Son of Lucifer 12

Sakuta's apartment was pretty small.

Not small enough that they couldn't all enter, but small enough that it felt claustrophobic. Though maybe that was Mai's fault, because although the supposed violent loner may not know of it, she was here.

They all sat surrounding an empty table. Since they had rejected pleasantries, they would just talk.

Sakuta cleared his throat. "So, what do you guys want to know about Puberty Syndrome?"

Kyoko's answer was immediate. "Everything."

That was how Fujiwara felt it as well. Especially since differently from the detective, he had not had the chance to Google whatever this was. A name like that made it sound absolutely ridiculous though.

Sakuta sighed. "That's gonna be pretty difficult. I barely understand this Puberty Syndrome thing... Honestly, how did you even learn that I was involved with it?"

"With the internet." Truly mankind's scariest tool. "You have posts about it."

He nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping to make people more aware of it... And I guess it worked." He gulped. "Is one of you two suffering from it? Is that why you all came to see me?"

Kyoko shook her head. "Not one of us, no. Right now however, there is a girl in your room you cannot see... no, more accurately, you cannot acknowledge. She's being forgotten by this world."

The bunny in question was looking bored out of her mind. Fujiwara could bet that she would have drunk the offered tea.

His eyes widened. "That's... terrifying." He looked down. "Though I suppose what happened to my family was pretty terrifying as well..."

Kyoko squinted. "Your family... You started living only with your little sister eventually, correct?"

Sakuta raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?" Kyoko did not answer.

So Fujiwara answered for him. "Probably by seeing whatever files we have on our school. Don't worry too much dude, she's the Ultimate Detective." So naturally she knew nothing of privacy.

"Ah, that makes sense." He chuckled. "You know, in my fantasies a girl learning all of this about me, without my knowledge, sounded way hotter."

Mai's eye twitched. "Mankind has done it. A pervert worse than Fuyuki Fujiwara has been miraculously found." He definitely wasn't worse.

Not enough kidnapped girls for it.

Kyoko cleared her throat. "Please answer the question Azusagawa-Senpai." Oh, how adorable, even though she didn't show it in her face, she was bothered by his comment.

He slowly nodded. "Okay. So, the one who actually suffered from Puberty Syndrome was my little sister..." It sounded like just remembering hurt him. "She started... well, there's no nice way to say it. She was being bullied online."

He continued. "Which would already be bad enough, but then suddenly wounds actually started showing up in her body..."

Fujiwara raised an eyebrow. "She started to self-harm?"

Sakuta shook his head. "No. The truth is that she was suffering from actual wounds due to the bullying. That's what Puberty Syndrome does... kind of... It's difficult to explain, but you could say it turns dangerous social situations into actual danger."

He scratched his chin. "Or maybe it would be better to say it turns a teen's anxiety into actual danger...? Anyways, the problem stopped once I took her phone away. It was probably related to her perception or something."

That... bred a interesting theory into Fujiwara's mind.

Sakuta frowned. "But even if it stopped... things have consequences. Mom had a breakdown because of it, and dad felt like she would recover better if he stayed with her alone, so me and my sister are living alone for now."

Wait... So his mother had a breakdown because his little sister was being bullying into actual injury... And his dad's solution to it was sending her children away? Wasn't that kind of absolutely fucking stupid?

Yes. He didn't care about this family though. Not his problem.

Especially since he had just maybe solved this case. "Oh, okay. Then Senpai is being erased because she's an absolute loner with zero friends." He had to hold himself back from laughing at it.

It was most likely the truth however.

Mai sputtered, getting up and pointed at him. "S-shut up! Where did that come from...!?"

Fujiwara smirked. "From this idea of Puberty Syndrome, Senpai. Since you were basically being forgotten by everyone already, the universe went and said that it might as well finish the job."

He put a hand to his chin. "Admittedly, I wouldn't say that this whole case is concluded, since I still don't know how this Puberty Syndrome started, but... It's easy enough to fix you."

He would ask Satan about this more later. Maybe the existence of Puberty Syndrome itself was someone's special power...? Fujiwara refused that there was some law of reality that just naturally went around doing shit like this.

Mai huffed. "Truly? You truly think this is happening because I'm a loner?" She pointed at Azusagawa. "Then what about this pervert? He's a loner too, right? Then why hasn't he been erased yet?"

The answer to that was pretty simple. "First of all, clearly something that affects a person may simply not affect the other. I doubt every girl who has been cyber bullied starting magically getting wounded."

Sakuta raised a hand. "Sorry, but what is going on here...?" This must look pretty crazy from his perspective.

Kyoko sighed. "We are just having a discussion with the forgotten girl." This didn't really count as a discussion.

Fujiwara continued. "Second of all... you're not just a loner, Senpai. You're the loner. That is to say, the biggest loser in the entirety of school."

