Chapter Five

The Work Visit

The sky was cloudy and dreary that day.

Naoya stood at the train station’s ticket gate and sighed. “Wonder if she’s doing okay?” he pondered out loud to himself.

It had been a week since they went on their incredibly eventful, heart-pounding date, and they’d been getting along better than ever... until yesterday, that is.

The train arrived, and passengers soon began to flood through the ticket gate. A distinct head of silver stood out from the rest of the crowd.

Naoya raised his hand and called out to her, “Morning, Shirogane!”

Koyuki reacted somewhat strangely to his greeting. At first, her face tensed up in a grim expression, but her cool smile quickly returned. “Good morning, Sasahara,” she replied in a reserved voice.

Naoya blinked in surprise at her uncharacteristic response. He had been expecting her adorably venomous tongue. Perhaps a quip like, “You’re here to meet me again? Could you be any more desperate? You’re already completely whipped, I see.” Something wasn’t quite right here—he could tell something was bothering her, but she wasn’t being honest with herself about it.

“Did you read the thing I gave you yesterday?” Naoya asked in a small voice.

Koyuki made a strange noise, then burst into tears while throwing herself dramatically into Naoya’s chest. He was stunned by her actions; at the same time, however, he couldn’t help but notice her warmth and sweet scent. He felt a strong urge to wrap his arms around her and only managed to hold himself back by the knowledge that it was neither the time nor place to do so. Dirty looks were being shot their way from students and adults alike:

“A lover’s quarrel? School hasn’t even started yet. God...”

“Oh, to be young again...”

“Fucking normies.”

Naoya gently—and very reluctantly—placed his hands on Koyuki’s shoulder and pried her away from him, making sure to keep her at arm’s length. “Uh, why don’t we just try calming down a little, okay?”

“Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down?!” She yelled as she frantically rummaged through her bag. When she found what she was looking for—the thing Naoya had given her the day before—she whipped it out and added, “Why did Fran have to die?! I don’t get it!”

“Ahhh...” Naoya sighed. He had guessed that might be the case.

It had all started yesterday.

※※※

On their way home, Koyuki had mentioned that she wanted to go to a bookstore. Naoya agreed—he had been meaning to stop by one, as well—so they headed to one near the station together.

“That’s what you wanna buy, Sasahara?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

Naoya peered down at the book he was holding, which was currently the subject of Koyuki’s glares. It was the latest volume of a light novel series he kept up with: To the End of the Other World. The cover featured a cast of colorful-haired girls clad in skimpy armor and cartoonishly large weapons. It was a fairly standard fantasy series where the protagonist was transported to another world—the type that was a dime a dozen recently.

Koyuki continued her pointed stare at the book and said, “Sakuya likes those types of books. They’ve got... l-lewd pictures and stuff in them, right?”

“Yeah, I can’t deny that.”

“I guess you are a boy after all,” Koyuki murmured with a grave nod to herself, as if accepting some terrible truth.

Naoya could tell she was obviously starting to form the wrong idea, so he quickly attempted to explain himself. “Nah, that’s not it. The lewd stuff isn’t the main appeal at all—the story’s great. It’s even got a manga adaptation and everything. It’s pretty popular right now.”

“But I thought—”

“Sometimes, the girls do show a bit of skin in the illustrations, but that’s pretty much it,” he assured her. Overall, there wasn’t really much in terms of fanservice. Naoya had even heard that the title had a pretty sizable female readerbase.

He also knew that words alone wouldn’t do much to alleviate the current situation, which was why he decided to skip directly to his last resort. “Well, I always say ‘don’t knock it until you try it.’ I’ll lend you the first volume. Here, I’ve got it in my bag.”

“Fine, but if it’s all just smut, I’m not reading it.”

“It’s not, but you can stop whenever you want. Just give it a shot.”

Koyuki seemed even more skeptical with the book in her hands; however, Naoya knew that the misunderstanding would soon resolve itself.

