[Warning 15+]
Part Four
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 124
When Three Girls Get Together
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 124
When Three Girls Get Together
The Kirishima Residence is your typical wooden ranch-style house in Tsukinose, but by city standards, the thing is huge. No joke, the floor space is easily double what you'd get in a city apartment.
Still, with four people chippin' in, they managed to knock out the bulk of the cleanin' in less than an hour.
"Alright, that should do it."
Hayato let out a breath after he finished hangin' the bedsheets out in the yard.
Wipin' the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, Hayato headed back into the livin' room through the glass doors. Inside, with the AC cranked up, he caught Himeko lookin' like a puddle, just totally melted into the sofa.
While Hayato was givin' Himeko the look for a dozen different reasons, Saki came in from the kitchen with a tray of tea.
"Um, I used the bottled tea I brought, and I asked Himeko-chan if I could use the glasses... ...it might be a bit lukewarm, though..."
"Oh, thanks, Saki-chan~"
"Himeko... ...Murao-san, sorry for all the trouble."
Looks like those two finished their chores first, and Saki had gone ahead and fixed some tea.
Hayato gave Himeko the major side-eye, but she was still just a blob on the sofa.
When Hayato caught Saki's awkward grin, they both just ended up sharin' a dry laugh.
"Well, that's just Hime-chan for ya."
"...Good grief."
Hayato took the tea from Saki and downed it in one go. It was a bit lukewarm, but man, feelin' that moisture hit his parched throat and spread through his sweaty body felt amazing. "Phew," he let out a long breath.
Right then, it hit Hayato—Haruki was nowhere to be seen.
Haruki was supposed to be helpin' Himeko clean her room just a second ago. Where the heck did Haruki go?
"Himeko, where's Haruki?"
"Hmm, Haru-chan? Come to think of it, I haven't seen her. She's probably just wanderin' around somewhere, right?"
"...Wait, what?"
Hayato's shoulders gave a hard jolt. He was startin' to get a real bad feelin' about this.
Back in the day, Haruki used to hang out at the Kirishima Residence all the time. The floor plan hadn't really changed since then, either.
Suddenly, an image of a younger Haruki gleefully explorin' Hayato's room popped into his head.
"No way!"
"Big Bro...?"
"B-Big Bro...!?"
Hayato lost it and bolted straight for the second floor where his room was.
Hayato was gunnin' for the spot next to Himeko's room—the one they'd carved out of the attic.
Both Himeko and Saki were just standin' there with their jaws dropped at Hayato's sudden freak-out, but he didn't have time to give a d*mn.
"Haruki...!?"
"..."
Hayato ripped the door open.
Even with a few things missin', the room was pretty much exactly how Hayato'd left it before movin' to the city.
And right there, Hayato saw Haruki sittin' in a perfect seiza on the floor.
Haruki looked like she'd been waitin' for Hayato the whole time. But her face was totally blank.
And sittin' right there in front of Haruki for the whole world to see was a tall game case featurin' a gorgeous silver-haired girl and a bright blue sky.
The number "18" on the shiny sticker was practically screamin' at Hayato. ...Honestly, it wouldn't be weird for a boy his age to have one or two things like that in his room.
"..."
"..."
It was the middle of a scorchin' summer, but the air in the room was straight-up chillin'.
"Awkward" didn't even cover it.
Hayato's face twitched as a cold sweat started drippin' down his back.
Haruki flashed Hayato a totally fake-*ss smile and tapped the floor with her right hand. Pretty clear she was tellin' him to sit the hell down.
"Eh, look, about that..."
"Enishi no Sora, right?"
"Oh—yeah, that's Enishi no Sora."
"The original work of that late-night anime I used to watch—an eroge, isn't it?"
"W-Well, back when I was in school here, there was this boy who was obsessed with it, and he kinda just forced it on me..."
"So, did you play it?"
"No, I mean, eh..."
"For now, why don't we just have a seat?"
"...Okay."
Hayato plopped down like a suspect in a d*mn interrogation room. For some reason, he ended up in a perfect seiza without even thinkin' about it.
And there Hayato was, face-to-face with Haruki with an adult game sittin' right between 'em.
The air in the room was straight-up hostile.
Since the room was just a converted attic with a low-*ss ceilin', it felt like the walls were closin' in on 'em.
"...And?"
"...And?"
"I wonder which character was Hayato-kun's personal favorite?"
"E-Eh, look, Haruki-san...!?"
"The childhood buddy shrine maiden? The senpai? The rich young lady from class? Or maybe the little sis on the cover...? I wonder which one 'took care' of you the most?"
