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In the third month, after my little rooftop encounter with Kyoko and Kanoko, I realized my life was turning into a minefield. On one side, Kyoko, my favorite teacher, who seemed to be in a constant internal battle between her professional ethics and my chaotic existence. On the other, Kanoko, Hiroki's older sister, who enjoyed making things even more complicated for me.
But, as if that wasn't enough, the universe decided I needed more challenges.
And that's how Rei Miyamoto came into the equation.
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It all started with a simple mistake. It was just another day—I had just finished my training at the school gym when I noticed that one of the lockers in the sports corridor was unlocked. My survival instincts kicked in—any small detail out of place was a reason for concern.
Curious, I pushed open the door to the girls' locker room.
What I saw made my brain freeze for a second.
Standing there, Rei Miyamoto, her back turned to me, wearing only her panties as she changed her shirt. Her reflection in the mirror captured the exact moment her eyes widened in pure shock. Her orange hair swayed slightly as her body froze in place.
Oh, shit.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Rei screamed, spinning around so fast she nearly tripped over the bench behind her.
"I DIDN'T—! I MEAN, CALM DOWN!" I raised my hands in surrender, but before I could explain, a wooden training staff came flying straight at my head.
I ducked out of instinct, feeling the wind from the swing rush past my face. If she had hit me, I'd be out cold.
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" I tried to argue as I dodged another swing.
"PERVERT!"
"CAN YOU AT LEAST LET ME EXPLAIN?!" I dodged again, but I ended up tripping over the floor. The angle I landed at was… well, strategic. Her chest was partially exposed due to her lifted shirt, and her furious expression was mixed with a hint of embarrassment.
Shit… this could get dangerous in more ways than one.
That was when Takashi Komuro walked in.
"Rei, I—" Takashi stopped abruptly, eyes wide in shock. His gaze shifted between me—on the floor—Rei—half-dressed—and the staff of doom she was still gripping.
The silence that followed was long enough for me to hear the imaginary crickets chirping.
"... I don't know what's happening, but I swear it's not what it looks like," I said, raising my hands again.
Takashi clenched his fists. "MARCO, YOU—!"
"Komuro!" Rei interrupted. "It's not what you think. He just... walked in by accident."
The tension in the air barely dropped, but Takashi still looked suspicious. Rei, on the other hand, crossed her arms and looked down at me.
"But I'm still not convinced it wasn't on purpose," she muttered.
Great. First, I almost get knocked out, now I'm officially a pervert. Perfect.
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After the misunderstanding was somewhat settled, Rei called me to talk later that afternoon. We met near the sports field, where she was still gripping that staff a little too aggressively.
"So... You really didn't do that on purpose?" she asked, studying me.
"If I wanted to sneak into the locker room, do you think I would've done it like an amateur?"
She narrowed her eyes. "That's exactly what a strategic pervert would say."
I laughed, crossing my arms. "If I were a strategic pervert, I would've planned better not to get caught."
She went silent for a second… then snorted, laughing against her will.
Nice. I managed to break the ice a little.
"Okay, I'll admit, watching you dodge like a panicked ninja was pretty funny," she said, relaxing a bit.
I leaned against the fence. "So? What now? Still want to kill me?"
Rei sighed. "For now, no. But you owe me a favor."
I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of favor?"
She spun the staff, pointing it at me. "I want to train with you."
That caught me off guard. "Train? You're already in the martial arts club. Why me?"
"Because you fight differently. I saw you beating that Kokujin guy the other day. You don't follow fixed rules—you improvise, use everything around you as a weapon. I want to learn that."
I stared at her for a moment, then smirked. "Alright. But I'm going to cash in this favor later."
She smirked back. "You can try."
And just like that, in the most chaotic way possible, Rei Miyamoto entered my life in a way I never expected.
But something told me this was far from over.
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