Chapter 3: The Vicious Hound

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Let her be Sheer; having something is better than nothing.
Takuma Kitahara pondered over his draft, feeling inspiration surge, yet this was a crowd of drunks—not exactly the ideal audience for a speech. He decided to try his luck at a small tavern on the way home...
Does anyone kindly know how many ten-thousands of marks a Japanese loaf of bread costs?
Waiting online, urgent.
A new message from the system appeared; Kitahara glanced at it.
[You have successfully saved Akane Takagi, and she recognized you. Under the moonlight, you reminisced about old times, learning from her that there was once a period when she liked you...]
[After marriage, your friendship with Akane Takagi vanished; you became strangers. Now, full of regret, you resolve to change everything.]
[You notice she still harbors some feelings for you, so you decide to take the initiative...]
[Rebuild friendship with Akane Takagi]
[Reward: 500,000 yen (maybe you can use this money to get a new hairstyle from Teacher Tony)]
Friend?
That’s a bit hard to define.
Some friends are just friends; others mean more than that... Fortunately, the system kindly provided a favorability panel. Kitahara took a glance at Akane.
[Character: Akane Takagi]
[Status: Just transferred classes, feeling lost about the future, constantly worried about making new friends...]
[Favorability: 50]
(Favorability ranking: 1-10 hostility; 10-20 strangers; 21-40 acquaintances; 41-60 friends; 61-80 liking; 80-90 love; 90-99 obsession; 100 unwavering till death)
[Ding—With your carefully crafted words, Akane Takagi has once again become your friend; you exchanged contact information.]
“Huh?”
Kitahara uttered in surprise.
Favorability... actually 50. No need to complete any tasks. He hadn’t expected his favorability in Akane’s heart to be so high.
Kitahara glanced at Akane several times; she shrank back slightly, cautiously asking, “Wh-what are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
Kitahara felt a sudden warmth welling inside him. After all, it seemed he hadn’t really done anything, yet gained a girl’s friendship.
No, saying he did nothing isn’t quite right...
It probably all began when, in first year of middle school, he handed a lonely little girl a bottle of milk.
After that, they gradually started talking.
Though it was memories from years ago, Kitahara felt it had been a long time—he had even somewhat forgotten who Akane was...
Yet she still remembered.
The train arrived at the station, the notification sound sounded just in time. The slight shove caused pedestrians to stagger; unfortunately, Kitahara was stepped on. It was a pair of light brown knee-high boots—a popular style on the market, hard and painful when stepped on.
Right, they smell bad after wearing... just mentioning casually, nothing else implied.
And the culprit was none other than this middle school friend in front of him.
“Not going to say sorry?” he asked as they stepped off the train together.
“Nope. At worst, I’ll step on you again.”
Daring to use my own magic against me...
Rain pattered softly; Kitahara opened his umbrella and, feeling playful, spun it around fancifully. Akane scolded, “You’re spraying my clothes all over.”
“That’s revenge.”
“Boring.” Akane muttered, watching Kitahara walk to the side. “Where are you going?”
“Home. You go ahead alone.” Kitahara waved it off.
Akane was momentarily stunned. She had thought he would accompany her home... At this late hour, it was dangerous for a girl to be outside alone.
But on second thought, he had no obligation to escort her.
Oh well...
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With that thought, the courage Akane had just gathered was swept away by his indifferent steps.
She switched to a cautious expression, feeling her way forward in the dark along the main road.
It was already 10:30 p.m.—very late. Akane had never come home this late before.
—Japan wasn’t like Tokyo University; social order wasn’t especially good. Girls walking on deserted paths risked encountering perverts.
Perverts were bad enough, just sexual harassment. Even scarier were the psychotic murderers—social atmosphere had worsened in recent years, and encountering such people could be fatal.
She was only sixteen and not yet an adult, so fear was natural.
After a few steps, she heard footsteps behind her.
Doo doo doo...
She tightened her clothes and glanced sideways...
Kitahara was turning his umbrella.
“What are you doing...”
“As you see, studying the parabolic trajectory formed by raindrops falling freely and striking the umbrella’s surface.” Kitahara saw her puzzled look and explained.
Though his grades might not be as good as Akane’s.