That first volume is kind of a tearjerker, though. I hope she’ll be okay... he mused to himself, the memory of her ugly crying over a kid’s anime in a crowded theater still fresh in his mind.

※※※

And, just as he had feared, the scene unfolding in front of him was much like what had occurred during their date.

Koyuki made several futile attempts to piece her thoughts together through loud sobs. “I-I really liked it, a-and it was really good! Th-there were lewd parts, b-but, but... why did Fran have to die?!”

“Oh yeah, that hit me hard, too...” Naoya replied flatly, his eyes dead as he attempted to calm the weeping Koyuki. He chose not to bring up the fact that Fran ended up returning in a subsequent volume.

Naoya walked side-by-side with Koyuki all the way to school. Although he expected her to calm down by the time they arrived, he was proven very wrong.

“I think I might’ve been too hard on light novels... I’m sorry,” she sputtered through tears.

“Oooh, so you finally admit it,” he replied. He hadn’t expected the book to leave this much of an impression on her.

“I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions about you being a fan of perverted books. That was rude of me...”

“Ah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Naoya assured her with a smile. He purposefully failed to mention that he had only given her that specific book because it wasn’t one of the more male-oriented books he usually read. He owned some pretty extreme romcoms that he didn’t think he could ever show her—he was a growing boy, after all.

“The story was fantastic. I loved watching Fran grow more comfortable with the protagonist as the book went on... I should’ve known that she wasn’t going to make it...” she gave her impressions in a shaky voice.

“Yeah...” Naoya replied vaguely, trying his hardest to avoid spoiling anything for her. It was interesting that she liked the character that seemed aloof and icy at first, but slowly thawed over the course of the story—perhaps she could sympathize because they weren’t so different from one another.

“So are you gonna read the second volume?” he asked. “I brought it with me just in case you wanted to—”

“Thanks, but I’m already halfway through it,” Koyuki replied as she reached into her bag and produced the book in question. “Sakuya actually has the whole series. I guess that’s to be expected, though.”

“Sakuya really does have good taste, doesn’t she?” Naoya remarked approvingly. It turned out that their date chaperone was something of an otaku.

Koyuki looked down, caressed the cover with a bright smile, and said, “Hehe, I think I’m gonna read some during recess and then try to finish it after school. Do you wanna talk about it then, maybe?”

“Oh yeah, sur—oh wait, sorry. I can’t. I’ve got work today,” Naoya stopped himself. He hadn’t realized it was Friday, the day he worked at his part-time job.

“Oh... That’s too bad. I thought we could have a nice chat,” she muttered, her eyes cast down at the book in her hands.

No man could resist that expression, and Naoya was no exception. He clapped his hands together and proposed, “Okay, let’s do this—why don’t you come hang out at my work? That way, we can talk as much as we want.”

“Oh, no—I don’t wanna get in the way. Won’t that bother the customers?”

“Nah, it won’t be an issue at all. The boss pretty much runs the place as a hobby,” Naoya answered. He worked at a modest bookstore that didn’t exactly bring in many customers and did even less in terms of deliveries. It didn’t turn a profit, really—the boss only really used the job to give some structure to their life.

“Hm, your boss sounds like a strange person,” Koyuki commented suspiciously.

“Yeah, if I had to describe them...” Naoya agreed, trailing off while his boss’s face came into focus in his mind. “I guess I’d have to say they’re like an older sister figure to me.”

Koyuki’s face hardened, but was quickly replaced by a thin smile. “Okay, let’s go. I’m really looking forward to it now.”

“Shirogane, I didn’t mean it like that. There’s nothing like that going on between us,” he hastily added. He immediately understood the sort of misunderstanding he had just caused, so he attempted to nip it in the bud as quickly as possible.

“Are they married? Do they have a boyfriend?” she asked.

“No, but—”

“Then I’m coming.”

“You’re the only one I want, Shirogane...”

“That might be how you feel, but we don’t know what they want, do we?” she huffed angrily before storming off ahead of him.

