"Hoshimi, your house is really something."
Kasumigaoka, who had just finished a tour of Hoshimi's home, praised it with a bit of admiration.
Before today, she hadn't really understood the life of the wealthy. But after walking through Hoshimi's grand duplex mansion, she finally grasped why people are so eager to chase after wealth.
As for Hoshimi's luxurious home, she couldn't imagine how many years she'd need to keep writing books to afford something like this.
"It's not bad, I do quite like it," Hoshimi said, handing one of the cups of tea he brought over to Kasumigaoka. "Here, have some tea."
"Thank you." Kasumigaoka took the cup, took a small sip, and then placed it on the coffee table.
She glanced at Hoshimi, who had now sat down on the sofa, and asked, "Hoshimi, do you live here alone? Where are your parents?"
In reality, the reason she came to visit Hoshimi's home today was to meet her potential future in-laws.
It wasn't that she wanted to rush things and solidify her relationship with Hoshimi right away, but she thought getting acquainted with his parents might make it easier to arrange future dates or handle other matters involving Hoshimi.
"My parents?" Hoshimi took a sip of tea, his expression turning a bit odd. "Utaha, didn't you notice earlier? The pictures of my parents' memorials?"
"Huh?!" Kasumigaoka was stunned and stared blankly, trying to recall.
Memorial pictures? She hadn't noticed anything like that at all...
"It seems you really didn't notice. Was it because the memorials were placed too discreetly?" Hoshimi said thoughtfully, sipping his tea.
Come to think of it, his parents' memorials used to hang right on the wall opposite the bedroom door, so you'd see them the moment you walked in, with their black-and-white portraits.
But after Aunt Arisugawa visited a few times, the memorials were moved to a side wall. Now, you'd have to look left and right after entering to spot them.
Hoshimi understood her intentions. Back then, after his sudden transition to this world, he pretended to be a reclusive teenager to avoid raising suspicions. Aunt Arisugawa moved the memorials so they wouldn't add to his psychological burden every time he entered the room.
"Hoshimi, I'm sorry, I..." Kasumigaoka, realizing her mistake, felt guilty and didn't know how to properly apologize.
"Ah, don't worry about it. That's just the way things are, and I've long since gotten used to it." Hoshimi smiled casually, sipping his tea. "Utaha, you don't need to apologize, nor should you feel pity or sympathy for me. Living alone is actually quite nice. No one tells me what to do, and I can live freely."
Hoshimi wasn't lying. If he had transitioned to this world with a set of unfamiliar parents, that would have been much more uncomfortable.
In terms of age, in his previous life, he was already nearly thirty. Calling people he didn't know "mom" and "dad" would have felt awkward, to say the least.
Although Hoshimi was being honest from his perspective, Kasumigaoka saw it differently. To her, Hoshimi was just trying to hide the pain of losing his parents.
Kasumigaoka bit her lip, shifted closer to Hoshimi, and quietly said, "Hoshimi, I'm sorry..."
"I told you, no need to apologize." Hoshimi put down his tea cup and placed his hand on Kasumigaoka's leg.
He leaned over and gently nudged her head with his, smiling. "Utaha, let's not talk about that. Let's discuss something else, like..."
"Utaha, have you been skipping workouts? Your legs seem a bit fuller." As he spoke, Hoshimi lightly squeezed her leg.
"Hmm~" Kasumigaoka, understanding that he was changing the subject, followed along, somewhat embarrassed. She playfully nudged his shoulder. "No way! I've been exercising plenty. There's no way I've gained weight!"
"Haha~" Hoshimi chuckled, wrapping his arm around her waist and whispering in her ear, "Well, let me check carefully to see if you've gained any weight."
"Hmm~" Kasumigaoka's face turned red as she grabbed her handbag and held it in front of her chest. "Hoshimi... have you thought this through? The 36... they all have to be used..."
"..." Hoshimi's eye twitched. He pushed her handbag aside and held her soft hands, smiling slyly. "Utaha, what if I say I've made up my mind? 36, huh? It might make me uncomfortable for a while, but you won't have an easy time either..."
"Hmm~..." Kasumigaoka avoided his gaze, her voice barely audible. "...Not a single one can be skipped. If one is missing, neither of us will be leaving this room..."
"Really..." A sudden idea flashed in Hoshimi's mind.
