118 Yor's Strange Age Gap
She then lowered her head slightly in embarrassment and reached out her hand to Hikigaya.
"If you really haven't had any formal combat training, then there's no doubt about it—you're a natural."
"Your evasion reflexes are sharp. You managed to predict several of my attacks correctly. It's just that you lack experience—your body can't quite keep up with your neural response."
"With some training, you'll quickly gain the ability to protect yourself against assassins."
Honebami offered a fair and honest assessment.
"You got distracted at the end—was it because..."
Honebami wanted to ask why Hikigaya had gotten distracted at the final moment. As a martial arts fanatic, she paid extreme attention to detail. While talking, she subconsciously recalled her final move and where Hikigaya's gaze had landed.
She quickly realized something, her face flushed red, and she clammed up. She hurried off to the side and pulled her clothes back on, unconsciously tightening her grip on her arms.
If she had rated Hikigaya only 59 points earlier, that score had now risen to at least 70.
This was the simple but powerful effect of aligning with someone's interests.
Coming back to his senses, Hikigaya also realized something.
'This woman... is a total fight freak.'
'And a sadist too. Unlike Juraku-senpai, she's more into physical torment.'
Hikigaya rubbed his chest, which was still faintly sore. Supporting himself with his hand on the ground, he struggled to stand up. "How should I train?"
"...Hmm." Honebami touched her chin. "If you're in Chiba, I could teach you. I go to school and run missions in Chiba."
"But if you're going back home, that wouldn't work."
"Anyone from the Honebami clan in Tokyo?"
"There are, but you'd need an order from the head of the family for them to train you."
Hikigaya took note of that.
Training in combat wasn't a whim. His mindset had already evolved to the point where he could talk calmly with someone like Miroslava.
Besides, it was also a precaution for future encounters with assassins like the Thorn Princess.
While no amount of martial arts could match a firearm, it was still better to be prepared.
As they spoke, Honebami turned to Yor. "Her martial arts skills are definitely not beneath mine. If she's willing to teach you later, that would work too."
"Understood."
"She should be waking up about now," Honebami said, glancing at her watch.
"Before that... Miss Honebami, you must have used your connections to investigate her activity history, right?"
Honebami gave Hikigaya a surprised look. "Yes."
.
.
.
Yor felt her head heavy and dazed.
She couldn't quite remember what had happened earlier. But somewhere deep in her soul, a tremor suggested she had just experienced an extremely intense and pleasurable "game."
She tried hard to recall.
Freedom, poison, one-month deadline...
Piece by piece, she gathered the scattered fragments of memory and gradually reconstructed what had happened.
She could vaguely hear someone speaking nearby. Then, with a jolt, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the dim light of the interrogation room. Yor squinted and finally saw the man and woman standing in front of her.
One was the woman who had tied her up. The other...
Remembering her own shameful behavior just now, Yor's face turned bright red with anger and humiliation.
Honebami showed no attempt to hide the killing intent in her eyes, glaring coldly at the Thorn Princess who had just recovered from the drug. Meanwhile, Hikigaya calmly walked up to Yor.
"Thorn Princess, right? You still remember our agreement, don't you?"
Yor's hands were still tied behind the chair, clenched tightly into fists. Her expression was filled with hostility, like a captured wild animal, her crimson eyes fixed fiercely on Hikigaya.
"Don't look at me like that, Thorn Princess." Hikigaya sighed, clearly annoyed by the code name, which felt awkward for casual conversation. "You should know—if you hadn't targeted my family, I wouldn't have done this to you."
"And, I was the one who argued to spare your life. Otherwise, the lady next to me would've finished you off. Trading a bit of freedom for your life—doesn't that sound like a fair deal?"
So this boy was Hikigaya Hachiman...
He's actually... so young.
According to the intel from her organization, Hikigaya Hachiman was supposedly an underworld figure in his twenties doing mundane security work.
At first, Yor thought that was just a cover story. But now, seeing the youthful yet forced-mature face in front of her, she averted her eyes, feeling uncertain.
Even with her somewhat airheaded personality, she realized the organization may have misled her.
"Sixteen... Nine years younger than me..."
A strange, guilty feeling of having defiled a little boy crept into Yor's heart. She'd actually sucked on the fingers of someone nine years younger than her... Even under the effects of the drug... It was just too shameless.
Seeing no rebuttal from her, Hikigaya continued, "Thorn Princess... the results of the investigation are in."
"Yor Blair? Although the name listed is probably an alias. I'll keep using the codename for now."
"On the surface, you work as a clerk for a small company in Eastern Europe, right?"
"Your bank records show you've donated large amounts of untraceable money to a local orphanage."
"..."
Hikigaya skimmed the file quickly, reading the information on the Thorn Princess.
He grew more confident in his judgment.
She might be an assassin, but she had a good heart. Though it could be a way to offset her guilt, Hikigaya preferred to believe in the kindness of human nature.
"If what you care about is money—be my bodyguard for one month. I can offer you... um..."
How much did bodyguards get paid?
That really hit Hikigaya's knowledge blind spot. He instinctively glanced at Honebami, who wordlessly held up five fingers.
Five million yen, huh...
That was a bit expensive—but not entirely unacceptable. What Hikigaya wanted was for the Thorn Princess in front of him to willingly and wholeheartedly work for him.
"How about five million yen for one month?"
Five million yen?!
Yor's pupils contracted sharply. Already feeling guilty in her heart, she was immediately moved. Even her hatred for the white-haired woman beside them softened quite a bit, by association.
However, her pride as an assassin wouldn't allow her to show it.
Her voice was cold and clear:
"I'm an assassin. I don't do bodyguard work."
"Also, Yor Blair is my real name."
Hikigaya's eyes lit up—he realized that the defenses in her heart had already begun to crumble.
"This woman... is she really an assassin? She's kind of different from the image I had of one."
"I'm not involved in anything particularly dangerous. Normally, you'd just stay at my residence in Tokyo and handle security there."
"And also—you'll be responsible for teaching me hand-to-hand combat."