"Hold up, what kind of crazy question is that!?"
"Just answer it!"
"Like I'd ever tell you, moron!"
Even if it was just forced on him as a "recommendation," Hayato was still a healthy high school boy. It's not like he was uninterested in that kinda stuff.
Of course Hayato'd played it, and honestly, the story was good enough to get an anime. He'd cleared every single route, and yeah, he even had some favorite scenes—in more ways than one.
But there was no way in heck Hayato could tell Haruki that.
No matter how close they were as childhood buddies, Haruki was still a girl.
And a girl that Hayato actually thought was pretty d*mn cute, at that.
Hayato wanted to bolt out of there right then and there. But with Haruki flashin' that scary-*ss smile, he felt too pinned down to even move.
Cold sweat was pourin' down as Hayato's eyes darted around, lookin' for an out.
Right then, they heard the sound of footsteps stompin' up the stairs.
"Big Bro, Haru-chan, what's with all the yellin'?"
"Big Bro, Haruki-san, is everythin' okay~?"
"...Uh-oh."
Both Himeko and Saki popped their heads into the room, and their faces just went totally stone-cold.
Take one look at both Hayato and Haruki sittin' there in seiza with that "18+" game case featurin' a gorgeous girl between 'em, and it wasn't exactly rocket science to figure out what was goin' on.
Hayato's face went as white as a ghost.
Himeko gave her big bro (Hayato) the major side-eye and shared a knowin' nod with Haruki.
"Haru-chan, is this one of those dirty, NSFW things?"
"Yup, this is a total pervy, NSFW thing."
"...Look, as an understandin' little sis, I guess I get it. Big Bro is at that age, so it is what it is. Right, Saki-chan?"
"Wh-What!? Eh, well... ...so Big Bro's actually into that kinda stuff, huh..."
"No, wait, like I said, someone forced this on me, so give me a d*mn break―"
"But Himeko-san, Saki-san, the characters in this game―"
"Haruki―!!"
"Wugh!?"
In a total panic, Hayato reflexively grabbed a cushion and shoved it into Haruki's face right as she was about to spill the beans. Total reflex move.
But now, Haruki was starin' Hayato down with teary eyes from the surprise, Himeko was just sighin' in total disappointment, and Saki was just standin' there lookin' lost as heck. He was officially on the hot seat.
"I-I'm gonna go head out and grab some stuff for dinner, okay!?"
Unable to take the heat anymore, Hayato blurted out that excuse as he stood up and bolted out of the house.
Left in Hayato's wake, Haruki, Himeko, and Saki just looked at each other and let out a collective sigh with a dry laugh.
There was officially no reason left for 'em to be in that room.
But for some reason, nobody made a move to leave.
All three of 'em had their eyes glued to that game case.
"Welp, Hayato took off."
"Man, that's 'cause Haru-chan wouldn't stop teasin' Big Bro."
"U-Um, goin' too far is, well... ...y'know~..."
Even though they were sayin' all that, there was a restless vibe in the air.
Their eyes were totally lit up with curiosity.
"...So anyway, what's this game actually about?"
"Who knows? Haru-chan, is this thing famous? Do you know what's in it?"
"I only saw the anime, and people say it turned out way different from the original game, so as for the actual content..."
"...."
"...."
"...."
And then, they all shared a nod with expressions that looked low-key like they were accomplices in some kinda crime.
Author's Notes:
The release date is officially day-after-tomorrow.
Based on Part Two of the WN version, I've sharpened up the themes I wanted to hit and did some major rewrites and additions. Even the final stretch goes down differently, so this is definitely a must-read, especially if you've already checked out the WN version. Please give it a look!
Also, tomorrow—Wednesday, June 30th, 2021 at 8 PM—there's gonna be a YouTube Live on the K*dokawa Anime Channel called [Koono Hiyori and Hanai Miharu's Light Novel Party Talk!] featurin' VAs Koono Hiyori and Hanai Miharu!
Apparently, it's a totally new kind of live stream event where the hosts and the viewers share their thoughts on the last volume and just vibe together. Wait... ...I'm just copy-pastin' this as I write, but is this seriously a first-ever attempt!!? !? !? !? !?
....
Eh, yeah, so that's the deal.
It's a book readin' session, so I'd love it if you guys could tune in and drop a comment.
You catch my drift without me spellin' it out, right?
Yep, just like with your reviews, even a simple "Meow" is totally fine for the comments!
Meow!
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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Donations are very much appreciated.
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