(A Reverse Harem)
If there's anything Anri Hinomori loves more than fictional characters, it's drama. By day, she's responsible for the anonymous gossip column for her high school's newspaper, and by night, she blogs extensive, long-winded reviews o...
MY PHONE, WHICH HAD BEEN CHARGING NEARBY, BUZZED. Before she went up to bed, Mrs. Riri had allowed me to borrow her charger, seeing as my phone's battery had bitten the dust hours ago. Part of me hoped it'd be a text message from Asahi, who finally decided to notify me that I could head home.
I should've known better.
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I kept a throwaway email on my blog, just in case people or companies wanted to reach out to me, but this was the first email in a long while. Surely, my inactivity as of late had become a cause for concern.
'Killer x Lover,' she said? I kept track of each and every new release—to an unhealthy degree, actually. The fact that I hadn't heard of it until now was an abnormality. I'd been so preoccupied participating my own real-life otome game that I hadn't kept track of my dear fictional ones in ages.
Hastily, I scrolled through my phone. Apparently, it was announced three months ago, and finally hit stores last Friday. The love interests—the most important detail, I'd argue—were devilishly handsome. I loved the art style, which wasn't a surprise considering I absolutely adored this artist. USA☆MI drew characters that could play with heart strings like it was nothing, and was a well-respected name in the otoge community.
I was such a disgrace as an otoge blogger. This was all Creeper's fault. I could have been out there, minding my business and playing my otome games in peace, but instead, here I was, waist-deep in reality and trapped at my childhood bully's house. If I hadn't gotten caught up with Takumi again after all these years, I wouldn't have to feel this complicated, let alone irritated.
What was his issue? Why did he go and wage that stupid bet to get me to stay at his house?
I didn't understand him.
I thought I did, but maybe, I didn't at all.
"Ann! Here you are!"
Naoya poked his head into the living room. His red hair was damp—his bangs curled up and covering his eyebrows. With his soft brown eyes and wide grin, he was the mere image of content. Likely, he'd just hopped out of the bath.
When he got a better look at my situation—specifically, my many layers and Takumi's dog curled up on my lap—he burst out laughing.
"You and Runa look so comfortable together. I'm jealous."
"Runa?" I asked as her tail happily whipped back and forth. "Is that her name?"
"Ren. Riri. Runa. For the record, Ren's dad's name is Ryuya. This family really loves the letter 'R.'"
As he ran his fingers along Runa's soft fur, his mouth peeled back into a wide grin, which truly resembled a beam of sunlight. He and Takumi had been tied by the hip for as long as I could remember. They were complete opposites, though.
