Harano Tsukasa got off the train at Ikebukuro Station in Toshima Ward.
His apartment was in Senkawa.
Compared to neighboring Bunkyō, Toshima was a typical residential district in the north of Tokyo. The rent was far cheaper than in the six central wards, which made it a magnet for office workers and families.
And compared to their drained, lifeless faces on the train, those same salarymen looked a lot livelier once they stepped onto the streets.
After all, this was Ikebukuro—a neighborhood full of noise, neon, and the smell of street food.
Old ladies walked their dogs.Couples shared taiyaki as they laughed and chased each other.And not far away, "god-waiting girls"—runaways hoping some benevolent stranger might take them in—stood outside secondhand shops and manga cafés, dressed in bunny suits or skimpy skirts, glancing around with forced cheer.
Everywhere Tsukasa looked, women's faces—youthful, mature, tired, radiant—flashed across his vision. But what only he could see was the faint pink overlay beside them, displaying their hidden "wish lists."
The ones that caught his attention most were those desperate god-waiting girls.
This guy's pretty handsome. Maybe tonight we can welcome a new member into the AiLove family.
I really hope a rich heir notices me.
All I want is a long-term sponsor to take care of me.
Tsukasa's gaze lingered briefly on one bunny-suited girl clinging to a blond young man's arm, laughing as though she didn't have a care in the world. He shook his head but didn't say anything. He wasn't the type to play saint and go "warn" her. Instead, he picked up his pace.
Senkawa was about a fifteen- to twenty-minute walk from Ikebukuro, without its own station. The farther he walked, the thinner the crowds grew.
He went up a long slope, lined with azalea bushes—the ward flower of Toshima. It was midsummer, so the blooms had already faded, leaving only fallen fruits on the sidewalk.
Finally, he arrived at a weathered apartment building.
These kinds of apartments were built during the bubble economy, forty or fifty years ago. No elevators, cracked walls, dim lighting. Yet even after decades of wind and rain, they still stood firm.
He swiped his card, opened the entrance, and started up the stairs.
The stairwell was narrow but well-ventilated. Each step echoed faintly beneath his feet.
And then—
"Ugh, what the hell is this? Who just leaves stuff lying around like this?! Don't the building managers care at all? So gross!"
He froze.
Up on his floor, a petite girl stood in the hallway, hands on her hips, furiously kicking something in front of… his own apartment door.
Next to her were several tall cardboard boxes, stacked up as if she'd just moved in.
She was slim, dressed in a pale green T-shirt tucked into a gray-blue pleated sailor skirt. Her long white socks hugged her legs just below the knees, and her round-toed brown loafers clicked lightly against the floor. The look was simple, clean, and very "high school girl"—exactly the kind of aesthetic Tsukasa secretly liked.
As he got closer, her details sharpened: straight black hair shining in the hallway light, pale smooth skin, delicate features, glossy lips like a candy drop just begging for a bite.
Her chest was… admittedly a little flat. But otherwise, flawless.
Still, Tsukasa's attention wasn't on her looks. What drew his focus was the faint pink overlay beside her—her wish list.
Wish Target: Shigee Shio
Whose gross mop is this? It reeks. I seriously want to snap it in half.
I wish some nice person would just appear out of nowhere and carry all these boxes inside for me. I'm exhausted.
That bucket of water stinks. I wanna dump it all over this apartment's door.
Only three wishes. Simple, easy-to-grant wishes. Exactly the kind Tsukasa liked best.
He hesitated for a moment, then approached her.
"Excuse me," he said.
"Eh?"
The girl whipped around, startled. For a moment her brain froze—then panic set in. She must've thought he was another tenant, irritated by her yelling. Her pale face tightened nervously as she pressed her palms together and bowed slightly.
"I-I'm sorry! Was I being too loud? Did I bother you?"
"Not at all," Tsukasa said with a smile, holding his laptop bag casually. "I just heard you from down the hall. Something wrong?"
He added, as if to reassure her: "If there's a problem, maybe I can help."
"…It's not really a big deal…" she mumbled, instinctively stepping back and nudging her apartment door half-shut.
Her wariness was natural. Ikebukuro had a rough reputation—thieves, stalkers, creeps. Even Senkawa, a quieter old neighborhood, had its share of vagrants and perverts. For a girl moving in alone, caution was survival.
