Even after the final bell rang that evening, Egawa Mitsuki never came back to the classroom — and the teacher acted like she didn't exist, eyes conveniently averted.
Yūto Shō's wariness sharpened by the minute. Egawa Mitsuki's background clearly wasn't the kind you could sketch on a napkin. He had leverage on her, sure, but holding that leverage felt about as safe as Krillin squaring up against Frieza — no matter how flexed your arms looked, the math wasn't in your favor.
For now, Yūto Shō could only hope she was too rattled to strike back quickly, buying him time to think. Judging by how skittish she'd been that morning — flinching like a stray cat — she probably wouldn't work up the nerve to come for him for a while.
Still, Yūto Shō wasn't the type to sit around waiting to get one-shot. His attention drifted back to the exchange interface humming quietly in his vision. If he could pull a top-tier item, Egawa Mitsuki's retaliation wouldn't even register on the radar. But no matter how broken the gear was, it had to be within budget — and that meant scumbag points were the real currency that kept him alive.
His eyes flickered, and he glanced toward Sato Ruri, who was already slipping out of the classroom in a hurry.
She seemed to feel his gaze land on the back of her neck, because her pace quickened until she vanished from view. Yūto Shō calmly stood, slung his bag over his shoulder, and trailed after her.
Sato Ruri bolted from the upper floor straight down the stairwell in a single breathless stretch. She snuck a glance behind her, confirmed he wasn't on her tail, and exhaled. Still, she didn't trust the calm — she melted into the swarm of students streaming out the school gates. With this many witnesses around, no matter how twisted the guy was, he wouldn't dare pull anything reckless.
Her house was only a ten-minute walk from school. Remembering that a few girls from class lived in her direction, she latched onto them like a party of low-level adventurers sticking together for safety in numbers.
It turned out she was being paranoid. Even after she reached her neighborhood, Yūto Shō was nowhere in sight. Sato Ruri let out a long breath and waved at her classmates with genuine gratitude.
"I'm home — see you all tomorrow."
After saying goodbye, she practically skipped into the complex. Her place was Unit 3, Room 504, and the elevator doors had barely finished sliding open behind her.
Standing in front of her own door, Sato Ruri's whole face softened with relief. She could already smell dinner drifting through the gaps in the doorframe — something warm, something savory — and hear the familiar cadence of her mother's nagging from inside.
She used to find her mom's nagging insufferable. Right now, it sounded like the opening theme to her favorite show.
Home was her harbor.
She fished out her key — and that's when a hand reached out from behind and settled on her shoulder. A voice she'd heard in last night's nightmares uncoiled near her ear, lilted with amusement.
"Sato Ruri, what a coincidence. We meet again."
She froze. Then she turned, eyes wide with horror, and stared at Yūto Shō. "You followed me?"
"How is this 'following'? I actually got here before you did, Sato Ruri."
Yūto Shō said it with a wounded little pout, as if she'd accused him of something terrible. Her address was hardly a state secret — half the guys at school who'd ever crushed on her knew exactly which unit she lived in, intel apparently leaked by a certain talkative girl. Yūto Shō had only stumbled onto it by accident.
Seeing her glare at him like she wanted to summon a Stand and beat him into the pavement, Yūto Shō decided the hallway was too exposed, and cut to the chase.
"Let's go. Date night."
Sato Ruri's pretty face drained of color. She hissed under her breath, "Who'd date you, you pervert!"
The memory of what he'd done to her the night before clawed back into focus — his face pressed shamelessly against her soft, delicate ass — and the girl couldn't keep her voice steady. Absolutely shameless!
Yūto Shō smiled, slow and lazy. "If you won't go out with me, I've got no choice but to follow you inside. I wonder what kind of face Auntie will make when she sees the footage of you digging through a classmate's backpack."
The threat slid out wrapped in honey.
Sato Ruri's expression shifted. He'd really show that video to her mom — he was actually that kind of guy!
Just imagining her mother's disappointed face after watching the clip made her stomach knot up like wet rope.
She absolutely couldn't let that happen. But going anywhere with Yūto Shō was a different kind of trap — he'd find a hundred sneaky ways to cop a feel, she just knew it.
What was she supposed to do?
The girl pressed her lips into a thin, trembling line, warring with herself.
Yūto Shō didn't have time to drag this out. They were standing on her doorstep, in the after-school, after-work rush hour. If a neighbor poked their head out — or worse, her parents — he'd be cooked.
Then the corner of his mouth tilted up.
A choice prompt bloomed behind his eyes, glowing softly, like he'd just hit a branching scene in a galge.
Route One: Just one door away from sanctuary. At this moment, the girl desperately longs to fling it open and dive back into her mother's arms — but the villain is you, forcing her to follow.
Route Two: Snatch the key, kick the door open, charge inside, and shout to her parents — I really love your daughter!
Without a second's hesitation, Yūto Shō locked in Route One. Route Two was a one-way ticket to a bad ending, the only CG being his kneecaps getting introduced to Sato Ruri's father's slipper.
Choice confirmed, he moved. His hands shot forward and pressed firmly against her shoulders, easing her backward a single step until her spine met the door. Before she could process what was happening, his other arm slammed flat against the metal beside her head — textbook kabe-don, the kind of pose ripped clean out of a shoujo manga panel.
He had her pinned against her own front door.
The space between them collapsed. Yūto Shō could feel two soft, springy mounds pressing into his chest, the give of them registering even through layers of fabric — full, warm, unmistakable.
The girl, caught completely off-guard, found his face hovering inches from hers, his chest crushing hers into a shape her uniform was never tailored for. Her skin prickled, her face flushed hot, and her heart thudded against her ribs hard enough she was sure he could feel it.
"What are you doing?" she whispered, furious and mortified.
She glanced around nervously, voice barely above breath, terrified her mother or a neighbor might catch the sound.
Yūto Shō took her in — the girl pinned beneath his arm, cheeks blooming a deep peach red. Her eyes darted, lashes fluttering in long, anxious arcs that somehow made her look infuriatingly cute, like a flustered heroine on a light novel cover.
His throat bobbed. He smiled. "If you won't come out with me, I'll just ring the bell and let your family take a look. Wonder what kind of face they'll make seeing us like this."
Sato Ruri's eyes snapped to his in panic. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Watch me." Without a beat, Yūto Shō reached over and jabbed the doorbell. The chime echoed inside the apartment, and her face went the color of cold porridge.
"Who is it? Ruri-chan, is that you? Forget your keys again?"
Her mother's voice called out, footsteps padding closer. Sato Ruri snapped out of her paralysis. Forgetting how close he was, she grabbed the front of his shirt in both fists and whispered frantically, "Fine, I'll go — just get me out of here, now!"
Yūto Shō didn't waste a second. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the door, the two of them ducking around the corner of the hallway just as the lock clicked open behind them.
Sato Ruri's mother peered out, found an empty corridor, and muttered with a frown, "Strange. No one's here. Probably the neighbor's brat ringing bells again. Honestly."
Grumbling under her breath, she shut the door.
…
Tucked against the cold corner wall, Sato Ruri instinctively raised her hand and parted her lips, the shape of "Mom" almost forming. When the door clicked shut, the light in her eyes went out, and she let her hand drift back down to her side.