Goodnight Before the Storm

There was a soft knock on the door.

Three long, two short.

It was the agreed signal.

"Come in."

Natsume Yu's voice was calm.

The lock turned, and a petite figure timidly peeked inside. It was Sakura Airi.

She wore a school uniform that had been washed somewhat pale, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes. Her head was nearly buried in her chest, like a startled hamster, too afraid to look directly at the room's owner.

"N-Natsume..."

Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

Natsume Yu said nothing. He merely took an exquisite paper bag from the wardrobe beside the bed and placed it on the table.

"Come here."

The commanding tone made Sakura Airi's body tremble, yet it somehow gave her an inexplicable sense of security.

She shuffled over in tiny steps, her gaze cautiously falling on the paper bag.

"Is this... for me?"

"Open it and see."

Sakura Airi extended her slightly trembling hands and opened the bag.

Inside was a brand-new set of casual clothes.

An ivory knit cardigan paired with an elegant plaid long skirt. The style was fresh and simple, yet exquisitely refined in all the right ways.

Beside it was a neat, square box.

When she opened the box, a professional DSLR camera lay quietly inside, its lens reflecting a cold yet captivating gleam beneath the light.

Sakura Airi's breathing stopped.

She instinctively took a step back and waved her hands repeatedly.

"N-No! It's too valuable! I can't accept this!"

"It's a reward."

Natsume Yu walked over to her, picked up the knit cardigan, and draped it over her shoulders without giving her a chance to refuse.

His fingertips intentionally—or perhaps unintentionally—brushed against the girl's neck.

The icy touch made Sakura Airi stiffen all over, her cheeks instantly flushing crimson.

Natsume Yu bent down close to her ear and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"I don't want my possession to always look so inconspicuous."

Possession.

The word carried absolute control and possession, striking heavily against Sakura Airi's heart.

Natsume Yu straightened her slightly rumpled collar. His movements were gentle, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

"From now on, you only need to bloom beautifully for me."

"That's enough."

Boom.

Sakura Airi's mind went blank.

All her unease, fear, and inferiority were utterly shattered in that moment.

An unprecedented sense of fulfillment at being needed surged like floodwaters through a broken dam, drowning her reason.

She tightly hugged the new clothes and camera in her arms, as though she were holding the most precious treasures in the world.

There was no longer anyone else in her eyes, only the figure of the man before her.

He was her master.

He was her god.

"My... my everything..."

Sakura Airi raised her head. Tears swirled in her eyes, but her voice was incomparably resolute.

"I will dedicate it all to you!"

Natsume Yu looked at her with satisfaction.

This timid hamster had been completely tamed.

Loyal, obedient, and utterly harmless.

She was the most stable and reassuring first piece of his harem empire.

Meanwhile.

Horikita Suzune's room was silent.

She sat motionless at her desk, her gaze fixed on a framed photograph on the table.

In the photograph were her younger self and her older brother, Horikita Manabu.

The brother in the photograph was as perfect, powerful, and flawless as ever.

He had been the goal she had pursued since childhood, the entirety of her faith in life.

But now, what she saw was the coldness behind that perfection, a coldness that kept everyone at a distance.

And the sacrifices that had to be made to preserve that "correctness."

Natsume Yu's casually spoken words echoed uncontrollably through her mind.

"True strength isn't always being right."

The words were like an invisible thorn, piercing her firm convictions.

For the first time, she began to doubt.

She had followed the path her brother walked, imitated everything about him, and tried to become another "Horikita Manabu."

Was this... truly the right thing?

Class C's base was an empty classroom converted into a private club, thick with smoke.

Ryuen Kakeru sat with one leg crossed over the other on the sofa, a cigarette between the fingers of one hand while the other casually scrolled across a tablet screen.

Displayed on the screen were several candid photographs and some unsightly written records.

The subject was none other than Sudo Ken from Class D.

"Heh. A hot-tempered, single-celled organism who used to be a habitual brawler."

A cruel curve spread across Ryuen Kakeru's lips as he tossed the tablet to one of the lackeys beside him.

"And that Yamauchi, Ike—dig up all the dirt you can find on them."

"Leave nothing out."

"I'll make those trash from Class D understand what happens when they defy me, Ryuen Kakeru, at this school."

A bloodthirsty light danced in his eyes.

Violence.

Fear.

Those were the ultimate laws that ruled everything.

He could barely wait to see those people from Class D beneath his feet in the next special exam, crying and begging for mercy.

The self-righteous hunter was sharpening his claws, ready to enjoy a grand hunt.

Yet he did not know that every word he said and every decision he made was being transmitted in real time, word for word, to the true hunter through Kushida Kikyo's all-pervasive information network, as well as the camera of a certain "hamster" hiding in a corner and pretending to be withdrawn.

Late at night.

Natsume Yu lay on his bed, the lights in his room turned off.

The cold glow of his phone screen illuminated his calm, indifferent face.

On the screen was a message Sakura Airi had just sent.

[Goodnight, Yu-kun.]

A photograph was attached below it.

In the photo, the girl wore the new clothes he had given her and held the camera as she shyly took a mirror selfie.

Her pose was somewhat awkward, but it could not conceal the innocence and cuteness that belonged uniquely to her.

A nearly imperceptible smile touched Natsume Yu's lips.

He replied with a single "Mm."

Then he switched chat windows.

He opened an encrypted document.

The document's title consisted of three striking words.

[Dragon Hunting Plan]

Inside were densely packed notes detailing every weakness in Ryuen Kakeru's personality, every method he might use, and set after set of interconnected countermeasures Natsume Yu had prepared for him.

Natsume Yu turned off his phone, and the screen went dark.

The room returned to darkness.

He closed his eyes, his lips moving slightly as he murmured in an almost inaudible voice.

It sounded both like a response to someone and a final verdict upon the approaching storm.

"Goodnight, my hamster."

"Goodnight, my pitiful prey."