"Guan ng, rember this."
—Who's there?
In the hazy blur of her drifting consciousness, a deeply nostalgic male voice echoed in her mind.
"Won in reality are plain yet incredibly resilient. They aren't pure, flawless, fragile beings like the girls in ani. They aren't delicate glass ornants that will inevitably shatter and et a tragic end if a male protagonist doesn't swoop in to save them. Won in the real world... even if they're abandoned, even if they aren't chosen, at most, they'll just be depressed for a little while. After that, they'll lift their heads and face their new lives head on."
Fragnts of mories slowly surfaced from the bottom of the water. A very mature-looking man was holding a five year old child.
—Dad?
Perhaps a five year old child couldn't fully comprehend the aning behind his father's words, but the man still spoke to his son with an expression of utmost seriousness.
"Therefore, when you grow up, if multiple won happen to like you, absolutely do not harbor the arrogant thought that you can't bear to let any of them go. A woman's world isn't so incredibly narrow that she can't survive without you. Any guy who spouts nonsense like 'I want to make everyone happy' is, without a doubt, absolute scum who will only end up making won cry."
...Dad, you really thought way too highly of . I ended up spending my entire life single... and that piece of equipnt down there was thrown away before I even got to use it.
If Guan ng's father were actually watching from heaven, he would probably be so utterly speechless at his son's words that he wouldn't know what to say.
However, the father in her mory maintained his stern expression. Speaking to the bewildered young Guan ng, he continued as if delivering a solemn vow to himself: "Guan ng, absolutely never look forward to a harem, unless..."
Sorry, Dad. Actually, I died a virgin, so you worried for absolutely nothing!
A bitter, heart-wrenching sorrow—the kind that makes one unable to face life—welled up in her chest. This feeling yanked Yutsuki's consciousness back to reality. She slowly opened her eyes and glanced indifferently at her surroundings.
She was currently sleeping on the thick branch of a large tree. Because the 'Silent Manifestation' was still ongoing, after leaving Shido's house, Yutsuki had simply headed to the outskirts of Tengu City and found a random place to sleep.
Recalling the words that had just surfaced in her mind, Yutsuki covered her face with her hand in deep agony:
"That stupid Dad... Why would you say sothing so weird to a little kid...? Dammit, I really want to cry..."
Even though her mories of her parents had long since faded, Yutsuki knew very well that her personality had been heavily influenced by them.
"Itsuka Shido."
Yutsuki muttered the na with intense, unadulterated disgust.
She had originally thought he was soone worth befriending. But who would have thought that beneath that harmless, virgin-like exterior hid the absolute scum of a harem protagonist—the kind of pervert who enjoyed having a bunch of girls hold cosplay conventions in his own house!
For Yutsuki, who harbored a deep-seated hatred for harem ani, Itsuka Shido had instantly skyrocketed to the number one spot on her "Most Hated People" list.
"Next ti we et, I'm absolutely not letting him off the hook!"
-------Perspective shift divider line------
"Achoo!"
"What's wrong, Shido?! Does it hurt anywhere else?! Do you want to massage you?! Wipe your sweat?! Maybe peeling an apple would be better?!"
Sitting by Shido's hospital bed, Tohka had completely lost her composure out of sheer worry.
"I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with my body."
Shido smiled to comfort her. He was currently in the dical bay of the Fraxinus airborne battleship. After being launched into the ceiling by Yutsuki's uppercut, he had lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was greeted by this all too familiar ceiling and Tohka's worried face.
"Thank goodness..." Seeing that Shido really seed fine, the tension on Tohka's face finally relaxed. But almost imdiately, she flared up in anger. "But what was the deal with that woman?! Barging into our house out of nowhere, attacking Shido, and then running away! Next ti I see her, I'll definitely make her pay!"
Watching Tohka wave her cute little fists in the air, the victim himself, Shido, could only offer a bitter laugh.
"Well... you can't exactly say it was Ryougi-san's fault. How should I put this... the timing was just really unfortunate. Besides, look at , I'm totally fine now, right? So please don't hold it against her, Tohka."
"Mmm... Well, if Shido says so..."
Although she was still a bit dissatisfied, seeing that Shido wasn't holding a grudge, Tohka reluctantly gave up on seeking revenge.
"Shido, how is your condition?"
Just then, Kotori and Reine walked into the dical bay to check on him.
"I'm fine. My body is basically back to normal."
"Is that so? That's good."
Kotori nodded. If anyone else had taken that punch from Yutsuki, they wouldn't be leaving the hospital for at least half a month. But for Shido, who possessed Kotori's regenerative abilities, he was fully healed in less than ten minutes.
