The late afternoon sun warmed the living room. Ren sat leaning back on the low green sofa. Maki sat straddled across his lap.
She had showed up at his door twenty minutes ago, dropping a long, heavy case in the hallway before practically collapsing onto him.
She looked down at him. Her eyebrows pulled together, and her fingers poked lightly at his ribs through his shirt.
"You lost weight," Maki said. Her voice was flat, but she was looking at him closely. "Are you actually eating when I'm not here? Or are you just living off instant ramen again?"
Ren let out a short laugh. His hands rested on her waist, his thumbs rubbing the soft fabric of her shirt. "I eat fine, Maki. I just get lazy with cooking when my girlfriend disappears for an entire month."
He meant it as a joke, but Maki's shoulders dropped. She leaned her weight against him, bringing her face closer.
The faint smell of cheap medical tape hung around her, and he could see a fresh, thin scrape on her jaw that she hadn't completely covered up.
"I know," she muttered, her voice dropping. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, I'm just messing with you," Ren said.
"I know, but still." She looked down at his chest, tracing a small circle on his shirt with her thumb. "My boarding school has been insane lately.
The teachers keep piling on extra work, and my... track practices have been running late. They don't let us leave campus much right now. I really didn't mean to stay away this long."
Ren kept his expression perfectly calm. Track practice. Right.
He knew exactly what she was actually doing. she was out fighting curses, dealing with insane sorcerer training, and surviving the meat grinder of the Jujutsu world.
She lied to keep him out of it, treating him like a normal guy who needed to be protected from the dark side of the city.
He let her keep the secret.
"You don't have to apologize for being busy," Ren said. He moved his right hand up from her waist and cupped the side of her face, his thumb carefully avoiding the scrape on her jaw. "Just make sure you don't overwork yourself. I don't want you passing out on me."
Maki smiled. It was a real, quiet smile.
"I don't pass out," she said softly.
"Sure you don't," Ren replied.
Maki let out a soft breath and finally closed the distance. Her lips pressed against his, slow and familiar. Ren pulled her closer by the waist, letting her settle her full weight against him. She slid her hands up from his chest and wrapped them around the back of his neck, her fingers catching in his hair as the kiss deepened.
The apartment was quiet. But in the back of his mind, Ren knew her excuses wouldn't work forever. The Shibuya incident was getting closer. He couldn't play the clueless civilian forever.
Maki pulled back just enough to break the kiss. She kept her arms loosely around his neck, but her eyes were watching him closely.
"When I was walking up to your building," she said, trying to make her voice sound casual. "I saw a couple of girls from your high school hanging around the lobby. They were staring at your window."
Ren raised an eyebrow. A slow smirk crossed his face. "Obviously."
Maki narrowed her eyes slightly. "Obviously?"
"Yeah," Ren said smoothly. "I have a line of girls proposing to me every single day."
Maki scoffed, though the corner of her mouth twitched upwards. "Oh, really. A whole line."
"Every day," Ren repeated. He shifted his hands from her waist, sliding them up her sides. "And here I was, turning down all those proposals, just sitting around waiting for you to finally get out of track practice."
Maki let out a quiet laugh, the last bit of tension leaving her shoulders. "You're an idiot."
"I'm your idiot," Ren said.
He didn't give her a chance to reply. He leaned forward, pressing a warm kiss to the pulse point just beneath her jaw. Maki let out a sharp, quiet breath. Ren moved lower, trailing a few slow kisses down the side of her neck. Her hands tightened in his hair, pulling him a little closer.
Before she could get comfortable, Ren shifted his weight. He tightened his grip on her waist and smoothly rolled to the side, taking her with him. Maki let out a short gasp of surprise as her back hit the soft cushions of the sofa. The positions suddenly flipped.
Ren settled over her, bracing his arms on either side of her head so he wouldn't crush her. He looked down at her, the teasing smirk still on his face.
Maki looked up at him, her chest rising and falling a little faster now. She didn't look like a hardened fighter right now. She just looked like a girl who was exactly where she wanted to be.
Maki's breath caught for a second, her amber eyes wide as she looked up at him. But just as Ren leaned in again, her expression shifted.
Her hands slid from the back of his neck down to his chest, her palms pressing flat against his collarbone. She didn't push hard—barely an ounce of pressure—but it was enough to create a firm, unmistakable boundary.
