But now, faced with this powerful female before him—one who could so easily hoist him into the air like a toy, with a gap in strength so vast it brought despair—a double oppression, both physical and psychological, rendered him utterly powerless.
It was as if even his own body had betrayed him in the face of this absolute disparity and primal fear.
Every bone and limb felt limp, unable to muster a single ounce of resistance, leaving only instinctive trembling and weakness.
[No… I can’t just… I have to escape… For Aina… and for myself…]
The thought of his beloved girlfriend, Aina Saiten—the one he loved and who loved him in return—flashed through his mind.
Remembering her warm smile and embrace, a faint but resolute light kindled once more in Kaoru Hoshitani’s eyes.
Bracing his nearly collapsed body, he summoned his willpower, struggling to stand and charge out of this suffocating, cramped, and sealed space.
Yet, his legs, still trembling and weak, simply couldn’t support him in this otherwise simple motion.
No matter how many times he tried, he slumped helplessly back down.
In the end, he could only move with humiliation and extreme awkwardness, propping himself up with his elbows and knees, dragging his limp limbs inch by inch—like a wounded animal desperately trying to escape its cage—pouring every bit of his strength into crawling toward that door symbolizing Freedom.
The coarse wooden floor scraped at his exposed knees and palms, sending sharp pain coursing through him, but he could no longer care.
Three meters…
That door felt impossibly far.
One meter…
Hope was within reach.
Half a meter…
He could even catch a faint whiff of the outside—a weak, elusive breath of Freedom wafting in through the gap beneath the door…
Just as his dust-covered, trembling hand, spent of its last ounce of strength, was about to touch the cold door—
Suddenly, a large, powerful hand—its joints distinct and brimming with strength—clamped down from behind like a pair of iron tongs, seizing his slender, fragile ankle with precision and unyielding force!
“Ah—!”
Kaoru Hoshitani let out a short, terrified scream.
The next moment, an overwhelming force surged from his ankle, effortlessly and brutally dragging his entire body away from the Hope Door that had been so close at hand.
He scratched futilely at the rough floor with his fingers, leaving behind a few faint, white marks, but nothing could stop his body from being hauled along the cold wooden planks, back into the warehouse—into that darker corner piled high with debris.
In an instant, hope shattered, replaced by an even deeper despair.
“Why are you running?”
Rika Kawasaki looked down at Kaoru Hoshitani, who was now curled up in the dim corner like a frightened little animal, shivering.
His eyes, glistening with unshed tears, were fixed on her, brimming with unmistakable hatred and fear.
Rika’s low voice, tinged with displeasure, echoed in the confined space, as if she truly couldn’t comprehend his resistance.
She truly didn’t understand. When they were kissing just moments ago, this man’s body had clearly reacted with honest, undeniable arousal—so why was he now acting like she was some monstrous threat, desperately trying to escape from her?
In her simple worldview, wasn’t the body’s reaction the most direct answer?
“Why am I running…?”
Kaoru Hoshitani was nearly incredulous at such a detached, almost absurd question from this woman, a bitter, mocking smile twisting his lips.
Lifting his tear-blurred face, his voice grew sharper with emotion and anger as he shot back:
“There’s a criminal, a rapist, standing right in front of me—so you tell me, why wouldn’t I run?!”
Rika Kawasaki was stunned by this sudden outburst from the man in her arms, her movements freezing for a split second.
In her own, somewhat twisted logic, she would never label her actions with such negative words as “force” or “violation.”
That didn’t fit with her identity as the Savior or with the desires she harbored deep inside.
To her, Kaoru Hoshitani should be like her—guided by primal instincts, harboring a nameless, burning desire for each other’s bodies.
Hadn’t his naïve yet genuine physical reaction moments ago already proven her guess? After all, she’d felt it herself—wasn’t that the clearest evidence?
Since they were clearly attracted to each other, both bodies speaking the same language, why was Kaoru now using such harsh, biting words—rejecting her so fiercely, saying things so cruel and wounding?
This contradiction left her confused, and then frustrated by the feeling of being “wronged” and misunderstood.
Rika Kawasaki’s sharply defined face, usually so cold, gradually darkened, like clouds gathering before a storm.
She’d never truly understood men—not in any deep or healthy way.
Even the little she knew was tainted by the warped views and prejudice she’d picked up from her parents’ failed marriage.
Now, faced with Kaoru Hoshitani’s unpredictable reactions, she felt an unprecedented impatience and defeat, as if confronted with a puzzle utterly devoid of logic.
That moment’s hesitation left her uncertain about whether she should continue.
After all, forcing a man to submit with absolute strength was something her pride as the strong could scarcely tolerate.
What she craved was conquest—making the other person willingly surrender—not simply taking what she wanted by force.
Just as Rika Kawasaki subconsciously twisted her neck—stiff and sore from the nearly ten minutes of passionate, deep kissing—trying to loosen up a little,
Out of the corner of her eye, she sharply caught sight of the small man trapped between her and the wall.
His flustered, darting gaze, despite his fear, seemed to be helplessly, almost secretly, drawn to her—especially as her movements made her proud feminine curves quiver ever so slightly.
That glance was as quick as a startled bird, but she saw it.
Truthfully, Kaoru Hoshitani couldn’t be blamed.
From a psychological and visual standpoint, things in motion naturally draw our attention.
When Rika Kawasaki moved her neck, the gentle ripple of smooth, sun-kissed skin along her graceful lines, at such close range, almost demanded his eyes follow, captivated by that burst of vitality.
Though it felt like he’d been scalded, Kaoru quickly turned his burning cheeks and gaze away, deliberately avoiding that maddening source of confusion.
Yet, in the midst of his heightened nerves and the unfamiliar rush of sensations, his body kept heating up, his mouth growing dry. Unable to resist, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard.
The faint “gulp” echoed with striking clarity in the tense silence.
“You… seem to like this, don’t you?”