Mash-Up: Anything for Money

"Mm..."

In Utaha's eyes, Hakuto's once unblemished back was now marked by two deep red scratches.

It looked like they had been caused by his back hitting a protruding part of the staircase.

Tiny beads of blood clung to the edges of the wounds, making Utaha, who had lived a life of comfort since childhood, feel a shiver of unease.

Seeing her worried expression, Hakuto also wanted to know how bad his injuries were. After all, aside from the burning pain, he didn't feel any other discomfort.

"Senpai, could you take a picture for me?"

"Alright..."

Hearing this, Utaha used her phone to snap a photo of Hakuto's back and then handed it over to him.

"Huh? This is supposed to be serious?"

Hakuto let out a relieved laugh after seeing the image. 

He felt like Utaha was overreacting. A wound like this would scab over in just a few days—how could it be called serious?

"I've only ever seen scrapes like this on TV, but judging by the looks of it, I'd say it's quite bad."

"No, what Senpai really meant to say is that this is the first time you've seen a male upper body outside of television, right?"

"This kind of thing is everywhere in that blonde loser's work."

"Why are you comparing me to fictional characters?"

"Enough chit-chat. Wait here for a bit."

"So you're really making me sit here shirtless while you go off somewhere?"

"According to your logic, I'm still the boss right now. And as my employee, shouldn't you follow the boss's orders?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Utaha stood up from the bench, glanced around, and walked toward the nearest convenience store.

Seeing this, Hakuto didn't argue any further. After all, the customer was king, and his professional ethics were strong.

Since Utaha told him to wait here, then he would wait here obediently.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he was starting to feel drowsy. He instinctively turned toward the direction Utaha had left, but she was nowhere to be seen.

However, when he turned his head back, he suddenly felt someone gently stroking his back.

At first, Hakuto thought Utaha had returned, but when he looked over, he found Tomori Nao sitting on the bench beside him.

She has a chocolate stick between her lips, and lightly touching his wound with her hand.

"Huh? You're still here?"

"I had some business to take care of. What happened to you?" Nao glanced at the wounds on Hakuto's back. 

"Don't tell me this is a side effect of your computation ability?"

"I just tripped, that's all."

"And could you stop touching it?"

"Tch~ This is probably karma for stealing my memory card."

"Say whatever you want... But speaking of which, do abilities really have side effects?"

Hakuto had never felt any negative effects from his ability—only that it was overwhelmingly powerful.

Nao nodded, thought for a moment, then spoke.

"From what I know, most abilities come with certain limitations or side effects when used."

"Like mine—I can only disappear from the sight of a specific person. Other people, or even cameras, can still capture me."

"Our school has another member with high-speed movement ability, but they can't actively stop themselves. Every time they use their power, they end up injured."

"Well, I guess every ability has its own limitations to some extent."

After listening to Nao's explanation, Hakuto immediately had a clearer understanding. 

As someone who had knowledge of the original story, he knew that she wasn't exaggerating.

Most abilities had some kind of restriction. 

For example, Plunder could only steal abilities from people within the user's line of sight, Collapse put the user themselves in danger, and Memory Leap caused vision impairment...

However, Hakuto didn't feel any discomfort at the moment. 

He figured his ability was at least on par with Memory Leap—after all, whenever he activated it, time around him seemed to completely stop.

"Even though we don't know the exact side effects or limits of your computation ability yet, it's best to use it as little as possible until you figure it out."

Nao warned him seriously, and Hakuto nodded with a smile.

"Thanks for the advice. Next time we meet, I'll treat you to a meal—though I have no idea when that'll be."

"Very soon."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You'll find out in a couple of days. Your friend is coming, so I should get going."

Nao didn't linger on the topic. The moment she saw Utaha walking out of the convenience store, she quickly said goodbye to Hakuto.

Hakuto watched as she left, pondering the meaning behind her last two sentences.

Toyosaki and Hoshino Umi Academy were quite far apart. Since both of them were students, their daily routines would normally just be going between home and school.

Hakuto didn't see any reason why he'd suddenly visit Hoshino Umi Academy, so if Nao wasn't joking, the only way they'd meet again soon would be if she came looking for him.

"Is a free meal really worth all that trouble…?"

Hakuto muttered to himself. He had only said he'd treat her out of politeness—it wasn't like he actually meant it. 

Just like how saying "fuck" didn't mean he actually wanted to "fuck."

"What are you thinking about?"

Just as Hakuto was deep in thought, Utaha was already standing in front of him, holding a bottle of iodine in her hand.

"Thinking about when Senpai would come back."

"If that's all, then you don't need to think about it anymore."

Utaha sat down behind him and dipped a cotton swab into the iodine, gently applying it to his wounds.

"I didn't expect you to be so obedient. You actually didn't put your shirt back on."

"Huh? Weren't you the one who told me to do this?"

"That's why I'm saying you're so obedient. Good boy."

Hakuto swatted away Utaha's hand as she tried to pat his head. He wasn't following her orders because of her, but because of the thirty thousand yen in her pocket.

Utaha didn't seem to mind having her hand pushed away and simply continued applying the iodine to his wounds.

"By the way, have you ever considered cutting your hair short?"

As she touched the long strands of hair draped over his back, she casually asked the question.

Hakuto frowned slightly. He never really cared much about hairstyles. The one he had now was actually something Ginko had spent money on for him.

Ever since then, he had just kept the same look—not just because he was used to it, but also because Ginko had paid for it.

Speaking of hairstyles, Hakuto suddenly recalled something unpleasant.

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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute]

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