Zongman I fight weirdness in everyday world

Chapter 588: The Gift Makise Kurisu Wants Most

The next evening, inside the Overload Society apartment building.

“No one's around, it's really deserted.”

Makise Kurisu opened the apartment door, glanced at the empty first-floor lobby, and sighed slightly. Then, she changed her shoes in the entryway, walked to the sofa, and collapsed onto it as if paralyzed, her posture quite unladylike and sprawled out.

“So tired…”

Sinking into the soft sofa, Makise Kurisu muttered to herself.

“Although tired, it's also fulfilling, isn't it?”

Hearing the sudden voice that belonged to “herself,” Makise Kurisu shifted her body and looked with slight helplessness at Amadeus, who had appeared on the nearby armchair from who-knows-where.

“Why did you run out of the phone again? If you're so free, why not help me get a Dr. Pepper from the fridge?”

“Okay.”

Amadeus opened the refrigerator and took out two bottles of a drink called Dr. Pepper, which was considered a niche beverage in Sakura Province, handing one of them to Makise Kurisu.

“Thanks… Hmm… No strength.”

Having worked at the research institute for a whole day and night to solve a certain problem, Makise Kurisu didn't even have the strength to unscrew the cap, and directly handed the Dr. Pepper back to Amadeus.

“Help me open it.”

“You really like to be babied.”

“You yourself said that you're essentially a future version of me from another world line. It's not really being spoiled to be pampered by yourself.”

“There are definitely people you can be spoiled by, right?”

“You mean Yosuke?”

Makise Kurisu took the Dr. Pepper handed over by Amadeus and took a big gulp, her movements appearing very bold.

“There are already enough people who need to be babied by him, adding me would make things too difficult for him. I can't be so selfish, and besides… I don't have the right to be spoiled and willful with him.”

Amadeus couldn't help but shake her head upon hearing this.

“Why do you have to force yourself to be so mature? You're stubborn and sharp-tongued, that's just you.”

“Aren't you the same?”

In front of Amadeus, who was created with herself as the primary personality, Makise Kurisu appeared very honest and didn't deny the other party's words, instead retorting.

“If you had that much courage, after defeating Yaldabaoth, and expressing your true feelings for Yosuke in front of so many people, you should have made some progress by now, right? But now, aren't you still sitting here drinking Dr. Pepper with me?”

Amadeus didn't deny it, but unexpectedly nodded.

“Yeah, that's true.”

“Eh? I thought you would say that because you were created based on me, you would be as indecisive as I am, but you actually just admitted it…”

“I didn't pass the buck to you, are you surprised?”

Amadeus said calmly.

“Although it's true that I'm an artificial intelligence created based on you, and I would have blamed my personality flaws on you in the past, I don't anymore. I realized long ago that I am me, and you are you. Although we have many things in common, they are just commonalities. In the end, we are two different individuals, and… in Yosuke's eyes, it's the same.”

“I see…”

Makise Kurisu nodded, then asked curiously.

“Then, you fell in love with him… because of that?”

“Yeah, that's right.”

Amadeus pursed her lips, her eyes twinkling as she said softly.

“My existence, my name, my memories… all of this could be false, but at that time, after destroying Yaldabaoth, what Yosuke said to me was real, not to 'Makise Kurisu,' but to 'Amadeus'… That was the first time I had something that truly belonged to me. He gave me that moment's memory and emotion. To call it liking… is too superficial. If I were to use a human word, I could only think of 'love' to describe my feelings for him.”

“Love…”

Makise Kurisu was actually quite unfamiliar with this word, which was so common and often seen. After all, although her upbringing couldn't be considered that of an orphan, it was worse than that of a real orphan, making her the most miserable member of the Overload Society.

Familial love, friendship, romantic love—Makise Kurisu had never experienced any of these emotions. The first time in her life that she truly felt something was the day she was recognized by Professor Leskinen and successfully entered the research institute, becoming a member of the brain science research team…

In the end… Professor Leskinen turned evil and turned Makise Kurisu and Hiyajo Maho, who had poured countless efforts into it, into weapons to realize his ambitions.

The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt.

Just then, the door of the apartment building was suddenly pushed open.

Makise Kurisu looked up and saw Yosuke walking in, subconsciously standing up to greet him.

“You're back?”

After saying that, Makise Kurisu belatedly realized that her tone was so gentle… It sounded like a virtuous wife waiting for her husband to come home…

“Yeah, I'm back. Oh, it's just you and Amadeus. Perfect, I haven't had time to give you the gifts I bought earlier.”

“Gifts?”

“They're upstairs, let me get them for you.”

When Yosuke came downstairs again, he had two beautifully packaged gift boxes in his hands, which were clearly expensive just by looking at the packaging and materials. He handed one to Amadeus and the other to Makise Kurisu, then smiled and said.

“Here, take them.”

“Eh… Thank you.”

Makise Kurisu hesitated slightly before taking the gift box. After she unwrapped the ribbon and carefully opened the box, she saw what was inside and couldn't help but be stunned, just like Amadeus.

“This is…”

Seeing the silver plate, chopsticks, and cutlery in the gift box, Makise Kurisu vaguely guessed what it was.

She picked up the silver chopsticks and glanced at them, noticing that her name was engraved on the upper end of the chopsticks.

“'yourfork,' in other words, your personal tableware.”

Hearing Ye Xing's voice filled with a smile, Kirisu Makise raised her head to look at him, momentarily speechless. She felt a stinging sensation in her nose, and after a long while, she finally spoke with a trembling voice.

“Why… …why did you give me this?”