Agh, she sure likes to jump to conclusions. It’s fine, though. She’ll understand when she meets them, he attempted to placate himself. Knowing that any further explanation would simply fall upon deaf ears, Naoya quickened his pace so he could catch up to Koyuki.

※※※

As promised, once school was over, Naoya took Koyuki to his place of work—a small used book store tucked away in a corner of the shopping district. It was a detached house sandwiched between a convenience store and an apartment building that had a sign out front which read, Akaneya Used Books.

The store would open faithfully on weekdays from 10:00AM–5:00PM. It boasted a single formidable bookshelf which adorned one of its walls. On it was a wide array of books—from western novels to technical manuals—packed tightly together. There was also a counter, and if one continued behind it, they would be met with a sizable Japanese-style room.

A husky voice that was all too familiar to Naoya’s ears came from the room. “Wow, she is way cuter than I was expecting, Sasahara! It’s so nice to meet you!”

“Y-You too,” Koyuki sputtered. She sat upright, her posture prim and proper, across from a person she didn’t recognize. Her face had an unusual expression on it as she stared at the stranger.

Naoya spoke casually. “So yeah, she’s going to be hanging out here today, if that’s okay?”

“Of course. This job is pretty relaxed. Plus, who wouldn’t be happy to have customers that look like her around?” his boss giggled. They were certainly attractive and well put together. With their thin cardigan, tidy, skinny trousers, and dark-indigo hair trailing over their shoulder in a loose ponytail, they were the picture-perfect representation of an “older sister.”

They sat across from Naoya and Koyuki and introduced themselves with a smile. “I’m Kirihiko Akaneya. Glad you could come today!”

“Th-Thank you,” Koyuki answered awkwardly.

Naoya popped a cookie in his mouth and shrugged his shoulders. “See? There's definitely nothing going on between me and Kirihiko, Shirogane.”

“Yep. I like girls, despite how I look,” Kirihiko added, completely nonplussed while they sipped on some tea.

Kirihiko had been born male. Although Naoya wasn’t entirely clear on what gender they identified as, they had always been a good person to him, and Naoya didn’t particularly care about much more than that.

“I’m not gonna go anywhere near him, Koyuki. Don’t you worry. I like keeping this place nice and clean, after all,” Kirihiko assured Koyuki.

“I-I wasn’t worried about anything. Don’t make such brash assumptions, please,” Koyuki grumbled, averting her eyes. “D-Do you really not like him?”

“Yeah,” they answered. “We’re distant relatives, and I’ve known him since he was in elementary school. He’s basically my little brother.”

Koyuki was visibly relieved by Kirihiko’s answer. Their lips grew into an impish grin before they said, “There’s nothing to worry about, Koyuki. I won’t steal your boyfriend.”

“B-Boyfriend?!” Koyuki instantly stiffened up, her tea cup rattling in her hands.

Kirihiko turned toward Naoya and continued, “So don’t hold out on me—just how did you manage to meet a total cutie like her?”

“Didn’t I tell you already? She was getting harassed by a guy out front, and I helped her out.”

“Ooh, what a nice setup!” they crooned. “It’s like something out of a romcom. So how long have you two been seeing each other? I’m gonna guess a month based on how naive you both look.”

“We’re not dating!” Koyuki all but screamed.

Kirihiko’s eyes widened, and they asked, “You’re not? You’re kidding, right?”

“Well, we’re not going out yet, to be honest,” Naoya replied.

“‘Yet,’ huh? I like it. It’s got a real youthful, innocent feel to it!” Kirihiko exclaimed with an approving smile.

Koyuki’s face quickly turned crimson, and she began to mumble to herself. Perhaps it was because she was in a stranger’s house, but her tongue didn’t seem to be quite as sharp today—instead, she chose to simply glare at Naoya from behind her cup. “Sasahara, aren’t you supposed to be at the counter? You know, working?” she pointed out.

“Nah, it’s fine. No one comes here anyway,” he replied casually.

