Nanao Akane was woken up by her alarm clock.
When the alarm first rang, she hadn't fully opened her eyes, first fumbling around beside her.
Empty.
Then she suddenly opened her eyes wide.
Wait, where's Lin-chan?
Where did her big Lin-chan go?
Was everything from last night a dream?
She remembered clearly that in the last round of the great battle, Lin-chan had picked her up entirely, exposing her vulnerabilities completely to the air.
She let out a cry of surprise, her voice trembling as she tried to beg for mercy.
But Lin-chan seemed not to hear, his grip loosened slightly, and then his long spear attacked her weaknesses and flaws.
After that, Nanao Akane's mind went blank; she remembered nothing.
The only impression she had was that she almost died.
Even now, she felt a lingering fear.
It was an imprint as if etched deep into her soul, definitely not as simple as dreaming.
Besides, the bedsheets were a mess.
Nanao Akane touched her stomach, feeling a strange, indescribable sensation.
In any case, the fact that she had experienced a fierce battle last night was an undeniable truth.
Nanao Akane reached for her phone on the bedside table, intending to send Hayato a message.
But as soon as the screen lit up, Nanao Akane saw that she had already received a message from Lin-chan.
Forty minutes ago.
"I'm downstairs."
Only one word, but it gave Nanao Akane an immense sense of security.
She immediately threw off the covers and rushed towards the stairs.
Her foot, which had been bumped by the table corner, had mostly recovered under Hayato's careful attention; she barely felt any pain.
Nanao Akane, leaping up, thought of something else.
She had already jogged to the stairwell but stopped, then suspiciously touched her lower abdomen again.
Strange, wasn't it said that after a girl's first battle, she would be severely injured and might not even be able to get out of bed?
Nanao Akane remembered seeing a post where a girl said, "It's clearly you guys who are not durable; someone like me, who's a heavy-duty type, is fine the next day," only to be mocked in the replies with "It's not that you're durable, but that your boyfriend's little."
Nanao Akane hadn't seen other types, but based on biology class common sense, Lin-chan certainly couldn't be considered small.
Could she be the legendary durable type?
But she heard that such women were usually very lewd.
She recalled her memories from last night before she lost consciousness… There was a full-length mirror in her room. During the battle, she unconsciously glanced at herself in the mirror.
Her hair was flying, her cheeks were flushed, her nostrils seemed wider than usual, her eyes were hazily narrowed, and, most importantly, her pink tongue was senselessly lolling out of her mouth.
...So ugly.
Oh, no, was she really that lewd type?
She felt a bit guilty, not daring to take another step forward, afraid that when she saw Lin-chan, he would coldly evaluate her with a sidelong glance, 'Lewd Pig Akane'—that would really hurt her, and tears would surely fall.
But...
Ugh.
How to put it, Nanao Akane imagined it.
If Lin-chan were to say that, although it would be a bit uncomfortable, it might also be a tiny bit exciting.
Nanao Akane rubbed her crossed legs together.
"Heh, eh eh hehe..."
What flowed first wasn't tears, but saliva...
"Akane?" A familiar voice came from downstairs.
Oh, no. Nanao Akane tentatively decided she wasn't that perverted... at least she shouldn't act that perverted, so she reined in her excited expression and walked downstairs gently, almost cautiously.
Although she felt almost no discomfort, she still feigned a furrowed brow, a slightly pained expression, putting on a perfectly 'innocent' facade.
She slowly, step by step, descended the stairs.
"Lin-chan..." she uttered weakly, a soft, languid sound.
Hayato was cooking something in the kitchen.
A fragrant smell wafted into Nanao Akane's nose; she almost jumped up and rushed over to see what it was, but luckily, a voice deep inside kept suppressing this urge, telling her, 'Be reserved, Nanao Akane, you must be reserved.'
Hayato turned his head and looked over calmly.
Nanao Akane chuckled apologetically:
"I'm sorry, Lin-chan, I feel a bit uncomfortable, like my whole body has been torn apart..."
Hayato also smiled, his smile refined and gentle, then his expression suddenly changed:
"Akane, there's a mouse by your foot!"
"Ah!?"
Nanao Akane immediately jumped up, her face filled with terror, and with lightning speed, she ran from the living room to the kitchen, then 'whoosh' she hid behind Hayato, only peeking her head out to look towards the living room.
