"Delicate: Your fragility makes people want to protect you!"

  "..."

  Ryuji stared at the effect of the talery, utterly speechless.

  He had to admit that when Miko was terrified by some supernatural entity, she did indeed loile and in need of prote. But if such a talent were applied to him, it would be airely different story.

  There was no way he was going to use this talent. It would be buried deep in the system's archives, o see the light of day.

  At that moment, the system, which had been silent for a while, chimed in.

  "If the host has a talery they do not want, it be deposed for points."

  "Deposition?"

  Ryuji raised an eyebrow. He didn't even know that tion.

  Curious, he asked, "Hooints I get for deposing this greery?"

  Up until now, he hadn't known how to earn points, but it seemed deposing unwaaleries was one way to do it.

  "Ten points."

  Ryuji blinked in disbelief. "Ten points?! It takes a hundred points to get a greery, and deposing it only gives me ten?!"

  He shook his head in frustration. "You're worse than a bck-hearted capitalist!"

  The system remained silent, no defense for its questionable exge rate.

  "Fine, whatever. Ten points are better than nothing, I guess."

  "Depose it," Ryuji anded.

  With that, the Delicate entry was removed, and his score finally ticked up from zero. At least he had something now, even if it wasn't much.

  Ten points were enough to draw a white entry, but given how useless the greery had been, he wasn't too eager to find out what kind of garbage a white entry would offer. He'd hold onto the points for now.

  ---

  "Ryuji?" Miko's soft voiterrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to the present.

  "Hm?" Ryuji turo look at her, shaking off his internal monologue.

  "Are you okay?" she asked, a bit of in her voice. She had called his name several times before he had snapped out of his daze.

  "Yeah, I'm fine," Ryuji replied with a smile, shaking his head lightly. "I was just lost in thought, feeling lucky to be holding my girlfriend so early in the m. It distracted me for a sed."

  "No way!" Miko excimed, her face turning red with embarrassment. She lowered her head, her cheeks burning, while Ryuji just smiled at her rea. Watg her shy expressions always made him feel a little greedy for more of these moments.

  Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, Ryuji leaned down and whispered in Miko's ear, "I have something I want to show you."

  "Here?" Miko whispered back, flustered. They were outside, after all, and anyone could walk by at any moment.

  "Don't worry, I checked. There's no one around," Ryuji assured her with a mischievous grin.

  "Okay..." Miko nodded, uo resist her boyfriend's charm. She didn't want to refuse him. Ryuji's hands finally moved around her waist, the warmth of his touch sending a shiver down her spine, he moved slowly and teasingly, but he kept things gentle, respeg her boundaries. After all, he khis was about as much as Miko could handle for now.

  By the time they ehe siko's face was still flushed, her mind repying the tender moment they'd just shared. Ryuji, now tent with their little exge, simply held her hand as they walked.

  "See you!"

  Suddenly, a familiar voice called out.

  "Hana !" Miko smiled, turning to greet her best friend, Yurikawa Hana. But the smile quickly faded from her face wheiced something horrifying. A massive creature, something only visible to those with spiritual awareness, was following closely behind Hana, its eyes locked on her, yet keeping a certain distance.

  Hana, pletely unaware of the entity, happily approached her friends, chatting away as if nothing was wrong.

  Miko's heart skipped a beat. She had seen spirits and strange creatures many times before, but seeing ohis close to someone she cared about always filled her with dread.

  Ryuji noticed Miko's sudden tension aly squeezed her hand to reassure her.

  "Don't worry, I've got this," Ryuji whispered calmly, his words instantly soothing Miko's nerves. He had already proven tless times that he could hahese supernatural threats.

  Ryuji himself had been a bit surprised when he first saw the creature. But once he realized it was targeting Yurikawa Hana, he uood what was going on.

  In the anime, Hana unknowingly possessed an innate spiritual power that naturally attracted spirits and strange beings. However, this same power also protected her, injuring any supernatural entity that got too close. As a result, maies would try tet her, only to be repelled without her even knowing.

  Hana was pletely oblivious to the creature that followed her, thinking she was just a girl with an unusually strong appetite. Her spiritual energy would often drain, leaving her hungry, which expined why she always o eat more than others.

  "Time to get rid of this thing," Ryuji muttered.

  "Soul Dev!"

  Several s shot out from the air behind Ryuji, glowing with the pale blue light of his spiritual energy, and ed tightly around the creature stalking Hana.

  The creature, which had been fixated on its target, didn't even have time to react before the s bound it, yanking it into the air.

  "You!"

  The creature thrashed and tried to resist, but it was no match for Ryuji's overwhelming power. In mere moments, it was dragged into the dark void created by the s, vanishing from existence.

  "Burp!"

  Ryuji let out a satisfied beld smiled to himself. "Ah, nothing like a good meal in the m. Is there anythier than this?"

  Miko, who had watched the whole thing unfold, looked at Ryuji with deep gratitude in her eyes. Once again, he had protected her and the people she cared about.

  Meanwhile, Hana remained blissfully unaware of the danger she had just escaped. Seeing Miko and Ryuji standing together, hand-in-hand, Hana's eyes lit up iement.

  "Miko!" she excimed, rushing over. "Wait, are you two…?"

  Before she could finish, Miko, feeling shy and scious of the many students around them, quickly covered her friend's mouth.

  "Keep it down!" Miko whispered, her face turning red as she gnced around, hoping no one had overheard.

  Hana blinked and nodded in uanding, her expression apologetic. After Miko let go, she immediately leaned in closer, her voice hushed but full of curiosity. "Are you two dating?"

  Even though it was a bit embarrassing to admit it in front of her best friend, Miko couldn't lie. With a small, nervous nod, she whispered, "Y-yeah… Ryuji-kun is my boyfriend now."

  Hana's eyes sparkled with excitement. "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!" she said, barely able to tain her enthusiasm.

  Miko blushed even harder, feeling a mix of embarrassment and happiness.

  "Well," Ryuji said with a grin, "it's o meet Miko's best friend properly."