On Sunday, Kuroha Akira went to the Takanashi residence for another full day of gaming.
Today, Asato Hitomi only dropped Kuroha Akira off at the Takanashi household and stayed for only half a day. She left in the afternoon, explaining that she had to attend a meeting about the upcoming Cultural Festival at school.
At noon, she and Takanashi Akiko made lunch together, sharing cooking tips like two seasoned chefs comparing notes. The kitchen was filled with the warm aroma of simmering soup and the gentle clatter of utensils.
Takanashi Akiko was genuinely surprised to discover that Asato Hitomi's cooking skills at her age were already on par with her own—considering Akiko had been cooking for over a decade to reach her current level. It was like a rookie player showing up at a tournament and going toe-to-toe with a veteran.
Cooking was a skill that greatly benefited from practice. Those who still referred to recipes were beginners, still learning the basic mechanics. Mastering the usage of various seasonings, understanding heat control, and possessing solid knife skills meant one had just entered the intermediate tier.
Beyond that, if one could consider nutritional balance and the interchangeability of ingredients—no longer being confined to recipes—it indicated that their cooking level was already superior to most people. That was the advanced tier, where real creativity began.
Recalling the past, Takanashi Akiko realized that when she had been Asato Hitomi's age, she had just moved to Tokyo, living alone in a room smaller than three tatami mats. Forget cooking—she couldn't even properly make instant noodles back then. She had been a true culinary idiot, the kind who burned water.
When she had first entered the voice actor training school, just keeping up with the pace had already been exhausting. She had no time for life matters, often just eating whatever was convenient, convenience store onigiri or cup ramen.
She remembered a period when she had even eaten boiled bean sprouts with salt for an entire week. She had even grown vegetables in flower pots on her tiny balcony—because she had been too poor to buy even rice balls from the convenience store. Those had been rough days.
However, although those days had been tough, they had also been strangely happy. Perhaps it was because she had been single-mindedly pursuing her dream? There was a purity to that struggle.
In short, life had been very fulfilling. Although her stomach had often been hungry, her spirit had been full, burning bright like a flame that refused to go out.
It was only after she had a future—after she had someone to care for—that she truly began to learn how to cook properly.
To be able to cook nutritious and delicious meals for her child, Takanashi Akiko had specifically attended housewife cooking classes. Only now had she become a capable homemaker who could take charge in the kitchen with confidence.
The key to this lay in whether there was someone for whom one wished to cook.
Many mothers were like this: they were perfunctory when cooking for themselves—just throwing something together—but willing to put in real effort when cooking for their children or husbands. Love transformed cooking from a chore into an act of devotion.
So Takanashi Akiko also realized something significant.
This child, Hitomi-chan… seems to like Kuroha-kun.
It must be the desire to cook for her beloved that had caused her cooking skills to improve by leaps and bounds. That kind of motivation made all the difference.
Perhaps these two would even eat bento together on the school rooftop someday, and play the classic 'Ah' 'Mm' feeding game—the kind you saw in every shoujo manga. Maybe they'd even hold food in their mouths and feed each other mouth-to-mouth… though that was probably a late-night anime plotline. High school students in real life weren't that bold.
In any case, this sweet and sour campus romance was truly beautiful. What a pity Akiko hadn't experienced it herself…
I hope I can meet my 'him' in the future, she thought wistfully. But first, I need to get out of my room.
Staying at home all day, where would she find love and encounters? Could it be that men would just deliver themselves to her door? That only happened in visual novels.
I hope that child won't end up like me, she sighed internally. Still… at this age… alas…
But this path was her own choice. She couldn't blame anyone else, and she wouldn't feel regretful either.
Otherwise, Takanashi Akiko's life up to now would all become a joke—and she would absolutely not regret the path she had chosen. No matter how lonely it got sometimes.
Kuroha Akira was the one who only ate during the cooking session. Although he had been eating the class representative's bento for over a month now, this was the first time he had actually seen the class representative cook from start to finish. The wife aura was already beginning to form around her.
So, he mused, the secret to the wife-like aura is actually just wearing an apron?
Asato Hitomi and Takanashi Akiko, both wearing matching aprons, stood happily together in front of the kitchen counter. They cooked side by side, laughing and chatting, as if they were a loving mother and daughter.
More accurately, to Kuroha Akira, it felt like his mother and his wife were cooking together. There was something domestic about the scene that made his heart warm.
