---
[Shibuya General Hospital, Private Room 404 — 9:47 PM]
"Riku-kun, I—"
Yukigami Nahiro's lips had barely parted when the door swung open with a soft click, admitting two figures who moved in perfect, mirrored synchronicity.
Twin nurses.
Identical in the way that mattered—same delicate jawline, same rosebud mouth, same waist that curved inward before flaring into hips that tested the structural limits of standard-issue scrubs. They pushed a medication cart between them, wheels squeaking against linoleum that reeked of antiseptic and industrial floor wax.
「Two stunningly beautiful twin nurses have arrived, and your attention immediately locks onto the way their assets bounce beneath their uniforms with each step—pretty faces, elastic rear ends straining against fabric. You've decided to catch them making a mistake in their duties, drag them both into a supply closet together, and since they'll want to keep their jobs, they'll have no choice but to...」
The Antagonistic narrator's voice dripped through Riku's skull like honey laced with something foul.
He ignored it.
The twins reached Nahiro's bedside. One radiated warmth like summer sunshine—wide smile, eyes that sparkled with mischief, scrubs slightly rumpled as though she'd been running through hallways all shift. The other stood ramrod straight, expression frozen somewhere between professional detachment and open irritation, not a single hair escaping her immaculate ponytail.
Fraternal personalities in identical packaging.
They'd come to replace Nahiro's IV antibiotics.
The cheerful twin—Tachibana Emi, according to her crooked name badge—worked the IV line with practiced hands while stealing glances at Riku from beneath mascara-heavy lashes. Fluorescent light caught the angles of his face, turning already sharp features into something sculpted.
"Hehe~ Your boyfriend is so handsome, onee-san," Emi chirped, not bothering to whisper. Her voice carried the singsongy quality of someone who'd watched too much Rent-a-Girlfriend and decided to embody the chaos. "He stayed here all day worrying about you, you know~"
God, he's even hotter up close. Those cheekbones could cut glass. I wonder if he's single—
Nahiro's face flushed the particular shade of pink reserved for shoujo manga heroines caught in compromising misunderstandings.
"He's... not my boyfriend."
The words came out barely above a murmur.
Yet even as she spoke them, Nahiro's gaze kept drifting sideways—stealing glances at Riku's profile, then darting away, then drifting back again like she couldn't help herself.
Something had shifted.
The hollow emptiness that had characterized her before—that terrifying acceptance of whatever the world chose to inflict—had cracked. In its place stirred something fragile and new. Interest. Curiosity. Perhaps even hope.
Why did I say that? Nahiro's fingers twisted in her hospital blanket. Did I want to see his reaction? Did I want him to correct me? To say something like "not yet" or—
What am I even expecting?
Her heart beat uselessly fast.
"Ehhh? A guy this cute isn't taken?" Emi's grin turned predatory. "Then maybe I should—"
"Emi." The cold twin's voice cracked like a whip. "Focus on your work."
"Hai, hai, Yuki-nee~"
Tachibana Yuki's expression didn't waver, though a vein pulsed visibly at her temple. She finished adjusting the drip rate with mechanical precision while her sister continued giggling.
「Hot nurse. Cold nurse. Fire and ice—a perfect combination. You're obviously more interested in these two than the patient, and an excellent scheme blooms in your mind. Grab the nurse's wrist and accuse her of improper procedure! Threaten to file a complaint! To protect their performance reviews, perhaps they'll agree to...」
Seriously, does this narrator have a single setting other than 'depraved'?
Riku's jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
The IV change completed smoothly. Yuki delivered a curt reminder about rest and hydration, already steering the cart toward the door. But Emi lingered—just for a heartbeat—and something small and papery pressed into Riku's palm.
Her fingertips were warm.
She threw him a wink over her shoulder, tongue poking out in an exaggerated tehepero face before the door clicked shut behind her.
「A note! You've discovered something incredible! Your natural charisma has grown this powerful! You've decided to use this note as your entry point to systematically conquer both sisters...」
Riku unfolded the scrap.
A crudely drawn smiley face grinned up at him, followed by bubbly handwriting:
> Can we get to know each other? ♡
> Meet me on the roof~
「The roof! At this hour, the rooftop will be dark, the night wind refreshingly cool—and if something were to happen up there, it would be wonderfully... invigorating. You've decided to investigate.」
Riku's thumb traced the paper's edge.
A stranger's note. A late-night invitation to an isolated location. Every survival instinct he possessed screamed that this was suspicious as hell—the setup to either a confession scene or an ambush, and given his recent luck with supernatural systems, probably the latter.
He folded the note and slipped it into his pocket anyway.
But not yet.
Nahiro had finally regained consciousness. He couldn't just vanish.
"Riku-kun..." Her voice emerged small, directed at her own lap. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." He grabbed his jacket from the visitor's chair. "If anything happens—anything at all—contact me immediately. Your hospital bills are already covered."
Those bills had been substantial. But the system had dutifully returned 500,000 yen the moment payment processed—enough to make the expense feel almost trivial. At this rate, reaching his first billion was merely a matter of continued spending.