“Exactly,” Kirihiko added. “Sometimes, Yui and Tatsumi visit, and we all hang out, drink tea, and play games... but that’s about it.”

Although Yui and Tatsumi weren’t employees at the store like Naoya was, they would come visit and spend the day once a month or so. Like Naoya, the couple had known Kirihiko for a long time, and so the book store was kind of like a clubroom to them.

As Koyuki listened to them, her eyes hardened. She turned to Naoya and asked, “Sasahara, can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“I think it’s important to work for a living, but from what I’ve just heard, it sounds like this is just a place for you and your friends to laze around and do nothing. As far as I’m concerned, you’re basically taking advantage of your poor boss’s kindness.”

“Whoa, I was not expecting that!” Naoya shouted. She did make a good point, however, so he scrambled to explain the situation to her. “Well, I guess you could say I’m kind of like a house maid?”

“What?” she replied, dumbfounded.

“Yeah. Kirihiko’s actually a writer, that’s their main job. But because of that, they don’t really have any life skills.”

“Too true. I can’t even cook—I just end up burning everything until it looks like a charred corpse,” Kirihiko casually added. And it wasn’t limited to just cooking either—they couldn’t even wash dishes or do laundry. Contrary to their polished, prim appearance, they were pretty much a slovenly mess. Looks could certainly be deceiving.

“So most of what I end up doing here is housework. Actually running the store comes second to that,” Naoya summarized.

“Oh... I’m sorry for getting the wrong idea again.”

“No worries. It’s really respectable that you would worry about something like that, to be honest,” Naoya replied with a smile. Admitting you were wrong was no easy feat, so he was pleased that Koyuki had been comfortable enough to express her honest feelings, then admit her error.

“Ah, come on guys—ease off each other a little. You’re making me miss my youth,” Kirihiko sighed morosely.

Koyuki, as if suddenly reminded of their presence, became bashful, “Y-You said you have another job. Are you sure I won’t get in the way of that?”

“I’m all good on that front. My deadline was yesterday,” Kirihiko replied, waving Koyuki’s concerns away with a flap of their hand.

Up until very recently, Kirihiko’s house had looked like a bombsite. Whenever Naoya had visited, he’d found the author glued to their computer, sweaty and unshaven. They must’ve gotten properly dressed because they heard I was bringing a girl over, Naoya mused to himself.

Kirihiko didn’t notice Naoya’s stare as they leaned over the table and took Koyuki’s hand. “So I’ve got all the time in the world today! We can gossip, gossip, and gossip some more, Koyuki!”

“I-I guess we can,” Koyuki nodded uncomfortably. She was a shy girl at the best of times, and Naoya could easily tell she’d never been around a person like Kirihiko before. Sensing that she was reaching her limit, he extended a figurative helping hand.

“You know, Kirihiko. I actually brought Shirogane here for a reason,” he informed them.

“Really? So you're not just here to show off your new girlfriend.”

“I’m not his girlfriend...” Koyuki protested.

“You’re not wrong, but...” Naoya trailed off as he rummaged through his bag in search of something. He finally found what he was looking for—the first volume of To the End of the World—and pulled it out. “Shirogane absolutely loved the first volume, and it seems she wants to read the second one now.”

Kirihiko didn’t reply—instead, their face hardened into a serious expression.

The sudden silence appeared to make Koyuki uncomfortable, as she quickly stuttered, “I-It’s fine, though. I can read it anyti—”

Kirihiko silently rose to their feet, interrupting Koyuki’s attempt to fill the silence in the room. They walked toward the door before suddenly turning back and giving the two not-lovebirds a thumbs up. “I’m gonna go out for a bit! Make sure you get some reading done, Koyuki. You’ll get the housework done, right, Naoya?”

“Will do. Stay safe,” Naoya said as he watched Kirihiko exit the store dramatically.

As soon as they had left, Koyuki began to panic. “Oh no! I didn’t mean to make them leave!”

