Unfortunately, Yue looked a hundred times cuter in glasses, which negated any effect the Artifact might have had, so everyone’s reactions grew even more pronounced.
“Hey, Yue, are you secretly using some kind of concept magic that charms everyone around you or something?” Hajime asked, sighing and taking the glasses off of Yue.
“Hm?”
This was the second time he’d tried to make Yue less conspicuous and failed. Despite having unlocked the greatest Synergist skill, Transcendence, he was still incapable of suppressing Yue’s charm. When he’d complained about that to his mother the other day, Sumire had said, “That’s because she’s with you,” as if that would somehow explain everything.
It can’t really be that simple though, can it? Hajime thought, looking over at Yue. Was she really just looking that much cuter because she was happy to be alone with him?
“What is it?” she asked with a small smile.
You know what, mom’s clearly more perceptive than I am.
After a few more minutes of walking, they reached the train station. Yue dropped back to walking by Hajime’s side and wrapped her arm around his. A pleasant smell reached his nostrils, and he smiled contentedly.
The station attendants glared at him, annoyed that he was flirting with Yue this early in the morning. The students going to their own respective schools looked even angrier, and for a second, it looked like a few might spit at his feet.
“Yue, don’t leave my side,” Hajime said softly.
“Hm? I wasn’t planning on doing that ever for the rest of my life,” Yue said, confused about why Hajime was asking for the obvious.
That’s not exactly what I meant.
Hajime couldn’t tell if Yue hadn’t noticed how everyone around them was reacting or if she just didn’t care. Either way, Hajime at least was keenly aware that they were surrounded by enemies. Their animosity was strong enough that he was having difficulty remaining the mild-mannered Japanese boy he was trying to return to being. It took a considerable amount of effort to keep himself from pulling Donner out of his Treasure Trove.
“I just meant you should stick close because there’s a lot of people around.”
“Mmm... Got it. I’ll stick as close to you as possible.”
“Wait, no, that was a bad choice of words—Well, whatever, I guess it’s fine.”
Yue hugged him tightly enough that it was difficult to walk, but Hajime didn’t mind. In fact, he was enjoying the sensation of feeling Yue so close to him, so he didn’t bother to say anything else. This had already happened every time he’d walked to school with Yue, and every time they got on the train, their car was the most packed so they’d need to stick to each other anyway.
It was mostly guys who crowded whatever train Hajime and Yue chose to get on, but there were a fair number of girls as well. They all pretended they were looking at their phones, or a book, or something, but Hajime could tell they were sneaking glances at Yue the whole time.
Don’t they ever get tired of this? Also, since when were Japanese people this bloodthirsty? I’ve never sensed so much hostility before. I guess I can’t blame them for being mad at me, since I come to school with a different girl each day.
Indeed, many of these onlookers were fans of Shea rather than Yue. He even heard one of them mutter, “I can’t believe you’re cheating on Shea-chan, you bastard.”
Incidentally, the same thing happened whenever Hajime came to school with Kaori or Shizuku.
A normal person would have buckled under the hostility being directed at them from all sides, but Hajime was built differently. While it was mildly annoying, this was nothing compared to the horrors he’d faced in Tortus.
Hajime noticed an older man suddenly making his way over to them, so he wrapped his arms around Yue’s waist, pulling her closer and covering her body with his.
In that instant, everyone glared at Hajime.
“He he he... Thanks for protecting me, Hajime,” Yue said.
“Hey, Yue, how about we stop taking the train and just walk?” Hajime asked. That way they wouldn’t run into any train molesters. Not that he’d ever let any of them even get close to Yue, of course. Still, not taking the train would save him the hassle of fending them off.
“Hmmm...” Yue mumbled, thinking about it for a few seconds. But then, an idea came to her and she raised her finger into the air.
“Everyone, stop paying attention to us,” she said in a singsong voice, and invisible ripples of power spread throughout the train car. The eyes of the people glaring at Hajime and Yue suddenly went blank, and a second later, they snapped back to their senses and started shuffling off to empty train cars. They seemed confused about why they’d bothered to enter such a packed car.
“I can’t believe you’re using your Divine Edict for this. Do you really want to take the train to school that badly?”
“Mmm... There’s something romantic about riding the train together, so we have to do it,” Yue said firmly.
“F-Fair enough. I guess I’ll strengthen the perception-altering power of those glasses.”
“Does it have to be glasses?”
“Yes, it does.”
Yue looked ten times better in glasses, so Hajime wanted to make her wear them at all costs.
Seeing his determined expression, Yue burst out laughing. Her laughter momentarily attracted everyone’s attention, but she made them forget about her again with another Divine Edict.
It seemed she really was willing to use it for even the most trivial things. As far as Yue was concerned, anything was fair game to use in order to fulfill her desires. And her priorities were quite simple:
Hajime >>>>>> Unsurmountable Wall >>>>>> everything else.