As for how Kitagawa Marin chopped vegetables afterward… well, at least she didn't cut her hand. The fried rice got a little scorched and spilled out of the pan, but it looked passable.
Kitagawa Marin took a small taste and showed a satisfied expression. "Mm, delicious."
Kitagawa Marin [Too easy. I must be a genius. Next I just have to make the omelette wrap. Piece of cake.]
(Really? Actually, the hardest part of omurice is making the omelette wrap.)
"…"
The omurice was finished soon after. Kitagawa Marin placed it in front of Saiki, then quietly sat to the side with her head lowered. She didn't say anything, but her face looked a little strange, and her toes were curling so hard it was like she was trying to dig a three-bedroom apartment into the sofa.
(I see. So she only knows how to make fried rice?)
It wasn't actually that bad — just normal fried rice, and then the omelette… uh… didn't quite wrap properly, so it ended up scattered on top. She had even considerately written "Sorry" in ketchup.
"Sorry, we're out of eggs at home. Maybe… maybe you shouldn't eat it."
Kitagawa Marin didn't even dare look Saiki in the eye. She had meant to treat him properly, but now she felt like she had failed again.
(Whatever. I didn't have any expectations anyway.)
[I'm digging in.]
Saiki took a bite first. The taste was actually okay. If you only looked at the fried rice part, it was fine. For Saiki, the omelette wrap wasn't important anyway.
Seeing that Saiki didn't say anything, Kitagawa Marin asked guiltily, "Is it good?"
Saiki nodded and continued eating without another word.
Kitagawa Marin didn't ask again. The two finished lunch in silence.
"Sorry, Saiki-kun. It seems I couldn't even treat you properly."
[It's fine.]
Kitagawa Marin felt apologetic but didn't know what to do. Then she had a sudden idea and asked, "Saiki-kun, do you like playing games?"
[They're alright.]
"Then what kind of games do you like? I have a lot of games at home. I can lend some to you."
[Games? Actually I play pretty much everything. I've probably played most games out there. The ones I play the most are probably niche titles — the so-called trash games.]
"Niche games?"
Saiki's expression changed slightly, as if some bad memory had surfaced.
[Never mind. Just pretend I didn't say anything earlier.]
"Then has Saiki-kun ever played a romance simulation game?"
Kitagawa Marin asked with an expectant look on her face.
[No.]
Saiki had never played any love-strategy dating sim games. He thought they were too simple.
They were all choice-based, and the options were usually normal ones. As long as you chose reasonably, it was impossible to fail at capturing someone — at least that's what Saiki thought.
"Great! Wait here. I'll recommend a really fun game for you."
Kitagawa Marin stood up.
"Stay right there and don't move. I'll go get the game."
[Hey, wait — I didn't say I wanted to play.]
Kitagawa Marin excitedly ran toward her room. It seemed she hadn't heard Saiki at all.
Soon after.
Kitagawa Marin returned with a small laptop, grinning as she sat down in front of Saiki.
Saiki glanced at it and said casually,
[I'm not really interested in dating sims.]
"It's fine! This one is seriously fun. You've never played it, right? Just try it once and you'll fall in love with it."
Kitagawa Marin started introducing it on her own. "The Shizuku I mentioned wanting to cosplay earlier is a character from this game — the super popular one I asked you to make the cosplay outfit for."
[Really? Never heard of it.]
"That's because Saiki-kun never plays dating sims. This one is seriously huge."
[So what's the name of the game?]
Kitagawa Marin opened the laptop, loaded the game website, handed it to Saiki, and introduced it.
"This… this game is called Holy ❤️ Slippery Girls' Academy Young Lady Humiliation Club Shameful Wonderful Life 2. It's an amazing game. There's even going to be an anime adaptation later."
The moment Saiki heard the title, his brain momentarily crashed. But he quickly recovered and said awkwardly,
[The name of this game is a bit…]
(Eroge?)
Seeing Saiki's surprised expression, Kitagawa Marin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. The name is kind of long."
[No, I'm not talking about the length. I mean whether this game is actually decent or not.]
Saiki looked at the game icon — it had mosaics covering parts of many beautiful girls. When he clicked on the character screen, there were lots of beautiful girls, though they were dressed rather revealingly.
After a quick glance, Saiki closed the laptop.
"Mm, it's totally decent! Lots of people play it. The main story is about—"
[Never mind, you don't have to explain. This game doesn't seem very suitable.]
Kitagawa Marin slipped into reminiscence mode.
"Suitable? Yeah, you're right. Speaking of suitable, this game is mainly about the protagonist who can't find a school that fits him, and then…"
(Can you hear me talking? Don't just start monologuing the moment you get the chance!)
In her mind, Kitagawa Marin pictured the scenes and excitedly continued.
"Then the protagonist's grandfather, who is the principal of a school, recruits him to attend their all-girls academy…"
(Whatever. I give up.)
"In short, it's a harem-type story."
[Yeah, a lot of anime are like that. Most harem series follow basically the same setup. Even though there are tons of plot holes — like why would a guy enroll in an all-girls academy — it's the standard premise for most harem stories.]
"Mm, and there are a lot of tearjerker moments too. They really hit hard. Saiki-kun probably likes humiliation stuff, right? Like sex slave scenarios and things like that."
Saiki looked completely dumbfounded.
[Sex slave??? What exactly did I do to make you think I'd be into that kind of thing?]
Kitagawa Marin smiled and said, "No no, it's just a feeling. I get the vibe that Saiki-kun might have an interest in that sort of thing."
[Don't just assume other people's interests out of nowhere!]
"Wet Girl 2" is mostly about love-based sex slavery anyway, so there shouldn't be any problem. You can rest easy on that point."
[No, I'm not resting easy at all. I think there's a huge problem.]
Kitagawa Marin didn't blush or hesitate as she recalled the plot. "The protagonist gets ordered by the principal to join the 'Humiliation Club,' and then the female students…"
As Saiki listened to the increasingly strange content coming from Kitagawa Marin, he felt more and more that something was seriously off with this story.
(Yare yare… "sex slave," "humiliation" — no matter how you look at it, these are the kinds of keywords that, if you search them online, pull up all sorts of messed-up stuff. They're not words that show up in normal games. Is Kitagawa-san being serious right now?)
With that doubt in mind, Saiki snapped back to reality and glanced at Kitagawa Marin, who was still earnestly explaining the plot.
"Then if the protagonist chooses this option right here, he becomes the club president's sex slave."
Saiki saw Kitagawa Marin's eyes bloodshot with seriousness and nearly jumped in fright.
(Yare yare… looks like she really is serious!)