"Hey? Bocchi-chan, what's up?"
"Jhin~" Hitori Gotoh could only produce this kind of sticky, candy-like sweet tone over the phone. Once they met in person, she turned back into Jhin's familiar socially anxious abstract girlfriend, showing no trace of her phone persona.
I'm timid in reality, but unstoppable when cursing people out over the phone—that's Hitori Gotoh right now.
"Um, lately I have tutoring to catch up on, and I need to practice the cultural festival songs more intensively, so I might not have much time to spend with you..."
"Focus on those two things. I'll drop by STARRY from time to time to see you."
"Mhm!"
"After the cultural festival ends, I'll grant you one wish."
"Really!?"
"Of course. Even if it's a star, I can pluck it down for you." Jhin wasn't joking at all. Hadn't they seen the little angel Nymph playing with the canary at his house?
Synapse technology, beyond your imagination.
"Hehehe, aren't you spoiling me a bit too much..." Hitori Gotoh rolled happily on the tatami mat, her little face flushing hot, feeling like she was about to melt.
"You're my girlfriend. If I don't spoil you, who should I spoil?"
"Then... marriage... is that okay?"
Good thing Jhin wasn't an ordinary person. Even facing Hitori Gotoh's rather heavy topic, he showed no fluctuation and was even a bit eager to try: "Bocchi-chan, it's not that I don't want to, but legally, neither of us is at marriage age yet!"
"Y-You're right..." Hitori Gotoh really wanted Jhin to turn eighteen right away so they could get married!
The female deity lounging in a high-end recliner seemed to receive Hitori Gotoh's strong wish at that moment. She picked up the coffee on the table as if remembering something: "Oh~ Speaking of which, I still haven't fulfilled that wish for my star employee's girlfriend, hmm..."
Let me check—set it to send in a few hours. There's a time flow discrepancy; what were the exact parameters again? Whatever, it shouldn't be off by much.
"..."
During break at Mihama Academy, Kasumigaoka Utaha had just asked Jhin for his opinion on a latest romance novel when she suddenly remembered he had a girlfriend too. Her interest piqued, she called out to him: "Jhin-san, how did you and your girlfriend start dating?"
The topic was like tossing a lump of enticing bait into the ocean. The girls in the classroom all turned into "sharks," swarming over one by one.
"Exactly, we're all super curious about this!" Michiru Matsushima was the first to chime in, her eyes full of schadenfreude.
"My little brother's love story—now that's a good topic."
Kato Megumi stayed silent. She glanced at the surrounding girls, then at Jhin, wondering which romance story he would tell.
Eriri pretended to be indifferent and didn't leave her seat, but she perked up her ears.
Jhin showed no stage fright at all and directly pulled out a chair to sit down.
"How did we go from romance novels to me? Kasumigaoka-san, you're not gathering material for a romance novel, are you?"
His joking words secretly surprised Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Did Jhin-san guess my light novel author identity? I've only chatted with him about novels usually and haven't done anything that might reveal it.
Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a bit panicked inside but kept a perfect poker face, curling her lips to tease him: "After all, you're the only boy in our school, and one with a girlfriend at that. It's natural to be curious about your love life. Unless there's something unspeakable about the process?"
"Fine, since you're all so interested, I'll tell you. Otherwise, you'll probably make voodoo dolls of me tonight if I refuse."
"Oh! Brother's love story!" Irisu Makina cheered, pulling snacks from her pocket and placing them on the desk, eagerly waiting.
Jhin swiftly snatched the chocolate Irisu Makina had just torn open but hadn't bitten into, smirking as he took a big bite and chewed while saying: "We first met after school."
"I see, a classic trope." Kasumigaoka Utaha resisted the urge to take notes and memorized it mentally instead—real-life stories made great material for her new novel.
Distracted, she didn't notice several girls' gazes shifting to Sakaki Yumiko, making her little face flush red.
So it's Miss Sakaki's story...
Kato Megumi had thought, based on what Kazami Kazuki said about Jhin's harem, that this cool, aloof ice beauty wasn't included. Turns out she was a "winner" too.
"Back then, she was being harassed by some delinquents, so I went and rescued her."
"Mhm, hero saves the beauty—classic again."
"Later I found out we'd actually met when we were kids."
This time, the girls' gazes turned to Komine Sachi, who just smiled more brightly, unchanged otherwise.
"Childhood friends trope? That's a bit unexpected."
Hearing "childhood friends," the childhood friend faction's Eriri couldn't sit still anymore, her twintails standing straight up.
Childhood friends actually making it work in real life, right next to me!
"Afterward, she wanted to be my big sister, but I didn't agree."
Now it was Suou Amane's turn to be stared at. She boldly thrust out her towering peaks, repelling all gazes.
"To make up for it, I wanted to take her to an amusement park."
Irisu Makina ate her snacks faster.
"But she's a tsundere. She clearly wanted to go but said it was too childish and refused, choosing a flower field instead."
Michiru Matsushima was about to speak when her pupils flashed green, and she smiled while continuing to listen.
"Later, I visited her home and heard her play a piano piece. Well, as expected of her—her piano skills are just as they were when she was little."
Kazami Kazuki popped a candy into her cherry mouth, the sweetness melting into her heart.
Kato Megumi watched the girls' reactions and finally understood: before transferring, Jhin had already conquered every girl in this school.
Jhin-san is a bit scary...
"So when did you confess?" Kasumigaoka Utaha saw Jhin was about to recount every detail with his girlfriend and quickly interrupted, asking the key question.
"Confess?" Jhin was stumped for a moment.
If it had to be a very formal "I like you, go out with me!" "I like you too," like in a galgame, he and the girls really hadn't had that.
"You didn't confess to each other?" Kasumigaoka Utaha looked incredulous.
"There were similar confessions, but definitely not like the ones in the novels you read, Kasumigaoka-san." Jhin stood, pushing his chair back under the desk as the bell rang: "That's the gist. Satisfied, Kasumigaoka-san?"
"Passably. Though it sounds like a patchwork of tropes from various novels."
"Unfortunately, these are all real events. Stories come from life, after all."
"You have a point."
___
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