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"The soundproofing in this place is absolute garbage."
Judging by the voices, it sounded like a father and daughter.
Here in Japan, drunks like that were a dime a dozen. Older guys who lost their jobs and could only rely on alcohol to numb themselves to reality.
Kai wasn't some saintly do-gooder, so he obviously wasn't going to stick his nose into someone else's business. His previous interventions had all been strictly for profit.
Instead of wasting time playing the hero, he was better off spending it chatting with Miko Yotsuya on LINE.
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"Hehe! Hehehe!"
Later that night, inside Miko Yotsuya's room, the young girl was currently sprawled out on her bed. Her feet kicked absentmindedly in the air as she stared at her phone with a completely goofy smile on her face.
The screen was filled with her chat history with Kai.
What had started out as stiff and overly polite conversation had already evolved into something noticeably intimate.
'Are you free this weekend? I heard a new movie just hit theaters. Want to go see it together?'
'I'd love to! As long as I'm not taking up too much of your time, Kai-kun.'
'Watching a movie with you is the most important thing I could possibly be doing, Miko.'
That was the exact exchange they had just had.
Staring at Kai's latest reply, Miko couldn't stop herself from hugging her pillow and giggling like an idiot.
Alone in her room, she obviously didn't have to keep her guard up or worry about embarrassing herself.
But right at that moment—
A voice called out from the other side of her door.
"Miko, it's getting really late. Stop playing on your phone and go to sleep."
"I know, Mom!"
Hearing that, Miko frantically scrambled up and switched off her bedroom light.
Only then did Toko Yotsuya's footsteps finally retreat down the hall.
However, even in the dark, Miko stayed glued to her phone, chatting with Kai for quite a while longer before finally—and very reluctantly—forcing herself to go to sleep.
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The next day.
Just as Kai opened his front door and stepped out.
The door to the neighboring apartment opened at the exact same time. It was the unit where the drunk had been screaming last night.
Kai instinctively turned his head to look. Before he even saw who it was, a massive barrage of quest notifications exploded in his vision.
[I want to see Sakiko completely break down]
[Steal Sakiko's cheap discount takeout]
[Goddess-tier feet! Goddess-tier feet!]
[Sing 'Haruhikage' right to Sakiko's face]
[Make Sakiko work to support me, then blow all her hard-earned cash on pachinko]
[Keep Sakiko as a captive pet]
[...]
Yet another heroine?
Under Kai's curious gaze, a girl with striking blue hair stepped out of the apartment.
Sakiko Togawa?
The former heiress of the Togawa family. The second he laid eyes on her, Kai instantly knew exactly who she was.
It looked like this anime multiverse was packed with far more heroines than he originally thought. After all, in Sakiko Togawa's universe, top-tier girls were basically everywhere you looked.
"..."
Perhaps his stare was just a little too intense.
Stepping out of her door, Sakiko instinctively glanced up at Kai. Then, without a single word or so much as a second look, she turned and walked away.
Kai wasn't surprised in the slightest.
At this point in the timeline, Sakiko Togawa was clearly in her "part-time wage slave" era.
Her father had blown a 16.8 billion yen hole in the Togawa family's finances and gotten them utterly exiled. All she had to do was cut ties with her deadbeat dad, and she could have remained the untouchable Togawa heiress.
But Sakiko had stubbornly chosen to follow her father into exile, genuinely believing she could grind out a decent living by working part-time jobs.
Right now, she was probably juggling several jobs at once. It wasn't that she was purposely giving him the silent treatment; she literally just didn't have the energy to waste on small talk.
Even though he was surprised to stumble across another main heroine...
...Kai had zero intention of shamelessly throwing himself at her right off the bat. She lived right next door anyway; there was no rush. After grabbing his stuff, he headed out to the bus stop to catch his ride to school.
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"Morning, Yui!"
Stepping into the classroom, he immediately spotted Yui Yuigahama, who had arrived surprisingly early.
The rest of the popular clique hadn't shown up yet, leaving Yui sitting there awkwardly by herself.
"M-Morning..."
Seeing Kai walk up and greet her, Yui couldn't help but feel a little flustered.
"Hey Yui, I've got a few things to take care of on Sunday. How about we head out on Saturday instead?"
The weekend had two days, after all. Saturday for Yui Yuigahama, Sunday for Miko Yotsuya. Please, call him the ultimate time management master.
Yui naturally had no objections.
On a normal weekend, unless she was walking her dog or Yumiko Miura dragged her out, Yui practically never left the house.
"Um... should we invite Yumiko and the others to come along?"
Thinking about going out alone with Kai made her feel incredibly self-conscious.
"But I really just want to hang out with you alone, Yui. Is that okay?"
Seeing right through her hesitation, Kai leaned forward, closing the distance between them as he spoke in a low, gentle voice.
Feeling the intense heat of his gaze, Yui shyly turned her head away, completely unable to maintain eye contact with him.
"O-Okay."
"So, after the movie, is there anywhere specific you want to check out?"
"A-Anywhere is fine."
Yui never really had strong opinions of her own; she was the type to just go with the flow most of the time.
And Kai had asked that exact question specifically because he knew she would never turn down whatever he suggested.
"In that case, I'll take care of all the planning."
Kai put on a thoughtful expression, looking like he was already mapping out their Saturday itinerary.
Yui kept stealing quick, nervous glances at him before immediately dropping her head again.
Just the two of them... didn't that make it a date?
This was her first time ever going out alone with a guy. For some inexplicable reason, a knot of nervous anticipation tightened in her chest.
Right at that moment...
Other students started trickling into the classroom, Megumi Kato among them. Unlike the others who clustered together in small groups chatting, Megumi walked in completely alone, moving in total silence.
Noticing her gaze briefly sweep over to his side of the room, Kai casually raised a hand in greeting.
"Morning!"
"...Morning."
That seemingly emotionless, deadpan face of hers clearly froze for a split second.
After quietly returning the greeting, she silently made her way to her seat. Her eyes, however, kept drifting back to watch Kai chatting with Yui Yuigahama.
'He noticed me again. Yesterday wasn't just a fluke.'
But how?
'Growing up, even my own family would forget I was there half the time. So why does it feel like that guy can always see me?'
Megumi Kato couldn't figure it out.
But the simple fact that someone could actually see her brought an undeniable, quiet flutter of joy to her heart.
"Kai, huh?"
Staring intently in his direction, Megumi silently whispered his name to herself.
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