Anime Crossover: My Part-Time Job as a Giant of Light While Studying Abroad in Chiba

Hong Kai smiled faintly after hearing this.

……

"Be careful on the road! Come back soon, Duan Jun!"

At the coffee shop entrance in the early morning, Hibino Mirai leaned against the door frame and waved vigorously, while Kai leaned against the telephone pole next to him. Although he didn't say anything, his eyes watched the boy's back disappear around the street corner.

"Okay... I'm not a primary school student."

Duan Zilian waved her hand without turning her head, her voice somewhat low.

He was walking on the road leading to Soubu High School, his legs feeling as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

The morning sunlight was a bit dazzling, but it didn't feel very warm on my skin.

In my mind, Red King's last hopeful gaze, which was extinguished in an instant, was like a thorn that I couldn't pull out, pricking me painfully with every breath.

The TV screen in the shopping mall on the street is still playing yesterday's footage.

【Angel's Punishment】.

[The Defection of the Demon of Light].

Passersby stopped to watch and pointed.

"That giant is indeed very strange."

"Look at how he acts in front of the monster; he's practically one of the monster's accomplices."

"Thank goodness for that golden angel..."

The harsh whispers entered her ears, and Duan Zilian lowered her head, pulling up the collar of her school uniform a little.

"Calm down... Duan Zilian, you're just an ordinary high school student right now."

He sighed, patted his pale cheeks, and tried to return to his usual normal state.

What he was most worried about was the girl sitting to his left.

Yukinoshita's sensitivity was too sharp; she could spot even the slightest imperfection.

Besides these, there's the unfathomable Sakuta Azusagawa and Hachiman Hikigaya, who can see through human nature.

Can this state of physical weakness and high mental tension really fool those guys?

As he passed through the school gate, the wind tousled his hair.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the surging emotions within him.

"...Since you're going to wear a mask, then wear it properly."

He pushed open the door of the teaching building and walked towards the familiar Class 2-F, a place filled with noise and daily routine.

It was still early morning study time, and the classroom was noisy.

"Hey everyone! Good morning!" Yui Yuigahama's energetic voice rang out from the doorway.

Yukino Yukinoshita sat in her seat, still holding the paperback in her hand, but her eyes kept glancing at the empty seat next to her.

"...Hasn't he arrived yet?" she murmured softly.

Yesterday, Danzi Rei said on Line that he had taken leave to go to Yokohama. Then, such a fierce battle broke out in Yokohama. Although he replied to let her know he was safe, Yukinoshita's unease grew wildly like weeds.

Just then, the classroom sliding door was slowly pushed open.

That familiar figure came into everyone's view.

Duan Zilian lowered her head and slowly moved to her seat.

"Hey, Duan Zilian, you actually survived? Why do you look so tired? Did the monster's roar knock your head out?" Azusagawa Sakuta twirled his pen and was the first to tease him.

Duan Zilian slumped in her chair, her eyes conveying a sense of "let the world hurry up and be destroyed."

"Ah... I guess so, the scenery over there is just too breathtaking."

Yukino's cool eyes swept over his exhausted body, and he immediately put on his usual extremely nonchalant demeanor, casually greeting his lovely seatmate to show that he was still alive.

Throughout the morning, he used almost every nerve in his body to desperately maintain his usual image.

When Yukinoshita asks about things in Yokohama, he replies flippantly and listlessly, "Is the department head concerned about me?"

These frivolous remarks successfully triggered Yukino's sharp tongue, causing her to snort coldly and then bury herself back in her paperback.

Duan Zilian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that this sense of listlessness has become his best disguise to some extent; as long as he looks unmotivated enough, it is difficult for others to sense that something is wrong with him.

……

The edge of the school rooftop.

"So, you specifically called me to the rooftop just to watch you gnaw on this dry piece of bread?"

Sakuta Azusagawa leaned against the railing, dangling a carton of strawberry milk in his hand, his eyes revealing a languid air that seemed to see through everything.

Duan Zilian sat on the bench and took a bite of the fried noodle bread in her hand.

