Rain was sitting in the hallway, leaning back on a bench with his usual carefree, detached-from-the-world expression, lazily sipping from a can of matcha tea while two empty cans rested beside him.
"How am I supposed to make a worthy friend…" he muttered under his breath, his tone flat yet slightly irritated.
'When she never leaves me alone,' he added in his thoughts, his eyes briefly turning serious as he glanced at the screen before shifting back to normal as if nothing happened.
There wasn't a single name in his mind for this task—no one meant no one, not even ghosts would qualify at this point.
With a small sigh, he finished his drink and flicked the empty can toward the nearby trash bin in front of him without even standing up—a clean, perfect arc, like a practiced basketball shot, smooth and effortless. It was about to go in—
—but suddenly—
CRUSH!
Someone intercepted it mid-air, catching the can and crushing it in their hand like it was nothing.
"I never thought we'd meet again, you scum!" the person said, voice filled with hostility.
Rain slowly lifted his gaze, completely unbothered, no excitement or interest in his eyes. "Hmm…"
Then—his lips curved slightly into a faint, mocking grin.
"Oh… it's none other than you Dudblade."
It turned out to be Shion, his face twisted with annoyance and irritation. "Y-you fucker! If you dare say that again—"
But instead of stopping, Rain lightly hummed under his breath, a teasing rhythm slipping out, "Dudblade~ Waste blade~ can't even erect~" as if he was enjoying himself far too much.
Shion's grip tightened, veins popping as anger surged. "How dare you!" he snapped, launching a punch straight at Rain.
Rain didn't move at first; he simply watched it come, calm, almost bored, eyes half-lidded. 'Oh… you want to fight with that little strength?' There was curiosity, a trace of amusement—but not even a hint of fear.
As the punch closed in, Rain's fingers shifted subtly, his body tilting just enough for the strike to brush past his face, his hand sliding forward to wrap around Shion's wrist—not forcefully, just enough control to redirect. His foot stepped in smoothly, slipping behind Shion's stance while his shoulder turned, guiding the motion rather than forcing it, borrowing Shion's own momentum and sending it spiraling off balance.
Shion didn't even realize what had happened until his center gave out, his body flipping as the ground rushed up to meet him, his back hitting with a controlled thud that knocked the air out of his lungs, his expression twisting more in shock than pain.
Rain looked down at him with a faint, satisfied smile, casually releasing his wrist as if it meant nothing.
'Without your little tricks… you're nothing to me.'
Even though Shion had more raw strength, he lacked everything else—experience, technique, timing, movement, control—the invisible details that decided fights before they even began, and while Rain wasn't perfect, not even close, what little he had combined with his natural talent turned even a simple exchange into something overwhelming.
[Woh! Hubby is the best!] With a bright, amazed expression, clearly impressed by how smooth it looked.
Shion groaned and pushed himself up, anger still burning as Rain casually returned to his seat like nothing had happened.
"DIE!" Shion roared, charging again, this time faster and more reckless, his fist cutting straight toward Rain's face.
Rain didn't dodge; his hand rose calmly, meeting the punch at just the right angle, his palm shifting slightly so the force slid past instead of colliding, his fingers closing lightly around Shion's fist and stopping it dead without any wasted movement.
His gaze turned cold, sharp, unmoving. "I said… stop your barking."
The words weren't loud, but they landed, and something inside Shion cracked—not physically, but deeper—as his heartbeat stuttered and a chill crawled up his spine, unfamiliar fear replacing his confidence as his anger wavered into hesitation.
'What… is wrong with this guy…? Wasn't he supposed to be some fragile, weak pretty boy…?'
Without even realizing it, Shion took a step back.
"Now that's good," Rain said, picking up a can of matcha tea from beside him and casually tossing it toward Shion with a bored yet slightly relieved faint smile, satisfied that there would be no more trouble when he was already dealing with enough.
Shion caught it instantly, his reflex sharp, gripping it tightly. "You really thought this could hit me!?" he scoffed, tightening his grip around the can with a crooked, mocking smile forming on his face.
"That's—" Rain started with a blank expression.
