Three million three hundred thousand yen.
Most of it was the first month’s rent, plus two months’ deposit, and also key money—this was the part Jiang Jian Yue really wanted to complain about.
Key money, paying one month’s rent as a gift that you can’t even get back!
What a ridiculous rule.
By the time the procedures were finished, it was already deep into the night.
Yuki Asahi looked at the little over three hundred thousand yen left in his hand, feeling a bit empty inside.
Anyone would feel a little down watching their savings evaporate.
The two of them split the payment evenly, one hundred sixty-five thousand yen each.
The screening process had started, but the agent handed over the keys in advance.
There’s always a loophole under the policy.
There was no way they could move in today. Both bedrooms were Western-style, but there were no mattresses.
“How much do you have left for the month?”
After signing the contract and leaving the agency, Yuki Asahi asked curiously.
Jiang Jian Yue pulled out her last ten-thousand-yen bill from her pocket and waved it.
“Is… is this all that’s left?”
Yuki Asahi instantly felt crushed by pressure.
Next month’s rent… over six hundred thousand.
Could they really pay it?
His ability user stipend was fifteen thousand yen a month.
If he worked at a convenience store for four or five hours after school, every day without a break, he could barely afford the rent.
And there were more expenses for the apartment.
Besides what was included, there was basically no furniture prepared.
Yuki Asahi couldn’t just move all the furniture from his house—after all, it wasn’t his.
He regretted impulsively deciding to view this apartment… even though Jiang Jian Yue had made the final call.
Whatever, he’d think of something.
As long as a Devourer popped up every month, he wouldn’t have to worry—what a beautiful thought.
He couldn’t let his senpai suffer with him!
Suppressing his anxiety, Yuki Asahi looked at Jiang Jian Yue.
“Tonight… what do you plan to do? You…”
“Find a hotel.”
Jiang Jian Yue played with the ten-thousand-yen note.
“It’s enough.”
“Or… tonight… come stay at my place?”
Yuki Asahi turned his face away, speaking softly.
“I can sleep on the sofa, you can have the bed in the room.”
Although they had shared a bed many times, this was the first time Yuki Asahi had “actively” invited her.
“Tomorrow… tomorrow we have to buy furniture and mattresses together anyway, so it’s convenient to start from my place!”
Jiang Jian Yue stared at him for a few seconds.
Under the streetlamp, the boy’s golden eyes were incredibly sincere, but there was a tiny glimmer of hope she could read.
It reminded her of a certain meme.
“No.”
She refused bluntly.
“Eh? Why?”
“It’s not convenient.”
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t want to deal with Yuki Asahi’s “family,” much less appear before them in such a “down-and-out” state.
“But…”
Yuki Asahi tried to protest.
“Let’s go.”
Not wanting to tangle with the topic anymore, Jiang Jian Yue turned and walked in the opposite direction of the station, head down, sending Yuki Asahi a LINE message from behind.
“Meet at Ikebukuro at 10 a.m. tomorrow, let’s buy furniture.”
“Yue!”
Yuki Asahi chased after her for two steps, but Jiang Jian Yue didn’t look back, only waved her hand.
He could only stand there, watching the girl’s thin figure disappear into Ikebukuro’s night.
“Be sure to… stay safe.”
He muttered, feeling the weight in his heart grow heavier.
***
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t go far.
After parting with Yuki Asahi, she wandered the streets alone.
Ten thousand yen wasn’t enough for a decent business hotel, but it was more than enough for a standard capsule hotel or a love hotel’s “rest” time slot.
All she needed now was a place to charge, shower, and sleep. That was it.
Last night’s Net Café… after all, it was just a Net Café.
The comfort of the bed couldn’t compare to even a cheap hotel.
She walked as she searched for nearby cheap hotels on her phone.
Turning a street corner, just as she was about to cross a narrow alley, a familiar figure flashed at the edge of her vision.
Someone was coming out of a tiny private clinic, head lowered, walking quickly.
His right arm was in a thick cast, suspended by a sling across his chest.
It was “Kun,” the silver-haired youth who’d paid to beat her up yesterday.
Kun didn’t seem to expect to run into the “Plague God” here either.
When he looked up and saw that familiar, cold face under the alley’s streetlamp, his pupils shrank in terror!
“Ah—!”
He let out a short, ghostly scream, spun around, and with his uninjured left hand protecting his head, ran for his life.
“Stop.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s voice wasn’t loud, but it pierced Kun’s back like an ice pick.
Kun ran even faster.
Jiang Jian Yue frowned.
Her figure flickered—and, like a phantom, she silently appeared in front of Kun, blocking his way.
“You—”
Kun stumbled back in fear, slamming his back into the clinic’s wall, jarring his injured arm and drawing a hiss of pain.
“What do you want?!”
He shouted, putting on a tough front, “I already paid! You took the hit! We’re even!”
“Your hand.”
