The morning of the seventh day of living together. Sunlight slipping through the gap in the curtains stabbed at the back of Kaito's eyes. His head felt heavy. He hadn't slept well again last night. When he stepped out into the living room, Misaki was already getting ready to go out. Her long black hair swayed against her back. Her white blouse caught the light from the window, softly blurring the outline of her figure. "[gentle]Good morning, Kaito. I have student council this morning. I'll be right back, so be a good boy and stay put, okay?" "Yeah... got it." She headed for the front door, undoing the secondary locks one by one. The cold sound of scraping metal echoed through the morning stillness. "[gentle]Oh, and one more thing." Misaki turned back. Her golden eyes narrowed. "[gentle]Rio-chan is coming over today. So you won't be lonely here all by yourself." Less than fifteen minutes after she left, the sound of the front door unlocking rang out. *Click.* "[excited]Sorry for intruding!" A silver short bob swayed. Rio came in, waving her hand flippantly. She had a convenience store bag in her hand. But behind that smile, her light blue eyes alone gleamed coldly, like a cat searching for its prey. She set the bag down on the living room table, then carried a single chair over to the door of Kaito's room and sat down. "[cold]I'll be watching from here. If you try to run, I'll know right away." Kaito couldn't say anything. He just sat on the sofa. After a while, his stomach growled. On the table sat the sandwich Misaki had prepared that morning, still wrapped in plastic. When Kaito reached for it, Rio stood up and swiftly pushed the plate away. "[cold]Misaki-senpai made that. Could you not touch it with your filthy hands?" "...What?" "[sarcastic]I mean, you're just a freeloader she's letting stay here, aren't you, Kaito-kun? Just taking advantage of Misaki-senpai's kindness." Kaito's hand froze in midair. A smile still lingered on Rio's face. But her voice was sharp as a blade. "[cold]And yet you do nothing but cause her trouble. It's truly pathetic." Kaito pulled his hand back. Something flared up hot in his chest, but he felt like he wasn't even allowed to voice it. If he yelled here, it would only make things worse. Seeing that, Rio let out a small, derisive sniff. Even past noon, she kept the same attitude. The sandwich still sat untouched at the edge of the table. When Kaito tried to head toward the kitchen, Rio grabbed his arm. Her fingers were slender, yet they dug into his bone with crushing force. "[cold]I haven't given you permission." "I'm hungry." "[cold]So what? You really can't do anything without Misaki-senpai around, can you, Kaito-kun? Truly pathetic." In Rio's eyes, a distorted light flickered unsteadily. It was probably a light born from a mixture of jealousy and worship. Kaito clenched his teeth. The taste of iron seeped along the inside of his lip. The fact that he couldn't say anything back—that was what was truly pathetic. Even into the afternoon, Rio's surveillance continued. Occasionally she fiddled with her phone, stifling a yawn. But the moment Kaito so much as tried to move, her light blue gaze shot toward him instantly. He felt like he was suffocating. Kaito stood up and walked toward the study. If he didn't at least look at the scenery outside the window, he felt like he was going to lose his mind. The study window faced the front of the Luminous Star Sea Apartments. Kaito casually peered down. In front of the entrance, there was a familiar silhouette. Short, light brown hair. Casual clothes. That was— "Yuta...!" His best friend was pressing the auto-lock intercom. Phone to his ear, he pushed the button over and over again. Kaito reflexively put his hand on the window. "—!" He almost shouted. Just then. A powerful force wrenched his arm up from behind. "[angry]What do you think you're doing?!" It was Rio. She lunged onto Kaito's back, pinning his arms and tearing him away from the window. With unexpected strength, she forced Kaito's body down onto the floor. "[whispers]Please stop. Seriously, stop it." Her voice, whispering low in his ear, was a mix of anger and a hint of fear. "Let go—Yuta is—" "[cold]I don't know any such person. Don't care." Rio pressed Kaito's head against the floor. The cold sensation of the floor spread across his cheek. Outside the window— Yuta turned around and looked up at the sky. As if giving up on something, his shoulders slumped. His back slowly grew distant. "...Stop... Yuta..." His voice was hoarse. As Kaito slumped onto the floor, the image of his friend's back was seared into his eyes. Rio's hand remained pressed against Kaito's head. "[cold]Stay quiet until Misaki-senpai gets back." Outside the window, there was no one there anymore. Near evening, the front door unlocked. "[gentle]I'm home." Misaki had returned. She held a small paper bag in her hand. Entering the living room, she saw Kaito slumped on the floor and Rio standing beside him. "Senpai, welcome back! Um, someone named Oono Yuta came by. He kept buzzing the intercom." Rio's voice was bright, as if the coldness from earlier had been a complete lie. Misaki checked the intercom's camera footage. Yuta's figure was indeed visible on the screen. "[gentle]I see. So that person came by." She smiled. But her golden eyes alone had turned cold in an instant, as if frozen solid. A few dozen minutes later, the intercom rang again. Misaki calmly picked up the receiver. "[gentle]Yes, this is Minase." *"Um, is Kaito there? It's Oono."* "[gentle]Ah, yes, he's here. But he's not feeling well, so it seems impossible today. I'm sorry. I'll tell him to contact you later." *"...I see. Understood."