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"Eh? How did you know that?"
The orange-haired girl stared at Akio in disbelief. To be fair, she had been feeling off these past few days—her body heavy, her energy draining faster than usual. Even eating didn't help much; she'd be hungry again in no time.
Yeah, she was definitely worn out.
That was why she had dragged herself to the convenience store so late at night—to grab something, anything, to quiet the growling in her stomach.
Aoyama Nanami, standing nearby, blinked in surprise. The girl hadn't denied Akio's observation at all. Wait… did this guy actually guess right?
How the hell did he manage that?
With a cheerful grin, Akio said, "I know a special massage technique. Clears your head, sweeps away fatigue, makes you feel like yourself again. Want to give it a try?"
"Seriously?" The orange-haired girl eyed him suspiciously. "You're not just trying to cop a feel, are you?"
She knew very well the effect her figure had. Too often she'd catch men staring at her with that hungry look, like wolves sizing up prey.
Akio raised a brow. "Come on. You really think I'd pull something shady in a convenience store? There are cameras everywhere."
"Oh… right." She almost forgot about that.
"Fine, then. If you actually know how to massage…" After a moment of hesitation, she agreed.
Akio asked Nanami to fetch a chair, then had the girl sit down. Placing his hands gently on her shoulders, he began to "massage."
In truth, Akio had no idea how to give a proper massage. But he did have the power of light, and that was more than enough to ease her discomfort.
The instant his light-infused hands touched her shoulders, the malignant spirits clinging to her flared up and burst apart—shattered with muffled pops before vanishing like smoke.
The heaviness in her body lifted at once.
How to describe it? It was like someone had ripped away the chains weighing her down. A rush of relief welled up inside her, loosening every muscle.
The warmth from his palms flowed deep into her, spreading through her arms and legs, filling every corner of her body with a buoyant energy.
It was like her very cells were cheering.
Pure bliss. Way too good.
She almost never wanted it to stop.
After about five minutes, Akio finally withdrew his hands and asked with a grin, "Well? How does it feel?"
"Amazing!"
The girl felt a pang of disappointment when he stopped, but the question snapped her out of it. Without a second thought, she shot him a big thumbs-up.
"That was the best massage I've ever had. Totally worth it."
"Five hundred yen," Akio said smoothly, still smiling. "Sound fair to you?"
Nanami nearly choked. Wait, what? Five minutes for five hundred yen? That's a hundred yen per minute! Talk about outrageous!
The orange-haired girl considered it for a moment, then nodded. "A little pricey, but yeah, worth it."
She pulled a five-hundred-yen coin from her wallet and handed it over.
"Oh, by the way—I'm Hana Yurakawa. What's your name? And if I ever want another massage, how do I find you?"
"You can just come to school and look for me. I'm Akio."
His eyes flicked to her uniform. "Judging by that, you're from Sakurazaka Academy too, right? Same as me."
"Huh? No way!" Hana's eyes went wide. She hadn't expected this random guy to turn out to be a schoolmate. Talk about fate.
Meanwhile, Akio frowned slightly. That name—Hana Yurakawa—sounded familiar.
Think, think… ah, right.
She was the best friend of Miko Yotsuya, the girl cursed blessed with the most powerful spirit-sight around.
So, that meant… was this world's Miko Yotsuya also as unlucky as in the manga?
But things here weren't the same. This world actually had exorcists—real onmyoji.
With eyes like hers, Miko could definitely learn onmyōdō. Unlike the original story, where she had no choice but to tremble helplessly before spirits, here she had the potential to fight back.
If anything, this world's Yotsuya Miko should be thriving.
After all, even seasoned onmyoji rarely possessed spirit-sight of that caliber. Miko was basically a natural-born exorcist.
"Hana Yurakawa," Akio said suddenly, "you're friends with Miko Yotsuya, right? What's she like?"
"You know Miko?" Hana blinked in surprise. Then her expression shifted as though a lightbulb went off. She narrowed her eyes playfully. "Don't tell me—you're crushing on her?"
"Absolutely not." Akio shook his head immediately. Why did high school girls always twist everything into a love story? Were their hormones really running that wild?
"I just want to know what she's like."
"She's a student, of course. Same as me, at Sakurazaka Academy."
"So… just a student."
"Uh, yeah? You sound like you expected her to have some secret identity." Hana tilted her head curiously.
"Has she ever acted… weird? Like suddenly getting nervous, or shaking for no reason?"
Hana thought for a while, then shook her head. "Nope. Honestly, the way you fuss about Miko, you totally sound like a guy with a crush."
Akio rolled his eyes. Not worth arguing with hormone-fueled teenagers.
Still, if Hana was telling the truth, then maybe this world's Miko Yotsuya hadn't awakened her spirit-sight yet.
Which actually made sense—back in the original story, Miko's eyes had awakened suddenly one day in high school.
So, no awakening yet. Nothing strange about that.
After politely brushing off Hana's further questions, Akio tugged Nanami along and left the store.
"So?" Akio asked with a smirk. "Want to partner up with me? This way of making money beats part-time shifts at a convenience store, don't you think?"
"How did you even pull that off?" Nanami asked, still skeptical. If she hadn't known Hana before, she might have thought Akio had planted an accomplice.
Five minutes of massage, and the girl happily forked over five hundred yen. That was ridiculously fast money.
Akio flexed his fingers in front of her with a grin. "Well? Want to give it a try yourself?"
Before she could refuse, he rested his hands lightly on her shoulders and began "massaging."
Threads of light energy seeped into her body.
Nanami's whole world flipped into bliss. She felt like she was floating in a hot spring, every pore in her body opening in utter comfort.
PURE HEAVEN.
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