The bell signaling the end of class rang, and our studying came to an end.
It was a little troublesome that I’d spent the entire afternoon class helping two people study in Class 3, but since this was a game anyway, it didn’t really matter.
And I’d gotten an unexpectedly huge harvest out of it.
That was...
"Miku. Aren’t you taking this a little too seriously...?"
Miku was, unbelievably, terrible at studying.
Honestly, if she hadn’t had brainwashing powers or been an idol, I was starting to wonder how she even made a living.
"How do you even get this one wrong...?"
It wasn’t exactly simple, but if you’d at least listened in class, you could solve it to some extent.
Miku had somehow managed to get that kind of problem wrong.
"Waaah, darling, you’re so mean."
"Mean or not, you really need to study. Look at Maria. She’s doing fine."
Maria was actually taking notes diligently.
She was doing it with a look like she found the whole thing fascinating, but at this point, hadn’t she done enough school life for the day?
"Comparing me to Maria is too much, don’t you think? I did try, you know~"
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
I patted Miku on the head to show my appreciation for her effort.
"Still, I’m going to check on you from time to time."
"I guess I can’t help it~ But if you teach me little by little, darling, I’ll try a bit harder."
"That’s good enough."
That was real progress.
"After that, as a reward, I’d like a kiss~"
"Denied."
What kind of nonsense was that?
"Honestly, darling, you’re so shy~"
"It’s not just shyness. If I do it to you once, then I’ll probably have to do it for everyone else too."
If I kissed Miku once, it was obvious the others would complain that it was unfair and demand the exact same treatment.
And if that happened, I’d probably cave in from guilt and do it for all of them one by one.
So there was no way I could accept a request like that.
Besides, the fact that I’d already traded away my dignity as a man for a one-day feminine date pass was the maximum compensation I could offer.
"Hii, it’s time to proceed with the event."
Before I knew it, Maria had finished taking notes and politely informed me that it was time to proceed with the event.
"Huh? Now? By the way, when do I get mine~?"
"Izayoi Miku, you’ll be after this event, so don’t worry."
I couldn’t help but be shocked by Maria’s words.
"What? Wait a second, Maria. There are five people besides Miku who got caught up in events with me—Yoshino, Sachi, Kaguya, Yuzuru, and Mayuri. Are you saying there’s one more person besides Miku?"
There were six people total who’d shown me affection, so if Miku was next, who exactly was this event with?
"This event will be with Tokisaki Kurumi."
"W-wait! What do you mean—"
"Then, let’s begin."
The moment Maria finished speaking, my vision flickered.
Morning, with sunlight pouring in.
I sat up, my stiff body creaking as I stretched.
"Mmm...!!!"
Breathing in the morning air made my head feel clear.
Welcoming the refreshing morning, I tried to remember what I was supposed to do today.
"Hmm. What was I going to do today...? I feel like I had something planned, but for some reason I can’t remember."
No matter how I searched my memory, the moment I’d just woken up was where my recollection began. There was nothing before that.
What, did I get early-onset dementia or something?
"I’m not that old yet..."
Why did I keep feeling like I’d forgotten something?
As I sat on the bed, troubled by that strange sense of wrongness and wondering how I was supposed to deal with it, someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"H-Hii...! Are you there...?"
The person knocking was Yoshino.
"Yoshino? Come in."
At my permission, Yoshino slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
"Wasn’t today the day we were supposed to go to Kurumi’s house...?"
"Huh? Why would I go to the young lady’s house...? Ah."
Memories began rising to the surface from Yoshino’s words.
The girl living next door, Tokisaki Kurumi, was my childhood friend.
We’d always played together since we were little, but she’d somehow turned into a shut-in NEET who never left her room, and her parents were worried sick about it.
And in that situation, Kurumi’s parents had gone on a trip, while Kurumi had said she couldn’t be bothered and stayed home, so right now she was alone next door.
Of course her parents would be worried.
I’d asked them over the phone before to let me check whether Kurumi was still alive and functioning at home.
So that was what I’d forgotten.
"Thanks for reminding me, Yoshino."
For the record, Yoshino was a cohabitant living in the same house as me.
It wasn’t like we were lovers or anything. She just had nowhere else to stay, so we were living together.
"Um, I’m going to sleep over at a friend’s house today..."
"I’m fine, so go have fun at your friend’s place, Yoshino."
"T-thank you."
Watching Yoshino leave the room, I thought about what I should make for Kurumi today.
That girl was definitely starving again.
As her childhood friend, figuring out her habits was ridiculously easy.
"I should probably do some shopping first."
I let out a long sigh and started getting dressed, preparing to head out.
After buying some simple groceries, I rang the doorbell at the house next door.
Dong-ding~
Dong-ding-ding~
"Why isn’t she answering?"
No matter how many times I rang, there was no response.
There was an intercom too, and she should’ve been awake by now, but nothing came back.
"Haa... Do I really have to do this?"
I looked at the spare key to Kurumi’s house in my hand.
Her parents had given it to me before they left on their trip.
Back then I’d asked why they were giving me something like this, what if I got some bad ideas and attacked Kurumi, but somehow they’d actually looked like they were hoping I would.
"Sigh. I guess I’ll just go in."
Standing at the door wasn’t going to solve anything, so I used the key I’d been given to open the door and step into Kurumi’s house.
"Excuse me~"
As expected, the inside was pitch-dark, with not a single light turned on.
Using my phone to see, I switched on the light in the living room.
