chapter 3 Making His Life Miserable

If her father expected her to accept this arrangement quietly, he was delusional. Rika decided then and there to make the boy's life as difficult as possible.

When their first study session was supposed to begin, Naoto found the door to the study room locked. He waited quietly in the hallway, books in hand. No shouting. No knocking. Just quiet patience.

Later, when he finally managed to get a session started, she blasted music from her speakers, pretending not to hear him speak.

She refused to call him by name, referring to him instead as "the servant."

"Hey, servant," she'd say with mock sweetness, "bring me that textbook, will you?"

And when he left his notes unattended for a moment, she "accidentally" knocked her juice glass over, soaking the pages.

"Oh no," she said flatly, not even trying to fake concern. "Guess you'll have to start over."

But Naoto never snapped. He sighed occasionally, adjusted his glasses, and continued with quiet determination. It wasn't submission—it was restraint. That, somehow, annoyed her even more.

First Cracks in the Wall

One evening, as she passed by the hallway near his room, Rika paused. The door was slightly ajar, and inside, Naoto sat at his desk, phone to his ear.

"...I'm fine, Mom," he said gently. "You don't need to worry about me. Just rest, okay? I'll send you the medicine money tomorrow."

His voice was soft, tinged with fatigue but laced with affection. Rika froze. It was the first time she'd heard him speak with genuine emotion.

And for a moment, the sound of that voice—gentle, comforting—pulled her back in time.

Her mother's voice... that same warmth.

Rika's throat tightened. It had been years since she'd heard her mother speak, but the memory was still fresh, buried under the weight of grief she tried so hard to ignore.

She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but the way he spoke—it sounded... familiar. Like home. Like love.

She shook off the thought and slipped away, the image of him at the desk lingering in her mind longer than she wanted to admit.

"He's still the reason my life is ruined," she whispered to herself, clutching her phone tighter. "I'm not going to forget that."

Ending Scene: The War is Just Beginning

That night, as the mansion settled into its usual silence, two hearts beat with very different burdens.

Naoto stared at the ceiling, wondering how many days it would take before Rika stopped hating him—or if she ever would.

Rika sat at her window, arms folded, still fuming at the unfairness of it all—but that quiet voice inside her, the one that had heard him on the phone, wouldn't go away.

A storm was brewing between them. The war had only begun.

But even in war, there are moments of understanding.

And this one had just begun to show the first crack.