"Shiori-san, I'll be ashamed of myself if you won't let me take the lead."
"Mmhm, but it's kinda fun, you know... to take the lead and move around~"
"But, Shiori-san—"
"Eh, no buts, Haru-kun! Do you think we'll die if I take the lead in exploration?"
sigh... I went here just to get my wallet, but now I'm stuck playing SFO with Shiori-san. And it's been 5 hours.
5 hours ago
Before leaving school, Shiori-san had messaged me to go to her office.
"Haru-kun! Here's my apartment key. You can go ahead and wait for me..."
This woman. She's handing me her key so casually.
"You're not coming with me?"
"No, sadly. I have to fix a lot of things. The parent orientation is tomorrow, right?"
After our talk, I left. This time, I made sure that pesky Shino wouldn't follow me again.
sigh What's Shiori-san thinking? Even couples don't give each other apartment keys so easily, right? Except maybe married ones because they live together.
Wait... does this mean she sees me as a potential husband?
Hehe. Haru, you better step up. She might be testing if you're husband material.
"Mom, that boy is grinning like a creep."
"Shhh! Don't point at strangers!"
Damn it! Mind your own business, kid!
I arrived at the apartment after a short walk and checked to make sure no one was watching me. Using the key, I opened the door and—
It's damn clean! How am I supposed to show my husband skills now?!
That's right. I should cook something for her!
I glanced at the clock. It was 4 PM. Less than an hour until Shiori-san might come home. I needed to act fast.
What should I cook? Curry? Yeah, let's go with curry.
I checked her fridge and grabbed the ingredients. As expected of a working adult, her fridge was fully stocked.
"Pardon my intrusion, Shiori-san," I muttered, opening drawers and cabinets.
Cooking seemed easy enough. I chopped the meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic, then boiled some water. I remembered my mom doing this when she cooked curry.
Finally, I added the ingredients to the pot and sprinkled in the curry powder.
Cooking is like mix and match right?
It smelled... decent. Maybe.
Now I just had to wait.
I sat at Shiori-san's gaming desk, but then reality hit me.
I was inside a girl's room. Alone.
My thoughts began to wander. One particular curiosity piqued my interest.
Shiori-san's bra size... Should I check?
Thirty Minutes Later
I was so busy checking Shiori-san's bra size that I forgot I was cooking curry earlier.
(A/N: Checking bra size? For 30 minutes?)
"Is something burning?"
Oh no! I ran to the kitchen, and my heart sank. The curry looked... wrong.
Very wrong.
The color was off, the texture clumpy, and the smell... well, it was no longer appetizing. I grabbed a spoon to taste it.
"Ugh! It's awful!" I exclaimed, nearly gagging.
At that moment, the door opened.
"Haru-kun, I'm home~"
Oh no.
"Shiori-san, uh, welcome back!"
"What's that smell? Did you cook something?" she asked, sniffing the air.
"I, uh, tried to make curry, but it's... um, not good."
She walked over, peeked into the pot, and smiled.
"It's fine, Haru-kun. I'll eat it anyway."
"Wait, you don't have to—"
She was already setting the table.
"It's your cooking, Haru-kun. I'll enjoy it no matter what," she said with a soft smile, grabbing a plate.
"Shiori-san, really, you don't have to—"
She took a bite.
Her face froze.
"So... how is it?"
"It's... unique," she replied, forcing a smile.
I could tell she was struggling to swallow.
"You don't have to eat it if it's bad!"
She shook her head. "Nope. You worked hard on this, so I'll eat every bite."
I sat there, watching in awe as she bravely finished her plate.
After Dinner
"By the way, Shiori-san, can I have my wallet back now?"
She blinked innocently. "Hmm? Wallet? What wallet?"
"My wallet. You still have it, don't you?"
"Oh, that." She smirked. "No, you can't have it yet."
"What? Why not?"
"Because I want you to stay here tonight and play SFO with me~"
"Shiori-san! I have school tomorrow!"
"So do I, but I'm still playing."
"That's not the point!"
She leaned closer, her teasing smile making my heart race. "If you want your wallet back, you'll have to stay the night."
"This is blackmail!"
"Call it whatever you want~"
"But mom will get mad at me... I didn't informed her!"
"Don't worry, I already messaged her"
Damn it.
sigh... And that's how I ended up playing SFO with Shiori-san for five hours.
Back to the present.
We started playing at 5:30 pm, and it's already 10 pm now. It's almost 5 hours so my eyes are so numb.
"Oh, Shiori-san, Nishi is online.... can we invite her on our party?"
"Okay but, we won't hunt other duo's anymore for our affinity points."
I invited Nishi to our party
And I received a chat from her
"Onii-chan, open your mic and speaker."
Hmm I wonder why...
Anyways I still opened it.
Then I heard...
aunt Marika's voice!
"Haru! You said you don't have girlfriend! I shouldn't have slept together with you damn brat!"
Ahhh!! Shiori-san heard it too!!
"Haru-kun? Mind if you explain to me about that girl?"
"And you sleep together?"
"Shiori-san! My shoulder! You're gripping it too tight!"