Hikari had no idea that the socially anxious girl's inner monologue had already turned into a pie chart, and that the emotions in her eyes were one part gratitude, one part guilt, and one part heartache.
After helping her roughly arrange the furniture, he prepared to leave.
"I've already moved the bed into place. You just need to put on the new bedsheets later. I still have something to do, so I'm heading out. If you run into any problems, just contact me."
Hikari clapped his hands and started walking toward the door.
But something soft suddenly bumped into his back, and at the same time, a pair of small hands wrapped around his waist from behind.
Yoshida Saki had suddenly hugged him from behind.
"Hikari-kun!", Yoshida Saki cried out through tears.
"Yoshida, what's wrong?", Hikari turned around in confusion and found that Yoshida Saki was crying again for some reason. Her sudden tears soaked the back of his shirt and her own school blouse, outlining the delicate curves that suited a girl her age.
"Hikari-kun... you've suffered so much just to help someone as useless as me."
"This apartment is so nice. The rent must be expensive. It couldn't have been easy for you to rent it."
"Sob... Hikari-kun, you've done so much for me, but I can't do anything for you."
"H-How about... I give everything to you?"
"It's the only way I have to repay you!"
Yoshida Saki held Hikari tightly. Her chest, just beginning to develop, rose and fell with her sobs, and the pair of fair legs beneath her skirt trembled slightly from emotion.
Hearing her tearful words, Hikari couldn't help smiling wryly.
He knew Yoshida Saki had probably misunderstood something.
He immediately explained, "Yoshida, you don't have to do this. I think you've misunderstood."
"Renting an apartment for you really isn't a big deal to me."
"And I'm not the kind of saint who sacrifices himself to help other people, so don't get the wrong idea."
"I only helped because it was something easy for me to do."
Hearing Hikari's serious explanation, Yoshida Saki realized she had probably let her imagination run too far, and her face flushed slightly.
Even so, she still didn't let go. Instead, she shook her head.
"Whether this is a misunderstanding or not... I really do want to take another step forward with you, Hikari-kun."
"I may not have the right to say it, but... I've really liked you for a long time!"
Seeing that Yoshida Saki still refused to let go, Hikari thought for a moment before gently prying her hands away.
Then he turned to face her, held her by the shoulders, and asked, "Yoshida, are you serious?"
Yoshida Saki nodded earnestly.
"Yes! Completely serious!"
"All right, then."
He could see the strong longing in her eyes.
He also understood just how dependent she had become on him after losing her family and having no one else to rely on.
Hikari didn't waste any words. He simply picked the girl up in his arms.
Unlike the landlady yesterday, who had an expression of enjoyment, although Yoshida Saki also looked forward to it, what stood out even more was her determination.
———
The distance between Hikari and Yoshida Saki grew even closer.
Although deepening a friendship was often accompanied by obstacles and pain, it hurt enough that Yoshida Saki bared her teeth, yet there was still a clear smile between her delicate brows.
Because she had finally gotten what she had wished for.
She was finally together with the person she wanted to be with most.
It also counted as repaying Hikari for everything he had done for her.
Although Hikari still had to help the wealthy heiress Louisa relax both body and mind, he wasn't in a hurry to leave.
Instead, he made sure Yoshida Saki had a satisfying experience.
He let the unlucky, socially anxious girl feel a gentle warmth.
However, since Yoshida Saki had no experience at all, she would need more time to get used to it in the future.
So their time together ended fairly quickly.
Hikari didn't force the matter.
Instead, he comforted Yoshida Saki for a while.
He left her a bottle of Pure Love Nutritional Express so she could rest well.
After settling the exhausted Yoshida Saki, Hikari, now covered in sweat, decided not to shower in her apartment so he wouldn't disturb her rest.
His own apartment was downstairs anyway, so it was more convenient to shower there and change clothes.
After getting dressed, Hikari opened the door and left.
Just as he finished closing the door to Apartment 502 behind him, the door to the neighboring Apartment 503 also opened.
Hikari turned to look.
A beautiful married woman wearing thin-rimmed glasses stepped out carrying a trash bag.
She looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with fair skin, an oval face, a delicate nose, soft pink lips, and a pair of watery peach blossom eyes behind her lenses.
Her figure matched her beautiful face. A sleeveless white V-neck T-shirt wrapped around her full curves, exposing her smooth shoulders and fair arms. Beneath her collarbone, her ample chest rose and fell with each breath, pushing the shirt into a striking arc.
She wore a very conservative ankle-length skirt on her lower body, but despite its loose, long design, it still couldn't completely hide her rounded, shapely hips.
Although this beautiful woman in her twenties had an extremely attractive figure, the ring on the ring finger of her left hand already made her status clear.
