My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

"―Well, that'll be all for today. Since we still have some time left, does anyone have any questions~?"

The final lesson of the day.

Supposedly, in order to not make it too intensive on our first day back at school, the teacher decided to cut it a bit short.

Of course, I wasn't going to complain about a shorter lesson since the content itself was rather boring, but it's not like I was paying attention in the first place.

"Hey, Itou."

Suddenly, as some of the other students were asking questions at the front, the person sitting to my left alerted me.

A normal-looking student with medium-length black hair was talking to me.

"Yes?"

"Do you like games?"

User, 'Sharp Hammer or Blunt Fork???'.

"You must spend a lot of time studying, but surely you've played some games before, right?"

―Tarou Fushigimi.

"I think they're alright."

Rather than the kinds of games I enjoy, he was talking about videogames.

While he was right in that I had played a couple of videogames before, I never quite understood the objective or how it works.

Dropping uniquely-shaped colourful blocks into the right holes?

Bouncing a slow-moving digital ball between two moveable plates?

From what I understood, the purpose of games was to entertain and have fun, but I cannot comprehend how such things like videogames can achieve that.

Compared to the sorts of games I like to play, they weren't fun at all.

Not in the slightest.

"Cool. Wanna come with me to the arcade after this? I know you declined Yuu's invitation to the meal, but truth be told I'm not going either 'cause it'll be a bit too loud for my liking―y'know, with it being the start of the school year and all."

The arcade?

I've never been, but isn't it just a place containing a bunch of games withinin the same, prosaic branch?

"I think I'll pass."

If the alternative is playing the same uninteresting videogames, then I'd rather go home and see how the twins' progress on training their Supernatural Abilities is coming along.

"Oh, that's fine. We can go somewhere else if you don't like the arcade, or are you just gonna chill for today? Have you ever tried skateboarding?"

"I haven't, but I'm not really interested."

Ring~!

"Alright, that's it for now~ Make sure to hand in your club registration forms before the end of term and enjoy yourselves~!"

Standing up at the teacher's dismissal, I picked up my bag and turned to Tarou for a final rejection.

"I'm going home, so you can go to the arcade or whatever without me."

Walking out the door to leave, I heard his voice trailing from behind.

"Haha, that's all good, don't worry about it. Send me a dm if you change your mind, I'll always be down to go out or something."

I left school without replying.

I don't know if it was just to be nice, but I had no idea why he was acting all buddy-buddy all of a sudden. Probably because he hasn't got many friends or something, but I don't care.

It was something he did at the start of last year too―inviting people, including me, to go out.

Apparently that guy transferred in from some other school during the middle of First Year, so I'm not surprised he has no one to go to the arcade with.

In any case.

Exiting the school premises, I walked ten minutes to arrive at a train station, where I then boarded a train for twenty minutes. Finally, after getting off at my stop, I walked a further five minutes before I had ultimately arrived home.

From now on, this would be the way I have to travel to and from school every day.

Though it was a huge pain, I didn't want to have to deal with the maids and butlers dropping me off near the school grounds because other people would inevitably see it.

The only alternative was transferring schools, but that was also a huge pain.

I had enough trouble forging documents to fool the government and get into school last time, so if I tried it again, despite having the extra help from Minami that would greatly assist in the process, it's simply not something I can be bothered to do.

Since I don't have to do it in the first place, why should I?

I can still get an 'authentic school experience' this way, right? The specifics don't matter.

There is also the possibility to live in a different house that's closer to the school, but that's just a stupid idea.

I'm not going to risk people finding out about me unnecessarily, so having a complex route home benefits me in that regard. Moreover, it's an excuse I can use if somebody wants to come over to my house for whatever reason.

"Welcome home, sir."

"Take this."

Handing my bag and coat to the butler that greeted me at the door, I was about to walk past him to look for the twins, but instead, I abruptly swivelled my head towards him and gave an order.

"Oh, give the person who made my lunch a bonus."

I don't care who it was, quite frankly, but I want them to be motivated.

Today's lunch was nice. Better than usual, in fact. If the person who made it is more motivated, they may make a better lunch for tomorrow.

"Tell them a raise is waiting for them if they continue making good lunches."

"Of course, sir."

With that done, it didn't take me long to find the twins. Simultaneously, the two called me.

""Ciphy...""

Right.

―By the new nickname I had somehow adopted.

I don't care what they call me, but the twins have apparently become quite attached to my name ever since I told them and have thereafter begun calling me by such a nickname.

The Measurement of Truth said the reason for that is because it helps them feel closer to me or something, as well as because it's something I've only told the two of them.

Whatever makes them work harder for me, I suppose.

"What is it?"

"Sit..."

"...Look."

I guess they were having their break time? They, who were sitting on the sofa and watching T.V., told me to sit down whilst pointing at the screen.

"What? It's a movie, right?"

On the screen, it seemed like they were watching an animated film. Apparently, it was quite a popular one that involved a princess with ice powers and singing, but I had never watched it.

""Magic.""

"Like Sana."

"Can I do that?"

They spoke with glistening eyes as Sana gestured to herself and asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. Magic isn't real. What you have are Supernatural Abilities, but they're not magic."

""Oh...""

Their heads fell dejectedly.

What?

Was that all it took?

That was the most emotion I've seen from them in a while, and it was caused by being told they can't use magic? Ridiculous.

Because her ability is... I see why they made a correlation between the two, but they are still a bit off the mark.

"―Nevertheless. I suppose it's similar enough. If you get better at using your power, you might be able to do something even greater than that, you know?"

"Oh."

"Really...?"

"Well, why not? Just focus on improving and you'll be able to do it one day."

That wasn't a lie.

Even currently, the twins' powers are far stronger than when I had just picked them up, and it's only been a couple of months, so what will they be like 6 months or even a year from now?

""Ciphy...""

Suddenly, the girls called me again.

"Yes?"

"Ciphy started going to school..."

"...Are we going to school too?"

...Uh.

What?

You?