Even though he was convinced Mai Shiranui had lost her mind, a deal was a deal, and the skills still needed to be learned.
The next morning, the moment Shinobu Kocho rushed out to attend to her medical duties, Li Ke was back at Mai's door, giving it a firm knock.
Staring at the sliding panel, Li Ke braced himself for whatever erratic mood swing she might throw at him today. But when the door finally slid open, Mai's demeanor was remarkably relaxed and nonchalant, completely devoid of yesterday's volatile tension.
"Oh, morning."
Seeing her act as if nothing had ever happened, Li Ke raised a playfully defensive fist.
"Morning, my foot! I'm here to settle the score from last night. If I don't give you a proper reality check today, my name isn't—"
He was mostly just talking trash, but Mai responded by boldly stepping forward and thrusting her chest outward, deliberately narrowing the distance between his hand and her exceptionally high, prominent chest.
"Go right ahead then. Do whatever you want."
Li Ke froze. Up until now, Mai had always guarded herself against him with a healthy mix of disdain and heavy suspicion. This sudden, total lack of boundaries left him completely out of his comfort zone.
"Do you have a fever or something?" Li Ke blurted out instinctively.
"Ha. You've already crossed the ultimate line with me back then anyway, so what do I even have left to care about?"
Mai looked at him and let out a small sigh. Deep down, she was a traditionalist at heart, which was precisely why she had fought so fiercely against his advances in the past.
In her mind, even the slightest physical intimacy counted as being fully claimed, which explained her intense resistance. What Li Ke had done to her back then was, in her eyes, no different from taking her completely.
And besides...
"Honestly, being around you is a lot less exhausting than stressing over everything else. So if you really want to touch me, go ahead. It's not like you actually have the guts to do anything more than look anyway."
Mai crossed her arms, a smirk playing on her lips. Her provocative words instantly caused Li Ke's brow to twitch.
He could handle her throwing insults or playing the tsundere—they were effectively frenemies, after all. But actively questioning his resolve as a man?
"This is what you asked for."
Li Ke reached out without hesitation and cupped one of Mai Shiranui's full, generously endowed breasts. The moment his palm enveloped the soft mound, he was struck by its exquisite perfection.
Her skin was wonderfully smooth and warm, like heated silk. The weight and fullness in his hand were deeply satisfying — heavy yet incredibly plush, yielding softly under his fingers while still maintaining a tempting firmness. As he gently squeezed, the abundant flesh overflowed between his digits, soft and springy, as though inviting further exploration.
He could feel the subtle quiver of her breathing through the warm globe, the way it rose and fell with each breath. When he applied a bit more pressure, the supple mound swelled invitingly, its silky surface gliding against his rough palm. The faint, sweet scent that rose from her skin only heightened the moment.
Li Ke slowly kneaded the generous curve, his fingers sinking deep into the plush softness, savoring how it molded perfectly to his touch. He could sense the hidden richness within — the kind of abundant, fertile fullness that seemed capable of nurturing more than one would expect. Even the slightest stimulation caused the peak to stiffen noticeably against his hand.
With a slow, deliberate motion, he rolled the sensitive tip between his fingers, feeling it grow firmer under his attention. The texture was heavenly — warm, velvety, and endlessly pleasurable to caress.
What a shame… he truly wished he could continue exploring these magnificent curves for much longer.
He eventually pulled back, offering an arrogant, triumphant smirk as he looked at her.
"Well? Are you going to take back your reckless words from earlier, Mai Shiranui?!"
Even as he spoke with bravado, Li Ke braced himself for a swift physical retaliation. To his absolute surprise, while Mai's expression remained deeply unimpressed, she was astonishingly calm.
"You really are a handful, aren't you..."
Looking at his predictable behavior, Mai let out a soft, resigned sigh. She brushed off the tension and met his gaze directly.
"Enough of that. Why did you wake me up this early anyway? If we aren't starting the Shiranui-style training, I have other things to attend to. The breathing techniques in this world are hazardous if used incorrectly, but they are certainly worth analyzing from a technical standpoint."
Mai smoothly shifted back into a professional persona. She had come to terms with the reality of her situation. Despite their constant bickering, she found a certain security in Li Ke's unwavering confidence and vitality. In a world where she felt adrift, he was a constant, driving force that she had decided to follow, even if his antics continued to annoy her.
Li Ke, however, was staring at her, utterly dumbfounded. The fact that she was merely looking down her nose at him instead of launching a lethal strike felt suspicious to him. His immediate reaction wasn't that she was warming up to him, but rather that she was planning something far more dangerous.
He looked at her with a mix of shock and confusion. He couldn't comprehend why her disposition had shifted so suddenly.
Is she waiting for the perfect moment to strike?
That was Li Ke's immediate thought. And the more he pondered it, the more he convinced himself that he needed to be on high alert.