“It’s fine, they need to get out of the house more anyway,” Naoya assured her as he smiled to himself—his plan to get Kirihiko to leave had worked. “If you leave them alone, they won’t go outside for a whole month. They probably wouldn’t even know what season it is after a while.”

“They’re a hermit, then...”

“Pretty much. I’m here to stop them from getting totally sucked into that lifestyle.”

“You’re kinda like a mom in your own way,” Koyuki pointed out. She pondered her observation for a moment before she realized what she had just been given the opportunity to do. As she grabbed her second volume of To The End of the World from her bag, she asked, “So I can start reading now? To be honest, I stopped at a really good part...”

“Sure. I’ll be out front. Just call me if you need me.”

“Got it. Thanks,” Koyuki nodded and opened the book. Contrary to how she normally was, she was being very open with her feelings and desires today.

I love it when she gets all embarrassed and stuff, but damn—her cuteness levels go up a stage when she’s just being herself, he admired. He turned to head toward the kitchen, a dumb smile plastered across his face. He was about to place his hand on the sliding door when he reached a profound realization and froze in place—Kirihiko lived alone and didn’t own any pets. Me and Shirogane are alone in this house...

---

---

It was just him and her, the girl he liked, under one roof. And with this acknowledgement came the incredibly conscious awareness of Koyuki’s presence—the sound of her breathing, the flipping of pages in her book. These subtle noises suddenly became as loud as a pachinko parlor in the silence of the empty house.

Self control, Naoya, self control. She’s reading right now. Don’t bother her, Naoya mentally chided himself, surprised by his own carnal desires. He closed the sliding door behind him and then slapped himself lightly on the cheek. “All right, it’s time to work.”

As Naoya had explained to Koyuki earlier, his job was taking care of Kirihiko’s chores. Tending to cleaning and laundry was obvious, but his job included cooking, as well. He normally stopped by two-to-three times a week and cooked a number of easy meals that Kirihiko could eat while he was gone.

He put on an apron and got to work. Kirihiko’s place was the typical old public house, the only difference being that the kitchen had been renovated and sported a clean and modern integrated style.

To start, he tackled the dishes that Kirihiko had allowed to pile up. Then he took stock of the spices and ingredients in the kitchen. This allowed him to mentally compile a small menu of the meals he would be making.

“Hmm... I can make braised burdock roots with carrots and then komatsuna—mustard spinach—stew. Maybe some sliced daikon radish after that. We’re almost out of soy sauce, so I’ll get Kirihiko to buy some for me,” Naoya noted out loud. With that, he quickly prepped all the vegetables and texted Kirihiko.

Almost immediately, he received a response. “Roger Dodger☆,” the text read. Kirihiko’s icon was a plump pancake dish, which always gave Naoya the vague feeling that he was speaking to a teenage girl.

Naoya was about to resume his cooking when he received another message. “I was all brave and left my humble abode today, so do me a favor—don’t go getting down and dirty in my house, okay?”

“As if we were actually planning that!” Naoya quickly replied. With his message of denial sent, he squatted down in the kitchen, his head in his hands. He was just a normal highschool boy. Although he had spent a lot of time with Koyuki recently, this was the first time they’d been alone together in an enclosed space—it was only obvious that he’d be overly conscious of it.

“That’s right, this exact situation cropped up in a romcom I read recently. What did the protag do?” Naoya thought out loud to himself as he forced his stalled brain into action. He tried his hardest to recall the plot. It found the protagonist alone in a house with the heroine. What had happened then? Ah, that’s right—the heroine had embraced the protagonist and softly declared, “You can do whatever you want to me...”

“It’s way too early for that!” Naoya yelped, shaking his head in an attempt to clear his mind. To make matters worse, the heroine’s voice had been perfectly replaced in Naoya’s mind with Koyuki’s. He wasn’t specifically against anything physical happening, but he knew his mind and body couldn’t take it. Naoya shook his head once again so as to cast off his impure thoughts. “Control yourself, Naoya. She’s not even that kind of girl anyway.”