“Isn’t this the gift that both of you wanted the most? Oh, no, that’s not right.”

Ye Xing shook his head, looked at Amadeus and Kirisu Makise in front of him, and said softly.

“Exclusive tableware and such are not important. What’s important is the meaning behind this gift, right? Kirisu Makise, Amadeus, both of you are family to me and everyone in the Super-dimensional Society. This gift is a testament to that.”

“Ye Xing, I…”

Kirisu Makise's eyes flickered as she looked at the exclusive tableware engraved with her name. Her eyes seemed to be looking at the most unique treasure in the world.

The gift she wanted most was indeed her own tableware. This was because when she was young, Makise Shouichi had promised her that he would give her such a gift, but later the relationship between father and daughter broke down, and the promised gift disappeared like smoke.

“How… …how did you know… …”

Before Ye Xing could speak, Amadeus closed her set, engraved with the name “Amadeus”, looked at Ye Xing sitting there, and couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile, and said softly.

“He is the harem god who can see through the minds of beautiful girls.”

“Eh? Do I also count as a beautiful girl?”

Hearing Kirisu Makise's words, Ye Xing couldn't help but retort.

“Oh right, you’re not a beautiful girl, you’re a red-brown haired, blue-eyed science freak.”

“You… …you’re the freak!”

Hearing this, Kirisu Makise couldn't help but stand up and run over, reaching out her hand to punch Ye Xing's shoulder, but when she actually went to do it, she couldn't bear to. The original punching action turned into a gentle caress.

“That… …I… …”

“No need to say more.”

Ye Xing took Amadeus's left hand and Kirisu Makise's right hand, and said with a smile.

“We are already family, aren’t we?”

“Yeah…”

Hearing this, Kirisu Makise couldn't help but raise a gentle smile at the corner of her lips. Although she and Amadeus hadn't exchanged any words, they tacitly kissed Ye Xing on the cheek, one on the left and one on the right.

“You are our favorite… …no, that’s not right… …”

“Is the most loved… …”

“Family.”

… …

Several days later, in a certain classroom of Soubu High School's first year.

“Yo, Komachi, what are you thinking about?”

Hearing her friend's voice, Koga Komachi raised her head and noticed that her friends who were eating lunch together had stopped their original chat and were staring at her with curious faces.

“That… …that… …it’s nothing, I was just a little distracted… …”

“Eh? No way, you’re fooling us again?”

Kashiwagi Reina, who had the best relationship with Koga Komachi, that is, the one who once liked the third-year basketball club senior who was a scumbag, saw through her friend's pretense of being strong at a glance, and deliberately showed a somewhat angry look.

“Aren’t we friends? You don’t tell us about anything that’s bothering you, and you make us friends worry. Aren’t you being a little too unkind?”

“No, no, it’s just… …”

Koga Komachi hesitated for a moment, and finally looked around, and when she saw that no one was paying attention to her small group, she lowered her voice.

“Actually… …I’m worried about… …Senior Ye Xing’s matter.”

Hearing this, Kashiwagi Reina's gossip heart rose, and she hurriedly asked curiously.

“What, did you and Senior Ye Xing quarrel? Did you have a conflict? Could it be that you broke up?”

“This… …that… …”

Facing her friends' expectant gazes, Koga Komachi carefully said.

“Actually… …that time at the cafe during the school trip… …was just a misunderstanding. Senior Ye Xing and I… …haven’t started dating.”

“Oh, so that’s it.”

Seeing that Kashiwagi Reina and the others were not surprised at all when they heard her words, but instead looked very calm, Koga Komachi couldn't help but be stunned.

“Eh? Aren’t… …aren’t you surprised?”

“What’s so surprising about that? We already guessed it.”

Kashiwagi Reina waved her hand and smiled helplessly.

“If you were really dating Senior Ye Xing, you would have talked to us more or less about your daily love life with him, but you didn’t. When we asked you to come out to play, you didn’t say that you were going on a date with Senior Ye Xing and declined. Isn’t that obvious enough? So, what are you worried about? Are the rumors about you and Senior Ye Xing hindering you from finding a real love interest?”

“No, no, no! Reina, you’ve misunderstood!”

Koga Komachi hurriedly waved her hand, saying “no” three times in a row, enough to show her flustered mood at this moment.

“I actually… …actually I… …the person I want to be in love with is Senior Ye Xing… …”

“Oh, so that’s the matter.”

Kashiwagi Reina breathed a sigh of relief and smiled comfortingly.

“Komachi, you’re so cute and have such a good personality. If you take the initiative to confess to Senior Ye Xing, he will definitely… …maybe… …should… …probably will… …accept… …right?”

Koga Komachi: “No… …why are you becoming more and more hesitant as you speak? You’re making me lose confidence… …”

“Haha… …”

Kashiwagi Reina smiled awkwardly and said softly.

“Well, I can’t help it. The main thing is that I thought about it carefully. Although your appearance and personality are very cute, if I were a boy, I would definitely like you, but… …Senior Ye Xing’s pursuit difficulty… …is famous throughout our school.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

A girl next to her echoed.

“I heard two days ago that a girl from Class C was so bold that she actually wanted to take advantage of the lunch break to run directly to Senior Ye Xing’s classroom to confess to him in person. She probably felt that those who handed in confession letters had been rejected, so a face-to-face confession would have a chance of success, but what do you think happened?”

“What happened?”

“Before she could even get close to the classroom of Class 2-A, she ran into Senior Yukinoshita and Senior Touma who were arguing. At that time, the atmosphere directly scared her away. According to her, that was a horror that normal humans didn’t dare to approach, and couldn’t even look directly at!”