After all, Mai Shiranui's old life had been completely upended because of him. To make matters worse, he had actively triggered her worst memories just the night before. Under a cocktail of intense shame and fury, it was entirely within the realm of possibility that she secretly wanted him dead.
In fact, logically speaking, that was the most sound hypothesis.
And yet... something still felt off.
While cold analysis screamed that she was plotting his demise, his raw instincts urged him to double-check.
Under Mai's increasingly tense, wary gaze, Li Ke extended his hand once more and firmly cupped her hips.
Mai froze, staring blankly at him before letting out yet another exhausted sigh. This time, Li Ke finally caught the sheer, profound helplessness pooling in her eyes.
His hand felt the solid, perfectly rounded contours through her clothing. The incredibly soft, highly elastic feedback flooded his senses, causing his tightly coiled spear to stand at attention once more.
Staring at her mixture of exasperation and quiet acceptance, the realization finally clicked in his brain.
He had no idea how or when her mental gears had shifted, but she...
She actually seemed to have caught feelings for him?
No, scratch that—she had basically resolved to marry him!
"You..."
Li Ke stared at her, half-believing his own deduction, and asked the question with absolute caution.
"I've completely given up on myself and decided to just marry a shameless, perverted, low-life scoundrel like you. Are you satisfied now?"
Mai snapped his hand away from her hip. Li Ke's touch felt like it possessed some bizarre magic; merely making contact with a fraction of her skin sent a wave of feverish heat through her body, making her itch all over. Since she had zero intention of letting things escalate right then and there, she needed to keep herself from losing control.
Mostly because... Li Ke was just too infuriating!
"But why?"
Li Ke was genuinely baffled. It wasn't as if they had forged an unbreakable bond through fire and death. She had simply thrown a temper tantrum yesterday, and now, out of nowhere, she was just accepting her reality.
"Because you've already taken advantage of me anyway, and you aren't the type to run away from responsibility. And besides..."
Mai stole a quick glance at his face and sighed softly.
"I don't actually hate you."
In truth, she couldn't fully define what she felt for him, but it was fundamentally different from her past feelings for Andy Bogard.
Whenever she thought about Li Ke, it always made her incredibly annoyed. Yet, she never genuinely wanted to curse him out or hurt him. It was only when she caught him ogling or taking advantage of other girls that she felt a violent urge to beat him into a pulp.
She used to feel that exact brand of possessive anger with Andy, mostly because she was terrified that some other woman would steal him away. She...
"Without him, I wouldn't have a way to revitalize the Shiranui clan or exact my revenge..."
The cynical realization suddenly flashed through Mai's mind, leaving her utterly stunned. She was horrified to discover that she might not have actually loved Andy as deeply as she once believed. The moment she had permanently paused her relentless, hyper-aggressive courtship of him, she found that the overwhelming urge to maniacally chase after him had completely evaporated.
"Wait... when I first heard the news about Andy getting married, was the dominant emotion I felt actually... just the burning rage of being betrayed?"
Mai stood entirely lost in thought.
Her dynamic with Andy had been a slow, passive attachment built over years of proximity. Andy had never once pursued her. In fact, even when she stripped down in front of him, he would actively look away. He had never spoken a single word to her about a shared future; she had been the only one desperately planning a life for the two of them.
Did I... ever actually experience a real romance with Andy?
While Mai was deep in her existential crisis, Li Ke's hand smoothly migrated right back toward her chest.
His logic was blissfully simple: since Mai had officially accepted her fate, he wasn't going to pull any punches!
His new immediate objective was to cross home plate within the next hour!
And within ten months, he'd have her happily starting maternity leave!
The sudden physical intrusion shattered Mai's train of thought, instantly replacing her existential dread with a tidal wave of pure fury.
I am literally having a profound crisis about the nature of my past love life! And you, as my future... my future... all you can think about is groping my chest and getting me into bed?!
With an explosive snap, Mai drove a heavy punch straight into Li Ke's sternum, sending him flying backward across the room.
"You absolute scoundrel! Are you really that desperately horny?!"
She shrieked her outrage. She could see perfectly well through the open courtyard that there were other Demon Slayer Corps members milling about nearby! She had a sense of modesty to protect!
"Do you even know how to spell the word 'shame'?!"
Li Ke rubbed his jaw, pondering her question with a straight face.
"What is this 'shame' you speak of?"
At this point, his mind was entirely occupied by his hormones.
"You absolute—!"
Veins pulsed aggressively on Mai's forehead. The exact moment Li Ke lunged forward to close the distance again, she slammed the sliding door shut right in his face.
"—bastard!"
Mai mentally resolved to give him the silent treatment for the next three months.
And yet, mere minutes later, Li Ke still managed to find his way back inside her room.
This time, however, he had a perfectly legitimate, professional excuse.