Jiang Jian Yue ignored his shouting, her cold gaze fixed on the cast.
“What happened?”
“N… none of your damn business! I fell myself!”
Kun yelled.
“Really.”
Jiang Jian Yue took a step forward.
Kun pressed himself against the wall in terror, realizing that the girl who’d let him punch and kick her yesterday now gave off a presence even more terrifying than the black-suited men who’d broken his hand!
“I’ll ask one more time.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s voice was low.
“Who did it?”
“I… I really don’t know!”
Kun was about to cry.
“Last night… just last night, after I split with A Cheng, I was on my way home when a black car suddenly blocked me!”
“Two guys in suits got out… not yakuza, looked like those big company Bodyguards!”
“They…”
Kun’s voice trembled.
“They didn’t say a word, just dragged me into the alley… asked me… if I’d hit you in Ikebukuro…”
“And then?”
“I said I’d paid! You agreed! But they wouldn’t listen!”
Fear filled Kun’s eyes.
“They said… said I touched what I shouldn’t, and then… then…”
He glanced at his arm, teeth chattering.
“They used… batons… just once… broke my hand!”
“They warned me, if I got near you again or talked about it, it wouldn’t be my hand next time…”
The air outside the clinic felt frozen.
Jiang Jian Yue listened silently, her flawlessly made-up face unreadable.
But if Kun dared to look up at her eyes, he’d see a storm of icy rage swirling within them.
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t feel “Ah, I’m so grateful for being protected!” over such things.
This wasn’t protection. It was intimidation—and an insult.
Especially since it hurt someone else.
“Get lost.”
Kun was overjoyed, scrambling away toward the street, vanishing into the crowd as if terrified Jiang Jian Yue would change her mind.
Jiang Jian Yue stood alone, chest rising and falling slightly.
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of cold air.
Morita Aoya?
Or… Nine-Tails Seiji?
She recalled Morita Aoya saying Nine-Tails Seiji had even more authority in Japan than he did.
Nine-Tails Seiji… turned out to be even crueler than she thought.
Jiang Jian Yue opened her eyes, murderous intent raging within.
She pulled out her phone and checked the time.
Nine-thirty p.m.
Instead of heading toward the hotel district, she turned and walked into an even more deserted, almost empty back alley.
This alley was long and dark, ending at a high wall—a dead end.
She could feel it.
Since leaving home, a faint presence had been trailing her, but she couldn’t confirm it.
After separating from Yuki Asahi, that gaze grew bolder.
She walked deep into the alley and stopped, back to the entrance.
“Aren’t you tired? Come out.”
Her voice echoed eerily in the empty alley.
No response.
Only the distant street’s muffled noise.
Jiang Jian Yue slowly turned to face the empty mouth of the alley.
She raised her hand, Storage Space flickering as the black P320 pistol silently appeared.
“I’ll count to three.”
She flicked off the safety. The crisp “click” was especially sharp in the night.
“Three.”
She began counting without hesitation.
“Two.”
Just as she was about to shout “—”
“Miss! Please calm your anger!”
A tense voice sounded from the second-floor fire escape at the alley’s entrance.
A man in a black jacket and earpiece emerged from the shadows, raising both hands as he stiffly climbed down the fire escape.
“We mean no harm!”
He landed on the ground and quickly walked to five meters from Jiang Jian Yue, bowing respectfully.
“One?”
Jiang Jian Yue’s gun remained steady.
“My partner is on the rooftop across.”
The man was sweating.
“We were only ordered to protect your safety.”
This Bodyguard was unfamiliar to Jiang Jian Yue, obviously a new transfer from the Sri Lanka base.
“Protect? Does that include breaking a civilian’s hand?”
The man stiffened.
Clearly, he or his partner had dealt with Kun.
“Miss, that was…”
“Shut up.”
Jiang Jian Yue cut him off.
“Who sent you? Morita?”
“Morita Butler… is no longer responsible for your security.”
He answered respectfully, head bowed.
“Oh?”
Jiang Jian Yue narrowed her eyes.
“Who’s meddling in my business?”
“…It’s Mr. Nine-Tails.”
“Nine-Tails Seiji”
Jiang Jian Yue enunciated the name.
So it was him.
“Where is he now?”
“Mr. Nine-Tails… should be at his apartment in Mejiro.”
“Good.”
Jiang Jian Yue holstered her gun, returning it to Storage Space.
“Give him a message.”
“Yes!”
“I’m coming over right now.”
“And.”
Jiang Jian Yue stepped up to him, her cold eyes meeting the Bodyguard, who was a head taller.
“Remove all surveillance.”
“If I find out again…”
She paused, voice barely a whisper.
“I’ll kill you all.”
“…Yes! I’ll report immediately!”
The Bodyguard bowed repeatedly—then a sharp electric shriek sounded before him, a blinding flash of light bursting and vanishing instantly.
“Eh?”
The Bodyguard stared at the empty alley, stunned.