Pushing aside all other thoughts, Rai Hikaru followed Shizunomiya Natsuka into a taxi.
The car door shut, and next to him, Natsuka visibly winced as she glanced at the balance on her phone screen—each passing minute in the cab clearly stabbing at her wallet.
Rai leaned back in his seat, half focused on the traffic outside as he opened up his system interface to check his newly earned Pure Love Points and possible lottery draws.
Just then, Natsuka handed something over to him—a familiar piece of clothing.
"Here. Your jacket," she said.
Rai blinked. Right now, he was wearing only the white undershirt of his uniform, because earlier, when Natsuka had been drenched, he'd lent her his school jacket.
As he took it from her, a faint scent clung to the fabric—soft, sweet, and oddly personal. Something about it made his brow twitch.
"…Wait. This isn't the same one I lent you, is it?" he asked suspiciously.
She nodded. "Mm. The one I gave back earlier was… uh, a large size I bought by mistake. It should fit you."
"And mine?" he pressed.
She looked away quickly. "I… don't know."
"Huh? Don't know?" he repeated, eyebrow raised.
Natsuka flailed lightly, stuttering, "I mean! The one you lent me got a little dirty, so I thought I'd wash it first before returning it, okay?!"
Rai sighed. "You seriously need to stop sounding suspicious… You didn't, like, do anything weird with it, did you?"
"I—I did not! Don't say weird stuff like that!"
Her pretty face went crimson in an instant. How could he sound so certain, like he knew exactly what she'd been thinking earlier!?
Just remembering the way she'd hugged that jacket to her chest upstairs, breathing in his scent like a total pervert, was enough to make her skin burn. She felt like a kettle left too long on the stove—face steaming, head buzzing, ready to explode.
Rai, of course, had only been teasing. He wasn't one to make a big deal out of something so trivial.
Truth be told, Natsuka had done him more good than harm today.
Thanks to her little incident with Kaede Masaru, he'd managed to harvest a satisfying batch of Pure Love Points.
Then, running into Yukino Shinto and that creepy building manager right after? More points.
Overall, not a bad streak. She might be a bit of an airhead, but she brought him luck—enough that Rai found himself looking at her with less irritation than usual.
While she was still silently fuming beside him, Rai opened his system once more.
[Host: Rai Hikaru]
[Physique: 26]
[Strength: 16]
[Speed: 16]
[Reflex: 16]
[Spirit: 16]
[Pure Love Points: 250]
[Skill: Corpse-Burning Technique]
[Items: Shenbao Energy Drink ×18]
[…]
After that righteous beatdown of the sleazy blond punks earlier, his balance had climbed nicely to 250 points.
"Good enough for a couple ten-rolls," Rai murmured, selecting the option without hesitation.
[Ding! Congratulations, host! You've obtained Shenbao Energy Drink ×9!]
[Ding! Congratulations, host! New skill acquired: Pure Love Sight!]
[Pure Love Sight]
When activated, the host's eyes can roughly perceive a target's fate and tendencies.
Rai examined the description carefully. Soon enough, he figured out the effect through quick observation.
When activated, a glow appeared above people's heads in his vision:
Ordinary people emitted calm white light.
Women in imminent danger of bullhead interference glowed in threatening red.
"Yellow-haired punks" gave off the same red aura, tinted even darker, almost black.
Meanwhile, poor victims of those acts—the cuckolded—shone in pitiful green.
"Actually… not bad," Rai muttered. "Practical for fieldwork. Between this and my past-life intel, I can start intercepting bullheads before they strike—and keep the heroines safe."
He activated Pure Love Sight for a test.
The taxi's female driver—white light.
Shizunomiya Natsuka—white as well.
Likely, since he had already resolved her situation with Kaede Masaru, any trace of red had been purified.
Yet faint specks of pink shimmered within her aura.
"…Pink?" Rai wondered. Maybe the side effect of my Pure Love Aura cleansing process?
He shrugged. No point overthinking. He was already spinning another ten-roll.
[Ding! Congratulations, host! You've obtained Shenbao Energy Drink ×9!]
[Ding! Congratulations, host! New skill acquired: Silver Tongue!]
[Silver Tongue]
Anything the host says gains enhanced persuasiveness—even blatant nonsense may sound convincing. Rare chance of "Reality Affirmation" trigger, where words become literal truth. (Bonus: Drastically improves lingual dexterity.)
Rai pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, figures. Gacha gods still hate me."
Then he frowned at the new ability. "This 'Silver Tongue'… is it even meant to be a pure love skill?"
Curious, he tested it—rolling his tongue around his mouth. The flexibility had definitely ramped up.
If someone handed him a shellfish right now, he could probably free it from the shell in a hundred different ways.
…Not that he even liked seafood. "What the hell am I thinking," he muttered. "Focus."
Ever since they'd gotten in the car, Rai hadn't said much.
That silence was starting to bother Natsuka.
He'd been so warm, so talkative with that white-haired widow earlier—but now that she was the one sitting beside him, he barely seemed to acknowledge her.
For a girl used to constant attention, it was… uncomfortable.
After several minutes, she finally broke the silence herself.
"Hey… about today," she began softly, twisting a strand of hair between her fingers. "Thanks for helping me with Kaede Masaru. I really appreciate it. I'll pay you back someday."
It was just a polite remark—something to keep the conversation alive.
But Rai's mind suddenly sparked with a mischievous idea.
Perfect chance to test that Silver Tongue skill…
He turned toward her, locking eyes with her violet irises, and said with practiced calm,
"You'll pay me back later? Why wait? How about… you kiss me right now?"
He hadn't meant it seriously.
He just wanted to see if the skill worked—that even something this outrageous might not be instantly rejected.
But the reaction that followed left him dumbfounded.
The moment his words fell, Natsuka's entire body trembled.
Then, softly—breath catching—she whispered, "Okay."
Before he could process it, a faint scent of her perfume swept over him, and warm softness pressed into his chest.
Her arms looped around his neck—graceful, trembling—and her lips...
those perfect, delicate lips crashed into his before he could even take a breath.
For a heartbeat, Rai froze.
Wait—what?! Did I just trigger the one-in-a-million Reality Affirmation effect by accident?!
This is my actual first kiss in this world, isn't it?
Damn it—seriously?! This is how I lose it?!
He wanted to laugh, scream, and complain all at once.
But staring at the blushing girl clinging to him, eyes squeezed shut, utterly serious—he couldn't find the words.
Well. What was done was done.
His "purity" had been forcefully confiscated… and by someone this cute, at that.
He sighed inwardly. Fine then. Might as well make full use of this skill while it's active.
Time to test the other part of "Silver Tongue."