Although he pretended not to care and acted indifferent, he still wanted to hear his friend's opinion on Ultraman Tiga, even though the final answer might hurt him.

"Ah, because the classroom was full of people talking about 'angels' and 'demons,' it was so annoying."

Duan Zilian swallowed the dry bread, paused, and asked casually, "Hey, Zichuan, you..."

What do you think of that giant in Yokohama yesterday? I mean, Ultraman Tiga, who was universally panned online as a 'demon'.

After he finished speaking, he unconsciously squeezed the bread in his hand so hard that he almost flattened it.

The wind on the rooftop swirled up a withered leaf, which rustled as it hit the wire mesh.

Sakuta Azusagawa took a sip of milk, glanced indifferently at Rei Duan, and then looked up at the somewhat unrealistically blue sky.

After a few seconds of silence, he slowly spoke:

"How do you see it? Look with your eyes," Sakuta retorted lazily. "Do you want to hear the 'Azusagawa Sakuta version' of the truth, or the 'mainstream version' of going with the flow?"

"The truth." Duan Zilian's heart tightened involuntarily.

"I think that guy is pretty stupid."

Chapter 36 The Observer

"Huh? Why?" He had considered the question of whether Azusagawa Sakuta would take sides. He might support him, he might oppose him, or perhaps he was simply someone who disdained participating in such debates.

But... what's with the "stupid" part?

Sakuta took a bite of bread and mumbled, "A guy who has the power to destroy the world but cares about a child's life and even shows mercy to that monster, and who is gentle on the battlefield, is destined to have a hard life in this world."

Duan Zilian tightened her grip on the packaging bag.

"Haha, yes, looking at it this way, that giant does seem pretty stupid." He forced a smile.

“However…” Sakuta changed the subject, “If even a gentle, idiotic guy like this is a demon, then… what is that guy who calls himself an angel but is even more ferocious than a demon?”

Duan Zilian was slightly taken aback.

Sakuta Azusagawa swallowed his bread, and as if recalling something, he continued with a smile, even with a hint of nostalgia.

“In this society that only recognizes ‘air,’ most people are blindly pushed along. The so-called ‘angel’ looks very intimidating, with its own golden light and sound effects, so they naturally assume that it is the savior.”

"As for Tiga, although he protected the citizens and guarded the buildings, the worst thing he did was protect that 'evil' monster. So people rejected all the efforts the giant had made and blindly denied him. As for the truth... who cares about such troublesome things?"

These words struck Duan Zilian's heart. He felt a slight tremor in his heart and could only sigh, "As expected of Zichuan, he so easily saw through the current situation. His strong observation skills are truly admirable."

"Ah, yes, it seems like a lot of people already hate Tiga to the core," Duan Zilian replied with a wry smile.

Sakuta Azusagawa turned his head slightly and gave him a quiet look.

He saw Duan Zilian looking like he'd been abandoned by the whole world, his pathetic state... it was so unlike him.

"..."

"...Hmph." Sakuta Azusagawa chuckled to himself.

"Duan, do you know that if a behavior is not 'observed' or understood, then in quantum mechanics, it does not exist?"

Zichuan's style suddenly changed so drastically that Duan Zilian felt he had suddenly become a world-class physicist.

"What do you mean?"

"Right now, public opinion is saying that the Titans are demons. So even if the Titans are really fighting to protect humanity, if their actions are not observed by the public, then everything they have saved is meaningless."

"This is the disgusting thing about our times: public opinion overrides everything, turning black into white and white into black."

Sakuta walked over to Danzi Rei, patted her on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "But in the end, there are still some people who are unconventional."

Sakuta continued speaking to himself, a hint of amusement in his voice: "During the live broadcast in Yokohama yesterday, everyone in the class was talking about it. Everyone was suspicious of that giant. The atmosphere of 'everyone thinks he's a bad guy, so I should think so too' was so heavy it felt like the ceiling was about to collapse."

"As a result, Yukinoshita suddenly stood up."