Waiting for a meal didn't feel agonizing at all anymore. Instead, a warm sense of happiness spread in his heart. He had felt this same feeling a few days ago when eating pizza with everyone at the Kobayashi household. It was the magic of a family.
Kuroha Akira could be considered to have experienced in advance what it felt like to be financially free and just laze around at home.
There were games to play, anime and manga to read, and tea and snacks prepared by Aunt Akiko. She even thoughtfully sat next to Kuroha Akira to chat with him—though he knew it was just to lure out Takanashi Mirai, requiring constant conversation to make noise. But for Kuroha Akira, this was just a free companion service.
As expected, he thought contentedly, a maid is necessary.
This level of service was just too comfortable.
After playing happily for the whole afternoon and staying for dinner at the Takanashi household, around eight in the evening, Kuroha Akira was finally about to clear the game's final boss.
But just before facing the final boss, Kuroha Akira suddenly told Aunt Akiko that it was getting late and he would come back to finish it next week.
Bang!
A crisp sound came from Takanashi Mirai's room.
It must have been the sound of a head bumping against the door. Or possibly a fist. Or both.
Just as Kuroha Akira had expected, Takanashi Mirai was currently pressing her head against the door, mouth wide open in complete disbelief, utterly speechless.
"How can anyone stop right in front of the final boss!" she screamed internally. "Just finish it in one go!"
"Saying it's too late… At a time like this, even if you have to shamelessly stay the night, you should clear this game in one sitting!"
"Why can you hold back? How can you possibly hold back! How could anyone hold back!"
Previously, she had been a little worried about her mother's personal safety. After all, Kuroha Akira was a hot-blooded high school boy, and it was very possible he harbored ulterior motives.
But looking at the situation over the past two days—where he only played games when he came over—this guy was clearly more interested in games than married women. Plus, he was Asato's friend… just from that point alone, his safety could be considered guaranteed.
So! Just! Stay! And! Clear! The! Game!
Bang!
Takanashi Mirai hammered the door panel with her small fists again, protesting against Kuroha Akira in this desperate, wordless way.
Heh, Kuroha Akira smirked internally. I won't.
Why could he hold back? Well, that was naturally because his endurance stat had long been maxed out!
You had to know that he held a beautiful woman every night—or to be precise, he could only sleep after being held and groped by a beautiful woman. So when it came to endurance and self-control, Kuroha Akira was truly not afraid of anyone now.
Fortunately, Kuroha Akira could now fight back. Otherwise, suffering from one-sided close-contact attacks would be really hard to handle. His sanity meter would plummet, and it would be way too stifling. Like being stuck in a boss fight with no escape.
After all, the situation in reality was different from physics. It wasn't that the larger the contact area, the smaller the pressure. Rather, the larger the contact area, the greater the pressure. Life wasn't fair like that.
In fact, when using his hands to fondle her silken-stockinged feet, Kuroha Akira's arousal meter would rise slowly—a steady, manageable climb. But when Shion launched indiscriminate attacks with various body parts, it was very easy for the meter to hit critical overload.
In short, the plan was very successful. Takanashi Mirai was almost unable to hold back.
Kuroha Akira and Aunt Akiko exchanged a glance, both smiling knowingly.
Victory was right before their eyes!
The next day, October 7th, a new week began.
Because he had come home too late last night, Shion was a bit sulky. She had wrapped herself around him from behind all night—a full-body tackle—and had even used the soles of her white-stockinged feet to tease him relentlessly. Finally, she had taken the white pantyhose and sniffed it fiercely, like a dog marking its territory…
If it weren't for Kuroha Akira stopping her on the grounds of basic hygiene, she might have already put it in her mouth and started sucking on it like a lollipop.
I always feel that after Shion's affection level hit the ceiling, her perversion and obsession stats started rising exponentially… Kuroha Akira mused. Are you a heroine from some eroge?
However, Kuroha Akira was happy to take it easy. His "five-finger girl" had been replaced by Shion's feet, and manual labor had turned into Shion-labor. It was like upgrading from a budget smartphone to a flagship model.
Humans have three basic desires: appetite, sexual desire, and the need for sleep.
Now his appetite was satisfied by Asato Hitomi feeding him, and his sexual desire was vented by Shinomiya Shion using her own body to help him release. Since the first two were greatly satisfied, he slept very comfortably at night, and there was even someone to warm the bed and act as a body pillow for him.
Without realizing it, Kuroha Akira was already going further and further down the path of becoming a useless person—the kind of protagonist you'd see in a comedy anime who can't even tie his own shoes because his harem does everything for him.