He leaned closer to Kasumigaoka, his eyes shining. "Utaha, what if I use several at once? That way, we could get through the 36 in no time."
"No! No waste allowed!" Kasumigaoka turned her head, trying to suppress the ripples of emotion inside her, her voice trembling slightly.
"This is money I earned word by word. No way it's going to be wasted."
"True, wasting is shameful..." Hoshimi, looking at her blushing face, began to hatch a new plan.
Should he use a couple of dream bodies to activate the "Revival" ability?
The scholar from the third layer of the deep dream had warned him to only use it once a month, as frequent use could destabilize the deep dream.
It hadn't even been a month since the last time he used "Revival," so he couldn't use it yet.
Forcing it wasn't an option either. He didn't know what kind of consequences destabilizing the deep dream would have, but they certainly wouldn't be good.
He wasn't about to risk his safety just to get a taste of the meat in the pot. There was also another reason.
If he acted recklessly today, there was a high chance Yukino would find out. The excuse he gave her earlier wouldn't hold up under too much scrutiny...
"Sigh~" Hoshimi sighed inwardly, suppressing the "wolf" howling inside him. He couldn't go all the way, but there were still other things he could do.
As Hoshimi's thoughts wandered, the look in his eyes changed when he looked at Kasumigaoka...
"Oh, I almost forgot..." Kasumigaoka, feeling weak under Hoshimi's gaze, hurriedly grabbed her handbag and took out a gift box.
"Hoshimi, this is a gift I prepared for you. Open it and see."
"Oh? Let me see what it is." Hoshimi accepted the small box, about half the size of his palm, and opened it.
"Huh? A dragon scale bracelet?" He took it out and examined it closely.
The bracelet was completely black, with intricate overlapping patterns resembling dragon scales. The clasp was shaped like a dragon's head, making it look as if the dragon was biting its own tail.
Hoshimi weighed it in his hand. It had some heft to it.
"This is Thai silver, right?" Hoshimi said confidently.
Thai silver, also known as black silver, is a special craft where a mixture of silver and sulfur is melted onto silver jewelry, forming a glassy coating. The black, loose coating contrasts sharply with the shiny white of silver, creating a unique visual effect. Due to special anti-aging treatments, Thai silver jewelry not only resists tarnishing but also has an enhanced surface hardness, making its texture and color rugged and rustic—very suitable for men to wear.
"Eh? Hoshimi, you've got a sharp eye," Kasumigaoka was a little surprised. What could she say? No wonder he was the young master of a wealthy family. Just one glance and he could tell what material it was.
"Heh~" Hoshimi smiled and handed the bracelet to Kasumigaoka. "Utaha, help me put it on."
After mingling in society for so long, one inevitably learns the philosophy of gift-giving, especially when it comes to things like cigarettes, alcohol, tea, gold, silver jewelry, and luxury goods. It's hard not to understand after a while.
Click--!
Kasumigaoka carefully fastened the bracelet on Hoshimi's wrist.
"Does it look good?" Kasumigaoka asked, holding Hoshimi's hand.
"Not bad, I like it." Hoshimi happily rubbed the bracelet.
Though the dragon-scale-patterned bracelet looked a bit over-the-top, it was quite stylish. Wearing it felt pretty good.
Also, in both this life and the last, this was the first time someone had given him a decorative gift. Just that fact alone made it something to remember.
"Shall we take a photo to commemorate it?" Kasumigaoka waved her phone.
"Sure~" Hoshimi thought for a moment, then shifted back a bit and turned slightly, crossing his arms to intentionally show off the bracelet.
"Huh?" Kasumigaoka looked at Hoshimi's pose, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.
She stared for a few more seconds before suddenly realizing—it was the standard pose of successful men in TV shows or on billboards, wasn't it?
If Hoshimi just tilted his head slightly and looked upward, it would be exactly the same.
Pfft~~ Kasumigaoka couldn't hold back her laughter. When it came to posing for photos, Hoshimi was as pure as an inexperienced young boy.
"Utaha, what's so funny?" Hoshimi tilted his head and asked.
"Oh, nothing. This pose doesn't look good; let's switch to another one." Saying this, Kasumigaoka moved to Hoshimi's side, pulled his hand with the bracelet, and wrapped it around her shoulder.
