"Why are you sitting so far away? Afraid I'll eat you?" Mei Mei looked with amusement at Tsukasa Hatayama, who had left a veritable no-man's-land between them.
Sometimes, she wondered whether her junior had been born into an aristocratic family. Everything he said and did was so courteous and proper, like a refined gentleman.
Despite his noble air, whenever he encountered an upperclassman on campus, he would calmly greet them with respect. Etiquette was ingrained in his bones.
She remembered asking Shoko Ieiri what Tsukasa Hatayama was like the night before they first became partners.
Shoko's answer had been, "He seems reserved, dull, and dignified, but he's actually very sensitive. He's a polite boy."
She hadn't quite believed it at first, but after working with him for over a month, she found him exactly as Shoko Ieiri had described, with plenty of other good qualities besides.
He was incredibly strong, incredibly reliable, and deeply responsible. At his side, she felt she wouldn't have to fear even the sky falling-a feeling she'd never experienced in all her years of exorcising curses.
It was rather addictive, much like saving and counting money.
Those were all his strengths. His flaw was that his skin was so pale she could practically see it in the dark. As a woman, she was a little envious.
Tsukasa Hatayama stiffened, slowly raised his head, and said earnestly, "Mom told me I should always keep my distance when entering a woman's room."
"It's a man's way of respecting a woman, and a sign of good upbringing."
A fleeting gleam of approval crossed Mei Mei's eyes as she looked at Tsukasa Hatayama. He really did live up to Shoko Ieiri's assessment: reserved, but respectful.
She stopped insisting that Tsukasa Hatayama sit closer. Instead, she rose gracefully, walked over, and elegantly seated herself at the foot of the bed, nearer to him.
Right in front of Tsukasa Hatayama, she elegantly crossed her creamy, jade-white legs and watched him with a faint smile on her small, naturally rosy lips.
Tsukasa Hatayama hurriedly averted his gaze. Feigning composure, he examined her dorm room to ease his nerves and distract himself from the creamy skin he had just seen.
As he looked around, he noticed how tidy Mei Mei's room was. Aside from the Japanese yen spread beneath the bed, covering its entire footprint, everything was rather plain.
Sure enough, Mei Mei's love of money had reached the point of obsession.
He turned toward the study desk. An old computer sat on it, beside a scribbled-over planning notebook and a framed photograph.
The notebook contained plans for making a fortune after graduation. The framed photograph... showed her with a fit blonde beauty.
"The blonde in the photo is Yuki Tsukumo. She looked after me for a while when I was a first-year."
"She's Special Grade, just like you, though not as absurdly gifted. She worked her way up step by step. Anyway, she's a willful woman."
Noticing him looking at the frame, Mei Mei offered an explanation, then couldn't resist complaining at the end. It sounded as though something interesting had happened while Tsukumo was leading her.
"Speaking of which, who's prettier, me or Tsukumo in that photograph?"
The casually delivered question made Tsukasa Hatayama freeze on the spot. With no time to think, he turned toward her, composed and earnest.
"You are."
Mei Mei narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, a trace of pleasure on her face. "At least you know what to say. Otherwise, I'd have docked a few hundred million from your pay."
"I'm telling the truth. Judging whether a woman is beautiful is impolite to begin with, and Tsukumo is beautiful too."
"But in my eyes, you're prettier than Tsukumo. I can tell from the photo that you've had that mature allure since you were young."
Tsukasa Hatayama gave her a faint, accommodating smile and wiped nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead. That question had been deadly. Did women enjoy making comparisons out of the blue?
Mei Mei propped her cheek on her hand with a beaming smile, pride and mischief glimmering in her dark eyes. The hand hidden behind her waist held a phone that had recorded what he'd just said.
Without Tsukasa Hatayama knowing, she emailed the recording to a certain willful woman overseas...
She smugly reined in her smile and said cheerfully, "That made me very happy. Now, tell me what you wanted to share."
"All right."
"But before that, I bought you some bak kut teh from the Jujutsu High cafeteria. I remember it's your favorite."
Tsukasa Hatayama held out the bag in his right hand. Mei Mei paused, staring blankly at the young man who was avoiding her eyes.
After a moment of silence, Mei Mei reached out with mixed emotions and accepted the unexpectedly weighty gift of bak kut teh. "You silly junior, always taking things into your own hands," she murmured.
Tsukasa Hatayama's lips curved in a genuine smile. His calm expression unconsciously gave way to quiet delight, and he felt utterly content as he watched Mei Mei open the lid and taste it.