"Wait," Maki said, her voice a little breathless but steadying quickly. She turned her head slightly, avoiding his gaze. "Hold on, idiot."
Ren paused, his teasing smirk softening into something more patient. He held his weight above her, not pushing forward. "What's wrong? The line of proposals outside making you jealous?"
Maki let out a short, forced laugh, but the tension had returned to her shoulders. "No. I'm just... I'm exhausted, Ren. Seriously." She looked back up at him, masking the deep, underlying hesitation in her eyes with a tired scowl.
"Coach ran us into the ground today. My muscles are cramping up, and I haven't slept properly in days. If we do this now, I'm probably going to fall asleep halfway through and crush you."
She framed it as a joke about being tired and heavy, but Ren heard exactly what she wasn't saying.
He knew the truth. She wasn't worried about falling asleep; she was terrified of her own strength. Because of her Heavenly Restriction, Maki's body was a literal weapon, possessing superhuman power that she constantly had to keep tightly leashed around him.
In a moment of passion, a loss of control, a sudden tight embrace—she genuinely believed she could snap his ribs or accidentally crush him.
To her, he was just a fragile, everyday civilian who didn't know the first thing about fighting.
That unspoken fear was the real reason they hadn't gone all the way yet. Ren wasn't stupid. You don't date a girl like Maki and casually pass up the chance to be with her.
But he understood the deep-seated anxiety it caused her, the absolute dread she felt at the thought of hurting the one normal, safe thing in her life.
Until he could finally drop his act and show her he wasn't as fragile as she thought, he was perfectly fine with waiting. He wasn't going to push her into a panic just to lose his virginity.
Ren let out an exaggerated, dramatic sigh. He smoothly pushed himself up and shifted his weight entirely off her, dropping onto his back next to her on the sofa. He threw an arm over his eyes.
"Tragic," Ren deadpanned, staring at the ceiling. "Absolutely tragic. Defeated by a phantom track coach. My ego is shattered."
Maki let out a long, quiet exhale that sounded suspiciously like sheer relief. The rigid stiffness in her posture melted away.
She turned on her side, carefully resting her head on his chest and throwing one arm lightly across his stomach.
Even now, she was so incredibly careful to keep her muscles entirely relaxed against him.
"Shut up," she mumbled, closing her eyes. "I'll make it up to you later. I promise."
"You're making it up to me right now," Ren corrected, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her comfortably against his side. "You're going to cook us dinner. Since you were just complaining about me living off instant ramen."
Maki let out a soft huff of amusement, her fingers lightly gripping his shirt. "Fine."
She pushed herself up from his chest with agonizingly slow movements, instinctively ensuring she didn't put too much pressure on his ribs. She stretched her arms above her head, her spine popping satisfyingly, before turning toward the small kitchen attached to the living room.
"If all you have in this fridge is expired milk and mystery leftovers, I'm tossing you out the window," she called over her shoulder, her tone light and teasing, a stark contrast to the heavy exhaustion she carried in with her.
"Second shelf, on the left," Ren replied, shifting on the couch to watch her go. "I bought fresh groceries yesterday. I'm not a complete savage."
As Maki disappeared behind the kitchen island, the sound of the fridge door opening echoing in the quiet apartment, Ren let out a slow, silent breath.
His relaxed, easygoing posture faded just a fraction. He stared at the hallway where her heavy weapon case sat.
He couldn't stay on the sidelines playing the clueless boyfriend forever. Soon, he would have to show his hand. He just needed to figure out how.
Blink.
Ren frowned, rubbing his eyes. A faint, static-like hum suddenly vibrated at the base of his skull.
Blink.
Without warning, the warm afternoon light in the living room seemed to artificially dim. The air in the apartment grew unnaturally cold, suddenly dense with an invisible, suffocating pressure that made the hairs on his arms stand on end.
Right in the dead center of his vision, a sharp, glowing blue interface materialized out of thin air. It wasn't a trick of the light, nor was it cursed energy. It was a perfectly crisp, floating holographic panel that tracked seamlessly with his eye movements.
Ren froze, his breath catching in his throat. He stared at the glowing text typing itself across the translucent screen in real-time.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]