On this day, when Evan returned to his dorm, he suddenly heard another voice coming from the supposedly quiet, single-occupant dormitory building.
Evan raised an eyebrow and turned towards the source of the sound. Having gained power far beyond that of an ordinary person over the past two months, he wasn't about to call the police over a single unknown intruder.
On the first floor of Tachikawa Academy's male dormitory, which should have only had Evan as a resident, a door in the middle of the hallway had been violently kicked open. Inside was a girl with white hair and blue eyes. She was very beautiful and had a good figure. Her hair, tied in two braided pigtails, gave her the air of a young lady, but her behavior and words had absolutely nothing to do with that image.
The girl was leaning back on the wooden bedframe, the only piece of furniture left in the vacant room, with her legs crossed. She occasionally rocked back and forth contentedly while browsing her phone, muttering words like "Nagazora," "Honkai," and "nothing special."
As Evan approached the room, the white-haired girl changed her position, lying down on the bedframe and tossing her phone aside.
"So hungry," she said listlessly. "I could really go for some... pretty-girl-flavored instant noodles."
Knock, knock, knock.
After hearing a line that was likely unique in the entire Honkai world, Evan knew exactly who had invaded his territory. His original intention of kicking the intruder out changed, and he knocked on the remnants of the broken door. The sound made the seemingly exhausted girl leap up from the bedframe.
"Who are you?"
"Evan. A student at Tachikawa Academy. This is a Tachikawa Academy student dormitory. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to just barge in like this?"
"Huh? A student dormitory? Isn't this an abandoned building?"
The white-haired girl's words made Evan's mouth twitch.
"An abandoned building?"
"Yeah, no one lives here. Isn't that what abandoned means?"
Despite being caught as an illegal intruder, the white-haired girl showed no sign of shame and even seemed righteous.
"I'm the one who lives here. Since I seem to be the only male student currently at Tachikawa Academy, I'm also the only resident here."
Even after Evan explained this, the white-haired girl's expression didn't change.
"Oh, so it's not abandoned."
"..."
Her utterly casual reply left Evan speechless for a moment. While he was silent, the white-haired girl seemed to remember something, and her eyes lit up.
"Since you live here, you must know where to find food, right?"
"I have some in my dorm."
Hearing his answer, the girl's eyes shone even brighter.
"Quick, take me there."
"Give me one convincing reason, unknown illegal intruder."
Evan had expected the white-haired girl to rack her brain for an excuse to get food. Based on his understanding of her, the excuse would probably be unconvincing, maybe even stupid. However, it turned out he had overestimated her.
"Unknown illegal intruder?... Who are you talking to?"
The white-haired girl looked around, and after confirming there was no one else, she pointed at herself with a confused expression.
"Me?"
Evan was stunned.
"This is Tachikawa Academy's dormitory. It's private property. Did you think sneaking in here and breaking this door was legal and reasonable?"
"Uhh..."
The white-haired girl finally realized the role she was playing. Her face froze for a few seconds, then she straightened up and said seriously.
"I am Kiana Kaslana. I apologize for the unintentional intrusion. So please, give me something to eat."
As expected, getting a decent excuse out of her was impossible.
Evan took a piece of peanut brittle from his pocket, which a classmate had insisted he take earlier at school, hoping that a little food would help Kiana's slow and silly thoughts return to normal.
Faced with something offered by a boy she had just met, Kiana showed little caution. She sniffed it, quickly unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. After a few chews, she swallowed it and held out her hand to Evan again.
"Tastes good, but it's not enough. Got any more?"
"Before that, I think we should settle a bill. First, you broke the electronic lock on the dormitory entrance with brute force. Then you kicked down this door. And just now, you wolfed down a gift from my classmate, which was full of her feelings, without a shred of reverence. Rounding it up, you've caused me a loss of one hundred million. How do you plan to repay it?"
"One hundred million? Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands..."
Kiana started counting on her fingers.
When she got to a hundred million and saw both her hands almost fully extended, her eyes widened.
"How can it be that much? Are you messing with me?!"
Evan was shocked to find that Kiana's sense of money was actually quite normal. He had been prepared to explain to her just how huge a hundred million was, a number that would make her work for him for free forever.
"I'm not messing with you. The electronic lock was meticulously developed by a Tachikawa Academy graduate, full of advanced technology and deep affection for their alma mater. And while this door isn't expensive, the noise from the repairs will disrupt my studies. I was actually an intern at the renowned ME Corp before I chose to quit and focus on my studies to pursue a greater future. If my studies are disrupted, everything could take a turn for the worse. You've practically ruined my entire life. That's a loss of nearly one hundred million. Also, that peanut brittle was a gift from a classmate. What were your thoughts after eating it?"
Evan's speech was too long, and Kiana couldn't take it all in, but if he could talk that much, there must be some truth to it. Although she couldn't imagine how her actions could lead to a hundred-million-dollar debt, she couldn't formulate a decent rebuttal. Hearing his final question and sensing there was more to come, she became even more nervous.
"Um... it was tasty?"
"That was a gift full of my classmate's feelings, containing our pure friendship, perhaps even love. If she asks me for my thoughts on the peanut brittle and I give a dry answer like yours, she will undoubtedly be disappointed. A budding romance will be cruelly snuffed out. So, by that calculation, in addition to the one hundred million, you also owe me a relationship." [-40]