The rooftop was quiet, wind brushing against the railing as Sakurajima Mai stood there, her uniform neat once more—but her expression anything but calm.
Her eyes narrowed at the boy leaning casually against the fence, the school jacket resting loosely over his shoulders.
"You…why are you here?"
She finally broke the silence, suspicion coloring her voice.
"Well, I of course came to meet you"
His calm, almost teasing tone unsettled her more than a denial would have.
"...Fine," she muttered, though her suspicion only shifted into unease.
Her gaze hardened. "Then tell me—how did you find me?"
"Simple," Haruto replied, his amber eyes gleaming with a sly amusement. "I've seen you around the library often. It wasn't hard to figure out where you'd be."
Mai blinked, startled.
"You've… seen me before?"
"And you never said a word?"
Haruto's smirk deepened.
"Why would I? If I had spoken up, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the sight of a certain beautiful bunny girl sitting right in front of me."
Mai's face flushed crimson in an instant. Her mind betrayed her, conjuring the image: herself in the bunny girl outfit, perched on a desk—while he sat there, pretending not to notice, all the while watching.
Her pulse quickened.
This guy… he's a shameless pervert!
And yet—this same boy was the one who, just yesterday, had made a transaction with Saeko Busujima. The memory stiffened her resolve, wariness returning like a blade drawn.
Her voice sharpened. "What do you want from me?"
Haruto's smile softened, though his words held weight.
"Nothing much. Only this—stop wandering around the library dressed as a bunny girl."
Mai froze, speechless.
Haruto slung his jacket more securely over his shoulder, stepping toward the rooftop door.
"I don't like the idea of anyone else seeing the bunny girl I've set my eyes on. If you ever need help, come find me… or better yet, make a trade with me."
His laughter echoed faintly as he left, the heavy door shutting behind him.
Mai remained rooted in place, her thoughts a storm.
'The bunny girl I've set my eyes on'…
Her heart skipped. Was that… a confession?
But this man—just yesterday—
"Tch…"
Her lips pressed into a thin line. Suddenly, her plan of solving her existence problem by drawing attention in a bunny outfit seemed childish. She had lost her reason to continue.
But even then—
"I'm never making a trade with you!" she whispered fiercely to the empty rooftop.
Unlike Saeko Busujima, who had nothing else to bargain with except her body for her friends' sake, Mai wasn't desperate enough to gamble her dignity.
At worst, she would simply fade into obscurity, unseen and unheard. She could endure that.
Or so she thought.
---
That evening, as the sun dipped behind the city, Mai stood in front of her apartment door, fingers trembling on the knob.
It wouldn't open.
A new sign hung just beside it: For Rent.
Her chest tightened.
"What… what is this?"
Confusion quickly gave way to dread. A chilling thought whispered in her mind.
"Is this… because of my existence?"
Had her landlord forgotten her entirely, erasing her tenancy as though she never lived here at all?
She pulled out her phone, calling him. No answer. Again. Again. Nothing.
Her breath faltered.
No apartment. No money. No place that would acknowledge her.
She thought about a hotel, but the idea collapsed instantly—no one could even see her, let alone accept her payment.
For the first time in years, panic clawed at her chest.
Her bag slid from her shoulder. She crouched down by the door, hugging her knees, her carefully built poise crumbling.
"I…"
Her voice broke, the loneliness pressing in from all sides.
Was she to wander the streets? Tonight, tomorrow, every night after? A ghost in the world of the living?
Her mind spun desperately—until a spark of hope surfaced.
"The chat group…"
There was one person who could see her. The one person who acknowledged her existence.
Her pride twisted inside her, reminding her of her earlier vow, but survival crushed that stubbornness.
Hands shaking, she opened the chat.
Sakurajima Mai: "@Haruto-kun… are you there?"
A reply came almost instantly, his tone blunt, direct.
Haruto Amakawa: "What do you need? Speak."
Mai bit her lip. Her pride screamed at her to delete the message, but the emptiness of the street behind her was louder.
"…Where do you live?"
His answer came with a teasing lilt.
Haruto Amakawa: "Oh? How did you know I just moved today?"
"Who asked you that?!" Mai muttered under her breath, cheeks burning as if he were standing before her.
Her irritation only grew when the chat lit up with others.
Stella: "What's going on? Why are you asking about where he lives when you're not even from the same world?"
Haruto Amakawa: "Funny thing is, we're from the same world. Same school, same grade, too."
Akame: "So it's possible for people from the same world to join the chat group."
A wistful silence followed her words. If only her comrades could join as well.
Frieren: "A school? That's like a human academy, isn't it?"
Saeko Busujima: "Yes."
Haruto Amakawa: "Saeko, you're here. How's your recovery coming along?"
The group froze at his words.
Stella: "Wait—why are you asking that in front of everyone?!"
Realization dawned quickly. Stella's face surely flushed as she pieced together what his "recovery" meant.
Haruto Amakawa: "My chat group, my rules. I'll say what I want."
The message carried an unmistakable undertone: he didn't bend for anyone.
Haruto Amakawa ruled the chat group as he did everything else in life—
by doing as he liked.