The living room was empty.
Nanao Akane seemed to realize something; she looked up at Hayato.
Sure enough, his lips were curled into a mocking arc.
"You're faking it," he said.
The devil was in the kitchen.
...
"Hmph," Nanao Akane huffed, sitting at the dining table with her arms crossed.
"If you pout so much, I'll hang an oil pot on your mouth," Hayato said.
Then he sat across from Nanao Akane and pushed a bowl of ramen in front of her:
"Eat, then go to school."
Upon hearing the words 'go to school,' Nanao Akane immediately put on a pained expression. Last night, in the middle of their struggle, she had been thinking that Lin-chan had already messed her up so badly, and today was a day worth commemorating, so skipping class for a day to commemorate it should be fine, right?
Plus, she had been a complete mess at the time, so she might struggle tomorrow. ← That was her original thought.
Then she woke up and saw ↓
Respawned!!!
Who would have thought?
But Nanao Akane still wanted to fight for her precious holiday, mainly because today was Friday, and if she could skip, it would be a three-day break.
Extremely satisfying.
Nanao Akane pressed her lower abdomen and said pitifully, "Lin-chan, I… I was really almost played to death by you yesterday. P-please let me off today."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Hayato separated his chopsticks while putting his hands together and bowing to the ramen. This was his ingrained habit; don't ask why a Chinese person would use such a Japanese eating method, just say that anime is deeply harmful. "Can you understand your body better than I do?" Hayato said.
Nanao Akane: ?
Well, of course, after all, it was her body.
Hayato smiled faintly: "Don't even think about tricking me. Your limits, your breaking points, I've long understood them perfectly. You weren't in any pain when you woke up this morning, were you? Instead, you felt refreshed, didn't you?"
Nanao Akane: ...
"Heh, do you think all my efforts to be a funny young man were for nothing? All those long pre-quests were for the perfect completion of the main quest," Hayato said.
H-he didn't expect to be so easily controlled.
Nanao Akane felt utterly defeated; she even wanted to...
"Don't even think about banging your forehead on the table; it won't change anything," Hayato said.
Even that was seen through! Nanao Akane felt truly upset.
She had no choice but to pick up her chopsticks and start slurping her noodles unhappily.
She took a bite.
Nanao Akane tilted her head.
She took another bite.
Then, with a 'slurp, slurp,' she ate faster and faster.
"Is it delicious?" Hayato asked after sipping some soup.
Nanao Akane didn't want to admit it; having been bullied to this extent, she felt a rebellious urge, wanting to strongly challenge Hayato even if it meant being stubborn. But…
"Mm-hmm." Nanao Akane nodded vigorously. Darn it, she used to think Lin-chan's evaluation of her bento as 'average' was just him being tsundere.
Now, it seemed, he was being sincere.
He could be a general on horseback in bed, and a gourmet chef in the kitchen…
Nanao Akane was about to cry.
She couldn't understand why Lin-chan's 'feminine charm' could surpass hers.
"Why is it so delicious?" Nanao Akane asked.
'There used to be a noodle master surnamed 'Kang' downstairs from my house…' Hayato originally wanted to answer that way, but then he remembered that times had changed and people were gone, so he stopped himself in time, smiled, and said, "My aunt in Hawaii taught me. But if you're counting on me to cook, I only know these one or two dishes."
Nanao Akane finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, her reason for existence hadn't been completely stripped away.
After eating, even if Nanao Akane was reluctant, she had to leave with Hayato.
But it was still good.
Setting off for school with Lin-chan from his house was a brand new experience, with a romantic feeling like newlywed couple.
Thinking of this, Nanao Akane couldn't help but secretly rejoice.
Unexpectedly, Hayato suddenly stopped when he reached the entrance.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Nanao Akane had already put on her little leather boots. She turned back and asked.
"Qian-chan," Hayato suddenly called Nanao Akane in an unusual way, making her stunned.
His serious and earnest tone made Nanao Akane straighten her back, "…Y-yes."
Hayato's eyes dimmed as if he had suddenly thought of something:
"I'm sorry, you might have to walk the rest of the way alone."
"Huh?" Nanao Akane's breathing suddenly hitched. What… what happened?