There was no way she was going to come clean with her feelings right now, let alone actually throw herself at him. Although he was admittedly slightly disappointed by that realization, he decided to put all that aside for the time being. It was best to occupy his mind with work—both for his safety and hers.

He was just about to start on the first dish when he was interrupted by a small voice calling out from behind him. “Sasahara?”

“Wagh!” Naoya practically jumped up with a strange, strangled yelp. As he whirled around to face her, he found himself thinking, There's no way... She’s not actually going to that...

Koyuki stood there, the same as ever. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity while she looked at the vegetables on the counter.

“Sh-Shirogane? Do you need something?” he managed to choke out.

“Not in particular. I’m halfway through the book, so I’m just taking a break,” she answered calmly. She pointed at the vegetables and asked, “Other than that, are you making something? Can you cook?”

“Well, just as much as everyone else can, I guess...”

“Whoa! That’s awesome.”

“It’s really not anything impressive,” Naoya replied with an awkward smile at her praise. She really was only there to take a break. Her pure, innocent excitement—especially when compared to Naoya’s current licentious thoughts—stabbed him in the heart like a knife.

“I think I’ve mentioned this before, but my parents are overseas. I’m living alone right now, so I kind of need to be able to fend for myself, you know,” he explained. Before his mother had left, she’d taught him the basics of cooking. He’d also managed to work out a lot more by himself through trial and error. Although he did buy ready-made meals from time to time, he tended to cook dinner for himself and had the leftovers for lunch.

Koyuki appeared very surprised by this development. “So the stuff you eat for lunch is your own cooking?!”

“Yeah. I’m not really any good, though. Like, I was just gonna make something really simple with these vegetables here...” he faltered.

“That’s still really impressive. Are you doing that thing protagonists do where they’re super modest all the time?”

“You got that one from Sakuya, didn’t you?”

“Obviously.”

“Thought so.” Naoya wondered what the conversations that went on in that household were like.

A short silence occurred, during which Koyuki continued to glance around the room distractedly. Finally, she pointed at the vegetables and asked, “Hey, can I help?”

“Nah. I’m fine, thanks. You’re pretty much a customer here anyway.”

Koyuki snorted lightly and smiled. “Sasahara, since I’m well aware of how much of an airhead you are, I’m just making sure you’re doing your job properly. You should be grateful.”

“You’re just trying to make it seem like you know how to cook because you think that’s what women should be able to do, right?” Naoya asked pointedly.

“Uh, no. I never said that, did I? And why exactly would I care about showing off to you?” Koyuki declared loudly before she withdrew into herself. “When did I say I was bad at cooking, actually? How did you know...?”

“I mean, I could pretty much tell just by looking,” he replied. Her obvious unease around knives told the whole story.

Still, what should I do? I’m happy that she wants to help, but having her so close to me is not good for my heart right now, Naoya pondered to himself.

Koyuki poked her fingers together and sadly whispered, “I’m not good at cooking, so if I’m just gonna be in the way, I’ll leave.”

“No,” Naoya stated. His immediate and short reply made Koyuki’s face light up. How could he deny her when she acted like that? He handed her a handful of carrots and a peeler. “If you could peel these, that'd be great. Think you can handle it?”

“Y-Yeah. I’m not good with knives, but I’ve at least done this before,” Koyuki responded with a resolute nod and lined up next to Naoya. She was a bit clumsy, but she worked diligently.

As Naoya observed her, he found himself thinking, It’s kinda strange that she’s not more nervous right now. I mean, not that anything’s going to happen, but still...

Suddenly, he reached another epiphany. “She still hasn’t noticed,” he blurted out loud.

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing at all. Watch your hands, by the way,” he instructed with a bright smile. Okay. Now I just need to keep it that way. Everything would be fine as long as he was the only one freaking out. He knew he wouldn’t do anything, but he also didn’t want her jumping to the wrong conclusion.

“By the way, Sasahara, there’s something I wanna ask,” she spoke up.