"Hoshimi, move closer," Kasumigaoka tugged at Hoshimi's shirt.
"Sure~" Hoshimi moved right up to her, one arm around her shoulder, the other resting naturally by his side.
"Hmm~" Just as they were about to take the picture, Kasumigaoka noticed something wasn't right.
With Hoshimi's arm around her shoulder, it was hard for her to raise her hand for a proper selfie from a higher angle.
"Utaha, let me do it." Hoshimi, noticing the issue, took Kasumigaoka's phone.
"Alright, that works too." With her hands freed, Kasumigaoka thought for a moment, then snuggled close to Hoshimi, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder, looking adorably clingy.
However, given the voluptuousness of Kasumigaoka's chest, this "clingy" posture seemed rather mismatched.
If it had been someone flat-chested like Yukino, or petite like Kotoko, it might have perfectly captured the delicate beauty of being "clingy."
Click---!
The flash went off, and the photo was taken.
"Let me see, Hoshimi." Kasumigaoka grabbed the phone to check the picture.
After confirming it looked good, she put her phone away with satisfaction and asked, "What shall we do next, Hoshimi?"
"What to do?" Hoshimi's eyes flickered with a subtle hint. There was something he really wanted to do, but unfortunately, he couldn't.
He thought for a moment, then said with an intriguing look in his eyes, "Utaha, have you heard of 'AtaFami'?"
"Hoshimi, do you mean that fighting game that's been topping the charts recently?"
"Hm?" Hoshimi raised an eyebrow.
Utaha actually knew about it?
Oh, right, she was part of the ACGN (anime, comic, game, novel) circle, so it was normal for her to know about top-charting games.
But he, on the other hand, had spent so much time stuck with Yukino that he'd fallen into a cognitive bubble, assuming girls didn't know about games.
"Utaha, want to have a match?" Hoshimi's eyes twinkled with even more intrigue now that he knew she was familiar with AtaFami.
"... " Kasumigaoka, aware of Hoshimi's ulterior motives, hesitated, her legs slightly weak, and her eyes dodging as she said, "Sure."
Hoshimi's smile grew even more meaningful, "Utaha, just fighting is a bit boring. How about we add a little bet?"
"..." Here it comes—the familiar tactic, the familiar feeling. Next, she was definitely going to lose big, wasn't she?
Though she thought this in her heart, Kasumigaoka couldn't help but tremble slightly. She kept her head down, hiding the excitement that was sparkling in her eyes from Hoshimi.
"Hoshimi, what kind of bet are you thinking about?" Kasumigaoka asked, pretending to be calm.
"Let me think..." Hoshimi's eyes gleamed as he said, "Alright, how about this? The loser of each round has to drink 200ml of water—whether it's a beverage, tea, or plain water, it doesn't matter as long as it's liquid."
"And someone has to win 11 rounds before the first phase of the game is over. Only then can we leave the room. Until that happens, no one is allowed to leave the bedroom."
"If you agree, Utaha, I'll go prepare enough drinks and water." "Eh?" Kasumigaoka looked at Hoshimi in surprise.
That's it? That's it? That's it? There's nothing exciting about this!
She had thought Hoshimi would propose a bet where each round lost meant taking off a piece of clothing, but instead, it was just this.
200ml? Even if she lost 11 rounds, it would only be 2200ml in total. A regular bottle of drink is about 500ml to 600ml, so that would be about four bottles of drink.
Drinking a bit after each round was no problem at all.
This wasn't exciting at all...
Hoshimi, is this really you?! Make the stakes more thrilling!
Despite her internal complaints, Kasumigaoka didn't show much reaction on the surface. She pretended to think for a moment before reluctantly saying, "Alright, let's do it your way, Hoshimi."
Hoshimi's eyes curved as he smiled brightly, "Utaha, go wait in my bedroom. I'll go get the water. By the way, what would you like to drink? Tea, a beverage, or plain water?"
"A bit of everything." Not wanting to take in too much sugar, Kasumigaoka made her choice.
"Ok~ then head up and wait for me."
"Mm, okay..."
...
Half an hour into the game in the bedroom, Kasumigaoka finally realized Hoshimi's sinister plan.
This damn game had ties!!!
===
[30 Bonus Chapters: https://www.patreon.com/cherryblooming]