Campione: Strongest# 454: I Won’t Listen, I Won’t Listen

Nine a.m. the next morning, in the hospital lobby.

Azaka Kokutou sat on a lounge chair, hands trembling, her sky-blue eyes wide and vacant as she stared at the report clutched between her fingers.

[Result Interpretation: Paternity Index: 12345. Probability of Paternity: 99.9999%]

“This has to be a lie. How… how could Mom actually cheat?” Azaka stared blankly at the numbers, her face a mask of disbelief.

“Waaah, waaah, my poor niece! Auntie Nyarko has finally found you!” Nyarlathotep threw her arms around Azaka’s neck, rubbing her cheek against the girl’s hair with choked-up sobs.

(Meanwhile, in a private residence, a doctor joyfully counted the stack of yen in his hands. Suddenly, the money transformed into a massive tentacle monster that devoured him whole.)

“I’m an illegitimate daughter…” Azaka violently tugged at the report, the fragile paper tearing with a sharp sound.

“When I was little, I always wondered why Dad looked so ordinary yet married such a beautiful mother. So, he was just covering for someone else all along?” she murmured, staring at the damning document.

“Azaka, did you go back and ask your mother last night?” Nyarlathotep tilted her head back, stroking Azaka’s cheek with a look of feigned sympathy.

“N-No,” Azaka replied, looking embarrassed. 'Ask her mother about cheating? How could she dare before seeing the proof?'

“She probably wouldn’t admit it. After all, she left without a word when she was pregnant with you…” Nyarlathotep’s lip curled. She began feeding Azaka a full-blown melodrama, painting the mother as a tragic heroine forced to abandon her true love due to family obligations.

As Nyarlathotep continued her ‘explanation,’ Azaka’s expression grew increasingly bewildered. Why did she feel like this woman was completely playing her? This whole scenario sounded exactly like the soap opera she had watched two nights ago. Yet, the DNA report in her hand was cold, hard evidence telling her it was all true.

The girl was utterly stumped.

—————

Inside Shiki Ryougi’s hospital room.

Haru scratched his cheek, looking suspiciously at the door where a timid Azaka Kokutou stood, hugging a stack of manuscripts. The strange look on the girl’s face—one that screamed, ‘I want to rush in and comfort you,’ but was being forcibly restrained—sent a shiver down his spine.

This bizarre expression unsettled him. 'Just say what you need to say. What's with the pity? Do I look like I need your pity?'

An awkward silence hung in the room.

After a long moment, Azaka hugged her papers tighter, took one small step, then accelerated, lunging straight into Haru’s arms as he sat on the folding chair. The sudden impact startled him, but he quickly sighed, opened his arms, and caught her.

“Father!” she cried. “Even if Mother abandoned you, Azaka will always, always, always stay by your side!”

“…” Haru squinted, looking utterly speechless at the excited girl clinging to him.

He glanced over at the door, where Nyarlathotep stood, shoulders shaking as she choked on her laughter. If Haru couldn't figure out the mastermind now, he'd be brain-dead. Recalling her insistence on dragging Azaka for a paternity test the night before, he knew she was the cause of this bizarre behavior.

“I’m sorry, but you’ve got the wrong guy. Stop trying to force this 'dad' thing on me,” Haru said, his lip twitching. He gently lifted Azaka off his lap and firmly placed her on her feet. Her pitiful expression genuinely creeped him out.

Being claimed as her father implied he was the one who'd been cheated on! Besides, he didn't even know who Azaka’s supposed mother was. 'Damn it. That crazy Outer God is just messing with people. She needs a strict grounding.'

Azaka, now standing before him with her head bowed like a meek, wronged wife, timidly asked, “But the DNA report can’t be fake, can it?”

“Let me see the report,” Haru said, his lip twitching as he held out his hand. He already figured out Nyarlathotep’s trick: fabrication.

Corrupting a doctor and faking a document was simple enough for an Outer God. He hoped the spineless doctor who took the bribe would fare well after making a deal with her…

“Here, Father.” Azaka handed the tightly crumpled report to Haru.

He took it, glanced at the results, and instantly ripped it up, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the nearest trash can.

Thunk. The paper ball hit the bottom of the bin with a dull thud.

Azaka stared blankly at the discarded document, then turned back to Haru, bewildered.

“Don’t thank me,” Haru said, dusting off his hands calmly. “Call me a hero.”

“Why did you tear it up?” Azaka asked, pursing her lips, unable to accept its destruction.

“It’s fake. What else should I do with it?” Haru shrugged, utterly unconcerned.

“Fake?! This report came from a legitimate hospital!” she furiously grabbed his shirt.

“A legitimate hospital can’t be bribed? Which hospital provides a DNA report in twelve hours? It usually takes at least twenty-four! You’ve been played, kid,” Haru gently gripped her wrists and moved her hands away.

“Can’t you just pay extra to speed it up?” Azaka frowned, utterly serious. She had seen with her own eyes how Nyarko gave the doctor a large amount of cash, insisting on results within twelve hours.

The doctor had vouched for both speed and authenticity. If the report was real, why was Haru still refusing her?

“You think paying extra can shorten the time, but paying a little more can’t produce a fake?” Haru glared at her. 'Why is she so slow?'

“Is it because Mother abandoned you that you refuse to acknowledge me?” Azaka asked, pursing her lips and looking up at him like a poor, pitiful stray.

“…Kid, your thought process is worrying. I suggest you watch some solid, state-sponsored propaganda to fix your worldview.” Haru’s lip twitched wildly as he looked at the girl trying to win him over with puppy-dog eyes.

“I WON’T LISTEN! I WON’T LISTEN! I WON’T LISTEN!” Azaka stood before him, head down, covering her ears.

Looking at the girl, who was clearly adopting an ‘I don't believe you, you are my father’ stance, Haru grinned. “Just so you know, I hate bratty kids.”

Several minutes later, Smack! Smack! Smack!

The sharp sound of spanking and a girl’s cries filled the room.

“Hehe!” Nyarlathotep watched the scene of... firm discipline from the doorway and quietly shut the door. The instant it closed, she tossed a bouquet of flowers into the room. The colorful blossoms immediately filled the air with a dizzying fragrance.

—————

That evening, after taking a now-limping Azaka Kokutou home, Haru returned to the hospital. Just as he reached Shiki’s room, a soft click sounded next door. The door to the neighboring room slowly opened.

A blue-haired girl in a wheelchair wheeled herself slowly out into the hallway. She turned her head, saw Haru standing there, and her face froze. She immediately wheeled her chair away, fleeing down the hall.

Haru: “…”