“Yes, uh, whatever is the problem?”

“Why are you being so weird?” Koyuki noted with a puzzled expression. “Anyway... You’d prefer a girl who can cook, right?”

“Huh?” Naoya blurted. The question had caught him completely off guard. Still, he perceived the correct course of action quickly, and he took it. “Well, I don’t really mind if you’re good or bad at cooking—I still like you either way.”

“I wasn’t talking about me! It was a hypothetical question!” She yelled before quickly deflating again. “Still, guys like girls who make them home made lunches and stuff, don’t they?”

“Well, yeah, that does sound pretty nice,” he admitted. Having a pretty girl bashfully handing over a homemade lunch was every young man’s dream. “But everyone’s got their strengths and weaknesses, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You have so many other great points, after all.”

“Back to the cringey lines with a completely straight face, I see. And don’t get the wrong idea—I can’t stand it when people give spineless non-answers like that. But anyway, you do want handmade lunches, huh? Interesting,” she spat with her usual vigor until she went silent. After a few seconds, she smiled as though she had settled on something. “Fine. I’m gonna study cooking and make you an awesome lunch one day. It’s just to flaunt my amazing abilities, though, got it?”

“That sounds great. Please do.”

“Fine. If you want it so bad, I’ll have you begging on the ground for it. Might even make you lick my feet while I’m at it.”

“Can I actually do that?” he asked.

“Um, no.” Her fearless smile disappeared.

Naoya’s brain had gone into overdrive. Improper thoughts raced to and fro inside his head, so he decided to take refuge in the repetitive work of slicing vegetables. After a moment, he smiled and offered, “If you wanna learn how to cook, I could teach you. You could come here and help me out whenever I cook for Kirihiko.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad, but won’t I be in the way?”

“Nah. Kirihiko was pleased to have you here, right? Plus, they live alone, so they like it when the house is a bit busy.”

“Oh, okay then. Maybe next time, I’ll bring som—'' Koyuki stopped mid sentence, freezing in the middle of peeling vegetables. Naoya gave her a quizzical look. “You just said that they live alone, right?”

“Uhh, yeah...?”

“Meaning that right now...” she trailed off, her face turning a bright shade of red. When it finally reached the color of a boiled octopus, she continued her sentence. “We’re alone in this house together.”

“That would seem to be the case, yes.”

She’d finally realized it. Her shoulders shook for a moment before she bolted over to the farthest wall, putting as much distance between herself and Naoya as possible.

Obviously, Naoya’s feelings were quite hurt by her actions. “I’m, uh, not gonna do anything. You don’t have to run away, okay?” he tried to reassure her.

“B-But...” she stammered in a thin, high-pitched voice. “Sakuya told me that all men turn into wolves when they manage to get you alone!”

“What kinda prejudice is that?!”

“So that was all a lie?” she asked, seemingly relieved at his denial of Sakuya’s words. “So you hold no desire to do anything lewd right now? That’s good to hear.”

“Uh, well, I mean... Well, you see... Yeah, no desire at all. None.”

“You don’t sound very confident!” she shouted.

He didn’t want to lie to her; if he had said there was no carnal desire in his heart, then that would most certainly have been a lie. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the testicular fortitude to be honest with her at this juncture. As it turned out, his averted eyes gave him away regardless.

“I knew it! You wanna do all the things that Sakuya showed me in those books!”

“Please, this is all just a big misunderstanding! And what kind of books is Sakuya showing you anyway?!”

“Quit trying to get me to say lewd things, you pervert!”

“I dunno—it sounds like you’re more of an expert in this field than me!” Seriously, what kind of conversations were these sisters having in their house? Naoya paused, knowing he would make no progress like this. He took a deep breath and continued, “Look, let’s just calm down. I don’t plan on doing anything lik—”

A sharp pain suddenly jolted through his finger. He looked down and saw a trickle of blood leaking from a nick on his finger. He must’ve dropped his knife during the commotion. “Ow...”