When he met the class monitor at the school gate in the morning, Kuroha Akira's eyes lit up.
Today, the class monitor was wearing her school uniform jacket, and the color of her pantyhose was a bit darker than usual—a deep, rich black that made her JK vibe even stronger. The contrast with her pale legs was striking.
"Good morning, class monitor. You've switched to the winter uniform."
"Yes, after all, the weather has clearly started to cool down." Asato Hitomi smiled, adjusting her collar.
"It's still quite hot at noon, though."
In Japan, the switch to winter uniforms usually started on October 1st, and summer uniforms started on June 1st. But this was just a soft guideline, not a hard rule. As long as you were wearing the school uniform, it was fine. In fact, by mid-to-late October, there were still many people wearing summer uniforms; after all, October in Tokyo wasn't particularly cold.
However, because preparations for the Cultural Festival started this week, most students would stay at school until very late. Since the weather cooled down at night, more students had started wearing winter uniforms for practical reasons.
During the breaks, you could see that every class was visibly getting busy. "Class 1, Grade 1," where Kuroha Akira was, was no exception. Students were rushing around with posters, props, and planning sheets.
After school in the afternoon, Asato Hitomi asked Kuroha Akira.
"Then, Akira-kun, are you going to the Literary Club?"
"Shiori and Moe are also busy with their class's Cultural Festival program, right?" Kuroha Akira shrugged. "And you, class monitor, have to stay in the class to direct the work. So what can I do if I go alone?"
The progress of the light novel was also exceptionally smooth, and Shiori's polishing work was almost finished. Kuroha Akira thought that perhaps he could discuss with Mori Katsuma later about moving the publication date up a bit. If it was moved to this month, he would get the money sooner. Earlier money meant earlier peace of mind.
"Is that so…" Asato Hitomi's expression flickered. "Then, Akira-kun, are you going back?"
If he went back, he would be with Shinomiya Shion, right…
Although she was the one who had arranged a relatively relaxed group for Kuroha Akira during the Cultural Festival, she didn't want him to go home so early at this moment. The young girl's heart was still wavering, caught between wanting him close and not wanting to seem possessive.
"I'll stay and help out too." Kuroha Akira waved his hand dismissively. "We're all in the same class, so there's no need to divide into groups so clearly, right? I'll go ask Ryota and see where help is needed."
After saying that, Kuroha Akira walked towards Sumitomo Ryota, greeted him, and naturally blended into the group of boys.
Although the fact that Kuroha Akira and Asato Hitomi were "dating" made Kuroha Akira the target of jealousy and resentment from some boys in the class—the kind of looks that could kill—not every boy liked Asato Hitomi or cared about this matter. Some had their own crushes, others were focused on club activities, and a few were just too lazy to care about other people's love lives.
Plus, Sumitomo Ryota was very friendly to Kuroha Akira, and Kuroha Akira was not a shy person by any means. He could chat with anyone about anything, so he quickly established good relationships with the boys.
Rather, it was because Asato Hitomi had been "monopolizing" Kuroha Akira at school, taking him away for all time outside of class, which resulted in him not spending much time with other boys in the class. Only Fujiyoshi Michio, who sat behind him, could chat with him during breaks because their seats were adjacent.
So during this Cultural Festival work, other boys complained to him—with a mix of teasing and genuine curiosity—that having a girlfriend with such strong possessiveness like Asato Hitomi must be very tiring.
After all, sometimes men just wanted to hang out with other men without that much pressure. No need to worry about what your girlfriend might think. Just pure, uncomplicated bro time.
But in fact, Kuroha Akira didn't feel any pressure when getting along with the class monitor. He didn't pay attention to the class monitor's mood changes all the time like he would with a real girlfriend, because he and Asato Hitomi were just friends. There were no romantic expectations to manage.
Instead, it was Asato Hitomi who kept paying attention to Kuroha Akira's mood changes, wanting to read his inner thoughts. She was the one doing all the emotional labor.
So this time, the content of Kuroha Akira's chat with other boys in the class was also captured by her.
And what she heard stung.
Then she felt very aggrieved and speechless—so speechless that on the day she heard this, she went home, didn't even take off her clothes, and lay directly on the bed, burying her head in the pillow.
"My head hurts… I feel so confused…" Her voice was muffled by the fabric. "Am I very possessive? Did I monopolize Akira-kun? What a joke…"
She rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling.
"If I had really monopolized him, then whether it's the girl he hides at home, or Shiori and Moe, none of them would have had the chance to contact Akira-kun!"
