on the street.
But Hakuto didn't really want to accept that idea — after all, in his past life, he hadn't been much different from a street beggar.
Just because his value had increased now didn't mean he should suddenly embrace that old belief…
That would be hypocritical.
"Huh~? You think I'm joking?"
"Let's just say you're serious. Maybe it's because of something I said the other day that gave you the wrong idea."
Hakuto subconsciously thought it was his own words that had caused Nao's misunderstanding.
"When I said I'd die before you, I just meant to stop you from overthinking — it wasn't because my life was worth less than yours..."
"Shiratori... I'm serious..."
"Okay, okay, you're serious..."
"Huh~? What's with that tone like you're coaxing a child?"
Hakuto chuckled, then stood up and walked away without responding, leaving only his back for Nao to see.
Staring at Hakuto's departing figure, Nao frowned slightly.
Obviously, Hakuto hadn't taken her words to heart — or maybe he had, but simply didn't show it.
After Hakuto left, Shunsuke came to tell Nao something.
"Tomori... Shiratori died saving you. Take care of yourself during this time. If necessary, you can move into the base..."
"Why... are you telling me this alone?"
"Just so Shiratori won't worry too much."
Right.
Having received the news that he'd die in two months, Hakuto probably felt heavier than anyone inside — even if he didn't show it on the surface.
Hakuto: Huh? Heavy heart? Me?
Although earlier Nao had tried to subtly remind Hakuto that his life was important...
He had completely treated her words like wind passing by his ears.
"Loves money so much, yet sometimes forgets to love his own life too..."
Nao muttered as she stood up, brushing the dust off her skirt.
Nao actually knew that after hearing what she said, Hakuto probably had guessed something — he was just pretending not to notice.
"Mou, always bickering every day..." Nao grumbled softly.
"Hey! President! Are you coming or not? If not, I'm leaving on my own!"
Hakuto's voice called out from the base entrance, sounding a bit impatient.
"You go ahead. I have a few things to take care of here," Nao replied.
As for Shunsuke's suggestion to move into the base, Nao felt that was indeed a pretty good idea.
Even if she didn't know how long she could stay, at least she wouldn't be causing Hakuto any trouble.
Just because she could jump through memories didn't mean she could act without restraint.
In the future, Otosaka Yuu's eyes would go blind after all...
Meanwhile, over on Hakuto's side, he didn't think much about Nao's words.
After all, Shunsuke's group had a private car and driver available — leaving later wouldn't be a problem.
Hakuto glanced around at the base entrance, then silently activated his ability.
The entire base appeared in his mind like a 3D wireframe map.
Every part of the base and every figure inside came under his observation.
In his memory of the original story, the reason Nao and Kumagami were captured was because a traitor emerged within the base.
So Hakuto at least needed to prepare for that possibility.
However, under the scrutiny of his supercomputer ability, Hakuto didn't find any signs of a traitor.
Still, it never hurts to stay cautious…
After deactivating his ability, Hakuto hopped onto his motorcycle and rode away from the place.
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