* Yuta's deflated voice came through the speaker. Kaito could only watch it all from the corner of the hallway. He tried to interject, but his voice wouldn't come out. If he made a sound, he felt like he would collapse onto the floor right then and there. Misaki put the receiver back. "[gentle]It's a happy thing, isn't it? Having someone who worries about you." She turned around, her face beaming with a bright smile. But beneath that smile, a firm will that said *I won't hand him over to anyone* shone through— And Kaito's entire body went cold. Night fell. After Rio had gone home, Misaki called Kaito over to the living room sofa. "[gentle]Yuta-kun might come again. That's a problem, isn't it?" Speaking as if to herself, she picked up Kaito's old smartphone from the table. It was the device he'd used before Misaki confiscated it—already a canceled contract. Even so, to Kaito, it was still a symbol of his connection to the "outside." "[gentle]This will put my mind at ease." She raised the smartphone high. Kaito gasped at the exact same moment the phone was smashed against the floor. *Crash.* The LCD screen shattered. Fragments scattered across the floor, their reflected light flickering and dancing through the room. "...Why?" That was all he could manage to say. "[gentle]I won't hand you over to anyone. Because Kaito belongs only to me." Misaki placed her hand on Kaito's cheek. The moment the warmth of her fingertips touched his skin, Kaito's breathing became ragged. His body was trembling. From fear. And yet. Her other hand slowly stroked down his chest. He tried to force out words of rejection. But they wouldn't come. Instead, a small sigh leaked from the back of his throat. *(I can't escape.)* The words spun around in his head. *(It's over now.)* Even so, when her fingers slipped under his clothes, his skin prickled with heat. "[whispers]It's okay. I'll always be by your side, Kaito. You can just forget all about the outside world." Misaki pushed Kaito down onto the sofa and slowly began to undress him. Her lips crawled along the nape of his neck. A tingling wave of pleasure raced down his spine, and Kaito squeezed his eyes shut. *(Stop it... stop it...)* His head was screaming, but his body couldn't resist. As Misaki's tongue traced his collarbone and touched the bud on his chest, a deep heat flared in his groin, and his penis grew hard. "[whispers]It feels good, doesn't it? When I touch you, you end up like this." Her fingers reached down toward Kaito's lower body. Gripping his already stiffly erect penis, she slowly stroked it up and down. "Ah... s-stop it, I said..." Even as his mouth refused, his hips lifted on their own. Misaki watched Kaito's reaction with amusement, quickening the movement of her fingers. She rubbed the ridge of his glans with her thumb, spreading the precum slickly over the entire shaft. The wet, squelching sound echoed unnaturally loud in the quiet room. "[whispers]See, you're already this wet. Your body is honest." Tears spilled from Kaito's eyes. He felt pathetic, frustrated, and terrified. And yet his body burned with heat, craving more of her touch, seeking her fingers. *(Should I... just give up?)* For the first time, that thought took clear shape in his mind. Misaki shed her own clothes as well, pressing her naked body against Kaito's. Her secret place was already soaking wet, and that hot part of her pressed against his thigh. "[whispers]Put this inside me, Kaito. Let's become one." Straddling him, she guided the head of his penis to the entrance of her vagina herself. The sensation of hot, slick flesh. "[whispers]I'm putting it in." She lowered her hips. With a wet, gliding sensation, Kaito's penis was swallowed into her vagina. "Uwah... aaah!" "[whispers]Ahh... it feels so good... Kaito is inside me..." Misaki closed her eyes in rapture and began to slowly rock her hips. Her vaginal walls squeezed his penis tightly, sending sweet jolts of numbness racing down his spine with each contraction. With every thrust, her love juices frothed at their joined flesh, filling the room with lewd, wet sounds. Kaito couldn't think about anything anymore. He could only surrender everything to her heat and let his body tremble with the pleasure she gave him. "[whispers]I love you... I love you. So we'll be together forever. I won't hand you over to anyone." She quickened her pace. Rubbing her own clitoris, she slammed her hips against him again and again. "[whispers]I'm... coming... Kaito, together... come inside me..." Her vagina spasmed tightly, clenching down on Kaito's penis to the very base. Unable to resist that pressure, Kaito ejaculated too. Thick, hot semen pumped out, splashing against her cervix. "[whispers]Ahh... so warm... you came a lot." Misaki smiled with satisfaction and collapsed onto Kaito's chest. Kaito stared at the ceiling, his tears unstoppable. Late night. Even after Misaki began breathing quietly in her sleep beside him, Kaito couldn't sleep. Staring at the dark ceiling, the scenes from today swirled endlessly in his head. Yuta's back growing distant. The shattered fragments of the smartphone. And Misaki's frozen smile. *(I can't escape anymore.)* *(It's all over.)* His chest felt blocked, suffocating. Despair weighed heavily on him, and only his tears fell endlessly. Even so— Suddenly, a scene from the living room earlier that day came back to him. It was when Rio, in between her surveillance, had carelessly set her bag on the table. A keychain had slipped out of the bag and fallen to the edge of the table. She had hurriedly gathered them up, but— Had she really managed to pick them all up? Kaito slipped out of bed without making a sound. The dark living room was dead silent. Only moonlight streamed in thinly through the gap in the curtains. He reached under the table. His fingertips groped across the floor— *Ting.* They touched a cold, metallic sensation. *(There it is...)* A single small key. It had rolled into the corner of the floor. Kaito clutched it tightly. The cold sensation seeped into his heated palm. He didn't k