But then she took a better look at him. His clothes were neat, his bag marked him as a salaryman just off work, his demeanor quiet, almost gentle. Combined with his clean-cut appearance, he didn't exactly scream "danger." Her guard eased.
Relieved, she bowed slightly again. "Thank you… I thought I was disturbing you."
"Not at all," Tsukasa said warmly. "So what's the issue?"
She sighed. "I just moved in, and look at this! The neighbor dumped their stuff right in front of my door. That mop—it reeks, like something's burning. Who does that? It's disgusting!"
Tsukasa followed her finger.
Sure enough, there was his own mop—blackened from the ashes of his failed charcoal-suicide in this very apartment, left outside to dry. No wonder it stank. He'd thought it harmless since the neighboring units had been empty. Bad luck that she moved in right next door.
"…Yeah, pretty inconsiderate," he murmured, rubbing his chin.
She nodded sharply, agreeing—until her eyes went wide in shock.
Because Tsukasa had just set his bag down, rolled up his sleeves, and marched over to the mop. Without hesitation, he kicked it. Hard. Once, twice, three times—until the handle snapped clean in two.
Shio stared, speechless.
"Y-you… you…" she stammered.
Ignoring her, Tsukasa pointed at the nearby bucket. "This water's gross too, right?"
"…Y-yes," she said automatically.
Without missing a beat, he lifted the bucket and dumped the foul water all over his own apartment door. The splash echoed down the hall. He dropped the empty basin with a clatter, then turned back to her with an easy smile.
"There. Better now, right?"
Better? BETTER?!
Shio was stunned. Sure, she'd thought about doing that—but she never would've dared. She'd only been venting her frustration, not expecting anyone to actually follow through.
"…There's a camera down the hall," she blurted, pointing nervously. "Aren't you worried the neighbor will… retaliate?"
"Retaliate?" Tsukasa shrugged. "I'm not worried. By the way—anything else bothering you?"
She frantically waved her hands. "N-no, that's enough!"
This guy's insane, she thought. Even crazier than the people back in Adachi… and rent here's five hundred yen higher!
Still, she found herself strangely… grateful.
"I-I'm Shigee Shio. I just moved in," she said finally, bowing politely. "Thank you for your help."
"Harano Tsukasa," he replied with a calm smile. "Nice to meet you."
His eyes flicked to her stack of boxes. "These look heavy. Need a hand?"
She hesitated—memories of his bizarre mop-kicking flashing in her mind. But in the end, he'd done what she couldn't. And he had helped. So she nodded. "That would be… really kind of you. Thank you."
Together, they pushed the massive boxes inside. In less than two minutes, the hallway was clear.
Tsukasa brushed off his hands, picked up his bag, and declined her invitation for tea.
"I'll head back. But if you need anything, feel free to come by."
"Thank you again," she said earnestly, bowing.
She watched him go—until he suddenly bent, scooped up the broken mop and empty basin, pulled out a key, and… opened the apartment door next to hers.
Her stomach dropped.
The door he'd just doused in filthy water swung open.
"See you around, Miss Shigee," he said casually, stepping inside.
The door shut with a quiet click.
Shio froze, completely dazed.
Had he known all along she was cursing him? Was this his twisted way of apologizing—acting out her vented frustrations, then silently helping her with the boxes, no questions asked?
She didn't know. But guilt and embarrassment flooded her chest all the same.
She shuffled toward his door, wanting to apologize… but faltered. What would she even say? Blushing furiously, she retreated into her own apartment instead—only to forget to close the door and smack her forehead on the frame.
Crouching down in pain, she muttered to herself, helpless as a lost child.
Meanwhile, inside his apartment, Tsukasa checked the pink overlay.
Wish Target: Shigee Shio
Whose gross mop is this? I seriously want to snap it in half. (Completed)
I wish someone would appear and carry my boxes inside. (Completed)
I want to dump that stinky water on this door. (Completed)
All wishes fulfilled. Rewards calculating…
Auto Pay Raise Card (+0.1 yen/sec)
Critical Rebate Card (Limit: 1,000,000 yen)
One-Time Credit Limit Card (1,000,000 yen)
Tsukasa grinned.
These rewards were even better than his old life's late-night gacha pulls.
Yes… Shigee Shio. What a wonderful name.
Because so far, she was the easiest girl to grant wishes for. And while he was still a long way from becoming Tokyo's next millionaire playboy… every long journey began with small steps.