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Chapter 8 - Chapter 8: This House Would Fall Apart Without Me

What's the single most hated thing in the entire world?

Ask any student still stuck in school or any working adult dragging themselves through life, and you'll get the exact same answer every time:

The goddamn morning alarm clock.

Ring ring ring~ Ring ring ring~

The alarm blared right on schedule.

The second it went off, it felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his skull.

The impact was on the same level as Kogoro Mouri smashing Shinichi Kudo in the back of the head—one brutal hit that could shatter the entire Detective Conan timeline.

The instant Shuya woke up, he instinctively reached out from under the covers to slap the alarm on the nightstand.

But it felt like an entire mountain was pinning him down. He couldn't move an inch.

I'm carrying weight no one my age should have to deal with.

What the hell is crushing me so hard I can't even lift my head?

Life?

Nope. It's Shizuka Marikawa!

Shuya opened his eyes and found her sleeping face inches from his own—so close he could count every single tiny eyelash.

She was wrapped around him like a human octopus, her full body weight pressing down on him. Even her massive breasts were squished flat against his chest.

Her warm breath tickled his face with every exhale.

Not wanting to linger in the heavenly softness of Shizuka's embrace, Shuya wrestled one arm free and killed the alarm that was still ruining his morning.

Then he slid out of bed, walked over to the little nest the two Snowball Beasts had at the foot of the bed, scooped up one of the fluffy cuties, and gently stuffed it into Shizuka's arms in his place.

Her hands—still sleepily searching for him the moment he left—immediately latched onto the Snowball Beast and hugged it tight.

"Meep?"

Feeling the sudden pressure, the Snowball Beast blinked its big round eyes open.

Any guy on the planet would've sold his soul to trade places with it right then.

But the look on the Snowball Beast's face was pure "I'm so done with this shit."

"Shh."

Shuya put a finger to his lips. "Don't wake her."

"Meep!"

The Snowball Beast gave a firm nod, like it had just accepted its tragic fate.

Shuya smiled and whispered, "Thanks. I'm counting on you."

Snowball Beast: This house would fall apart without me!

Shuya glanced at the clock. 6:01 AM.

He could've slept in longer. Japanese high schools didn't start until around eight, so he still had two full hours.

But he got up early on purpose—to make breakfast for Shizuka and pack their lunches.

Japan has this whole bento culture thing. Students and salarymen alike usually prep their lunch the night before or early in the morning.

Elementary kids get bentos made by parents or older siblings.

Once they hit middle school, home economics class teaches them simple stuff like rolled omelets.

By high school, if you're still having someone else make your bento, you're either a rich kid or just straight-up hopeless in the kitchen.

The school cafeteria sold lunch sets too, but… Japanese attempts at food?

General Tso's chicken, anyone?

So yeah, Shuya had no choice but to adapt and embrace the bento life.

He grabbed his Fujimi Academy uniform from the closet, washed up, and headed to the kitchen.

Today's lunch was garlic chives stir-fried with pork, shredded pork with green peppers, and minced pork with pickled beans—simple home-cooked dishes that actually tasted even better after sitting for a while.

After eating breakfast and packing everything up, Shuya grabbed his bento and headed to school.

He still hadn't woken Shizuka.

She was the school nurse at Fujimi Academy—one of those dream jobs everyone envied.

Good pay, barely any work.

Small problem? Just rest and you're fine.

Big problem? Ship them off to the hospital.

The school infirmary basically existed so students had one more place to ditch class.

The nurse position was basically Japan's version of a PE teacher.

When he reached the classroom door, class was about to start. Students were standing around in little groups chatting.

Shuya had zero interest in joining any of them.

The zombie outbreak was coming soon. Who knew how many of these people would even survive?

Besides, he didn't have some lord system or whatever. The only people worth his time were the 2D heroines he actually cared about.

Shuya took his usual seat at the back by the window—the King's Throne—and tuned out all the noise around him.

He naturally slipped into a meditative state for Nen training.

No one ever bothered him. Being second in the entire grade plus his usual cold demeanor kept everyone at a safe distance.

Time flew by, and soon it was lunch.

Shuya grabbed his bento and headed up to the school rooftop—one of those classic 2D "loner" hotspots.

Normally he ate in the infirmary with Shizuka, but after class he found out she'd taken the day off to go see her best friend Rika.

Looks like she actually listened to what he said last night.

So today he was eating alone.

The rooftop wasn't anything special. Freezing in winter, blazing in summer. Only spring and fall were decent.

A lot of Japanese schools locked the roof access doors anyway to stop kids from doing anything stupid.

Shuya had just never been up here before and was curious.

Usually only kids with no friends ended up eating alone on the roof.

That's where Japan's unique bullying culture came in.

Every new school year, students rushed to form or join a group as fast as possible.

If you stayed alone too long, you got labeled a loner.

Then the whole class would team up to bully you until you finally joined some group.

Didn't matter if you were a top student or a delinquent—they'd bully anyone who didn't fit in.

A lot of 2D protagonists started out exactly like that.

Technically, Shuya was in that "bullied" category too.

But in his eyes? Nah. He wasn't being bullied.

He was the one bullying the entire class by ignoring all of them.

Shuya sat down against the wall and was about to open his bento when he heard a soft, muffled sob nearby.

Crying on the school roof wasn't exactly rare in Japan, but he still got curious and peeked around the corner.

A girl with long ash-brown hair was curled up against the wall, hugging her knees, face buried in her arms as she cried quietly.

"Asuna…?"

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