Akane was always top five in middle school and probably the same in high school.
“You said you were going home...” Akane studied Kitahara’s face, but he was backlit by a streetlamp, making his expression unreadable.
“So, what? Is this road owned by your family? Can’t I walk here?”
“No...”
Akane fell silent, consciously slowing her pace. When Kitahara matched her stride and walked beside her, she finally said softly, “Hey.”
“What’s up?”
“Are you... a tsundere?”
After saying that, she couldn’t help but stick out her tongue.
?
Kitahara blushed slightly, or rather flushed warmly.
“Who are you calling tsundere?”
“I’m not!”
Kitahara was about to retort when a dog barked ahead. Akane flinched and hid behind him, clutching his clothes tightly.
“There’s a dog barking...”
“Are you calling me names?”
“Huh?”
Akane didn’t quite understand Kitahara’s cryptic words. After all, she was a lonely girl who rarely socialized, unfamiliar with the kind of spoiled, pure-hearted boy from a rough background Kitahara was.
Kitahara narrowed his eyes, staring at the teddy dog blocking their way.
He absolutely hated these small dogs, especially those owned by rude big dogs (the key was rude owners). Owning a dog and not restraining it—was the owner waiting for it to get smashed by a passing dump truck?
There was no dump truck here, but Kitahara didn’t mind playing the dump truck for once.
Where the hell is the chocolate? Help me out!
Kitahara glanced around; seeing no convenience store nearby, he gave up on that idea.
He sneaked forward; the teddy dog was wary and ran off when he approached, but when he turned, it chased after him barking fiercely... Kitahara deftly dodged, spun around, and delivered a powerful kick.
“Get lost!”
The teddy dog was kicked two meters away, whining as it ran back to its big dog owner’s home.
“Much better.”
Kitahara raised his middle finger. Akane came up and peered worriedly, “Just shoo it away next time, there are cameras here...”
“No big deal. If it dares to come back, I’ll beat both dog and owner.”
Wild Kitahara!
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Actually, it wasn’t much of a problem; after all, the dog was unleashed. Japanese law was strict about this; any unleashed dog was treated as stray. If the owner caused trouble, Kitahara could even counter-sue them for medical fees.
As long as I have no moral bottom line, no one can threaten me.
“Are you hurt?” Akane looked at Kitahara softly.
“Injured. It would be much better if someone could give me a blow.”
“Let me see...”
Akane took it seriously and instinctively crouched down, but Kitahara hurriedly said, “Wait a moment, listen carefully...”
“What...”
“Behind us, I think there’s something.”
Akane’s expression stiffened. Seeing Kitahara’s serious look, she pricked up her ears.
She heard it...
“On the other side of that mountain by the sea, there’s a group of Smurfs...”
What kind of noise is that?
Akane was momentarily stunned but then burst out laughing at Kitahara’s joke. She couldn’t help but tap him, “Are you crazy...”
“Hehe.”
Of course, Kitahara didn’t mean to be annoying—just trying to lighten the mood.
Akane was too tense.
She was easily startled, which wasn’t good for her heart.
But after that distraction, she truly felt much more at ease.
The taut nerves slowly relaxed...
Akane looked at the pitch-dark street and inexplicably felt a little glow.
A kind of...
peaceful and serene glow.
If one ignored the darkness, it was actually quite suitable for a walk.
Soon, the two reached Akane’s front door.
Akane lived in a high-end apartment in Ochanomizu; the lights downstairs were bright. Here, Kitahara could take his leave.
But out of courtesy, Akane still said,
“Do you want to come up for a bit?”
[Ding—]
Upon hearing this, Kitahara knew the system was about to misbehave again.
[You escort a voluptuous and beautiful wealthy woman to her doorstep. Unexpectedly, she casts a lingering glance and tenderly invites you in. You decide to fulfill her wish...]
[Go to her home and make Akane Takagi blush]
[Reward: Memory Little Bread (can be used on a textbook)]
Awesome.
If Kitahara didn’t take this reward, he might as well change his surname.
So he nodded.
“Sure, I’m tired from walking. I’ll rest at your place.”
“Ah?”
Akane froze in place.
I...
I just said that casually.
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