So after instinctively glancing at her once, Hikari politely looked away.
Seeing Hikari standing outside the neighboring apartment, the bespectacled beauty was also momentarily surprised.
The two looked at each other. Although she was extremely attractive, Hikari had no intention of striking up a conversation.
After politely saying, "Excuse me," he prepared to walk past her and head back to his own apartment.
But after only taking a couple of steps, a soft voice called out from behind him.
"Um... hello!"
Hearing the voice, Hikari turned around and saw the bespectacled woman looking at him.
"Hello?", he asked.
Having suddenly taken the initiative to speak to a stranger, the housewife Kamozoe Kaede was feeling rather awkward and nervous. But when she got a clear look at Hikari's handsome, youthful face, much of that nervousness faded.
The corners of Kaede's pink lips curled into a smile.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Kaede. My husband and I just moved here not long ago, and we don't know anyone around here yet. Do you happen to be the neighbor next door? I hope we'll get along well."
Hearing the beautiful married woman's introduction, Hikari immediately understood why she had greeted him.
He returned her smile politely before explaining, "Hello, Ms. Kaede. Nice to meet you. My name is Hikari. I also live in this apartment building, but I don't live next door to you. I live on the third floor."
"As for next door, that's where one of my classmates lives. She just moved in today, and I was helping her move, so I came out from there."
Realizing she had misunderstood, two attractive blushes immediately appeared on Kaede's fair cheeks.
To avoid making things even more awkward, she hurriedly said, "I'm so sorry! I thought you were my next-door neighbor and wanted to introduce myself first. That was really presumptuous of me. I'm so sorry!"
Seeing the flustered look of the beautiful married woman, who seemed to get nervous easily because she was a housewife, Hikari smiled and eased the situation.
"It's fine. Actually, you weren't wrong. Even if we're not next-door neighbors, we're still neighbors in the same building. I hope we'll get along well."
Hearing Hikari help her out, Kaede felt relieved, and her impression of the handsome young man improved even more.
"Then I hope we'll get along well too, Hikari-kun!", the bespectacled beauty said gratefully with a slight bow.
Hikari looked away to avoid staring and being impolite.
After exchanging a few more polite words with Kaede, Hikari said he was heading home and started downstairs.
As he reached the stairway, he passed a middle-aged man wearing glasses who looked refined and scholarly.
"Shusei, you're back!", Kaede, who had been about to go back inside, stopped closing the door and greeted him with a smile.
"Yeah, Kaede-chan. I have some good news to tell you," The bespectacled man, Shusei, smiled and waved to her.
Hikari hadn't been paying attention to the couple's conversation and had intended to go straight downstairs.
But halfway down the stairwell, he suddenly stopped.
Something in Kaede and her husband's conversation caught his attention.
"Shusei, what's the good news?"
"Kaede, we're about to have an important guest staying with us. Guess who."
"How could I possibly guess when you suddenly ask me like that..."
"A foreigner. And a student."
"Huh? You mean that foreign exchange student you mentioned before?"
"That's right! I've already made arrangements with Micheal. He'll be staying with us as a homestay student in a few days. Well? Surprised? Happy?"
"Um... having another person in the house all of a sudden, especially a man... it feels a little hard to get used to..."
"Come on, it's just a homestay student. That's perfectly normal! Back when I studied abroad, I stayed with a host family too! And I've already met Micheal. He's a really nice guy. He was also a famous football player at his school in America. He's truly an outstanding young man. You don't need to worry, Kaede."
"I...! Since you've already decided, Shusei-kun... then all right..."
"Just relax, Kaede. Micheal will definitely bring new life and excitement to our family."
"Okay."
Every word of Kaede and her husband Shusei's conversation reached Hikari's ears.
It wasn't that he had intentionally eavesdropped. His hearing was simply very good, and the two of them were chatting right outside their door, making it impossible not to hear.
Besides, it wasn't anything that needed to be kept secret. Even if the other neighbors heard it, no one would think much of it.
But one phrase from their conversation immediately put Hikari, the Pure Love Hero, on alert.
"A forign exchange student!"
The moment those words came out of Karasoe Shusei's mouth, Hikari stopped walking.
It wasn't that he was like those blond NTR types who couldn't move after seeing a beautiful woman, but Kaede really was exceptionally beautiful.
Even in Hikari's eyes, after seeing countless beautiful women, Kaede's looks and figure were top-tier. Her gentle, elegant aura as a married housewife was especially attractive.
Those qualities alone already gave her the potential to become the target of NTR.
And now there was also the exchange student her husband had just mentioned.
The buffs were completely stacked.
In this 2d Underworld, the chances of NTR happening seemed to be rather high.