After a long while, Sora Ginko gathered her thoughts, picked up her phone, and transferred the overtime pay for today's three hours to Hiroshi Takeda.
At that very moment, the phone in Hiroshi's pocket chimed with the sound of money being deposited.
The instant he heard it, Hiroshi's eyes snapped open. With a swift motion, he leapt up from the futon spread out on the floor.
His hair brushed past Sora Ginko's nose, leaving a faint scent of shampoo wafting through the air.
"I heard it... the endless echo..."
Sora Ginko tilted her head, puzzled. "??!"
Hiroshi pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen, seeing the three thousand yen now added to his account. Suddenly, all the exhaustion weighing on his body seemed to melt away.
He turned to face Sora Ginko behind him. For a moment, they locked eyes in an awkward silence. Then, with a warm smile, Hiroshi said, "I'm going to take a shower, Ginko. You should rest well."
"If you're hungry, there's some bread and snacks in the bedside cabinet. Feel free to grab something."
As he spoke, Hiroshi formed a heart shape with his hands toward Sora Ginko before stepping out of the room, leaving her standing there alone.
Watching the heart gesture he made as he left, a faint blush crept onto Sora Ginko's cheeks. She bit her lip and murmured to herself, "Hiroshi... that day won't be far off..."
"I will become a professional shogi player..."
Ginko made a silent vow: once she reached the fourth dan rank in the shogi association, she would confess her feelings to Hiroshi.
She set her phone down and walked over to her own futon, settling in for the night.
…..
Meanwhile, in the living room, Hiroshi couldn't suppress the excitement bubbling inside him as he stared at the extra three thousand yen on his phone screen.
But he couldn't let Ginko see that. Every time she sent him money, he fought the urge to grin ear to ear. Instead, he'd recall sad memories to keep his expression neutral, resulting in a strangely melancholic look.
Poor Ginko assumed he was wrestling with guilt over accepting her money, unaware of his little act.
Hiroshi placed his phone on the coffee table and reached up to untie his hair. But when his fingers brushed his head, he realized his hair tie was gone.
"Huh? Where's my hair tie? Did Ginko take it again?"
For some reason, Ginko had a strange habit of borrowing the hair ties Hiroshi used.
Whenever she wanted to tie her hair back, she'd casually pluck the one from his head, even if she had extras of her own lying around.
"Alright, time for that shower."
Just as he stepped toward the bathroom, a pair of small feet wrapped in black stockings slowly descended from the balcony above.
The feet were tiny, struggling to reach the railing of Hiroshi's balcony.
Seeing this, Hiroshi let out a soft sigh and walked over. Instead of supporting the feet right away, he leaned out and looked up at their owner.
At that moment, Takanashi Rikka clung to a rope with both hands, her legs kicking as she searched for a foothold.
When her eyes met Hiroshi's deep, ink-black gaze, a delighted smile spread across her face, as if she'd stumbled upon a treasure.
"Hero... help me..."
"Didn't I tell you not to do such dangerous things?"
Despite his grumbling, Hiroshi gently supported her stocking-clad feet, helping Takanashi Rikka land steadily on the balcony.
"Woohoo! The Evil King's True Eye has landed successfully!!"
Hiroshi ignored her dramatic chuunibyou outburst and headed toward the door.
Takanashi Rikka didn't mind his lack of response and trailed after him, chattering away.
"Hero, I've decided we need to build a base for ourselves at school. I need your help."
"Uh-huh, sure."
Hiroshi nodded absently. It was past ten at night, and having a girl in his apartment this late felt improper. His only goal was to send Takanashi Rikka home.
"Right? You agree we should have our own base!"
Her face lit up at his vague affirmation, but in the next instant, Hiroshi's slender fingers delivered a swift chop to her head.
"Ow!"
The sharp sound echoed as a faint red mark appeared on her forehead.
"That was mean, Hero! Attacking out of nowhere like that."
Hiroshi paid no attention to her complaints. He opened the door and gestured for her to leave.
"Hm? Is the Hero trying to kick me out?"
"No, no, no! I finally escaped the Saint Conditioner's surveillance just to meet you, Hero."
