"Hey! I'm collecting rent here seriously—what does a high school kid like you have to do with it?"
"Kid! I'm warning you—don't meddle in adult affairs!"
Just as Takahashi, the apartment manager, was about to shove the door open, his motion was abruptly halted. He glared at Rai Hikaru with an ugly tone.
Though she didn't speak, Yukino Shindou, silent and socially awkward, looked at Rai Hikaru with a grateful expression.
Originally, Rai Hikaru had no intention of interfering in Yukino Shindou's affairs. After all, this Yuki-onna—this supernaturally powerful woman—was dangerous.
Takahashi, at the moment, didn't seem to have that ancestral hypnosis ring. He was just a regular human. A single wave of her hand could probably finish him.
But seeing him relentlessly press his advantage—though he wasn't a yellow-haired brute like the earlier encounter with Onika Shou—Rai Hikaru decided to act.
Not because of the fluttering, grateful gaze of the white-haired beauty.
But because of the voice that had just sounded in his head:
[Ding! Host interrupted the malicious act of the Minotaur-class administrator Takahashi!][Ding! Congratulations! You have earned +50 Pure Love Points!]
At first, Rai Hikaru wasn't sure if this counted as stopping a "Minotaur-class act," but now he knew.
Though there wasn't a direct victim, Yukino Shindou was still a widow.
And… 50 Pure Love Points?!
A "fatal strike" against Onika Shou had only given him 100 points. Just scolding and interrupting this creep—and he got half that?
Rai Hikaru figured it had something to do with Yukino Shindou's non-human Yuki-onna status.
As the Pure Love God of War, Rai Hikaru could not stand by and let this white-haired demi-human be humiliated. He could not allow this Minotaur-class administrator to bully her.
He had resolved: justice would be done.
Sensing Rai Hikaru's unwavering gaze, Takahashi's patience snapped. His hand, previously relaxed, pushed harder against the door.
"You're just a kid, barely grown! Don't think you can interfere with adults! Cross me and you'll regret it!" he barked.
Rai Hikaru's response was calm, precise, and cold:
"Stop pushing. Let go."
"Mind your own business, you little—" Takahashi grumbled, ignoring him.
"Let go."
"Once I finish this, I'll deal with you, kid…" Takahashi's eyes flashed with menace. He was ready to make Rai Hikaru pay and show Yukino Shindou what happened when someone defied him.
But he didn't get the chance to act.
BAM!!!
A muffled, violent sound exploded through the hallway. Not the door opening he had expected…
A fist had smashed square into his cheek.
Blood and two teeth flew from Takahashi's mouth as he collapsed, hitting the floor with a sickening thud!
[Ding! Host used a punch against the forcefully pushing administrator Takahashi, interrupting his malicious act!][Congratulations! +100 Pure Love Points!]
The pleasant notification tone rang in Rai Hikaru's mind.
Takahashi struggled to rise, ignoring the searing pain in his face. He couldn't bear to look weak in front of a woman like Yukino Shindou.
Rubbing his swollen left cheek and touching the gap where his teeth had been, rage boiled inside him.
"This brat… dared to hit me?!" he bellowed.
"You little yellow-haired punk… today you're dead!"
Takahashi had assumed he was just a teenage kid. The only reason Rai Hikaru had succeeded was through a sneak attack. But now, humiliated in front of Yukino Shindou, his fury erupted. Clenching his fists, he charged.
"Watch out!" Yukino Shindou shouted, alarmed at the enraged Takahashi—and at Rai Hikaru, still in his high school uniform.
Ice-cold energy began creeping under Takahashi's feet, but he was too blinded by rage to notice.
As Yukino Shindou prepared to unleash her powers, ready to stop him, Rai Hikaru's foot struck first—faster than lightning, hitting Takahashi squarely in the stomach.
BAM!!!
The burly administrator flew backward again, crashing into the ground.
[Ding! Host decisively countered the attacking yellow-haired administrator, interrupting his malicious act!][Congratulations! +100 Pure Love Points!]
Rai Hikaru calmly watched as Takahashi lay sprawled like a dead dog. He wouldn't be getting up this time. His body throbbed with pain, every organ seeming to twist and shift from the force.
One kick—clean, precise, and lethal. A high school boy had just sent a grown man, seemingly stronger than him, flying across the hallway.
No one could have predicted this—except Rai Hikaru himself.
Yukino Shindou, who had been ready to intervene, was dumbfounded.
Clang!
She'd accidentally let go of the door handle in shock. The door—previously impossible to open—now swung wide.
Thanks to her social anxiety, she had only cracked the door open slightly before. Now, her stunning figure was fully revealed to Rai Hikaru.
A loose white sweater stretched taut across her chest, straining as if it were about to burst. It hugged her curves in a way that was impossible to ignore. Her deep-blue skirt barely covered her toned thighs, and black stockings added to the visual impact.
Though she dressed conservatively, her proportions were scandalously perfect. Even Rai Hikaru, the ever-innocent, couldn't help but steal a glance.
She was like a character walking straight out of a painting, her figure impossibly exaggerated.
Yukino Shindou, unaware of his gaze, fiddled nervously with her fingers, lowering her head.
"Th-thank…"
Her words were cut off by a soft clang.
Rai Hikaru glanced back. At some point, the door to Shinonome Natsuka's apartment had opened too, the sound of metal hitting the wall echoing.
There she stood, dressed in her new school uniform, skirt held tightly between her legs, eyes wide and dazed as they locked on him.
…
In fact, she had already changed before the confrontation with Takahashi began. But the altercation had escalated before she could do anything.
She had no idea why, but even as the former disciplinary committee member, she usually hated seeing boys fight.
Yet watching Rai Hikaru kick Takahashi away, she couldn't help but recall the previous scene—him kicking Onika Shou to protect her.
Her heart raced like a trapped deer, eyes uncontrollably drawn to his lower body.
This guy… his legs were terrifyingly strong. Just like before, he could kick someone flying like that. Not human. Stronger than any movie hero she'd seen.
No. No. She couldn't think like that. Not polite…
Swallowing hard, she forced her gaze back to his handsome face.
Even someone she had previously found annoying… now seemed irresistibly… striking.
Damn it… how could she even consider a boy other than her childhood friend, Yamano Yuta?!