"Ow ow ow! Be gentle...!"
Agonized cries rang out from one of the fifteenth-floor apartments in a luxury complex.
Scene cut to the crime scene.
The bandages on Yoru Moonshadow were ripped off violently and rewrapped with renewed brutality.
Looking around at the wreckage, his eyes welled up with grief. Powerless, he dropped to his knees, fists pounding the floor. Most of the stuff he had just bought earlier that day... shattered. Not even his prized collectibles were spared.
In response to this theatrical display, both Shizuka Hiratsuka and Yukino Yukinoshita shot him cold, deserved-it glares.
"Yoru, remember be at school on time one week from now," said Shizuka, her tone brooking no argument.
"Huh? Look at me! You think I can go to school in a week? I need at least a mon "
Before he could finish, that devilish face was already inches from his, her breath warm and ominous.
"If you're not there in a week, I'll personally pick you up every day. Better yet, I'll move in here."
Somehow, Shizuka was already holding a cigarette between her lips, grinning like a yakuza boss. Her tone seemed calm, but the chill beneath it froze the blood.
Move in? No way. Letting this unhinged teacher live here was basically a death sentence. She might look like a glamorous beauty, but her habits were worse than an old man's terrible drinking, chain-smoking, and she'd turn his place into a toxic wasteland.
His eyes bulged defiantly.
"Please allow me just one more day to rest, oh beautiful and radiant Miss Shizuka~"
That fierce resolve evaporated instantly. His face morphed into one of bootlicking flattery, dripping with oily praise.
Watching this, Yukino Yukinoshita's expression twitched. Disgusted. That mood switch was way too fast. But seriously, did he think sweet-talking worked on Shizuka?
"Uhh…"
Yukino stared in disbelief as Shizuka suddenly blushed like a schoolgirl, flustered and coy.
"Well, since you're being so polite, I suppo "
Ahem!
" Absolutely not."
Flustered-mode Shizuka immediately snapped back to her usual stern self, but the blush on her cheeks lingered, pale pink like cherry blossoms.
"Ugh."
Yoru clicked his tongue and shot a death glare at Yukino. It was obviously her fake cough that broke the spell.
But Yukino calmly returned his glare with an icy one of her own.
Then suddenly, Yoru felt both his shoulders pinned down. Shizuka's expression was calm, even slightly amused, but the air around her had turned serious.
"That creepy little stunt earlier you're not planning to pull something like that on Yukinoshita, are you? That would be a very serious offense, you know?"
"Wouldn't dare. I just lost my mind for a second and thought I'd scare you a little. After all, I've been on the receiving end of your beatings too many times."
Yoru scratched his head, waved his hand, and looked around at the battlefield of an apartment. That pained look returned.
Hearing that, Shizuka let out a quiet breath. His reply may have sounded casual, but she caught the true meaning underneath. He understood her warning. And that alone was enough for her.
They understood each other perfectly there were words within their words, a connection that had long been forged through countless confrontations.
Yoru wasn't lying either. That bizarre outburst earlier wasn't really him it was a mismatch between the soul that had returned and the body it had yet to fully merge with.
Clunk.
The sound of the door closing. Shizuka and Yukino had left his apartment.
"Whew…"
Shizuka exhaled smoke as she stepped into the corridor, her expression growing more complicated.
There were no signs on Yoru's body that he'd undergone combat training. Yet those savage moves from earlier those didn't come from nothing. They were the kind of techniques honed through life-and-death battles. The contradiction gnawed at her.
She hesitated. Did that mean he had…?
She shook her head violently. No, she didn't want to go down that rabbit hole. Right now, he was back. That was enough.
Someday, maybe that stupid kid would open up to her.
Speaking of that stupid kid he was such a little perv. In front of Yukino of all people, he made her let out… that embarrassing sound. Ugh.
"Yukino, can I ask you a favor?"
"Rejected."
Yukino replied instantly, without even blinking. She already had a pretty good idea of what Shizuka was planning.
"Such a low-class, vulgar, rotten "
She launched into a ruthless takedown, dragging Yoru through verbal mud worse than what she'd say about a stray dog under a bridge. Social trash.
"Come on, don't be like that. He might seem like a creep, but deep down, he's actually…"
...
Back inside the apartment, the Demon Lord began cleaning up the ruins of his once pristine home, nursing emotional wounds deeper than any physical one.
To soothe his battered soul, he turned to one of his beloved hobbies.
"Huh? What's this?"
He'd accidentally dug up an old, abandoned manuscript. The cover was so faded it was hard to read, but the faint characters Type-Moon were still visible.
There were other handwritten drafts in the box too old works.
Without overthinking it, he sorted them and dusted them off.
From the bedroom, he pulled out his laptop, powered it up, connected to the net, and opened his personal blog. Scrolling down...
[Demon Lord-sama, when's the new illustration coming?!]
[Pant pant (heavy breathing emoji). Wallet ready and waiting, just give us the goods!!!]
[Next one's gonna be a petite? A onee-san? Hnnng can't wait!!]
[AAAAHHHHH draw faster! Ready to cry, cheer, and totally not combust from hype]
A sea of depraved comments. Beasts, the lot of them. All left during his absence the past few days.
Among them was a particularly harsh one:
[Scumbag-kun, seriously what the hell is inside your brain...]
This commenter didn't hold back. Made him sound like the world's most degenerate human being. A tongue sharper than a blade. The name? Kasashiko.
That name showed up everywhere. Post after post. Her words were ruthless. A top-tier internet troll, no doubt.
She even fabricated a rumor that he got arrested for causing a public nuisance with suggestive behavior.
There were also "challenger" types:
[Summer Comic Con. Prepare to be annihilated.]
Posted by: Erika Kashiwagi.
[…Wait, what's going on? There haven't been any updates for days now?]
[Scumbag-kun must've gotten arrested in real life for going feral and attacking women like a wild animal!]
[Nonsense! From his works, it's obvious Demon Lord-sama is completely devoted to 2D girls. Real women don't stand a chance!]
[This Kasashiko chick sounds like she's got some beef with him. Maybe even knows him in real life?]
[Isn't she the author of Love Metronome, that light novel? I heard Demon Lord-sama drew an NTR doujin of the heroine.]
[Ohhhh I remember that one. It was... legendary.]
More recent comments flooded in.
Then, Yoru began typing furiously, tagging a few familiar names.
[You idiots @Sato ]
Backspaced. That revealed too much.
[You idiots @NormieScumExplode @HugeOppaiFan @NeedAGirlfriend @..... Demon Lord-sama has returned!!!]