A month and a half in the main world translated to over a year in the world of Titans.
Opening the door to his apartment, he saw the warm glow of the lights inside, and Haruto couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
Nothing was more relaxing than being at home in the main world.
He had spent over a year in the Titan world mainly because he didn't want to kill too many people. Otherwise, using brute force to suppress everything and contain the Abnormal Insects would have been much faster.
But the SCP Foundation was not a group of executioners. They couldn't just nuke everything and leave ordinary people to clean up the mess.
"We secure, we contain, we protect. We may fail, but we will never retreat, because behind us stands all of humanity. Honor to those who march to their deaths."
That was the true purpose of the SCP Foundation.
He stepped forward into the light. Footsteps echoed from the living room.
"Big brother, welcome home!"
Nao ran up first, smiling as she approached Haruto.
Behind her was Eriri.
"Haruto, long time no see."
Eriri's pretty face was full of joy at their reunion. Even though only a month and a half had passed in the main world, for Eriri, it had been an agonizingly long time.
Time and longing had made her more courageous today.
This golden-haired loser, who was usually so tsundere, actually ran towards Haruto as if wanting to hug him.
However…
Just as she was about to reach him, Eriri suddenly noticed another figure standing behind Haruto.
Because of her petite stature, Shiro had been completely hidden behind him earlier.
Eriri froze mid-hug, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"Haruto! You… you!"
She pointed at Haruto, stammering as her face twisted into an expression of betrayal—like an abandoned wife who had just caught her husband cheating.
Haruto looked at her in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
Eriri struggled to form words for a moment before shouting,
"You went abroad and came back with a kid?!"
Haruto: ?
There were too many things wrong with that statement, and for a moment, he didn't even know where to start refuting it.
Did she think he was Hikaru Genji or something? Producing a child at his age?
Not to mention he'd only been gone for a month and a half, its physically impossible.
Coming back to his senses, he lifted Shiro, who was looking nervous from the unfamiliar environment, into his arms.
"This is Shiro, my little sister," he introduced.
Hearing this, both Nao and Eriri were stunned. Even Annie, who had been watching from the living room, looked surprised.
"Oh, so she's your sister… whew, you scared me," Eriri wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. But then, she frowned.
"Wait a minute! Where the hell did you get a sister?! Haruto, you're supposed to be…"
She wanted to say orphan, but she bit her tongue, realizing it would be hurtful.
"And look at her! White hair?! She looks nothing like you!"
Nao, standing beside her, pointed at herself. "She kinda looks like me, though."
Hearing that, Shiro immediately bared her teeth at the two of them and turned to hug Haruto tightly—like a fierce yet adorable little kitten.
"Brother is Shiro's brother!"
She declared firmly.
Eriri and Nao exchanged glances. Haruto gently stroked Shiro's hair to calm her down before looking at the two girls.
"Shiro's family situation is complicated. But from now on, she's my sister. Eriri, Nao, let's all get along."
Hearing this, both girls nodded.
They realized their earlier words had been a bit harsh. Neither of them were mean-spirited; they had just been too shocked and blurted things out without thinking.
Later, Haruto brought Shiro into the living room. To his surprise, there was already food set on the dining table.
Seeing his reaction, Eriri grinned.
"Come try it! I cooked it myself. It's nothing fancy, but be grateful!"
Although she said it casually…
For the past month and a half, Eriri had been dedicating herself to improving her cooking skills. She wanted to prepare something special for his return.
In her mind, this was the perfect way to increase their intimacy.
Haruto could easily see through her tsundere act.
Looking at the table full of food, he felt a bit touched.
'As long as it's not inedible, I'll make sure to praise her.'
Thinking this, he picked up his chopsticks.
It makes sense; this was the least likely to go wrong. That way, he could also praise Eriri a little.
With that thought, Haruto reached out with his chopsticks to grab some seafood. However, at that moment, the food on the plate responded.
A crab clamped onto Haruto's chopsticks with its pincers.
Haruto: ?
Eriri: !?
Crab: Are we close? Why are you getting so handsy?!
Haruto and the crab in the dish stared at each other. For a moment, the dining table fell into silence.
"Uh... Eriri, what's this?"
Haruto let go of his chopsticks, watching as the crab held on and waved its pincers wildly, falling into deep thought.
At this moment, Eriri wanted to die.
Why is this happening?!
She grabbed a dining knife beside her, ready to go down with the defiant crab on the plate. But Haruto was quick, stopping her in time. Then, he picked up the plate of crabs and took it to the kitchen.
A while later, Haruto returned with a plate of properly prepared crab meat.
"Haru, that is..."
Eriri wanted to defend herself.
But the scene from earlier was just too much to explain. Haruto, however, reached out and ruffled Eriri's golden hair.