Then Hayato gave a devilishly charming smile and pointed to the bicycle next to him:
"I'm cycling."
Nanao Akane: ??
MDZZ.
Nanao Akane stomped out the door angrily.
She got on the subway.
Heading to Baiqiu High School in Aoyama 2-chome.
Subway regulations state that passengers are not allowed to bring any means of transportation onto the subway, even folding bicycles. So Hayato could only ride his bicycle all the way to school.
Isn't this just asking for trouble?
Nanao Akane thought to herself.
The distance from Asakusa Temple to Aoyama 2-chome is not short. If you ride a road bike like a speed demon, you should be able to arrive before class.
It wasn't that Nanao Akane looked down on Hayato's folding bicycle; she meant that all folding bicycles were trash.
Nanao Akane even muttered to herself, could it be that Lin-chan didn't want others to see them going to school together? But that couldn't be, on days when Lin-chan didn't have club activities, they also went home together, and even when she went to his class to find him, he didn't mind at all…
Out of concern, Nanao Akane didn't go to her own class to report after arriving at school. Instead, she glanced at F Class, where Hayato was.
And then… she saw Hayato already sitting in the classroom with a calm expression.
And his two bad friends.
The boys, who seemed to be named Yamamoto and Anshi, were shouting in front of him.
"Wow, I got a double yellow with a ten-pull?"
Yamamoto Sakito excitedly held his phone, then he grabbed Anshi Seiji's hand, his eyes welling up with tears of gratitude:
"Brother Anshi, you're truly my good brother! Don't worry, as long as I, Yamamoto, have a bite of shit to eat, you won't be short of a sip of pee to drink!"
Anshi Seiji was also extremely excited and said, "Yamamoto, as long as you can eat your fill, it doesn't matter if I'm thirsty!"
Hayato, on the other hand, was looking listlessly at the "Red ● Secret Scroll Math 700 Questions" on his desk.
The joys and sorrows of the world are not interconnected; he just found them noisy.
"Brother Lin, you also come and play Star—"
Before he finished speaking, Anshi Seiji patted his shoulder, signaling him to shut up.
Yamamoto Sakito followed Anshi Seiji's gaze and immediately nodded in understanding—damn it, the guy in 3D has a girlfriend, why would he compete with them for 2D waifus?
Hayato also caught sight of Nanao Akane. He smiled, "Impressive, right?"
Nanao Akane: ?
CPU burned, completely incomprehensible.
She couldn't help but look at the two legs Hayato used to pedal his bicycle, knowing that his third leg was strong, but how could these two also… was his lower body strength really that powerful?
"Next time, let's go for a ride together," Hayato added.
He actually wanted to give Nanao Akane a ride today, but that folding bicycle didn't have a passenger seat, which was a bit troublesome. He would use his black friend's inheritance to modify one when he had time.
After Nanao Akane left, Hayato picked up the secret scroll questions and walked towards the infirmary.
Don't look at Hayato asking Nanao Akane to come to school, but for him, it was another day he didn't want to attend class.
While cooking breakfast, he had called Aiya Yayoi to ask about her situation last night, and the news he received was as he expected: 'nothing unexpected happened.'
Hayato also used his free time to check. At 32x speed, he quickly watched last night's surveillance footage. Neither the camera in front of Hayato's room, nor the one in front of the mansion, nor the one that could see the street, captured any suspicious activity.
As for the man who smashed the '404' room, he had not shown his face again from beginning to end.
"Could he have been punished by the gods?"
As Hayato lay on the infirmary bed studying math problems, Aiya Yayoi proposed a hypothesis: "Or… a monster?"
"Let's wait and see," Hayato said, rolling over.
Then Aiya Yayoi squeezed over. She squeezed because the infirmary bed was originally very narrow, only about eighty centimeters long, yet Hayato still lifted her leg and knelt on one knee, squeezing Hayato's only lying-down space.
"Which little girl's house did you spend the night at yesterday?" Hayato asked, propping her hands on Hayato's shoulders, looking down at him.
Before Hayato could answer, she licked her lips: "Let me, your teacher, check if you're feeling weak…"
----------------------------------
I've already posted 30 new chapters on Patreon!
If you like the story and want to reaad more, please visit my patreon. Every support is very meaningful!
[patreon.com/Kazenova223]
Thank you very much!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"