Satoru felt a tiny pang of guilt for all the times he'd kept Sakura waiting in the past. So, even with phones now, he left the house ridiculously early.
He rolled into Shibuya a full twenty minutes ahead of schedule, grabbed a Sunday-only 100-yen green juice from the underground passage (tasted like someone juiced a lawnmower, but hey, cheap), and considered a scratch-off lottery ticket. One glance at the cursed Imagine Breaker on his right hand killed that idea. His luck was E-rank on a good day.
Leaning against the wall, slurping his sad green sludge, he people-watched.
People watched back.
Girls stole glances and blushed. Aunties sneaked peeks. Grandmas outright stared. When eye contact happened, the shy ones looked away; the bold ones got a lazy wink or a half-lidded bedroom stare that could melt steel.
Guys reacted too—young ones with pure envy, older ones muttering "Pretty boy with no money is still a loser."
Satoru didn't care. He was born handsome; being looked at was his default state. He'd accepted it the first time he walked down Takeshita Street.
Half-lidded, he opened his budget TXT system.
Skills column:
[Iron Crotch EX] [Sword Mastery EX] [Imagine Breaker] [Superhuman Endurance]
All maxed.
The passive ones had leveled themselves through sheer disuse: [Bullshitting Lv.5 – Most of what you say sounds plausible] [Conqueror's Glare Lv.4 – Stare strong enough to induce miscarriage]
A familiar ping.
[Host—!! You forgot the lottery again!! Ai-chan is literally the pitiful heroine who gets mentioned in chapter 1 and then disappears for fifty chapters!!]
'Yellow book again?'
[WHO'S YELLOW—Anyway! Lottery! Lottery! The "Gorilla's Sorrow" mission reward is still sitting there! Ai-chan is nagging like a childless mother whose son's been married ten years with no kids!]
'I'm DINK.'
[Don't care!! Metaphor!! Boo, Ai-chan disappointed, banging her iron pan!]
'Wait a sec.'
[Ai-chan reminds you: no pity single pulls! Hoarding = trash only! Ai-chan proudly puffs her 36D—]
'So proud of trash pulls?'
[…Ugh. Boo, Ai-chan depressed. Pearl tears loading…]
'Fine, fine. Starting—'
"Kobayashi-ku~~n!"
He looked up.
Sakura was jogging toward him from the station exit, red ribbon fluttering, cheeks already pink from the run.
Loose long-sleeve tee + slim jeans. Zero effort to look feminine.
Yet the effect was lethal. Snow-white skin glowing under the sun, waist tiny, chest moving in ways physics shouldn't allow. Casual clothes on her looked like a war crime against single people.
'Lottery later.'
[Hey!! Ai-chan first!! Ai-chan— ya-yamero…]
System muted.
Behind her, a pack of nanpa guys who'd been tailing her like hyenas froze when they heard "Kobayashi-kun."
Eye contact with Satoru.
Most of them turned pale and scattered on instinct.
Except one—bleached hair, fake tan, floral shirt unbuttoned to his navel, decent pecs on display.
Satoru's good mood evaporated.
Conqueror's Glare Lv.4 – silent activation.
The entire pack felt their survival instincts scream. They bolted like they'd seen a ghost.
"Kobayashi-kun… I-I'm so sorry…!"
Sakura skidded to a halt in front of him and immediately bowed ninety degrees, voice trembling.
Satoru checked the time. 9:50 a.m.
Ten minutes early.
"…You're not late."
"I-I misread the time…!" she stammered, still bowed, eyes squeezed shut.
(Translation: Ayaka had "accidentally" bought 3 p.m. tickets instead of 10 a.m. and only told her one stop before Shibuya.)
Sakura's brain was in full panic mode.
He's going to think I'm an idiot… careless… useless… no sense of time… maybe even a loose woman for making him wait…
Her heart hammered so hard she was sure he could hear it. Knees knocked together, a tiny anxious squirm.
Scolding incoming… today was supposed to be perfect… I even practiced saying "It's okay, you can call me nee-san" in the mirror… ruined before it began…
Satoru stroked his chin, thinking.
Ten minutes early → actually five hours early because of Ayaka's "oops."
He exhaled through his nose.
"Got it," he said casually. "Still super early… wanna eat first? I skipped breakfast. Starving."
Sakura's head snapped up so fast the red ribbon whipped.
"Eh?"
Her big apricot eyes blinked once. Twice.
No anger? No "You wasted my time"? No cold lecture?
Just… food?
Satoru was already turning, hands in pockets, walking toward the scramble crossing like nothing happened.
"Come on," he called over his shoulder. "My treat. Consider it apology for all the times I made you wait before."
Sakura stood rooted for a full three seconds, brain blue-screening.
Then her whole face lit up like the Shibuya crossing at night.
"Y-Yes!!"
She hurried after him, steps light, the earlier panic replaced by the giddiest little bounce.
Behind them, the scattered nanpa guys peeked from around corners, watching the goddess trot after the scary handsome guy like a happy puppy.
One of them whispered, voice breaking:
"…We never even had a chance, did we?"
Collective silence of defeat.
-------------------------------
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