The grind continues.
He left Nahiro with a final nod and stepped into the corridor.
---
[Shibuya General Hospital, 7th Floor Corridor — 10:12 PM]
The hallway stretched before him, fluorescent tubes buzzing overhead with that particular frequency designed to induce migraines. Visiting hours had ended over an hour ago; the only sounds were distant machinery and the occasional squeak of rubber soles on tile.
Riku's finger hovered over the elevator's down button.
He should leave.
He should leave.
「A cold night. A young nurse waiting alone on the rooftop. She might catch a chill. Perhaps you should check on her...」
For once, the Antagonistic narrator's suggestion lacked its usual undercurrent of degeneracy.
Which somehow made it more suspicious.
Still.
Riku's thumb pressed the UP arrow instead.
I'm definitely going to regret this.
---
[Shibuya General Hospital, Rooftop Access Corridor — 10:19 PM]
The stairwell leading to the roof smelled of rust and stale cigarette smoke—evidence of staff members sneaking breaks in violation of hospital policy. Riku's footsteps echoed off concrete walls as he climbed, each sound bouncing back with hollow resonance.
The access door stood ajar.
He pushed through.
February wind slapped his face immediately, carrying the scent of rain-damp concrete and distant exhaust from the streets far below. Tokyo's skyline glittered like scattered diamonds against ink-black sky, but Riku's attention fixed on something far more immediate.
A girl.
Bound to a folding chair with what looked like medical restraints and repurposed bandages, positioned near the roof's edge where the safety railing cast long shadows. Her nurse's uniform had been pulled tight by the bindings—fabric straining across a chest that strained back, the outline of her bra visible through stressed cotton, waist cinched to emphasize curves that the standard uniform usually concealed.
What the actual fuck.
Her mouth was gagged with what appeared to be a wadded surgical mask. Terrified eyes—smudged with mascara—met his.
It was one of the twins.
The bindings made it impossible to tell which.
「Exhilarating! An absolutely thrilling development! What kind of play is this hospital involved in? You've decided to approach and perform some special services for this helpless young lady—though this also means you've stumbled upon something you were never meant to see...」
SLAM.
The rooftop door crashed shut behind him.
「WARNING! The suspicious figure hiding in the corner is not what she appears! She intends to ambush you!」
Riku's head snapped toward the shadows.
A woman unfolded from her crouch beside the utility shed—rail-thin, wire-rimmed glasses catching moonlight, white coat hanging from bony shoulders like a burial shroud. Her hair fell in tangled, unwashed clumps around a face dominated by acne scars and a perpetual scowl. Freckles spread across her cheeks like a disease.
She clutched a syringe in one bony fist.
"Oh?" Her voice rasped, dry as dead leaves. "Another visitor come to watch my performance?"
The bound nurse made a muffled noise of terror.
Dr. Umezu Kiyoko—her ID badge read—had not expected an audience tonight. Her lip curled with undisguised contempt, revealing teeth stained yellow from years of coffee and cigarettes.
This pretty-faced bastard. Interrupting my session. Always the beautiful ones ruining everything.
She'd been a promising physician once. Brilliant, even. But brilliance meant nothing when you looked like something that crawled out of a Junji Ito panel. The pretty nurses whispered behind her back. The younger staff called her "The Black Witch" when they thought she couldn't hear.
But she always heard.
And she'd learned to take what she wanted anyway.
This rooftop had seen three beautiful nurses over the past six months—each one threatened into silence afterward, their complaints dismissed because who would believe the word of a frightened young woman over a senior physician?
Tonight was supposed to be special. The Tachibana twins had caught her eye since their first day. Taking one would eventually give her leverage over the other.
But this boy—
"Visiting hours are over," she hissed, lunging.
The syringe sliced toward Riku's neck—
「Danger! The deranged doctor attacks! You must disarm her and seize the sedative, defeating her so you alone can savor the helpless twin—」
Riku pivoted.
His body moved before conscious thought caught up—weight shifting to his back foot, torso rotating away from the needle's arc. Sneakers squeaked against rain-slick concrete as he created distance with a single backstep.
Dr. Umezu stumbled forward, overextended and off-balance.
Riku's leg scythed upward.
CRACK.
His shin connected with her temple with enough force to spin her sideways, glasses flying off into darkness. Her body ragdolled into the utility shed wall with a meaty thud, syringe clattering uselessly across concrete as she crumpled.
She didn't get up.
「Impressive reflexes! Now the nurse remains bound and utterly defenseless—a delectable morsel served on a silver platter. All you need to do is reach out and take what's freely offered...」
Riku's breathing steadied.
The wind howled across the rooftop, carrying the unconscious doctor's labored wheezing and the bound nurse's terrified whimpers.
His gaze moved from the crumpled white coat to the restrained girl, her eyes wide and wet above the makeshift gag, chest heaving with panicked breaths that strained the ropes cutting across her uniform.
He cracked his knuckles once and started walking toward her.