She took a small sip of broth, and the rich fragrance of meat spread across her tongue. She had drunk bak kut teh for years, but this serving tasted especially mellow and warmed her heart.
Mei Mei set down the plastic container and said softly, "I've had some now. Isn't it time you told me about that little thing you wanted to share?"
Tsukasa Hatayama put away his delighted smile and held Kitetsu out before her. "This is the little thing I wanted to share-a Special Grade Cursed Tool."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Mei Mei, who had been sipping the broth, choked at the words "Special Grade Cursed Tool."
"Mei Mei..."
Tsukasa Hatayama reached out to pat her lovely back, but realized it would be too forward and lowered his hand, watching her with concern.
Once she recovered, Mei Mei ignored the broth lingering at the corner of her mouth and said, her face red from coughing, "You're saying this sword is a Special Grade Cursed Tool?"
Tsukasa Hatayama felt the urge to wipe it away, but restrained himself. "Yes. The Special Grade Cursed Tool-Kitetsu," he said with certainty.
Mei Mei's beautiful eyes widened in shock. "Wasn't Kitetsu kept in the Cursed Object Warehouse at the Tombs of the Star Corridor? How did it end up in your hands?"
Tsukasa Hatayama smiled modestly. "I went to Kyoto Jujutsu High with Mr. Yaga this morning to meet the Higher-Ups. They gave me Kitetsu as a reward."
"They said it was a reward for exorcising curses. I don't know whether they had some other intention, but either way, this demon blade is mine now."
"That's..."
Mei Mei opened her little mouth enviously, only to end with a disgruntled huff. Thoroughly depressed, she went back to drinking her broth.
She had been exorcising curses for Jujutsu High for two and a half years, yet those old geezers had never rewarded her with a Special Grade Cursed Tool. They really were shameless.
This was a Special Grade Cursed Tool, and those old geezers were rich enough to just give it away. Didn't they know these things were impossible to buy on the open market, no matter the price?
The Sorcerer Killer-the Heavenly Restriction Tyrant-had made his name through Special Grade Cursed Tools and his powerful physique. That alone showed how important cursed tools were to close-combat fighters.
And the asking price for Kitetsu outside was a staggering ten billion. Even without knowing its effects, how could something called a demon blade be bad?
Yet they had given away a sword like that as a reward... to a first-year who had only joined Jujutsu High a little over a month ago.
If they'd given it to her, she might have made ten billion simply by reselling it.
Glancing at Kitetsu, Mei Mei couldn't resist reaching out to touch it. Before she could, however, the sharp-eyed Tsukasa Hatayama caught her soft hand.
"Just look. Don't touch it of your own accord," he said gravely. "It absorbs the cursed energy inside a person's body until there's nothing left."
Upon hearing that, Mei Mei's first reaction wasn't to pull her hand away. Instead, she asked with rare concern, "Then aren't you courting death by holding it?"
Warmth filled Tsukasa Hatayama's heart, and he continued modestly, "It's fine. I have quite a bit of cursed energy. What it absorbs each day is only 1.01 percent."
"That's true."
Mei Mei didn't doubt him, but her tone was envious. "The cursed energy you release every day equals the entire reserves of a hundred Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers. You're practically a tailed beast made of cursed energy."
"Maybe Kitetsu can't even absorb it as fast as you recover it. Looks like I worried for nothing. The younger generation really is overtaking the old."
She withdrew her soft hand as she spoke and drank her broth as though nothing had happened. It wasn't the first time, anyway. Her junior had already taken every opportunity to hold her hand.
Hatayama drew his hand back as usual, then picked up the cash box by the chair leg and opened it before his decidedly uninterested senior.
Mei Mei glanced at it without interest. It's only money. How could that compare to a Special Grade Cursed Tool...
Money?
Mei Mei froze, then immediately stared at the cash box with gleaming eyes. The stacks of Japanese yen made her chest rise and fall unevenly.
As a slave to money, she knew the amount inside at a glance. Unless she was mistaken, there was a full billion in there, all in newly issued Japanese yen.
"I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it so badly..."
Mei Mei's face flushed, her eyes gleaming as she voiced her wandering fantasies.
Tsukasa Hatayama's lips twitched. With desire written all over her face, his senior left him feeling helpless. Right now, Mei Mei looked as though she'd entered some sort of trance...
But loving and saving money was her nature, and Tsukasa Hatayama inwardly respected that.
While her attention was fixed on the Japanese yen, he swiftly reached toward her full, alluring lips and wiped away the broth before she could react.
As he touched her smooth skin, he could clearly feel her body tense. She didn't lash out, however, and simply kept gazing at the Japanese yen in a daze.
Before you continue