Ding!
[Congratulations!]
You have successfully battled on equal footing with Ryouta Ashikaga for a full 5 minutes!
Reward Claid:
- 625 EXP
➤ [Check Status]
The front door clicked shut behind Haruto as he finally made it ho, his shoulders sagging with exhaustion. Between the mock exams and dealing with all that system stuff, he felt like he’d been run over by a truck. All he wanted was to collapse on his bed and forget the world existed for a while.
But before he could even kick off his shoes properly,
"Welco ho, Haruto," Satsuki’s voice was soft and lodic as always, but there was sothing in her tone that made him look up. She was standing right there in the hallway, like she’d been waiting for him. Which, knowing Satsuki, she probably had been.
"Onee-chan," he mumbled, trying to force a smile. "Sorry I’m late, the exams ran longer than—"
She was already moving toward him, her eyes scanning his face with that intense way she had of looking at him. It was like she could see right through him sotis, and honestly, it made him nervous as hell.
"You look tired," she said simply, reaching up to touch his cheek. Her fingers were cool against his skin. "The exams were hard, weren’t they?"
Before he could answer, she stepped closer and gently pulled his head down, pressing his face against her chest. It was such a Satsuki thing to do – she always seed to know exactly when he needed comfort, even when he didn’t ask for it. The familiar warmth and softness should have made him relax, should have made all the stress of the day lt away.
But sothing was wrong.
He felt her entire body go rigid against him. The gentle hand that had been stroking his hair stopped moving. Even through the fabric of her sweater, he could feel the change in her breathing.
When she pulled back to look at him, her expression had shifted completely. The warm, caring look from monts before was gone, replaced by sothing cold. Her eyes were still soft, but there was a sharpness behind them that made his stomach drop.
"Haruto," she said, and her voice was still sweet, still gentle, but there was an edge to it now. "What’s that sll?"
"Sll?" he asked stupidly, though his heart was already starting to race. Shit. Shit shit shit.
Her hand ca up to cup his face again, thumb brushing across his cheek in what should have been a loving gesture. But her touch felt different now – calculating. "That perfu," she continued, and there was still that sickeningly sweet tone to her voice. "It’s not mine. So whose is it, I wonder?"
Haruto’s mind went blank for a second before panic kicked in. Tanaka. When she’d hugged him, thanking him for whatever the had happened. Her perfu must have gotten on his uniform. Of all the things to forget about...
"Oh, that," he said, trying to sound casual but probably failing miserably. "It’s just from so girls in my class. You know how they are – always trying to get close to and stuff. They think if they sll nice I’ll notice them or whatever."
It wasn’t technically a lie. There were girls in his class who did exactly that. He just wasn’t ntioning that this particular scent belonged to soone very specific.
Satsuki’s eyes searched his face for what felt like an eternity. Her thumb was still moving across his cheek, but the touch felt ice cold now. Actually, everything about her felt colder than usual. Her hand, her presence, even the air around her seed to have dropped a few degrees.
"Girls from your class," she repeated slowly, like she was tasting the words. "How... persistent of them."
There was sothing in her voice, sothing that reminded him exactly why those Yandere Points existed in the first place. This was Satsuki when she was trying very, very hard to control herself.
For a mont, he thought she was going to ask more questions. He could see it in her eyes – the urge to dig deeper, to find out exactly which girls, exactly when, exactly everything. But then sothing shifted, and she stepped back.
"I see," she said simply, her hand falling away from his face. "Well, you must be tired. Why don’t you go rest?"
The dismissal was gentle, but it felt final. Like she’d made so kind of decision and wasn’t going to discuss it further. Sohow, that was almost worse than if she’d kept interrogating him.
"Yeah," he said, backing toward the stairs. "Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Thanks, Satsuki."
She just smiled at him – that sa sweet smile she always wore, but it didn’t reach her eyes. "Of course, Haruto. Sweet dreams."
He practically fled up the stairs, taking them two at a ti. Once he was safely in his room with the door closed behind him, he finally allowed himself to breathe properly. That had been way too close. And the way she’d looked at him...
Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on sothing that might actually make him feel better. The system interface materialized in front of him with a thought, and imdiately he felt a surge of satisfaction at what he saw.
The text scrolled across his vision in neat, glowing lines:
SKILL: MOONLIGHT SWORD
- Level 1
- EXP: 579/1000
SKILL: ABYSSAL DEVOUR
- Level 1
- EXP: 532/1000
REMAINING EXP: 625
YANDERE POINTS: 2
Those Yandere Points were still fine, especially after what had just happened downstairs. But at least he had enough EXP to make so real progress on his skills.
He stared at the numbers, weighing his options. If he leveled up Moonlight Sword, would he be able to summon four blades instead of three? The idea was tempting as hell. More swords ant more damage output, more versatility in combat. But Abyssal Devour was useful too – being able to absorb enemy attacks and convert them into energy had saved his ass more than once.
After a few minutes of deliberation, he made his choice. Moonlight Sword first – he’d pump 500 EXP into it and see what happened. The remaining could go into Abyssal Devour.
He selected the Moonlight Sword skill and watched as the EXP counter climbed. 579... 700... 900... and then it hit 1000 and kept going. The interface flashed, and new text appeared:
[MOONLIGHT SWORD LEVEL UP!]
LEVEL 1 → LEVEL 2
IMPROVENTS:
- Attack Power: 35%
- Range: 50%
- Sword Count: 3 → 4
- Energy Cost: Reduced by 20%
- New Ability Unlocked: Lunar Resonance
- All summoned swords now share damage amplification
- Critical hit rate increased when multiple swords strike the sa target
Four swords! just like he’d hoped, plus a bunch of other improvents. The range increase alone was huge – he’d be able to hit enemies from much further away. And this Lunar Resonance thing sounded like it could be seriously overpowered if he used it right.
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