Chapter 53: I Want to Awaken an Other-Exclusion Talent — Step 4: Talent Awakening Failed…?

After that, I kept greeting him every day.

I avoided doing it while he was studying, and instead picked my moments—when he got up to go to the bathroom, right as homeroom was about to start, sometimes during lunch, or the instant he stood up to move classrooms.

All while shifting the timing around so it wouldn’t look like I was staking out his bathroom trips.

I’d imagined that if I did it every day, I’d get some kind of positive response out of him.

But contrary to what I wanted, the words I got back whenever I greeted him were things like,

“Shut up. Don’t get in my way.”

“Again? Don’t talk to me.”

“Every day, every day—you’re so damn loud.”

To be blunt, my heart was starting to hit its limit.

At first I was happy he wasn’t ignoring me, but I didn’t think I’d be getting showered in thorns every single day.

It’s my fault for assuming that if I kept at it, I’d get some kind of positive reaction like I did with the others before—but I still never imagined it would be this bad.

If I think about it calmly, me saying he has yandere talent is just… me saying it on my own. It’s not like it’s guaranteed he actually has talent.

So he might awaken it, or he might stay like this no matter how many daily greetings I throw at him. Honestly, with how things look, the second possibility is way more likely.

I’d slammed into my first real wall.

I’ve hit walls while trying to awaken talents before. But those worries got solved by trying a few more times with those girls, and as I gradually started to see their talent awaken, it kept me going—and I could keep throwing myself into it.

But a case like this is a first. I’ve never been rejected this hard. I can see a hint of talent, but there’s absolutely no sign of a trigger that would make it awaken.

So it’s not just that I don’t know what to do—at this point, I don’t even know if my heart can take it.

Maybe everyone’s forgotten, but I’m human too, and it’s not like I want to get hurt. If possible, I want to live peacefully, and even if I say I want to live for yanderes, it doesn’t mean I want to get casually wounded for no reason.

So I was starting to chicken out of awakening his talent. I’m sure there are other people with talent too, and it would be a waste if I got stuck obsessing over him and missed someone else.

Yeah… maybe there’s no point in keeping my eyes only on him.

Maybe it’d be fine to step away from him for a bit. I might be able to use this failure as fuel and find a new yandere talent again, too.

I decided to pull back from him a little. I’ll observe the people around me more from a wider angle, look for talents besides his, and take it a little slower while I keep producing yanderes.

And starting the next day, I stopped my recent habit of greeting him, at least for now.

If my heart isn’t calm, I might not even be able to spot yandere talent, after all.

From the next day on, I felt a little lighter… but also like something was still stuck in my chest.

Three mornings after I stopped greeting him, I came to school like usual.

Thinking, I’ve gotta go talent-hunting again today. And then I greeted my friends.

“Morning—!”

And then he suddenly snapped his face up.

Huh? What’s up?

You just looked over here, right? Wait—what does that mean?

He’s always so focused on studying that he never gets distracted by voices around him.

So it’s rare for him to lift his head while he’s studying.

Don’t tell me… he reacted to my greeting?

Chapter 54: I Want to Awaken an Other-Exclusion Talent — Step 5: If It Worked, I’m Not Giving Up

When he lifted his head at the exact moment I greeted my friends, I felt like I could see a bit of hope.

Because he never lifts his head at a timing that perfect, right?

It was basically at the same instant as the greeting.

And on top of that, he’s so serious about studying it’s like he’d die for it.

I can’t imagine there was something in the classroom at that moment that he wanted to see so badly he stopped studying for it.

So there’s only one answer. He reacted because he thought my greeting was meant for him, didn’t he?

I mean, it has to be that, right? Would he really lift his head that fast otherwise? It was such a good reaction it made me wonder, Wait—did I greet him just now?

But if I get my hopes up for nothing here, there’s a chance my heart will shatter into dust.

Still, after that reaction, I want to believe there’s a chance. Even if it’s just my bias—fine. I don’t care anymore.

From his reaction, I got a single ray of light—and the courage to face him one more time.

Tomorrow, I’ll greet my friends again while watching him.

That way, I can see his reaction and the possibility. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll seriously give up for real.

There’s no need to dig in any deeper than that.

The next day, I decided I’d greet a friend who sits as close to him as possible, in a slightly louder voice.

Alright—watch his reaction at the moment of the greeting. This might be my last chance, okay?

“Morning—!!”

I greeted my friend.

And while I did, I watched him out of the corner of my eye.

And what do you know? His shoulder gave a small twitch.

Ah! I saw it. I saw it. His shoulder clearly moved in sync with my greeting.

That raises the odds, doesn’t it?

So it wasn’t a coincidence. Two coincidences make a sure thing, right?

He’s definitely aware of it.

Without even realizing it, I’d apparently created a whole “If pushing doesn’t work, try pulling back” situation with him.

Because I think, at least a little, his mind has to be going, Why did I suddenly stop getting greeted? Is he not going to do it anymore?

The timing of when I stopped greeting him and that “pull back” feeling must’ve intertwined just right, and now it’s probably hitting in a good way.

For him, it has to have turned into a faint sense of something being off.

There’s no way I’m not using that sense of discomfort.

This won’t last forever, and right now has to be the perfect opportunity.

His talent is like a rock-hard bud—no matter how much water you give it, it shows no sign of blooming.

But even a bud like that, if the environment changes, should be able to find a crack—some trigger that lets it bloom.

And that trigger is this discomfort. I can’t let it slip. If I let this slip, I probably won’t be able to awaken it ever.

There’s no plant that wants to stay a bud forever. A bud is the pre-form of a flower, after all.

Well, if my “pull back” strategy is enough to make him feel weird, it’d be nice if he’d shown a better reaction back when I was greeting him every day.

Like a slightly softer reaction. Or a light greeting back.

But maybe that’s his strength too. Like his Guard is solid—he doesn’t react easily, or something.

You could even say that clumsiness is proof of his talent. If he weren’t this stubbornly sealed up, I might not have noticed he had talent in the first place.

But I’m going to peel off that Guard and make you show the real you. Just wait.