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"Sob..."
Miko Yotsuya didn't say a single word. She just kept sobbing, her hands gripping Kai in a desperate, death-like hold, completely terrified that the moment she let go, he would just vanish into thin air.
It wasn't hard to understand why.
For a teenage girl her age to suddenly encounter something so utterly horrifying, managing to hold it together without instantly breaking down crying on the spot was already incredibly impressive.
"There, there. I'm here now. Everything's okay."
Gently patting Miko's back, Kai began to softly comfort her.
But right at that exact moment.
"Miko, what happened in here—"
Perhaps the commotion from the fight had simply been way too loud.
Living downstairs, Toko Yotsuya had heard the crashing and rushed up the stairs, assuming the worst.
But the absolute second she threw the door open...
She was met with the sight of her daughter desperately clinging to a completely strange man, sobbing quietly into his chest. Add in the utterly trashed state of the bedroom, and the expression on Toko's face slowly morphed into one of absolute, unadulterated shock.
"I am so sorry for intruding!"
'My little girl has finally grown up.' Toko didn't even stop to question who the hell this guy was or where he had come from.
She just felt a sudden, overwhelming wave of maternal realization that her daughter was growing up. She slowly began pulling the door shut, deciding that whatever questions she had could definitely wait until later.
"Wait, Mom! I—"
Finally snapping back to reality, Miko desperately tried to explain.
But she could only watch helplessly as her mother firmly clicked the door shut. In the blink of an eye, it was just her and Kai alone in the room again.
By this point, Miko's emotional breakdown had gradually started to stabilize. Looking up, she was immediately met with Kai's incredibly close, perfectly innocent expression.
"Do you need me to go explain things to your mom?"
"..."
She reluctantly loosened her grip on him, taking two small steps back before shaking her head.
"N-No, it's fine. I'll explain everything to her later."
"Honestly, this was entirely my fault too. I was so worried about your safety that I just vaulted straight through the window without bothering to say hello first."
"It's okay."
Miko shook her head softly.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you."
If it hadn't been for Kai, she would probably be completely dead right now. There was absolutely no way she was going to blame him for how he chose to make his entrance.
"Ahem. Well, since the danger is gone, I should probably get going."
Seeing Miko keeping her head completely down, Kai suddenly cleared his throat, putting on a highly convincing act of preparing to leave.
"Wait!"
But the absolute second he turned his back.
Miko frantically reached out and grabbed a fistful of his sleeve.
"C-Can you stay just a little bit longer? Just a little bit."
The sheer, paralyzing terror of what had just happened was still violently pulsing through her veins. She was absolutely terrified of being left alone in that room.
"Alright, fine."
Kai hadn't actually planned on leaving anyway.
It was just a classic tactical retreat to advance his position.
He smoothly sat right back down next to her.
"Want to hug for a little while longer?"
Seeing the lingering trauma still swimming in Miko's eyes, Kai naturally opened his arms.
"..."
Even though she was completely mortified, the overwhelming sense of absolute safety she felt while wrapped in his arms was a drug Miko desperately craved right now.
She silently leaned her weight back against him.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
She was still in the prime of her youth; if given the choice, Miko obviously did not want to die.
If Kai hadn't braved the night to come to her rescue, she would already be a corpse.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, with Miko being this cute, if something actually happened to you, I'd be absolutely heartbroken."
"C-Cute... I'm not..."
Kai's teasing made Miko lower her head in pure embarrassment.
The faint, natural fragrance of the young girl drifting into his nose put Kai in an incredibly good mood.
The arm he had wrapped around her waist unconsciously began to slide a little lower.
"Um... your hand?"
Miko obviously noticed the rogue trajectory of his hand, squirming slightly with an embarrassed flush.
"What's wrong with my hand?"
He smoothly used his other hand to tilt her chin up, locking his gaze directly onto hers.
"...Pervert."
Seeing the completely unapologetic, teasing glint in his eyes, Miko couldn't help but let out a soft, whiny complaint, but she made absolutely no move to physically stop him.
That silent, unspoken compromise made the smirk on Kai's face grow even wider as he slowly leaned his head down.
Realizing exactly what he was about to do, Miko panicked for a split second before her eyelashes fluttered and she slowly squeezed her eyes shut.
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"Miko, Mom really thinks—"
Having just made it back downstairs, the more Toko Yotsuya thought about it, the more wrong the whole situation felt.
She knew her daughter's personality better than anyone. Even if she had managed to land a boyfriend, there was no way she would try to hide it like this. Maybe she had completely misunderstood the entire scene.
With that thought in mind...
Toko marched right back upstairs. But the absolute second she threw the door open, the scene playing out in front of her made her freeze completely solid for the second time.
"Um... please, carry on!"
Slam!
The bedroom door was violently yanked shut once again.
But Toko didn't retreat immediately. She hesitated in the hallway for a few seconds before shouting through the wood.
"Miko, you two are still young, so make absolutely sure you use PROTECTION!"
"Mom!!!"
Miko's muffled shriek of agonizing humiliation echoed from inside the room.
Use protection?? If she didn't know exactly what her mother was implying, Miko would have to be an absolute idiot.
"Ahem! You two just keep chatting! Mommy is going back downstairs!"
Listening to Toko's footsteps rapidly retreating down the stairs, Miko finally dared to look back up at Kai.
"Maybe we should..."
Given the current atmosphere, the vibe was just completely ruined.
But before she could even finish her sentence.
"Mmph!"
[Quest Completed]
The mechanical chime echoing in his ears made Kai smile in absolute satisfaction. Another two quests knocked out back-to-back.
It took a solid three or four minutes before Kai finally broke the kiss.
"That was just the interest, Miko-chan. I'm really looking forward to our date this Sunday."
His low whisper brushed right against her ear, his warm breath making Miko's gaze glaze over in a completely intoxicated daze.
She nodded absentmindedly.
"Let's go. Time to go meet your mom."
"M-Mom??"
Hearing her mother's name instantly snapped Miko completely out of her daze.
"She's your mom, right? What's the difference between meeting her now or meeting her later?"
Kai said it with complete, casual confidence. The actual reason, of course, was that he had distinctly noticed a massive cluster of quests popping up over Miko's mother's head just a minute ago.
But to Miko, those words carried an entirely different weight.
Not only was Kai not trying to run away after what they just did, but he was actively volunteering to go formally introduce himself to her mother. That realization sent an inexplicable, overwhelming surge of joy fluttering through her chest.
"What's wrong? Do you not want me to meet her?"
"O-Of course not."
Miko frantically shook her head.
"Then put a smile on."
Kai chuckled, reaching out to pull her up from the floor.
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