At the entrance of the Adachi District Ayase Apartment, a golden-haired girl stood holding a delicate insulated lunch box, hesitation clear on her face.
Her eyes darted between the building's interior and the street outside. Her heart sank as she murmured, "I'm just repaying the kindness from the warehouse incident, nothing more."
With this justification, Phoenix Academy Maggie successfully convinced herself.
She took a deep breath and walked inside, her expression composed.
The apartment lobby looked very clean. A row of residents' mailboxes lined the left-hand side of the entrance, with the security office opposite them.
An elderly man, clearly past retirement age, was inside reading a magazine when he heard footsteps.
The old man subconsciously looked up, his cloudy eyes suddenly becoming clear and bright.
He quickly closed the magazine and casually tucked it aside.
According to the apartment's rules, he should have asked the girl who she was looking for. But she was too beautiful, more dazzling than any movie star on a magazine cover.
The old man felt too intimidated to ask, a sense of inferiority similar to what he experienced in the presence of Miss Morimoto from the sixth floor.
However, the two women gave him completely different impressions.
Miss Morimoto was like a ripe bayberry, every gesture exuding a toxin called "maturity" that seemed to dissolve one's resolve.
The golden-haired girl before him, on the other hand, was like a farm-fresh strawberry in February or March—pure, natural, and promising an undeniably sweet taste with the first bite.
Of course, neither type was someone an old bachelor like him, who'd lived most of his life alone, could casually approach, he thought, feeling inadequate. He could only watch as she walked to the elevator near the stairs and pressed the button.
The old security guard quickly sat down. He was afraid that if the girl turned around after entering the elevator and saw him craning his neck, it would lead to an unfortunate misunderstanding, and that would be terrible.
As for letting someone in without checking, would it cause an incident? With such a beautiful girl going upstairs, the residents surely wouldn't be in any danger. He didn't need to ask or log her visit.
Phoenix Academy Maggie stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 6th floor with her pale index finger.
She watched the floor numbers climb. When it reached six, the elevator doors emitted a DING and slowly slid open.
Phoenix Academy Maggie walked out of the elevator and stopped before the door marked 601. She raised her hand and pressed the doorbell.
DING-DONG! After the crisp sound, a familiar voice called from inside, "Wait a minute, I'll be right there!"
The next moment, the door opened.
Phoenix Academy Maggie was about to utter the words she had prepared—"Good afternoon"—when the unexpected happened.
Aozawa, the person in front of her, suddenly slipped. His body pressed directly onto hers, pulling her down to the ground with him.
Her golden hair flew through the air. Phoenix Academy Maggie's pupils dilated, her brain unable to process the sudden turn of events as her vision flipped upwards.
They landed on the floor.
Incredibly, my head doesn't hurt much, she thought. It feels like something cushioned the fall.
CLANG! The lunch box in her hand crashed to the ground.
She stared blankly at the young man on top of her. A cold sensation lingered on her chest, and the weight made it somewhat hard for her to breathe.
Aozawa's right hand had landed on her chest—on an area far more generous than an average girl's.
It felt as if his entire palm was being enveloped, his skin detecting a surprising firmness beneath the expected softness.
After a brief silence, Aozawa hurriedly withdrew his hand, exclaiming, "Phoenix Academy, listen to my explanation! This is all an accident!"
Phoenix Academy Maggie's drifting pupils focused. She looked down and saw that the buttons of her own jacket and blouse, at her chest, had been expertly undone.
Anyone can fall accidentally, she thought. But to unbutton my clothes in the instant of a fall, and even place his hand… Can this still be called an accident?
After a brief moment of thought, Phoenix Academy Maggie reached a conclusion.
I'm no fool!
Intense rage erupted from the depths of her heart. Her limbs filled with strength, and her fists clenched, knuckles cracking audibly.
"Aozawa, you call *this* being sick?" Phoenix Academy Maggie growled, wanting nothing more than to tear the lying man before her limb from limb.
"Sick... Of course, I'm sick! It's called Sudden-Onset Shamelessness Syndrome!"
Aozawa, having regained his composure, quickly defended himself. "It's a type of mental illness. That's why I asked our club president for a week's leave to stay home and recuperate before going back to school. I never expected you to visit. I'm so sorry!"
He then performed an exaggeratedly deep bow of apology.
As Phoenix Academy Maggie buttoned up her clothes, she asked with a suspicious look, "Is there really such a disease?"
"You can look it up online if you don't believe me," Aozawa replied seriously.
Hearing this, Phoenix Academy Maggie pulled out her phone and searched online. She discovered that such a disease, though very rare, did indeed exist.
This mental illness was typically caused by extreme shock or childhood trauma, leading to sudden self-destructive urges. Symptoms included, but were not limited to, stripping naked and running wildly in the streets, or publicly humiliating someone of the opposite sex.
Phoenix Academy Maggie didn't know if Aozawa had experienced childhood trauma.
However, she knew for a fact that he had recently experienced a significant shock. Could the Misawa group incident last week have scared him this badly?
Uncertain, Phoenix Academy Maggie pursed her lips, forcing her expression to turn cold.
She didn't know how to handle this situation.
Seeing her silence, Aozawa inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
To avoid Chitose's Iron Fist, I specifically searched online and actually found a disease that fits my superpower perfectly, he thought. It's good that I can use it now, but what is she thinking?
The silence in the air grew awkward. Aozawa looked at the fallen lunch box on the floor, from which soup had leaked and a few grains of rice had spilled. "Is this the bento you made for me?"
Only then did Phoenix Academy Maggie remember the purpose of her visit. She said coolly, "I made you pork belly with preserved mustard greens to repay your kindness for saving me at the warehouse. But you don't need to eat it now."
"It's fine, it's not dirty," Aozawa said, seeing a way to break the deadlock. He immediately sat cross-legged, picked up the lunch box, and opened it. Chopsticks were even prepared inside.
He took the chopsticks and popped a piece of pork belly into his mouth.
The key to good pork belly with preserved mustard greens is fresh, delicious pork belly. Coming from a young lady of her standing, the ingredients are bound to be top-quality; this premium pork belly is incredibly tasty, he thought.
"Delicious!" he exclaimed, then eagerly dug into the food.
HMPH! Phoenix Academy Maggie snorted, a hint of coldness in the sound, but the anger in her heart quietly dissipated.
Watching him devour the pork belly with preserved mustard greens I made, Phoenix Academy Maggie thought, at least the few times I cut my fingers weren't in vain.
However, as she recalled what had just happened, an inexplicable pressure settled in her left chest, and she lightly bit her crimson lip.
Aozawa finished every last bit of the pork belly with preserved mustard greens and rice. He let out a satisfied burp, looked up, and said, "That was the most delicious pork belly with preserved mustard greens I've ever eaten. Thank you for the meal."
"No need. We're even now," Phoenix Academy Maggie said, collecting the empty lunch box and turning to leave.
Sigh... Aozawa lamented inwardly, not knowing what to say as he watched her step into the elevator.
Phoenix Academy Maggie pressed the elevator button, her back still to Aozawa.
The aloof expression on her face instantly crumbled. Her fair cheeks flushed crimson, as if she were an overloaded boiler with steam about to vent from the top of her head and her ears.
Damn it! I have to forget about that pig, Aozawa! she fumed internally.
But the more Phoenix Academy Maggie tried to forget, the more vividly she recalled what had just happened, causing her to subconsciously press her thighs together.