"You should head home now. You still have classes today."
"Wait, wait, wait! The Hero hasn't told me about the exchange students yet!"
Rikka kept struggling, trying to break free from Hakuto's grip, but it was all in vain.
"Why don't you come find me at night for that kind of thing?"
"At night, the Bureau's power is too strong. I can't break through the barriers they set up."
Hakuto couldn't help but roll his eyes. Wasn't she just getting disciplined by Touka? She made it sound so mysterious.
Since she had already brought it up, Hakuto decided he might as well take a little time to explain things to her.
"Hoshinoumi Academy. Three months. I'll be back after three months."
"Then, Hero, are you moving?"
"?? Are you going to pay for my moving costs? It's just three months. Why would I move?"
Hearing this, Rikka's eyes sparkled.
To her, as long as Hakuto wasn't moving, everything else was fine.
"Then can I come visit you at Hoshinoumi?"
"You can… if you can manage it."
Visit me? How about getting through the school gates first?
Saying that, Hakuto let go of Rikka. Just then, the door in front of them slowly opened, and Touka stepped out.
"Good morning, Touka."
"Hm."
Touka glanced at Hakuto, then at Rikka beside him. She then instinctively glanced toward the balcony.
In the end, she didn't say anything, just gave a slight nod.
Watching her leave, Hakuto turned to Rikka and gave her a karate chop on the head.
"See? It's because of you that Touka's mad."
"Ow, ow, ow!"
Hakuto actually had a good impression of Touka, even though it wasn't as strong as what he felt for Sawamura Sayuri.
He grabbed the whining Rikka and tossed her back into her room.
"Wait, Hero!"
"No waiting! Time for class. Otherwise, someone's gonna dock my pay."
Hearing this, Rikka froze…
School… comes with a salary?
As Hakuto walked down the stairs, he suddenly realized that his front door was open.
Seeing this, he frowned and tried to recall whether he had closed it earlier.
After all, one of life's biggest illusions is wondering whether you locked the door.
After thinking for a moment, Hakuto waved it off. He wasn't too concerned about it.
Even if a thief had broken in, the one who'd suffer would be the thief, not him.
"... Damn it. A thief would've been better..."
Hakuto had always trusted his instincts, and the moment he saw the open door, he knew someone had come in.
But he never expected that someone to be Ginko.
Yes, standing before Hakuto now was Ginko herself—dressed in a sailor uniform, with blue hair, holding a folding fan, known as the Snow White of Naniwa.
"Hm? What did you just say?"
Hakuto waved his hand. "Nothing, nothing. Just surprised to see you here, Ginko."
Ginko tapped her elegant, snow-white neck with her folding fan and slowly stepped toward Hakuto.
"Where… Did you go just now?"
Hakuto froze for a moment. He definitely couldn't tell her where he had actually been.
But when it came to changing the subject, Hakuto was a master.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking how you opened my door?"
Ginko frowned slightly, then took a silver key from the pocket of her sailor uniform and waved it in front of Hakuto.
"I thought you'd be used to this by now."
"Since when is having your own house key in someone else's hands something to get used to?"
Hakuto had no idea how Ginko got her hands on his key.
He had reclaimed the last one from her, and he hadn't lost his keys in the past few days—they were all safely in his drawer.
Regardless of how she got it, he had to take it back first.
Hakuto glanced at the key in Ginko's hand and casually walked up to her, speaking in a relaxed tone.
"So, Ginko, why did you come here? I still have to go to school later."
As he spoke, he casually reached for the key.
But instead of answering, Ginko just glanced at his sneaky hand.
"You want this?"
"I wouldn't say 'want'—it's my house key, after all."
"I can give you the last one back, but this one? No."
Ginko denied him outright and slipped the key back into her pocket.
"Why not?"
"I paid to copy this one. So it's mine."
"… Huh?!"
Hakuto felt like he had just heard something outrageous.
"I paid for it, so it's mine."
That logic… was flawless. But why did it sound so off?
Seeing Ginko put the key back in her pocket, Hakuto decided not to take it by force.
From what he knew about her, if she copied one, she definitely didn't stop at just one.
She probably had at least ten…
Thinking of this, Hakuto felt a little defeated. How did he end up as an employee whose boss took his apartment key? That just wasn't right.
"Anyway, Ginko, you still haven't told me why you're here."
Ginko's house was far from Hakuto's, and aside from Saturdays, she rarely came over.
Unless… she really couldn't resist.
"Isn't today Saturday?"
"??!"
Hearing Ginko's words, Hakuto's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
What?! I overslept again?! At least it's not the weekend—wait! That's not the issue here!
Nao's definitely gonna dock my pay! I need a raise!
Hakuto was shocked. He hadn't used his abilities yesterday, so how did he oversleep?
Thinking that, he pulled out his phone. The bright letters on the screen read: Friday.
"??"
Not Saturday? Did my ability's side effects include hallucinations now?
At that moment, Hakuto suddenly realized something and looked at Ginko.
She had her folding fan covering half her face, hiding her expression.
But just by looking at her eyes, Hakuto knew—she was laughing.
Damn it! I got played!
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