The debate over the so-called "body trade" still echoed in the chat group, but Haruto Amakawa didn't spare it a second thought.
The rules were simple, the transactions transparent. Better to drag such ugly truths into the light now than let them fester in shadows later. Sooner or later, others would grow used to these bargains—perhaps even welcome them. If that meant smoother exchanges in the future, all the better.
Besides, he was the one profiting. He should stop being a hypocrite.
Haruto was no fool when it came to women. He could appreciate beauty, even desire it—but unlike the lovesick heroes of fairy tales, he wasn't enslaved by it. Affection and romance could come later, if they came at all. What mattered was survival, strength, and leverage.
Possessive? Perhaps. If he laid claim to someone once, he would naturally want to keep them, body and heart alike. But indulgence could wait. Right now, power mattered more.
He needed to be ready—for Heaven, Hell, the restless dead in this broken world, and whatever other storms the chat group might yet hurl his way.
Power first. After that he can let himself experience the feeling love.
---
After leading the four women out of Fujimi Academy, Haruto claimed an empty house on the outskirts. The walls were fine, the furniture clean, it would serve for the time being.
"You'll wait here until I return."
He gave the command without room for objection. A gesture of his hand conjured jagged towers of ice that erupted from the ground, encircling the house in a fortress of frost. The undead beyond howled and scraped but could not cross the barrier.
He lowered Miyamoto Rei, still dazed in his arms, onto the floor, then turned to Busujima Saeko.
"Prepare a room. Take a bath. Wait for me when I get back."
"…Understood."
Her answer was soft, her eyes following his retreating figure as though hypnotized. She had never met a man who carried such power in his voice—someone her own age, yet wielding strength that felt untouchable.
When Haruto stepped outside, silence rushed in to fill the room.
Marikawa Shizuka a tall, buxom, and curvaceous woman with long waist-length blonde hair, bangs framing her face. She has hazel eyes. Her figure is most pronounced by her large breasts.
She gently clasped Rei's trembling hand, her tone warm with misplaced comfort.
"Miyamoto-san, don't cry… at least we're still alive."
Rei had Waist-length, orangey-brown hair with bangs and two distinctive strands sticking out above the rest of her hair, Reddish-brown eyes, her figure was Slender with ample breasts. Her school uniform with black, thigh-high legging.
She said nothing.
She wasn't grieving. The image of Takashi Komuro, the boy she had once clung to, had already begun to fade. In its place stood the memory of Haruto's broad back as he carried her through danger.
Her chest burned with self-disgust. How could her feelings shift so quickly? Was she truly so shallow?
Did she ever love Takashi at all?
Her mind spiraled, questioning everything she thought she knew.
Meanwhile, Takagi Saya with Long, dark pink hair, styled in twin tails. She also has two long bangs on each side and a section covering her forehead. she had Intense orange eyes. A pointed tooth, occasionally visible and a Slender figure which can be described as "bikini model-sized".
She had been staring at the frozen barricade for long minutes before finally pushing up her glasses with a sharp click.
"Saeko-senpai," she said, voice low and taut with suspicion. "Who is that man?"
Saeko has straight and shiny thigh-length purple hair that has a triangular fringe at the front which barely touches the ridge of her nose, blue eyes, she is quite tall for a Japanese girl and her relatively long limbs contribute leverage to her powerful sword swings.
Her lips curved faintly, but her words revealed little.
"His name is Haruto Amakawa. He came to help us."
Rei's eyes widened. Haruto… Now she had a name to anchor to the shadow in her heart.
Saya, however, was less enthralled. Her gaze cut into Saeko, sharp as a scalpel.
"You mean to tell me you traded your body to bring in a man like that?"
Even Shizuka's eyes flickered with worry at the blunt accusation.
Saeko neither flinched nor faltered.
"I traded my body usage rights—once."
The blunt confession hung heavy in the air.
Saya opened her mouth, but the older girl's cold stare cut her short.
"So don't waste the lives I bought."
With that, Saeko turned on her heel and walked toward the lone bedroom. The sway of her hips and the resolute click of the door closing behind her left the others in heavy silence.
Saya swallowed against the lump in her throat. Shizuka, frowning, whispered, "Saya… is there nothing we can do to stop this?"
But Saya only pointed toward the glittering ice outside.
"Stop him? With what, our bare hands? Look at that."
Even speaking ill of him felt dangerous. She had no doubt Haruto Amakawa could turn them into frozen statues as easily as he had stopped the undead. He wasn't a man one opposed.
It was then Rei's voice, soft and guilty, broke the silence.
"Then… what if we replaced Saeko-senpai?"
"Eh?" Saya spun toward her, stunned.
Realizing her slip, Rei quickly lowered her head, cheeks burning.
Shizuka, however, lit up with enthusiasm, clapping her hands as her chest bounced with each motion.
"That's it! Rei could take her place instead!"
Saya's lips twitched.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered under her breath:
"…I must be the only sane one here."