Face the Lion's Fang!

[To ensure your stay is comfortable, please follow these rules]

[1. The residence has four floors in total. The first floor is absolutely safe.]

[2. The ceiling on the first floor leaks from time to time. Do not touch the water without taking protective measures.]

[3. The residence's soundproofing is sometimes poor. For your safety, going outside at night is strictly prohibited.]

[4. If you find that water leaking from the ceiling is about to flood the entire hallway, return to your room and call for help.]

[5. You may occasionally hear a toilet flushing in the middle of the night. Ignore it.]

[6. The residence has only four floors. There is no basement, no basement! If you find a passageway on the first floor, ignore it.] ＜The handwriting looked a little hurried.＞

Bai Yuze read the paper over and over, making sure he hadn't missed any rules, then tucked it into his pocket.

"Hm? It feels like there's something in my pocket."

Bai Yuze pulled out what was in his pocket. It turned out to be another note, though this one was small, with just a few scattered lines written on it.

[Don't gulp down a lifetime's worth of sweetness]

[Everyone needs something to strive for in life]

[Darkness has its own sordid secrets, and light has its own bright future]

[Ignoring things can spare you a lot of trouble, but it can also bring you even more]

[Seeking light in the darkness is absurd from the outset]

[What you see with your own eyes may not be real; what you hear with your own ears is no substitute for seeing it for yourself!]

[Death is release, but anger will live on]

[An ambiguous attitude hurts more than rejection]

"Is this poetry? Or rules? But if they're rules, why weren't they written on the big note too?"

Bai Yuze was puzzled, but he still committed the rules to memory.

At the same time, he noticed three scratches on his left wrist, all over the artery.

"What's going on? Could it be that I'm playing a self-harming person in this instance?"

Bai Yuze began pacing restlessly, as if moving around was the only way to soothe his fear and confusion.

The sound of Bai Yuze's footsteps also woke Yukinoshita Yukino, who was lying on the bed.

She opened her bleary eyes and immediately grew wary when she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

When she heard Bai Yuze's footsteps, her body tensed even more. Yukino had studied aikido, and her hands were already raised protectively before her chest.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bai Yuze caught Yukino's movements. He froze for a moment, then understood what she was doing.

"As expected of Yukinoshita. Her vigilance is impressive. She's probably trying to lure me closer. I remember she studied aikido."

Bai Yuze thought it over, then took out the paper and folded it once.

He slowly approached Yukino. Once he was sure he was at a safe distance, he waved the paper toward her face.

Sure enough, as soon as Yukino felt something brush against her face, she opened her eyes and thrust her hand forward.

She hadn't expected Bai Yuze to keep his face well out of reach.

Bai Yuze's heart was pounding. Although he was standing at a safe distance, the sharp force of Yukino's hand slicing through the air startled him.

"Whoa, are you trying to kill me?"

Seeing Yukino's left hand thrust forward like a knife and her right hand raised in a supporting position, he couldn't help feeling a lingering fear. If he'd really gotten close, she would have badly injured his eyes and throat!

When Yukino saw her sneak attack had failed, she immediately rose from the bed. She clenched her fists before her chest and quickly surveyed the room, finally fixing her gaze on Bai Yuze.

"Who are you? Why did you kidnap me? Are you after money?"

Yukino stared warily at Bai Yuze, her body poised in an aikido defensive stance. Based on her initial assessment, the most likely reason the man before her had kidnapped her was to demand a ransom.

The filthy, disordered surroundings made her first suspect a kidnapping for money. The most likely culprit would be an enemy of the Yukinoshita Family.

After all, as long as the price was right, there would always be people willing to do such things—even if the cost was beyond what the client could imagine.

"Uh... things are complicated right now, but I'm really not a kidnapper. Do I look like one?"

Bai Yuze looked utterly innocent. Being trapped in a dangerous world was bad enough; now he was being mistaken for a kidnapper too. When a man's luck ran out, even drinking water could make him choke!

Yukino knew full well that she was at a disadvantage. She took Bai Yuze's words as lies and assessed her current situation.

The unfamiliar man looked rather frail, but she didn't know whether he had accomplices. Her best option was to avoid provoking him and wait until his guard dropped before subduing him.

"Then how did you get here? Were you kidnapped too?"

Yukino went along with what Bai Yuze had said, but her vigilance was at its peak. Her arms, which she had held protectively before her chest, seemed to lower, but she was quietly gathering strength in her legs.

If Bai Yuze suddenly lunged at her, Yukino was confident she could kick him right in the crotch.

"I know how I got here, but I don't know how you got here. Anyway, the situation we're in is extremely dangerous."

The more Bai Yuze tried to explain, the more tangled his words became. He knew Yukino hadn't let down her guard, but her presence had left him tongue-tied. After all, they'd slept together and he'd touched her—how was he supposed to explain that?

"Then you're in cahoots with them?"

The fact that he knew how he'd gotten there but not how she had made Yukino decide on the spot that Bai Yuze was one of the kidnappers' accomplices. Her heart tightened.

She had studied aikido, but the physical difference between men and women was too great. Besides, she might have to face two people—or more.

"Who sent you? How much are they paying you? The Yukinoshita Family can offer you twice as much!"

Someone had managed to sneak into her home without a sound and abduct her while she slept. Everything pointed to her kidnappers being professionals who were highly trained. Only an enemy of the Yukinoshita Family would hire people like that.

Why else would anyone go to so much trouble to kidnap her? Was it because she was pretty?

The moment she woke up, she had checked herself over. Her clothes were still on, and her body felt normal, though there were some creases around her chest. Yukino subconsciously assumed they were from her movements when she attacked.

Yukino was aware of her own looks. She knew she was cute, and in fact, she was very cute.

Since he wasn't after her looks, he must have been hired for money. There was no point lecturing someone obsessed with money; she had to get straight to the point. In other words, offer more!

If she offered enough that he couldn't refuse, he would naturally work for her!

"No! I'm really not a kidnapper!"

Bai Yuze was close to tears. Why did every explanation just make things worse? He rolled his eyes as if he'd made up his mind, then closed them and said,

"Um... do you believe in urban legends and things like that? The two of us have been caught up in a world like an urban legend."

"It's called Rules Horror."

Bai Yuze laid out the whole truth. He knew Yukino would look at him like he was an idiot, so he simply kept his eyes closed.

But he was wrong! He wasn't met with Yukino's idiotic look, but rather...

Yukino: Face the Lion's Fang!