Chapter 344: Chapter 344: I’m After Your Life, Damn It!!

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Aoko Aozaki was not having a good day…

She’d been tailing Haru for hours as he went grocery shopping, a feat of patience that was, for her, nothing short of a miracle.

And yet, her prey stubbornly remained in the crowded streets, never giving her a moment alone.

She couldn’t very well assassinate him in broad daylight. Do that, and she’d be front-page news worldwide, a joint task force from the Holy Church and the Mage’s Association hot on her tail.

So, she had to wait for an opportunity, for a moment when he was isolated.

But waiting wasn’t Aoko’s style. She preferred to take the initiative, to lure him into a deserted alley, and then, like a master assassin, inform him of the reason for his impending doom before blasting him to smithereens with a few well-aimed magic bullets.

The problem was, Aoko didn’t know her target at all. And any sane person wouldn’t just follow a stranger into a dark alley.

But then, Aoko saw the gaudily dressed woman trying to pick him up, and Haru’s comment about preferring ’pure student types.’

Not to brag, but as the student council president of Misaki Private High School, Aoko was the undisputed belle of the academy, the object of countless secret admirers. A pure student type? She fit the bill perfectly.

With that thought, Aoko ditched her white down jacket in a supermarket locker and strode after Haru.

She rubbed her face, forcing a sweet smile, and grabbed his arm. “Mister,” she cooed, her voice a saccharine sweet tone that made her own stomach churn, “need some company?”

————

Haru stopped, a look of mild surprise on his face as he stared at Aoko.

A cold winter wind swept by, sending her straight, brown hair fluttering in the air.

A light brown, tailored blazer over a deep brown miniskirt that barely covered half her thighs, a bright red bow at her collar—the uniform of a Misaki Private High School girl.

The uniform, which highlighted the youth and vitality of a high school girl, suited the naturally active, and somewhat feisty, Aoko perfectly, her youthful energy on full display.

That, coupled with her slender, pale legs, bare to the air, and her alluring black, knee-high socks…

It was enough to make Haru, who had a bit of a leg fetish, feel a certain… stirring.

If Aoko’s smile wasn’t so painfully fake, if it were a normal, gentle smile… the phrase “three years to life, no regrets” would no longer be just a saying.

“…Well, have you had your fill… of looking? Need some company?” Aoko asked, swallowing the urge to punch him, her voice a strained whisper.

“Yes, of course.” Though he had no idea what Aoko was up to, Haru wasn’t about to let such a prime teasing opportunity slip away.

His hand silently snaked around Aoko’s slender waist, and, a smile on his face, he pulled her along.

“Eh?” Aoko froze, her hand instinctively grabbing his roving one. She was about to drop into a crouch and execute a vicious shoulder throw.

“What’s wrong, little miss?” Haru chuckled, looking at the bristling Aoko.

“Ah, um. Sorry, it’s my first time. I overreacted a little,” Aoko said, her face stiff, suddenly remembering her role as a fallen maiden, her eyelid twitching.

“Your first time!! Well then, the going rate is five hundred thousand yen, right? I can raise it to five million. After all, it’s not every day you meet a beauty like you, little miss,” Haru said, his face a mask of ’pleasant surprise.’

“Ha… ha, thank you for your patronage,” Aoko said with a dry laugh, her expression exceptionally awkward.

’Raise the price my ass! Am I someone you can buy with money! I can’t wait to drag this guy into an alley and tear him limb from limb!’ Aoko thought, her expression blank.

“Uh… uh…” Just then, a high school boy in a Misaki Private High uniform emerged from a nearby pharmacy, his face a mask of shock as he stared at her back. “No way, that demon president is actually…”

Haru raised an eyebrow. The high school student in the rear hadn’t escaped his notice. He turned his head and, with a wicked grin, looked at the oblivious Aoko, pulling her towards a hotel.

“Wait… wait!!” Aoko said, her face panicked as she looked at the ever-enlarging hotel sign, quickly pulling Haru to a stop.

“What’s wrong, little miss?” Haru tilted his head, feigning confusion.

“I… I’m not comfortable here,” Aoko said, her expression awkward. God help her, this was clearly a love hotel. Just looking at it made her feel uncomfortable.

And besides, killing someone in a hotel… the chances of being discovered were exceptionally high.

“Well then, let’s see, where’s the nearest high-end hotel?” Haru rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“No need, this is fine,” Aoko said, pulling on Haru’s arm and pointing to the dark alley beside the hotel with a dry laugh.

“An alley… for a quickie?!!!” Haru followed Aoko’s finger to the dark alley, his face a mask of shock.

The high school student tailing them was so shocked he dropped his plastic bag without even noticing.

Aoko’s gaze went blank. She stood there for a long moment, her lip twitching. “Yes.”

“Kinky! But I like it.” Haru’s lips curved upwards. He shot out a hand, lightly tweaked her delicate nose, then wrapped his arm around her waist and stepped into the alley.

“Huh?!” Aoko, her face a mask of surprise, clutched her tweaked nose, and was led into the alley in a daze.

The moment she entered the dark alley, shielded from the sun by tall buildings, Aoko snapped out of her stupor. She lowered her hand from her nose, a faint smile on her face.

It was a smile that would make one’s blood run cold. If Alice Kuonji were here, she would have known this was the prelude to Aoko’s rampage.

Thwack—!

Haru spun around, his hands shooting past Aoko’s neck, pinning her against the stone wall of the alley.

“Huh?” Aoko raised an eyebrow, her face devoid of the shyness one would expect from a girl being pinned against a wall, replaced by a deep annoyance.

’Just another five meters, and we’d be out of sight. Doing it here, we’ll definitely be seen.’ Aoko glanced at the bustling scene at the alley entrance, her heart filled with a deep frustration.

The next second, a moist sensation touched her forehead.

She stared, dumbfounded, at Haru, who was now kissing her forehead, her face a mask of disbelief.

“Don’t do this again,” Haru said, leaning back slightly, his voice a low whisper.

“Huh?” Aoko was even more bewildered.

Haru took out his wallet, made a gesture as if to count out money, then paused and stuffed the entire wallet into her hands.

“Stop this. You’re still young. Once you start down this path, you’ll only end up hurting yourself. Take this money and start over. If you’re ever short on cash, just call me. My phone number and address are in the wallet.”

“Uh…” The sudden, bizarre turn of events left Aoko completely dumbfounded.

Haru patted her dazed face, gently pecked her rosy lips, and, with a kind smile, strode out of the alley.

When Aoko finally came to her senses, all that was left was a bulging wallet and several hundred ten-thousand-yen bills, each bearing the face of Fukuzawa Yukichi.

Slap—!

Aoko slammed the wallet onto the ground.

“Who the fuck wants your money! I’m after your life, damn it!!!!!”

“Wait, my first kiss!” Aoko’s gaze instantly filled with terror as she remembered Haru’s parting kiss.

“Bastard!!”

In the empty alley, only the figure of a young woman, furiously stomping on a wallet, remained.

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