"She’s not here."
If she’d been in the living room, she would’ve come out when I rang the bell.
Or would Kurumi have stayed put because it was too much trouble?
"Tch. Then she’s in her room."
It was as obvious as day.
I left the groceries on the living room table and headed for Kurumi’s room.
When I opened the door, I was greeted by utter chaos.
And in the middle of that mess, Kurumi had carved out a little space for herself and was busily playing a game.
"Seriously, what is this disaster zone?"
"Hm? Oh my, Hii. Welcome."
"That’s not the point here... I rang the bell and called the intercom how many times? Why didn’t you come out?"
"Because walking all the way to the front door is a pain."
What a living embodiment of laziness.
Kurumi said it so proudly that all I could do was sigh.
"Ah, please sit wherever."
"Man. There’s a lot I want to complain about, but... is there even a place for me to sit?"
"Right here, isn’t there? It’s fine if you’re near me."
"It’s cramped. And there’s only room for you there, so how am I supposed to fit?"
Kurumi was sitting comfortably amid the trash pile.
In a way, that was impressive.
"Your room is way too dirty."
"It’s usually pretty decent. My parents are away on a trip right now, so..."
"So in just two days you turned it into a garbage dump? That’s kind of amazing."
I brought over a trash bag and started stuffing the garbage from Kurumi’s room into it.
No matter how much her parents were away, how did she manage to make it look like this in just two days?
Two trash bags ended up in the corner of the room—one already full, and one I’d just filled.
"More importantly, Hii, you came at the perfect time. Could you help me clear [Ifrit] for a bit? It’s not very efficient if I do it alone..."
"I didn’t come here to play games with you, so stop saying weird things. Ugh, how many cup noodles did you eat? Clean up the trash on your desk."
How many cup noodles had she eaten for the room to reek of ramen like this?
I opened the window to air out Kurumi’s room.
"Honestly, you’re such a nagging childhood friend."
"I’m nagging because I have a reason to. Try understanding how I feel, having a childhood friend who’s a NEET. From where I’m standing, you’re never getting married."
Who was going to take in a shut-in like that?
"Huh? If it comes to it, I could always go to Hii, you know?"
"Heh, I’m not about to ruin someone’s marriage prospects."
Sure, Kurumi was pretty, but marrying her for that alone would obviously just mean I’d be the one suffering.
"Hey, how many convenience store lunches have you eaten?"
There still weren’t enough trash bags, so I’d grabbed another one and was cleaning the room when I found a pile of convenience store lunch containers.
Seriously, who was ever going to take this girl?
"Not that many, really? Oh, last night’s dinner was a hamburger~"
"Unbelievable. How badly are you trying to wreck your health by eating only stuff like that? This won’t do. I’m making you something proper today."
"There’s nothing in the fridge, though."
"I bought groceries."
Come to think of it, no matter how much trash I cleaned up, it never seemed to end.
And how much was she hiding under the bed?
"Hm? Something soft... underwear!"
"Ah, was that over there?"
"Why are you so calm about this...?"
No matter how much of a childhood friend she was, I was still a man.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was looking at Kurumi that way. I just wanted her to be a little more careful.
She was way too defenseless.
"What else is caught here...? Is this a box?"
"Hah! H-Hii! You can’t open that!"
"What is it?"
I pulled the box out and wiped the dust from it.
It just looked like a perfectly ordinary box, so why was she saying I couldn’t open it?
Could it be...?
"What, did you hide some dirty books in here?"
"N-no! It’s an album!?"
"An album?"
"Yeah. It’s pictures of me and Hii when we were little."
And what was so embarrassing about that?
"Well, if you say it’s an album, I’ll take your word for it and put it back."
"I’m telling you, it really is an album!"
Leaving the shouting Kurumi behind, I continued cleaning.
"That should do it. It’ll be evening soon. I should start making dinner."
"Bring it to me when it’s done."
"At least move a little..."
As I said that, I watched Kurumi closely and noticed she was eating something.
Snacking before dinner?
This wouldn’t do.
"Snack confiscated."
"Ah!"
I quickly confiscated Kurumi’s snack and put it somewhere she couldn’t reach.
She pouted and demanded it back, but that wouldn’t work on us anymore. We’d already seen everything there was to see.
"Eat snacks after dinner. And have you even bathed?"
"Honestly, that’s rude, Hii. I may look like this, but I’m a girl, you know?"
"You’re aware of how you look, at least. So how long has it been since you last bathed?"
"...About 70 hours?"
"You’re going to bathe right now. Move it."
We’re not calling that not bathing, you shut-in.
"It’s fine for about three days. It’s not like I sweated or anything."
"Don’t say weird things. And fix your outfit too."
Until now I’d been ignoring it, but Kurumi’s outfit was outrageous.
She was wearing a black tank top on top and only purple underwear on the bottom. It was an embarrassing sight.
"Ehh~ Then Hii should come in and wash me too."
"What are you talking about!?"
This girl was saying something seriously dangerous.
"Oh? Hii, do you not want to bathe with me? We used to do it together all the time..."
"The past is the past. Leave it buried where it belongs, and bathing together at our age would be morally wrong."
"If Hii won’t come in with me, then I’m not bathing~!"
"Are you a three-year-old or something!?"
"Puu~!"
"...Tch. Fine, I’ll go in with you."
In the end, I lost to Kurumi and agreed to go into the bath with her.
Seriously, when was she ever going to escape being a shut-in?
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