"Of course, after the simulation, I'll also persuade Yukinoshita whom I've never met before to get a physical exam, just to be on the safe side."
If there was one good thing about the system, it was that it didn't forget to remind him of the practical things.
[If you're having some trouble with the simulation's pace, I can also help you speed up some tedious processes and skip some difficult events.]
Like a timely rain, the neutral mechanical voice echoed through his consciousness.
"For example," it continued, [letting you personally experience the process of having your stomach pumped at the hospital.]
"Okay, then I'll leave it to you."
Narumi nodded seriously, though his smirk betrayed his sarcasm.
This system was so reliable it could make anyone's suffering seem like an amusing afterthought. Everyone should have a system as flexible and well-balanced as this.
[After eating Yukino Yukinoshita's cookies, you tossed and turned in agony from stomach pain all night, and finally had to go to the hospital for emergency gastric lavage in the early hours of the morning, almost saying goodbye to this simulation experience.]
"Oh dear, another brush with death," Narumi muttered. "Maybe I should take this opportunity to extort some money…"
[Yukinoshita, who came to visit you in the hospital, happily took a photo with you lying in the hospital bed with an IV drip, and sent it to Yukino with the caption: 'Thanks to my dear sister for letting us get our first photo together since the breakup~']
Narumi groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead. "I've said before that this woman has been crazy for a long time," he muttered. Then, with a small laugh: "But I quite like crazy women."
After recovering from his serious illness and returning to the Service Club, Narumi happened to run into Hayato Hayama in the corridor. The blond boy froze, looking simultaneously surprised and faintly resentful.
From what Narumi remembered, Hayama was three years younger than him and Haruno but he'd always harbored feelings for her.
So, it was no wonder his expression held such a complicated mix of emotions: admiration, jealousy, and confusion.
Even before and after his relationship with Haruno, Hayama's feelings toward Narumi had always been awkwardly tangled.
"You're right," Narumi thought aloud, half to himself. "But envy is the most common symptom of an eye disease—m and also a sign of jealousy. We'll just play the role of a smooth-talking gigolo and uncover the truth behind Hayama's envy."
[Good idea,] the system replied dryly.
[Yukino Yukinoshita didn't welcome your return with the same enthusiasm as the other Service Club members (mainly Yui Yuigahama). Firstly, she's not that type of person. Secondly, she no longer reacts calmly to Haruno's madness as she used to she seems to have developed some reservations about it.]
"See? Even the system agrees Haruno's crazy," Narumi said with a sigh. "Wait, why are you so critical of that?"
At that, Yui Yuigahama gave him a strange, unreadable look.
Her bright, open expression twisted into something more complicated an unspoken thought hovering in her eyes: "Maintaining a lingering relationship with the older sister while getting close to the younger one… that's kind of lame."
Narumi stared back blankly. "What do you mean by that…?"
He paused, then muttered, "...Actually, why not?"
[This perfectly matches your personality in this simulation; it seems you're gradually getting into the swing of things,] the system observed.
"If this were a game," Narumi mused, "there'd be an achievement popping up in the corner right now: '100% Synchronization: Congratulations, You Are Now the Scumbag Protagonist.'"
[After that, the daily routine continued as usual, and the Service Club welcomed guests (demons and monsters) with various requests. As the Service Club's assistant, you didn't intend to steal the spotlight; you simply stayed quietly in a corner, letting the protagonists resolve everything perfectly.]
"No," Narumi said flatly. "I'm just lazy."
Chapter 11: That Sounds interesting.
Still, even though Yukino Yukinoshita thought she was concealing it well, he couldn't help but notice she was taking those "vitamin pills" far too often.
And then there was her attendance.
[She, who used to only go to the hospital for checkups once a week, started missing more and more classes. You and Haruno went to explain the situation to her homeroom teacher, and it was only then that you learned from Haruno that Yukino's condition had worsened.]
Narumi's expression froze. His fingers twitched.
"...No way," he whispered. "Yukino Yukinoshita. If your life ends here, how meaningless would that be?"
He clenched the short story manuscript he had been holding tighter in his hand.
That day, with his newly published short story in hand the first one to finally pass the review process Narumi went to the hospital with Haruno Yukinoshita to visit Yukino.
---
"Pfft! An upright and incorruptible judge falls in love with a cunning lawyer who defends death row inmates?" Haruno's eyes gleamed with amusement as she flipped through the magazine. "No wonder you stood out in this essay contest, Narumi. This bizarre idea really earned you points."
They were in Yukino's hospital room. Haruno sat at her sister's bedside, flipping the pages casually, her usual playful grin spreading across her face.