“Oh my god—are you okay?!” she cried. Although she had been cowering in a corner just a moment ago, she immediately rushed over to him and looked at his finger. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! What should we do?! Is this my fault?!”

“Nah, it’s okay. Don’t worry. It’s nothing serious,” He simply needed to run it under the tap for a while, stick a bandaid on it, and that would be the end of it.

As he was about to do that, Koyuki grasped his finger and stuck it in her mouth. She sucked on it, looking up at him with puppy eyes, and asked, “Are phu alphright?”

Words failed him. Finally, he barely managed to contain himself enough to sputter, “Y-You really are more lewd than me...”

Still, his finger no longer hurt.

※※※

An hour had passed since then.

“I’m baaack!” a voice called out.

“Hi. Welcome back.”

“What’s with the atmosphere in here? Did something happen?” Kirihiko asked.

Something must have tipped them off—perhaps it was the fact that Naoya and Koyuki were sitting silently at opposite sides of the room, facing away from each other with matching crimson expressions. Kirihiko’s face was vacant for a moment, then a teasing smile crept across their features.“Naoya, I thought I told you no illicit relations in the house.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Naoya protested.

“Hm, I see.”

“Why did I do that?” Koyuki grumbled to herself. She was suffering through a severe bout of self disgust.

Kirihiko nodded in understanding. “I see. It must have been one of those wacky situations where one of you accidentally groped the other, right?”

“Please, Kirihiko. Phrasing,” Naoya admonished them.

“Sorry, occupational hazard. Still, I didn’t realize this sort of thing happened in real life,” they marveled, as if they’d just spotted Bigfoot.

Naoya’s head dropped toward the ground, which led him to glance at his finger. It was so warm... he recalled. It had been warm, and when she’d spoken with his finger in her mouth, he’d felt her soft tongue. When he thought back over the moment, a numbness tingled through his body, and he had to give his head a shake to wipe such recollections from his mind.

Kirihiko looked at the two of them and surmised that there was no more fun to be had at their expense. “Well, as long as it was relatively tame, then no harm, no foul,” they concluded with a wave. “Oh, by the way, Koyuki—did you finish the book?”

“No, I’m still only halfway through,” she answered.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Kirihiko said as their eyebrows dropped sadly. “Next time you’re here, I’d love to hear your thoughts, okay?”

“That sounds great... Hey, wait,” Koyuki paused to think for a moment. “Are you a fan of this series, too?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“It’s great, isn’t it? This is the first light novel I’ve read, but I'm hooked on it. Fran from the first volume was my favourite—she’s so cute, and...” Koyuki fell silent.

After a short while, she shuffled over to the low table in the middle of the room and looked at the cover of the second volume. It appeared that she had finally noticed. She looked alternatively between the book and Kirihiko before reading the cover out loud. “Author: Kirihiko Akaneya... You wrote this?!”

“Yeah. I could never decide on a pen name, so I just went with my real one,” they answered.

“Sasahara, you have to tell me these things beforehand!”

“I just wanted to see the moment of realization, honestly,” Naoya replied with a faint smile. He couldn’t lie—a small part of the reason he’d brought her to Kirihiko’s place was so he could surprise her with this. Her reaction had been so funny he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Anyway, I’m glad you had a good time today, Koyuki. Come back any time—you’re always welcome,” Kirihiko said with a kind smile. Despite their friendly expression, Naoya spotted their eyes glittering with a mysterious dark intention.

“You just wanna use us to write a romcom, don’t you?” he asked them suspiciously.

“Guilty. Who cares, though. It’s not a big deal, right?” they replied simply.

“Well, Shirogane’s cuteness would be appreciated by the whole country, that’s for sure,” Naoya admitted. “Okay then—in exchange, you let me flirt with her as much as I want. Deal?”

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Kirihiko agreed.

“No he does not!” Koyuki cried as she smacked Naoya hard on the shoulder.

We must look like a married couple right now, Naoya thought quietly to himself.