The rain outside the window intensified. Raindrops struck the glass, collected, and slowly streamed down.
Ho Fei-yu stared blankly out the window. The blurred scenery slowly retreated backward. The initial sense of loss in his heart was replaced by an inexplicable tranquility and peace.
This feeling lasted for a while, until he noticed that the scenery around them looked less like a city street and more like a country lane.
Saitama City, while not as bustling as Tokyo, was generally decent. It was a mix of urban and rural areas, spreading out in a ring when viewed from above. The most lively and prosperous areas were in the center, and as one moved outward, the surroundings became more scenic and mountainous.
The Bronze Academy where he would study was in the city center, and just like Seika Girls' Academy, the abundance of vegetation around them definitely wouldn't appear in the city center. This could only mean one thing: he had boarded the wrong bus.
Ho Fei-yu took out his phone to check his location, but as luck would have it, the GPS was lagging. He fiddled with it for a while, but it didn't get better, so he put the phone away.
An elderly lady was sitting right in front of him. He quietly asked her and learned that this was Bus Number 100. Only then did Ho Fei-yu realize that when he got on the bus, the two zeroes after the one were faintly visible. He hadn't seen it correctly.
His heart, which had just calmed down due to the rain, started to feel restless again.
"Whatever, let's just treat it as a trip." Ho Fei-yu comforted himself, his gaze refocusing on the window.
"..."
Two kilometers away from the bus stop where Ho Fei-yu planned to alight.
A girl, around fifteen or sixteen, sat quietly on the wooden bench of the bus shelter, her eyes closed and her head nodding slightly, seemingly dozing.
Her black, ear-length hair was damp from the rain. A few drops of water occasionally ran down the girl's fair, slick cheek and smooth neck onto her clothes.
The girl wore a white shirt on her upper body, with a red string tied into a beautiful bow at the collar, full of youthful vigor.
The raindrops had soaked the girl's shirt, revealing the white, delicate skin beneath. A purple bra was also exposed, inadvertently exuding temptation.
The girl's voluptuous thighs tightly clamped her black short skirt. Her full, rounded thighs also had many wet marks. Her small feet wore white calf socks paired with black leather shoes, making her look obedient and cute.
Overall, the girl was adorable and alluring. Perhaps due to being soaked by the rain, she possessed a seductive, wet-look allure, making one want to hold her close and aggressively take advantage of her.
Just then, "Patter, patter" footsteps splashing in the accumulated water sounded near the bus stop, waking the girl from her doze.
She raised her pitiful, pretty face and looked toward the sound. A middle-aged, overweight man was jogging through the rain toward the shelter.
"He's the same as me." The girl saw the chubby man approaching and realized that, like her, he was completely soaked by the sudden downpour. A look of shared misfortune appeared on her face.
"You're all wet," the girl said softly to the equally unfortunate chubby man, smiling.
"Ah... Sigh... Hmm." Eliseo Abe was taken by surprise to hear the girl's concerned voice beside him, but he quickly replied.
He had just finished work and was heading home for dinner, but the heavens didn't cooperate, and a continuous drizzle started. He dodged the rain along the way and finally found a place where he could both shelter from the rain and wait for the bus.
Unfortunately, he was completely soaked. Since this was the countryside, cold drafts frequently blew through, making him feel the chill pierce his skin.
"Do you mind using this?" He felt very cold even with his heavy frame, let alone the thin girl in front of him. Eliseo Abe took out his handkerchief and offered it to the girl.
"No, thank you." The girl shook her head and refused. There was a distinction between men and women, and she wouldn't easily accept it. Besides, the handkerchief in front of her was already soaking wet, so using it wouldn't make a difference.
However, the chubby man's gesture was quite heartwarming between strangers.
"Mister, what about you? Are you alright?" The girl looked at the chubby man, who was also wet, and reminded him, suggesting he should use it himself.
"You'll catch a cold if you stay wet like this," the girl reminded him again, seeing no reaction from the man.
"Ah?... Mhm!" Eliseo Abe felt the girl's concern and, thinking of his usual experiences, felt a long-lost warmth inside.
After speaking, the girl didn't continue. They were strangers, exchanging a few greetings. The girl's grandmother had always taught her, "A kind word warms three winter months; a harsh word hurts in the heat of summer." Offering concern warms both others and oneself.
The atmosphere grew silent, with only the sound of rain hitting the steel roof and the ground.
"Has it been thirty minutes already?" Eliseo Abe broke the silence first, as if testing the waters or wanting to hear the girl's gentle voice again.
He couldn't help but peek at the girl's snow-white thighs, looking at the wet marks on them, especially the way the rainwater traced her skin, revealing the girl's purity.
His heart couldn't help but pound a few times.
"The bus hasn't come for a long time..." The girl thought Eliseo Abe was asking why the bus hadn't appeared after so long.
"The driver occasionally takes a little nap at the roundabout~" The girl thought of something else, covered her mouth, and laughed softly.
Eliseo Abe heard the girl's clear and pleasant laughter, and his heart felt like it was melting. He keenly picked up on the meaning of the girl's words—scarcely populated... A wicked thought slowly began to rise in his heart, just waiting to bloom.