"You were probably trying to make drunken crab, but the alcohol you used wasn't strong enough."
Hearing this, Eriri looked at Haruto with teary eyes.
Wow, Haru is the best person in the world!
Just now, she thought she had completely ruined her relationship with Haruto over a failed dish. Because, honestly... food fighting back was just unacceptable.
(T/N: And Hilarious XD)
"I... I saw this special dish and wanted to make it for you, but..."
Eriri couldn't understand what went wrong. She had followed the recipe exactly. She wasn't an idiot. How could such a disastrous mistake happen?
"The sake that you bought isn't strong enough; that's why this happened. Don't worry about it."
Haruto comforted her gently. Then he sat down, picked up new chopsticks, and took a bite of the food.
The taste wasn't bad.
At least it was above average.
Anime heroines always seem to make "judgment-day-level" cooking disasters no matter how much they practice. Turns out, that's mostly for dramatic effect.
Soon, Annie, Nao, and Shiro also sat down.
Although the earlier crab incident made them a little wary of the dishes...
Haruto had helped Eriri to redeem herself well.
So, it was fine.
And as it turned out, aside from the drunken crab, none of the other dishes failed, they were all above the passing mark!
Shiro ate quickly, almost desperately.
Haruto didn't stop her, simply pouring a glass of water and placing it beside her. When Shiro inevitably choked, he handed her the water and gently patted her back.
For Bai to have survived in Kisemori Town was already a miracle.
She had long been starving.
And... binge eating could actually help relieve psychological stress.
Even though Shiro was precocious and intelligent...
That place was like hell.
Even Shiro couldn't have come out of it without psychological scars. She just didn't throw tantrums to show it.
"By the way, Haru, have you checked the news? Your debut is blowing up!"
Eriri snapped out of the earlier disaster and brought up a new topic.
Haruto froze.
Debut? Blowing up?
Seeing his reaction, Eriri widened her eyes.
"Wait... did you completely ignore the news after going abroad?"
As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and showed him a trending news article.
"Your 'Titan' manga is a massive hit in Weekly Shonen Jump! Your popularity is through the roof!"
Haruto took Eriri's phone and glanced at the screen.
Oh, right.
He had submitted Attack on Titan for serialization.
Back then, he had planned to earn his first fortune through manga. But plans never keep up with changes.
The Adolescence Syndrome Laboratory practically handed itself to him. After taking over the lab, money wasn't much of a concern anymore.
And with all the traveling and containment work, he had completely forgotten about it.
Ever since returning from the Titan world, Haruto had been using the Foundation's satellite phone.
His own phone...
Haruto reached into his pocket and pulled out his private phone.
The moment he turned it on...
Ding ding ding!
A flood of notifications and missed calls popped up instantly.
Haruto rubbed his forehead.
Eriri stared at him with wide eyes.
"Wait! Haru! Don't tell me you were completely out of contact for the past month and a half?!"
Haruto nodded.
Eriri was speechless.
"If I were your editor, I'd go insane."
She sighed.
A popular manga artist suddenly disappearing without a word...
Any editor would be ready to grab a knife.
Luckily, Haruto had submitted a good amount of manuscripts before leaving. The series could still run in the magazine for a few more weeks.
"Big bro is a mangaka?"
Shiro curiously leaned over.
"Sort of," Haruto chuckled.
Eriri covered her face with both hands.
"Haru! AOT's sales are through the roof, the hype is insane, and the industry says you're the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year! And that's just 'sort of'?"
But at this moment, Haruto was more worried about something else.
How should he deal with Editor Furukawa?
If he were Furukawa, he'd probably want to kill someone right now.
Opening Line...
Sure enough, there were tons of messages from Furukawa.
"Izumi-sensei! AOT is exploding! It's selling like crazy!"
"Izumi-sensei, you have a huge chance at winning Rookie of the Year!"
"Izumi-sensei, are you busy?"
"Izumi-sensei?"
"1.3?"
"???"
"Izumi-sensei, please don't joke around like this. My editor's fragile nerves can't take it."
"IZUMI-SENSEI!"
Haruto thought for a moment and replied,
"Sorry, I was abroad recently. No signal."
Furukawa replied almost instantly:
"Izumi-sensei, you're alive! The backlog is running out, where's the next manuscript?"
Haruto: "Out doing research, skipping one isn't an issue."
Furukawa: "..."
"Izumi-sensei, if I knew your home address, I'd be there with a knife right now."
"The fans are going to lose their minds! You're skipping at such a critical moment?!"
Haruto: "Eh-heh!"
Furukawa: "Thank you, Izumi-sensei. My years of low blood pressure have just been cured!"
And with that, their conversation ended.
Haruto sighed in relief.
Thankfully, Furukawa was a really nice woman. But there was still another unread message on Line...