"Yukino, look at this!" she said, handing the magazine over. "This guy's got so many clever ideas, right?"
"...It's not a bad way to arrange the characters," Yukino replied softly.
Her calm voice, though steady, carried a faint weakness now. She turned each page carefully, her pale fingers tracing the edges.
"Look at that scene where the couple elopes in court! It's hilarious!" Haruno added, laughing.
"Mmm... mmm..."
Yukino's shoulders tensed slightly at that word—"elope." She shifted her body as if uncomfortable, but it was a subtle movement that could easily be mistaken for fatigue.
"Narumi," Haruno said, her tone suddenly playful again. "How did you come up with such a brilliant idea? I don't believe you didn't have a muse or inspiration."
Yukino raised her eyes at that, studying him quietly.
"Hmm?" Narumi blinked, feigning innocence. "Let's just say yes and no."
He tilted his head, then bit into a freshly peeled apple with unhurried calm.
"But I won't tell Haruno."
"Ugh, what a downer!" Haruno huffed.
"I thought it was customary social etiquette to give the first peeled apple to the patient," Yukino said pointedly.
Narumi looked down at the apple half eaten in his hand, then back at her.
"I'm hungry," he said simply. "Hungry people get priority. Patients step aside."
"...Fine," Yukino muttered, exhaling softly. "But please remember to give me the next one."
"Alright, you're next after I'm full."
"Senpai, are you a pig?"
"Unfortunately, I'm not," he replied without hesitation. "My meat quality doesn't meet the standard."
Yukino frowned, looking utterly exasperated, but Haruno just burst into laughter.
"You two... really..."
She smiled as her gaze shifted between them, her expression oddly serene. Then, after a pause, her eyes flickered mischievously.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt your bickering," she said, "but I have something to say to Narumi I'll just have to hog him for a little while."
"…Hmm?"
Yukino instinctively raised her hand as if to stop her, but froze when she saw her sister's hand slide smoothly around the young man's neck.
With practiced ease, Haruno led Narumi out of the ward. The sound of her low laughter faded behind the closing door.
Left alone, Yukino could only stare at their retreating figures two silhouettes framed in the doorway.
No matter how quietly they tried to whisper outside, the sterile silence of the hospital corridor carried every word clearly to her ears.
"Hey," Haruno's teasing voice drifted faintly through. "Seems like someone's getting along really well with my sister. You really do look at someone with new eyes after just three days apart. Why don't we take this opportunity to get back together?"
"——"
For a brief moment, Yukino Yukinoshita's mind went blank.
Her eyes trembled, her focus wavering. When she came to her senses, she wasn't even sure why she'd been so startled or why her chest felt so heavy.
She looked down, her gaze falling on the magazine she still held in her pale hand.
Her unfocused eyes lingered on a passage of absurd text.
> [How could a judge, who should have upheld his own principles, have colluded with an unscrupulous lawyer advocating for the presumption of innocence of death row inmates?]
Are you really going to try and escape judgment together? Hell lies ahead!
The snow fell only after the snow had fallen.
She looked up at the young man's back as he turned away, already hoping for an answer from him.
At the same time, he realized that he was the one who was convicted.
Yukino Yukinoshita's wicked personality was sometimes really hard to fathom it was impossible to know how much of what she said was meant seriously.
For instance, when Haruno blurted out her so-called "declaration of getting back together" as if it were just another casual joke, Narumi Toru subconsciously felt he couldn't take it seriously.
"Yono, are you kidding me? If so, I'll get angry," the curly-haired young man said calmly.
"I'll get revenge when I'm angry."
"Hey~ I don't believe you, Narumi. You're just talking tough. Besides, what kind of revenge could you possibly get? Don't try to save face—"
Narumi Toru knew very well that he and Yukinoshita Haruno didn't belong to the same social class. Even revenge, if he ever considered it, would be difficult to accomplish. That simple fact had been one of the biggest reasons for their breakup.
"Anyway," he said lightly, "I'll remember this grudge."
"Stop talking nonsense~ Although I know that's just your personality," Haruno replied, her voice playful as ever.
She glanced back briefly toward the room, where her younger sister was still staring blankly at the magazine on her lap. Then, she took Narumi's wrist and walked him further down the corridor, closing the ward door behind them.
Now came the kind of conversation that was never meant to be overheard by others.
"That child's physical condition..." Haruno began quietly, lowering her gaze. "We've all seen it for ourselves. So what I was saying earlier wasn't entirely a joke. If you were here, you could probably help keep up her enthusiasm for treatment. Perhaps..."
She hesitated for a long moment before finally exhaling.
