"Ichin-kun~~~"
Utaha's voice snapped Ichin out of his thoughts. He turned to look at her.
"Huh? What is it?"
Utaha smiled with a suspiciously "kind" expression. "Were you just staring at Hifumi-san and getting lost in thought?"
"Huh?"
Ichin froze for a mont and glanced at Hifumi, who was sitting next to Aoba. By now, Hifumi had her hands covering her face, and the blush on her cheeks had spread all the way to her ears.
"Uh, I was just spacing out a little! I wasn't staring at anyone—I was thinking about sothing!"
Ichin quickly explained, "Just now, didn't Hifumi ntion liking a more fashionable world setting? That gave an idea. It's mostly fantasy in terms of style, but it's set in a modern background. We could make every aspect—characters, art style, and even the ga's UI—extrely stylish and unique."
"Really?"
Hazuki squinted, looking between Ichin and Utaha, before smiling slyly. "Honestly, if you were actually staring at Hifumi-chan, I'd totally get it. I do that too sotis."
"I told you, it wasn't like that!"
Ichin's tone turned firm. "If you don't believe , I'll prove it to you. Give a few minutes!"
With that, Ichin stood up abruptly and dashed toward the door, intending to grab his laptop.
As he disappeared, Sakura Nene whispered, "Is he mad?"
"Not at all."
Utaha's expression had already returned to normal, and she chuckled softly. "Ichin-kun probably does have a genuine idea and even so notes on it. That's just how he is—when it cos to gas, he gets hyper-focused and can't help but dive deep into his thoughts. That said, his sudden actions were a bit bold. Hifumi-senpai, I'm sorry about that."
Hifumi, now feeling much calr, shook her head, her face still tinged red. "It—it's nothing. The real issue is… my own struggles with communication."
Rin chid in, looking at Hifumi, "That's true. Over the past year, Hifumi has made a lot of progress—she smiles more, and she's able to chat with everyone. But now that there's a guy here, she'll need to adjust all over again. Thankfully, there's only one. Ichin-kun is easygoing, so I think this is good practice for her."
While the others were focused on Hifumi's social anxiety, Hazuki was more interested in observing Kasumigaoka Utaha.
"By the way, Utaha," Hazuki squinted with a playful smile. "You and Ichin-kun—you're more than just classmates and neighbors, aren't you?"
"Hm?"
Utaha turned to Hazuki, her bright smile unwavering. "That's right. We've started dating."
"What?!?!"
"Dating???"
Everyone was stunned. Even Hifumi, who had been shy monts ago, now widened her eyes in surprise, staring at Utaha with curiosity.
Toyama Rin clapped her hands together, exclaiming, "Ah, that explains it! No wonder you two sitting together looks so natural. Turns out your relationship is special."
"Dating, huh? That's amazing!" Nene curiously slid over to sit beside Utaha. She leaned in and asked, "So, does dating an… you guys kiss?"
Even though they were all girls, Nene's question caused everyone except Hazuki to blush.
"Of course. That's pretty normal, isn't it?" Utaha glanced around with a teasing smile, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Don't tell none of you have dated a guy before?"
Hazuki raised her hand, laughing. "I certainly haven't, nor do I have the urge to. As for the others, I can vouch for them. They're all pure-hearted girls."
Utaha feigned surprise, covering her mouth. "Oh my, I didn't expect that! But it makes sense. With your ga developnt schedules and frequent overti, plus the fact that your company is almost entirely won, there really aren't many chances to et guys."
Internally, Utaha felt relieved. Thankfully, she had taken the initiative early. If she had waited any longer, soone in this group might have developed feelings for Ichin—or worse, Ichin could have fallen for one of them.
Take Hifumi, for example. With her adorable deanor, even other girls would have a hard ti resisting her charm.
It's strange, though. How did Ichin's studio manage to recruit such an extraordinary group of people?
Ichin returned quickly, carrying his laptop. In less than five minutes, he was back. When he entered the room, he noticed everyone looking at him strangely, while Sakura Nene had moved back to his original seat.
"Uh… what's with those looks?"
Yagami Kō crossed her arms and stared at Ichin. "I never would've guessed that you're already dating Utaha."
"Huh?" Ichin paused and turned to Utaha. "You told them?"
"Yep." Utaha shook her head, smiling. "Hazuki-san figured it out."
"She figured it out, huh? Alright then." Ichin didn't see any reason to be embarrassed about it. He placed his laptop on the table, connected it to the big TV, and opened a docunt titled Persona.
"Here, take a look. This is sothing I wrote a while back—a modern-thed, turn-based RPG with a relationship system and dungeon exploration chanics."
He opened an illustration of a protagonist dressed in a Phantom Thief outfit, holding a mask in one hand.
Yagami Kō leaned closer, intrigued by the character design. "What's the the? You said it's turn-based—does it have combat?"
"Of course."
Ichin showed another image—one of the character Arsène. Though he had only completed the designs for the protagonist and Arsène, he vividly rembered the rest of the ga's setting.
He began explaining the story: the protagonist's trials, the concept of Personas, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and their mission to reform wrongdoers. Alongside his explanation, Ichin displayed a few UI design mockups for the ga, which imdiately captivated Hifumi.
Clasping her hands to her chest, Hifumi exclaid excitedly, "I—I want to work on the character designs for this ga!"
"Oh?" Hazuki raised an eyebrow, surprised. "It's rare to see Hifumi-chan take the initiative like this. You must really love the ga's concept. And honestly, this the is quite impressive, but isn't it a bit ambitious?"
Ichin nodded, disconnecting the laptop from the TV. "Yeah, with just the two of us as programrs, it's going to be tough."
...
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