Duan Zilian's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up: "Yukinoshita?"

"Ah, her expression at that moment was so cold it could freeze the whole class into ice sculptures." Sakuta mimicked Yukinoshita's tone, lowering his voice. "She looked directly at the group of people who were jeering and said seriously: 'Can you arbitrarily assume someone's true intentions based on only one side of the story? This kind of irresponsible blind obedience is truly pathetic.'"

"The atmosphere in the class froze instantly. Even the loudest ones didn't dare to breathe. Although she was the kind of unconventional and troublesome woman, I admired her courage to face the 'air' directly."

Duan Zilian sat there blankly, the shriveled bread in her hand suddenly feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Amidst the dark chorus of curses, there was someone standing there, defending the mud-covered giant—and that person was her.

"...Really? That's so typical of her." Duan Zilian murmured softly, her heart softening instantly.

He looked at Sakuta, then suddenly grinned mischievously, trying to hide the warmth in his eyes: "Hey, Azusagawa, did you think about your first year of high school when you just gave that long speech? I heard from others that you confessed to Mai-senpai back then, even though the whole school was 'in the dark'."

(Note: Due to the merging of the main characters' school enrollment time with the anime series, the time when Sakuta Azusagawa confessed his feelings in the original series was changed to his first year of high school. We hope you understand!!)

Sakuta smiled, as if Danzi Rei had finally realized what he was thinking.

"Ah, of course. Back then, everyone around me thought I was a pervert comparable to an exhibitionist. Mai's situation was complicated at the time, so I, a nobody in my first year of high school, would shout 'I like you!' 'I like you!' 'I like you!' on the playground."

He suddenly imitated the voice from back then, his eyes filled with nostalgia and happiness, making Duanzi Lian feel goosebumps.

"Of course, I was impulsive back then. After it was over, for a while afterward, the malice from those around me who wanted to dox me was much more real than the online comments I see now," Sakuta Azusagawa said sheepishly, regaining his composure.

"That's why I said that Tiga guy... was actually in a similar situation to me back then, we were both a bunch of idiots who weren't understood."

"You call that thick-skinned, but that giant called it enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens," Duan Zilian said with a laugh, then finished the rest of her bread and let out a long sigh.

Sakuta Azusagawa responded with a smile, but as he looked at Rei Danji's slightly trembling face and relieved expression, his gaze suddenly became scrutinizing.

"By the way, Duan, you seem very weak today. Is it because you worked too hard 'moving things' yesterday?"

Sakuta changed the subject, smiling as he spoke, his tone filled with an indescribable meaning.

Duan Zilian's heart skipped a beat, but she calmly put her hands in her pockets.

"Oh, how did you know I went to help my relatives move some things?"

"Is that even a question? Besides reporting to that person, who else did you tell?"

"...Yes, that relative's piano was so heavy. After moving it, I felt completely drained."

“Oh—” Sakuta drawled out, revealing a meaningful smile, “Moving a piano, huh? That must be hard work. I suggest you drink some supplements. You know, some people are really looking forward to you showing up at school on Monday.”

"Okay, I know, stop nagging."

Duan Zilian stood up and brushed the breadcrumbs off her clothes.

"I'm leaving... Azusagawa, I hope you don't step in dog poop on your way home from school today."

Sakuta Azusagawa watched Rei Dan's retreating figure, his lazy eyes lost in thought.

"Ah... thank you so much. I hope your 'piano moving' business goes out of business soon."

He gave a perfunctory reply, then followed the figure in front of him and left the rooftop.

……

Chapter 37 The Trajectory of Light

In the afternoon, Duan Zilian asked Xue Zhixia for sick leave, saying she needed to go home and recuperate.

After a barrage of mild and sarcastic remarks, Yukinoshita "reluctantly" agreed to the request and granted him an extended leave of absence of seven days.

The school bell rang, and Duanzi Lian walked out of the teaching building, still savoring Zichuan's long speech at noon and Yukinoshita's arrogant and sarcastic remarks in the afternoon.