"Perhaps Mother would reconsider sending Yukino abroad alone for closed treatment. It's the best solution we can think of right now to keep her alive."
This was the worst future simulation ever.
Despite never having experienced any other one before, Yukino Yukinoshita half-lying on her hospital bed was certain of this much.
Always proud and composed, she had been the embodiment of calm reliability among her peers. Yet, even she couldn't deny this unprecedented sense of defeat. She decided to attribute her despondency to her worsening health, because the truth was too cruel to face head-on.
Yukino couldn't stand her frailty anymore. Her powerless body left her exhausted in both mind and spirit. And that frailty this ticking time bomb within her had begun to crack the already fragile relationship between her and her family.
Her mother's domineering attitude hadn't softened after the diagnosis; in fact, it had intensified. Mrs. Yukinoshita became even more autocratic, constructing detailed rehabilitation schedules and obsessively planning every hour of Yukino's day. She acted like a sainted mother sacrificing everything for her daughter's sake yet in doing so, smothered her completely.
Her father, who had always been little more than a quiet figure in the background, grew even more withdrawn. He barely spoke, merely nodding along to his wife's decisions while silently smoking until midnight.
At first, Yukino's emotions had been a storm of resentment and disbelief why did this have to happen to me? But slowly, that emotion dulled into something heavier, quieter.
Weariness. Helplessness. The slow acceptance that her strength, her health, and her life were slipping away, bit by bit.
It was ridiculous, really.
She had been thrown into this so-called "future simulation," thinking she might experience something extraordinary. Instead, she was simply lying in a hospital bed, day after day, drifting between pain and fatigue.
Whether from illness or mental exhaustion, Yukino's eyes grew heavy. Her vision blurred, and the steady hum of the hospital TV became little more than background noise.
> [According to our latest report, a small comet that passes Earth only once every 5,000 years will be visible this weekend in areas such as Miyazaki and Kagoshima.]
She could hear the reporter's monotone voice faintly through the haze.
"If this is a nightmare," she murmured weakly, "please let me wake up soon."
"Oh? You fell asleep so quickly? Yukino-no-?"
Her eyelids fluttered open immediately at the loud, cheerful voice of the young man who had just pushed open the door.
"...Has anyone ever told you, senpai, that you can't be this noisy in a hospital?"
Yukino frowned and glared unceremoniously at Narumi Toru, who stood in the doorway, grinning as if this were all a joke.
The young man in front of her always had that strange kind of magic he could effortlessly pull her out of her nightmares, no matter how deep they ran.
And maybe… if she could only see this person in a simulation, perhaps she didn't mind staying in this nightmare a little longer.
"What does it matter?" Narumi said lightly. "The noise I make only bothers you, right?"
"Please don't state facts that only bother me with such a self-righteous tone," Yukino shot back, her dry voice still carrying that trademark edge. "Um, where's my sister? Why didn't she come back with you?"
"Sent her away," Narumi replied without hesitation. "After all, what follows is a private conversation between just the two of us. Are you sure you want her to join us?"
Narumi smiled as he walked casually to her bedside and sat down.
"...What are you trying to say?"
Even though her body was weak, the black-haired girl instinctively straightened her posture, forcing herself to remain alert as she shifted slightly away from him.
"That's a question I should be asking you, Yukino Yukinoshita," Narumi said, his voice low but steady. "What do you want to do?"
Gone was the usual teasing, the lazy, joking demeanor. His tone was calm serious.
Even an NPC in a simulation game could make that expression?
For a brief moment, Yukino froze. She wasn't sure if it was her illness or the dull numbness of the system that made her speak before thinking.
"If I tell you I've had enough and can't stay here any longer... can you take me away?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
Narumi paused, caught off guard it was the first time Yukino had ever seen genuine surprise cross his face.
Of course, she didn't expect a real answer.
She never believed this simulated person could actually help her escape. Her question had been more like a sigh a weak exhale of her own powerlessness.
Trapped between her suffocating family and her failing health, this might really be the end of her "future."
"...It's okay if you don't answer," she added quietly, forcing a small smile as she leaned back into her pillow. Her eyelids fluttered closed, as if surrendering to sleep.
And then—
"Okay," Narumi's voice cut through the silence. "That sounds interesting."
"...?"
Her eyes snapped open, startled.
He was smiling casually, lazily, and yet… warmly.
For the first time, Yukino found that expression refreshing. The way his eyes curved when he smiled, the faint dimples in his cheeks, even the fine wrinkles that gathered at the corners of his eyes they all seemed unbearably gentle.
Of course, Yukino Yukinoshita thought he was joking.