Her hands clenched the pillow.
"I have already given up so much… Why do people still want to take away the remaining parts from me…"
The words hung in the air.
…Given up?… Take away?
Asato Hitomi felt stunned by the thoughts that had appeared in her heart. They felt foreign and yet deeply familiar.
Since when… did I start to arbitrarily assume that Kuroha Akira was my possession?
So the point of conflict was here.
She said with her mouth that she treated Akira-kun as her most important good friend—the kind of friend she would do anything for. But in reality, she treated him as her own possession. Something that belonged to her, and her alone.
Because she was the one who discovered him first. She was the one who started contacting him first. She was the one who first proposed the deal with him.
"I am the one who came first."
The principle of "first come, first served" was as universal as the rule that the protagonist always gets the harem—everyone knew it, yet few actually followed it. So when Asato Hitomi saw others encroaching on what she felt should belong exclusively to her, a bitter discomfort coiled in her chest like a snake.
This discomfort was just like having a beloved limited-edition figure snatched away by someone else right after you'd pre-ordered it—that visceral, irrational sense of loss.
But in reality, Kuroha Akira was not her possession. He was not a prize to be won or a trophy to be displayed. He did not belong to her alone, no matter how much her heart insisted otherwise.
Although her brain clearly recognized this point—logically, rationally, undeniably—her feelings could not accept it. Emotions, as any veteran anime viewer knew, rarely listened to logic. They were tsundere like that.
This misalignment between cognition and emotion, this disconnect between head and heart, was the real reason why she felt so distressed inside. It was like trying to run a game on incompatible hardware—everything crashed.
Asato Hitomi's thinking was very clear; she could analyze the situation with surgical precision. But lacking experience in this particular area—the treacherous territory of romantic jealousy—she couldn't think of any good solution.
This kind of mental problem was notoriously difficult to resolve, which was why they called it a "heart disease" in the old dramas. Unless one could hypnotize oneself—or undergo a sudden protagonist-level character development—the discomfort would persist like a persistent debuff.
In the end, she decided to seek help externally. Pride could take a backseat when your emotional HP was critically low.
Although she didn't really want to talk to her mother about private matters—especially things related to friends—her mother was indeed the woman she knew who was best at manipulating human hearts. A master strategist in the game of relationships.
...
So by Friday night, Asato Hitomi told Kuroha Akira that she had an appointment with her family that evening and wouldn't accompany him to the Takanashi household today. She believed that Kuroha Akira could solve this problem alone—after all, he had already proven himself more than capable.
Kuroha Akira always felt that the class monitor's expression was like she was going to the final boss battle—full of grim determination, her eyes burning with resolve. But when he asked what was going on, she brushed him off with a vague smile, which meant she didn't want him involved. A classic "this is my fight" moment.
Then he could only wish her success and hope she didn't wipe.
...
Meanwhile, the progress on Kuroha Akira's side was much smoother—like playing on easy mode while someone else tackled the nightmare difficulty.
Hearing that Kuroha Akira was going to the Takanashi household, Sumitomo Ryota, who lived in the same residential area, walked home with him on the way. When they parted, Ryota cheerfully invited Kuroha Akira to visit his house next time—a friendship flag successfully raised.
Then, arriving at the Takanashi household, as soon as Kuroha Akira entered the door, he saw the target person: Takanashi Mirai, wearing a shark pajama that made her look like a character from a slice-of-life comedy.
It was dinner time, and the mother-daughter duo were eating together. Seeing Kuroha Akira arrive, Takanashi Mirai did not immediately retreat to her room like a startled wild animal. Instead, she glared at him fiercely, her eyes practically screaming, "Why did you only come now?! I've been waiting!"
Aunt Akiko also cast a joyful look at him, her smile warm and welcoming, and enthusiastically invited him to join them for dinner.
Because thanks to Kuroha Akira's clever scheme—a masterful gambit worthy of a light novel protagonist—her daughter had transformed from a state of complete isolation (zero communication, never leaving her room) to a semi-isolated state (still not going to school, but at least staying within the household).
...
Last week, Takanashi Mirai still only ate in her room, hiding behind closed doors. But now she could come out and eat with her mother, which was already a huge improvement. It was like watching a wild Pokémon slowly learn to trust its trainer.
Kuroha Akira grinned, walked over to join dinner at the Takanashi household, and started eating without any pretense of politeness. He grabbed his chopsticks and dug in like he belonged there.
Target has left the room! he declared triumphantly in his mind. The conquest can officially begin!