A light blush appeared on Mai's face. "Hm? Wanna get hit? Did you feel challenged by Azusagawa and decided to up your perverted levels because of it?"

Fujiwara rolled his eyes. "I'm serious. You're beautiful, smart... maybe smart, and a super star of an actress who almost got into Hope's Peak academy. By all accounts, you should be the most amazing girl in school."

Her blush became more prominent. "Stop switching tactics so fast. At this point flattery won't get you anywhere..."

"I know, but this isn't flattery. This is to show how much of a loser you are. Because after all that, you still have no friends." She winced. "It's not that someone is a loner, is that somehow Mai Sakurajima is a loner. That is even more unnatural then the supernatural."

If someone like Hikigaya didn't have friends... that didn't matter. Really, because Hikigaya was just a normal guy. Mai however, was such a massive loser that she managed to somehow reach that level despite the advantages she had.

It was downright pitiful really.

She snapped at him. "J-just... watch your mouth! I'm not being forgotten because I'm a loner! That's ridiculous! I don't even care about being one, so it's not like my perception or whatever would be altered..."

Kyoko interjected. "No, I agree with Fujiwara. Your social status is highly unique, and so it is strange that you have no friends." Wow, she had jumped into the bullying Senpai wagon?

She continued. "It is only natural to care in a situation like this. And you do, since you're crying." And that was the final nail in the coffin.

If Mai Sakurajima truly didn't care about her status as a loner, then right now she wouldn't look so damn sad.

And she also wouldn't run out of the door.

Fuyuki got up. "I'm gonna go after her. You finish things here, Kirigiri." There was no way he could waste this opportunity.

A extremely emotionally vulnerable girl was on the area? Then Fuyuki Fujiwara was on the prowl!



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"Yo, Senpai!" She looked even more pathetic than usual.

Crying by herself, all alone in a park. It almost made him pity her.

She glared at him. "How did you even find me!?" With the help of Satan. Having a small flying gremlin to scout was really useful. "Just leave me alone!"

He sat by her side. "No can do. And about the first part... I guess I just know that well by this point." He definitely didn't.

Maybe he would have checked the park that they were currently on eventually, but it would have definitely taken him way more time to find her if he didn't have his servant/teacher to help.

She scoffed. "You don't know anything about me." That wasn't true!

He knew her name! And that she had a hot bod! And that was enough information as far as he was concerned...

He chuckled. "C'mon, I definitely do. We're friends after all." Or at least she thought that...

There had been something brewing on the back of his mind about how she interacted with Iroha or Kyoko. Was it just due to personal dislike? Because Iroha was popular, and Kyoko was creepy? That was probably somewhat the reason, but...

The other was that loners could get pretty territorial, for lack of a better word.

Once they got into a friend group, any change to that friend group was seen in a hostile manner. Maybe they were afraid of that friend being stolen away, or maybe they were just insecure and afraid of change in general... In the end Mai Sakurajima definitely saw him as her friend that she couldn't just lose.

Naturally, this meant his previous words had hurt her a lot more then words coming from a random person.

The thing about breaking people down though, was that it let you build them back up in the way you wanted. Recycling was something amazing.

Mai looked down. "Are we...?" He imagined that question was more to herself than him.

But he would confirm it nonetheless. "Yep. You can be pretty mean and insulting, so I can understand why people wouldn't want to hang out with you..." She whimpered. "But I actually think you're pretty fun, Senpai. Our... wit filled talks aren't too bad."

This was the way too go about things. A insult and a compliment... This was the way of the abusive and toxic friend!

He pat her shoulder. "So don't worry, I'll stay by your side no matter what."

She looked away, avoiding his gaze. "You'd better." Welp, it's not like he had anything better to do.

And... having Mai Sakurajima eating at the palm of his hand could give him a lot of power when she regained her existence. Seriously, one mean tweet from her could completely ruin Hikigaya's life, as an example.

Not that he would do that.

Unless he felt like it.

He nodded. "Right... but I really have to know... How did this whole loner thing start?" That was one of the things he was most curious about.

Mai was one of Japan's greatest rising stars. Genuinely. So even if she was a loner who didn't talk to people much, there should be people trying to befriend her. For social status if nothing else.

Hell, even if Mai was annoying as he had accused her of being to shake her confidence... People would still flock to her. Or at least that's what his knowledge of how the school worked told him it should happen.

Had he misread something?

She recoiled. "I... They just ignored me. Like you said, I was probably mean and insulting, and so nobody talked with me. There weren't insults thrown though, I was just ignored..." She let out a sob. "I guess I was being ignored back then, so it's like you said, I'm being forgotten now."

Ignored...

Maybe what happened was... Mai was just too great? That was a strange thing to say, but maybe her status was just so grand that nobody knew how to approach her? And if nobody knew how to deal with her...

They would just ignore her. It's not like they disliked Mai, it's just that they didn't know how to deal with her, and so they didn't, Mai was ignored. Which was probably why Yumiko and Yukino didn't know about her being in the school, but remembered her existence. Rumors didn't spread, because nobody wanted to talk about it, because nobody knew how to talk about it.