"I see."
"I didn't know it would rain today."
"Is your home... very far away?" Eliseo Abe seemed to be talking to himself, yet also gathering information.
"It takes an hour to get home."
"I really live in a secluded little place."
"Usually no one waits for the bus at this stop."
"It really is the countryside~" The girl saw that Eliseo Abe enjoyed talking and started to speak more freely, completely unaware of the greedy and lustful smile that appeared on Eliseo Abe's face when he heard, "Usually no one waits for the bus at this stop."
"So that's how it is." Eliseo Abe feigned calmness. He needed to wait a little longer, observe, and ensure nothing went wrong.
"Aren't you a local?" The girl asked, a little surprised.
"Ah... Yes, I'm here on a business trip from the Tokyo office."
"Oh, you came from Tokyo." A look of longing appeared on the girl's face.
The girl usually stayed in the countryside and only took the bus when going to school. It usually took an hour and a half to get to school, and sometimes up to two or three hours if her luck was bad.
She lived alone in the house her deceased grandmother left her, supported by alimony from her divorced parents. The most lavish city she had ever seen was the scenery she passed on the bus on her way to school. She truly longed for the legendary Tokyo.
The longing was only longing. It was reverence for a better life, not a descent into debauchery.
"Wealth cannot corrupt, poverty cannot sway, and power cannot bend." "Treat others kindly." These were the things her deceased grandmother had taught her since childhood, and Kokoro Aono always kept them in mind. Otherwise, with the girl's looks, becoming someone's mistress or being supported by a patron would be simple.
"Your work must be very hard."
"Ah, not really..."
"Do you have a family?" Kokoro Aono asked curiously, making small talk, seeing how old Eliseo Abe was.
"Ah, yes. A wife and a daughter."
"She's about your age."
"She used to be quite adorable." Eliseo Abe couldn't help but recall the past, remembering some unpleasant things. Seeing the girl in front of him overlap with his daughter in his memory, his inner rage and lust intensified, surging like a flood about to burst through a dam.
He couldn't help but look at the girl's fair neck again, finding it so beautiful, so alluring. Kokoro Aono's light pink lips made him want to suck on them.
"Now she doesn't listen to me at all."
"My wife barely pays attention to me either."
"At home, they completely dismiss me as a nuisance."
"Who do they think provides for them!" Eliseo Abe rambled on. The girl's fair skin slowly consumed his mind. Thinking of the mother and daughter at home made him even angrier.
"Say, no one is coming, right? Here!"
"Huh? Ah, yes..."
"It's always been this way." Even though Eliseo Abe's tone had become urgent and menacing, Kokoro Aono still didn't notice his abnormality.
And the girl's last sentence was the final straw, causing the cracked dam to be completely submerged by the flood.
"Hahahaha, since no one is coming, does that mean no one can save you?!" Eliseo Abe was no longer hiding his intentions. He wanted to vent. He wanted to brutally defile the girl in front of him. Now, his mind was only filled with lust. He didn't care what happened afterward, as long as he felt satisfied now.
"Huh? What's wrong with you?" Even if the girl was a little slow, she could sense that something was wrong from Eliseo Abe's words.
"What am I saying? Hahahaha, of course, I'm going to screw you! Hahahaha!" Eliseo Abe's face was now full of madness, completely undisguised. He looked at the girl two arm-lengths away, stood up with his fat body, and stretched out his greasy hand, ready to grab the girl's chest.
He was going to fondle this girl who looked like his daughter and vent the anger he had suffered from that mother and daughter!
"Stay away!" Seeing the man who had been friendly moments ago now looking like a hideous and greedy demon from hell, the girl was terrified. She backed away, her eyes scanning her surroundings, hoping someone would come to help her.
But when she thought of how desolate the surroundings were, she immediately lost hope. She regretted telling the seemingly kind but actually beastly chubby man the truth.
"Hahahaha!!!" Eliseo Abe watched Kokoro Aono's face change from horror to hope, and then from hope to despair. He felt immensely gratified. Like a cat playing with a mouse, the thrill of bullying the weak made him laugh out loud without restraint.
He was constantly bullied by that cursed mother and daughter at home, and at the company, too, the bootlicking manager had sent him to this godforsaken place on a business trip. But today, he had the opportunity to take a fair-skinned, beautiful female student! It was worth it!
Kokoro Aono heard Eliseo Abe's arrogant laughter and grew even more despairing. She stopped struggling and simply closed her eyes, waiting for the assault.
However, Kokoro Aono's slightly heaving chest showed how terrified the girl was at that moment.
"Hahaha, don't worry, no one is coming to save you." Eliseo Abe saw Kokoro Aono accept her fate and couldn't help but taunt her.
He felt slightly less enjoyment. He preferred the girl to fight back, and then he would brutally dominate her. The double blow to her body and mind would be more fun, allowing him to vent his desires more thoroughly.
"Oh? Is that so? I guess I'm not a person then."
A sudden, magnetic and deep voice made Eliseo Abe freeze in place. He slowly turned his stiff neck toward the source of the sound, where a tall figure stood not far away.