But before he could finish, Shion crushed the can in his hand with a confident grin. The metal gave in with a sharp crack, but in the same instant the pressurized matcha burst out, splashing all over his hair, face, and clothes, coating him completely in green liquid as the rich aroma of tea spread through the air.
Shion stood there blinking blankly, his expression frozen, trying to process what had just happened.
Rain slowly finished his sentence, staring at him with a flat, slightly tired expression mixed with disbelief and mild secondhand embarrassment. "I was just offering a drink."
"Oh." Shion replied with a completely expressionless face, as if only now realizing the situation, before casually tossing the crushed can into the trash bin.
'…What a waste of my good stuff. As they say—an idiot is always an idiot.'
Rain casually picked up another can of matcha tea and tossed it along with a handkerchief from his pocket toward Shion with a tired sigh. "Just take this and don't bother to return it."
Shion grabbed both things, still a bit stiff from embarrassment. "Thanks… I'll take my leave," he said, quickly wiping his face with the handkerchief, clearly too embarrassed by his own stupidity to continue the conversation any further.
Rain waved his hand casually as Shion turned to leave. "Bye, Dullblade… see you later—or not."
Shion's body twitched mid-step. "Don't call me that, you fucker!"
"Yeah, I could do that… if you call me daddy," Rain replied with a teasing grin. 'Not gonna say grandpa.'
Rain had absolutely zero interest in being called "gramps," not even in his wildest imagination. Even if it meant becoming the father of a father, it also meant ending up as the husband of some old, rusty hag—and just thinking about that sent a disgusting crawl through his skin. Even as a joke, it wasn't some "line" to cross, it was something he wouldn't even let exist in his thoughts for a second… though for other races, that kind of situation could be an exception, of course.
Shion didn't even turn back this time, just kept walking with his annoyance hitting peak levels. "Shove that dream in your ass!"
"You're my archenemy from now on!"
As Shion finally disappeared, Rain let out a deep sigh, his usual flat, done-with-everything expression returning. "Now… back to what was I thinking…"
[Hubby, congratulations!] with a bright, happy smile.
Rain blinked, still shaken. "And… why exactly?" he asked, confusion clear on his face.
[You made 1/4 friends]
"What are you even talking about?" he frowned, not understanding a single thing she was saying.
[You see, the human named Shion possesses an extreme hatred toward you]
"Sooo…?" Rain tilted his head slightly, still not getting the point.
'Is that even a good thing…? Doesn't that just mean I've got one more problem to deal with in the future?' with a tired, exasperated expression
[As humans say, the greatest rival is also the greatest friend one could ask for. He has accepted you as his archenemy from the bottom of his heart—so he is your friend. Well done, hubby!] with a gentle, pleased smile
Rain jolted, his face going blank with pure disbelief. 'What kind of fucked up logic is that…?'
Rain was well aware that this kind of shitty logic only worked in romance fantasies—where two people with extreme hatred somehow ended up falling in love—but in reality, in any normal situation, it was nothing but complete nonsense.
But after a moment, he forced himself to calm down, letting out a deep sigh as a faint grin slowly formed. 'Well… as long as it helps me complete the task, I don't care if it's a friend or an enemy.' His eyes briefly flickered with a slightly sinister look—
"Oops."
—and just as quickly, he wiped that expression away, returning to normal as if nothing had happened.
He got up, oddly satisfied with the small "progress" he had made, and began walking toward the exit, a faint grin lingering on his face as if things were finally going his way.
But just as he reached out to grab the doorknob, the door opened—and his hand didn't stop, it kept going and landed somewhere else, something soft, very soft, way softer than anything that should logically exist in that position, his brain taking a full second to process what exactly he had just touched.
"…Umm..." with a blank, dead expression
'Yep… I'm screwed,' he thought instantly as he realized it was a woman's breasts—big, soft ones—already mentally preparing himself for the slap that would send his soul out of his body and turn his face into a perfect red tomato.
But the slap never came, instead the person in front of him showed a faint shy embarrassment on her face, a subtle reaction that didn't quite match the calm composure she maintained as she spoke in a cold yet soft voice, "Can you remove your hand now?"
Rain's eyes slowly moved up, his expression stiff, cautious—
Landing directly on her face.