In her panic, Takanashi Rikka latched onto Hiroshi like a koala, refusing to let go no matter how he tried to shake her off.
"Evil King's True Eye, it's late. You should be resting now. We can talk about anything tomorrow at school."
"No way! If we wait until tomorrow, that blonde ice queen will steal all your free time again."
At that, she clung even tighter. Hiroshi instinctively pressed a hand to his forehead and gave a helpless smile.
The "blonde ice queen" she mentioned was his former collaborator, Sawamura Eriri.
As for why Takanashi Rikka called her that? In her words, "Golden hair, untouchable like a lofty flower, what else but a blonde ice queen?"
It seemed that, after two years, even his friends saw him as nothing more than a hopeless simp.
But Hiroshi wasn't embarrassed. If anything, he wished Sawamura Sayuri would extend their contract a few more years to keep his life comfortable.
Truthfully, saying "let's discuss it tomorrow" was just a stalling tactic. Even without Eriri in the picture, he'd rather spend his time reading a few extra books.
"Okay, okay, stop hugging me."
"It's late. You should head home."
"But I just got here..."
Hiroshi reached out to pry Takanashi Rikka off him.
Feeling his strength, she knew she couldn't resist. In a desperate burst, she blurted out, "I can give you gold coins..."
The room fell silent. Hiroshi froze mid-motion.
With a gentle smile, he said softly, "Evil King's True Eye~"
"I, the Weakest Undefeated Hero, swear by the holy sword that protects the world!"
"Tomorrow at noon, we shall meet again under the school's sunlight."
After saying that, Hiroshi kept his smile plastered on, though inside, he was cringing so hard he could've carved out a mansion with his toes.
Still, he held it together. Professionalism demanded it; Takanashi Rikka was one of his benefactors, after all. Meanwhile, she beamed with excitement, striking a pose with her hand over her eye-patched eye.
"Since the Hero has made his vow...Then I, the Evil King's True Eye, accept!"
"With that... I shall take my leave..." Before she could finish, Hiroshi grabbed her hand, his face full of concern.
"Evil King's True Eye, where shall we meet tomorrow?"
Caught off guard by his sudden enthusiasm, Takanashi Rikka stepped back.
But as a seasoned chuunibyou, she quickly slipped into character, covering her eye again. "In the domain of the Destructive Iron Fist, the Evil King's True Eye and the Weakest Undefeated Hero shall rendezvous there."
Despite her cryptic words, Hiroshi's expression remained steady. He pressed on, "Do you need me to bring lunch?"
"Maybe breakfast too?"
"Huh?"
Takanashi Rikka blinked, genuinely thrown off by Hiroshi's behavior. She'd made similar deals with him before, but the breakfast and lunch slots were always claimed by a certain blonde.
"Doesn't the Hero need to prepare food for the blonde ice queen?"
Hiroshi shook his head, smiling. "How could the blonde ice queen be more important than the Evil King's True Eye?"
Her composure nearly cracked at that, but years of practice let her recover swiftly.
"It seems the Hero has finally broken free from the blonde ice queen's illusion and returned to the side of the Evil King's True Eye."
"No wonder I had a premonition today, such an event has occurred!"
As she spoke, she covered her eye again, as if a surge of energy might burst forth.
"So, what would the Evil King's True Eye like to eat to replenish her energy?"
"Hmph. The Hero should know what energy I require, right?"
Hiroshi nodded, not just to humor her, but because he genuinely did.
"The message has been delivered. It's time for the Evil King's True Eye to return to base."
Seeing her intent to leave, Hiroshi smiled and gestured toward the door once more.
"No, if I go back like this, the Saint Conditioner will definitely catch me..."
"What?"
Before Hiroshi could process her words, Takanashi Rikka spun around in a dramatic chuunibyou flourish and headed for the balcony.
"This! This is my return route!"
She climbed onto the balcony railing, grabbed the rope, and began scaling it with both hands and feet.
Hiroshi stood there, dumbfounded.
"Sometimes, I really think she has superpowers..."
Scratching his head, he turned toward the bathroom again only for Takanashi Rikka to slide back down the rope moments later.
They stared at each other in silence until she gave an awkward laugh, still dangling from the rope. "Hero... help me."