Kotori and Reine exchanged a glance. Understanding her intention, Reine nodded and turned to Tohka. "Tohka-chan, I want to buy so nutritional supplents for Shin's recovery. Could you co help carry them?"
"Eh? Um..."
Tohka looked at Shido with unease. Knowing she was worried about leaving him, Shido smiled and said, "Didn't I just say I'm perfectly fine? Don't worry, Kotori is right here too. It'll be fine."
"Rest assured, I'll keep an eye on Shido."
"Mmm... If Kotori-chan is here, it should be okay. Shido, make sure you get plenty of rest!"
Having received Kotori's guarantee, Tohka finally felt relieved enough to follow Reine out the door.
"..."
After a brief, heavy silence, Kotori suddenly bowed a perfect ninety degrees toward Shido.
"What's wrong, Kotori?"
"I am incredibly sorry about this, Shido! I caused you an imnse amount of trouble!"
Kotori shouted, her voice laced with intense guilt.
Shido could see her petite body trembling slightly. Not only had she been unable to provide any backup during his attempt to conquer the Spirit, but her actions had directly ruined all the hard work Shido had put in on his own. He knew that her heart must be filled with deep self reproach right now.
A gentle, affectionate smile appeared on Shido's face. He reached out and patted Kotori's head.
"That's not true at all. Kotori has helped so much. If it weren't for your support, there's no way I could have made it this far on my own. Thank you, Kotori."
"O-Onii-chan..."
Kotori's lowered face was completely flushed red. The steam practically rising from her head made one wonder if she was going to evaporate all the moisture in her body.
"Kotori?"
"Ah?! ...Ahem! It's nothing." Coughing twice to shake off her embarrassnt, Kotori's expression hardened as she switched back into her strict "Commander Mode."
"Now, onto the main topic. This is the log of Ryougi Yutsuki's affection levels from yesterday."
Saying that, Kotori handed the tablet in her hands to Shido.
"Eh? Didn't you say Ryougi-san completely blocked all our communication signals?" Shido asked, slightly surprised.
"The earpiece you're wearing also has a built-in brainwave detection function. Obviously, if Ryougi Yutsuki deployed active jamming, this would have been completely useless as well. Fortunately, because she seed to be in a very good mood yesterday, she let her guard down and didn't deploy the jamming field."
Shido looked at the affection level analysis graph on the screen. From noon all the way until the evening, Yutsuki's affection toward Shido had shown a slow but steady upward climb. While it wasn't high enough to make her blush, according to Kotori's analysis, it was definitely in the territory of 'This guy is a pretty decent person.'
However, right around dusk, Yutsuki's affection level suffered a catastrophic, violent crash, plumting in a straight vertical line all the way to rock bottom.
Regarding the cause of this phenonon, Shido actually understood it perfectly well.
If he had been in Yutsuki's shoes, his affection level would have probably plumted just as hard.
"I'm sorry..." Kotori looked noticeably depressed just thinking about it.
"It's fine, I know Kotori was just trying to help. But seriously, why did you have to choose cosplay?"
"Well... there were a lot of bizarre coincidences."
At this, Kotori blushed, turned her head away, and tried to vaguely brush off the question. Although Shido knew she was dodging the topic, he vaguely sensed that pursuing it would only lead to a never ending headache, so he decided not to press further.
"But what are we supposed to do now...? Right now, she definitely views as an absolute pervert. One wrong move, and I feel like I'm actually going to get killed."
Honestly, when he actually saw Yutsuki's wrathful, Vajra-like face, Shido finally understood exactly what the Yamai sisters ant when they said, "Yutsuki is terrifying when she's angry."
"More than just a pervert—" Kotori shrugged. "To , you looked exactly like a scumbag harem protagonist who toys with won's hearts."
"But I haven't even done anything...!"
"Ara! Stealing the first kisses of a group of beautiful young girls and still claiming you haven't done anything? You truly are a womanizing playboy, Shido."
Kotori's profound, incredibly loaded sigh left Shido completely speechless. Seeing his awkward expression, Kotori chuckled and offered so comfort:
"Don't worry. For the ti being, we still have a way to salvage this."
"A way? What is it?"
"Heheh. Without a doubt, this is the ti for Yuzuru and I, the Shrine Maidens of the Hurricane, to display our true power!"
"Guarantee. Leave the matter regarding Yutsuki to Yuzuru and Kaguya!"
As if picking the absolute perfect mont, the doors to the dical bay suddenly slid open. Yamai Kaguya and Yamai Yuzuru strode in, making an incredibly cool and dramatic entrance.
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