She continued. "I... It's not like I didn't want them to be my friends, I just... Everybody in my industry always had a reason for wanting to talk with me... So I didn't approach anyone once I entered in this school, even though my whole purpose was leaving that world of lies behind."

Another sob left her. "And then I started acting like I didn't care. That didn't want connections, that I was actually happier without them... that's when my perception started to change, and I got stuck with this curse. I'm sure of it."

She let out a exhale. "The truth is... even if I disappeared before this curse set-in, nobody would have noticed it anyways."

How convenient for him...

If he had tried to approach the Mai Sakurajima that had yet to lose her confidence, and still saw everyone as potential liars... He would have definitely been sniffed out as a scumbag in their first conversation.

The stars really had aligned for him. "That's... I'm sorry you had to go throught that, but... Well, don't worry. Tomorrow, I'll save you... You can even start calling me hero." He was actually pretty excited.

Manipulation aside... If Mai was going to be his toy, he would rather have a smiling doll. He would fix this problem of hers and get rewarded with a cute little happy bunny.

Even if the real problem of her not having any connections would not be solved anytime soon.

"A-as if I would ever call you that." But he had put the idea of it in her head. "And in the end Kirigiri was basically the one who solved the case. I should be thanking her instead."

He pouted. "I can't deny that, but please give me some credit too."

A weak smile appeared on her face. "I'll think about it. Maybe by tomorrow you'll have Kana Arima's number?"

He smirked. "I definitely will. Oh, but she apparently became an idol, so it might be harder than you think to arrange something between me and her."

"An idol...? That's the sign of a failed acting career." So that was a shared sentiment across mankind!?

He laughed. "I thought the same! Oh, and Senpai... I can't speak of the past, but if you disappeared right now... I would notice." He would be furious!

He had invested so many hours in this at this point!

"I-I don't believe any woman would be comforted by such words when they come from a pervert." She was totally feeling comforted.



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"Hey, this is Mai Sakurajima, your super beautiful child actress classmate." He motioned to his Senpai.

Mai's classmate tilted his head. "Um...? What?"

Mai crossed her arms, a disappointed look in her face. "Was this really your plan? Because if so... Please leave all the planning to me and Kirigiri from now on." Such little faith...

Fujiwara ignored her, and hit the stundent's table. "Mai Sakurajima! Standing right by my side!" He was so socially fucked after this...

Mai better save his ass.

The student tilted his head. "Man, what are you talking about...?"

Fuyuki raised his voice even more. "I'm talking about Sakurajima Mai! Standing right by my side! She's super pretty, ain't she!?" At this point Mai's entire class was looking at him.

Without a doubt he would be known as that one weird guy who started spasming about an actress during lunch time... But hopefully getting a pet bunny would make that exchange worth it.

The student scratched his eyes for a bit and... "Oh yeah, that is Sakurajima." He blushed and awkwardly waved at her. "S-sorry, do you need something?"

She just watched him in silence, her jaw on the floor.

Fujiwara smiled. "My bad, we don't really need anything." He grabbed Mai by the hand. "Hey everyone, I'm gonna go have lunch with Mai Sakurajima! Thank you for listening!" Iroha was gonna be so on his ass.

But it was worth it.

He dragged the shocked Mai outside.

Eventually they stopped, and he sent her a piece sign. "Victory!"

"W-what? How...?"

He shrugged. "Just call someone to make sure I actually did it, please."

She slowly nodded, and picked up her phone, calling... "H-hey mom... No, I'm not calling to talk about acting I... Nevermind, I'll call you later." She hanged up. Her mom must be pretty offended right now.

Mai dropped the phone on the ground. "Okay, now seriously, how?"

He made a smug smile. "It's pretty simple actually. You were being forgotten because your classmates weren't acknowledging you. I just forced them to do so, and that perception changed." Be it hers, or the ones of her classmates.

He continued. "Though the interesting part is that somebody who acknowledged you had to make you be acknowledged... Which is why you walking around dressed like a bunny didn't do much." It was a mess.

A problem which due to her own issues, Mai Sakurajima could have never solved by herself.

She still looked in complete disbelief. "It... it was that simple?"

"Yup." It actually made him a bit mad. "Though I don't know if Puberty Syndrome can return, and we haven't found the the one who started this mess in the first case... But for now it's wrapped up."

Kyoko would probably contact them eventually to continue the case. But he would prefer if she didn't if he was being honest... Could the detective start being forgotten about instead? That would put his mind at ease.

His pet bunny looked as if she didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. In the end she did both. "I can't believe that actually worked...! I..."

She pushed him slightly, a blush on her face. "Just... go and break up with that annoying girlfriend of yours. I'll get you a date with an actress."

As if he would ever do that! He would just cheat instead!