"Hehe, you saw through me as expected..." Hos.h.i.+ rubbed his head where Seiji had struck him as he laughed and stuck out his tongue.

"Of course I saw through you, idiot!" Seiji struck him lightly on the head one more time.

"Ouch..."

"Then don’t do such a thing!! Do you realize that right now I really want to f.u.c.king beat you up!!?"

"But Senpai, yesterday you said that you were really looking forward to the cla.s.sical scene of being confessed to on a rooftop... I just wanted to do something for you." Hos.h.i.+ was now cradling his head with both hands as he knelt on the floor. Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.

"Do something for me!? What the h.e.l.l!? A boy confessing to me like this will leave me with nothing but a bad memory!!! Also, stop acting cute, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!"

Seiji’s roaring rang throughout the entire rooftop, and it seemed to pierce through the heavens.

‘Okay, take a minute to calm down.’

...

After a one minute cooling-off period.

Seiji was finally able to calmly face Hos.h.i.+, who had now taken off his wig.

"Where did you get these clothes and the wig from?"

"I borrowed them from a cla.s.smate in drama club. I later learned that she was an acquaintance of Wakaba-san, so I asked my cla.s.smate to contact her, and Wakaba-san helped me..."

"I see."

Seiji’s face twitched slightly as he recalled Chiaki’s unnatural expression. He felt like he really wanted to beat someone up right now.

It was definitely a plot, d.a.m.n it!

"Honestly, making me see such a thing in the early morning... I feel like all the energy’s been drained from my body."

"But... Wakaba-san said that Senpai would be happy to see such a scene?" Hos.h.i.+ nervously poked his index fingers and thumbs together, forming a diamond with his hands.

"Chiaki!!"

‘There’s a witness statement providing concrete evidence. She is hereby judged guilty, and a beating will be administered to Chiaki the next time I see her!’

Seiji clenched his fists tightly. "I wouldn’t be happy at all! Even though a trap character can be cute, to me, they’re only cute when they’re in 2-D!!"

"Oh... How regrettable; I had confidence in myself..."

"What the h.e.l.l’s with saying it’s regrettable!? Don’t have confidence in yourself in such a strange way!!"

"But this is just how I am."

"It doesn’t matter even if it’s true! Anyway, didn’t you want to become manlier!?"

"Yeah, even though that’s the case..." Hos.h.i.+ smiled. "I’m beginning to feel like being a girl wouldn’t be all that bad either."

"Stop! If you dare to continue this, be careful as I’ll really beat you up!!!" Seiji forcefully commented.

‘I knew Senpai would react like this,’ Hos.h.i.+ thought to himself as he smiled wryly.

‘But this is how I really feel, Senpai. There’s no way I can finish expressing all my grat.i.tude and adulation towards you. If there’s another life, I’d want to turn into a girl... But, right now, in this life, I’m a boy. That’s why...’

"Just joking, I’m a boy after all, so... I’ll become stronger in the future." Hos.h.i.+ looked directly into Seiji’s eyes. "I’ll work hard to improve myself and get stronger, in order to become... someone worthy of being Senpai’s junior!"

Seiji was stunned.

He could feel Hos.h.i.+’s determination.

A momentary silence fell between the pair.

"What’s this about being worthy? You’re my junior regardless of whether you’re worthy or not." Seiji chuckled as he averted his gaze and looked towards the sky.

"But it’s great that you have the determination to become stronger. Just maintain your spirit, and don’t forget your goal as you continue taking steps forward."

"Yeah..." Hos.h.i.+ turned around and also looked up at the sky.

The two of them gazed off into the distance and remained silent for a few seconds.

"How... is the situation?" Seiji broke the silence first.

"My sisters... they’re going to leave home and temporarily live with my grandparents," Hos.h.i.+ said in a soft voice. "And me... I’m also going to leave home and live together with Aunt Rika."

Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What about your parents, then?"

"Grandfather wants them to truly self-reflect on their own actions and decide if they will get a divorce or continue living together... something like that."

Another brief silence fell.

"It seems like you must have had quite the imposing family meeting."

"Yeah, as Senpai instructed me, we talked to Aunt Rika and told her everything. Then... Aunt Rika went and brought along my grandfather and grandmother, as well as my uncle."

"My grandparents... they’re really strict. Father... he’s afraid of them." Hos.h.i.+ smiled wistfully. "If only I could have seen the truth much earlier and asked for help... from Aunt Rika, my grandparents, and my uncle... Things wouldn’t have become the way they are today."

Seiji had no words to say in response.

"I regret it so much... But I also feel that it’s wonderful how things didn’t turn out even worse. My sisters truly wish to change themselves now, so they... will definitely become better than before under my grandparents’ guardians.h.i.+p.

"My parents... are being watched over by my uncle, and I think they’ll reflect on themselves as well. I’ll continue to work in my aunt’s confectionery store to train myself and become stronger."

Hos.h.i.+’s smile kept increasing in brilliance as he looked once more at the tall figure besides him. "And I feel like the best part of it all was meeting you, Senpai. Even though I suffered a lot recently, if I think of it as something I needed to go through in order to meet Senpai, I feel like I can accept it all."

‘Thank you for saving me. Thank you for saving my sisters. Thank you for preventing my entire family from sinking into a bottomless abyss. Thank you for everything... I’m grateful to this world for allowing me to meet you.’

Seiji smiled and turned around to look at the person beside him.

"Don’t say it like I’m someone incredible, silly. I’m simply your Senpai, as well as your friend; that’s all there is to it."

That’s all there is to it.

This was simply another case of "that’s all there is to it."

Hos.h.i.+ kept smiling. His current smile was the most joyous smile of his entire lifetime!

He couldn’t restrain his tears any longer, and they began rolling down his cheeks.

Ahh—he hadn’t wanted to cry; he didn’t want to seem unsightly in front of this person anymore.

But he couldn’t stop himself.

"Thank you... Senpai..."

"You’ve finally stopped apologizing; at least that’s progress."

Seiji looked deeply at Hos.h.i.+’s brilliantly smiling yet tear-stained face.

Then, he averted his gaze, turned around, and began walking off.

"I’ve received your grat.i.tude. No need to be courteous with me, junior."

He casually waved his hand as he walked off.

Hos.h.i.+ etched the handsome figure’s back into his memory and slowly bowed deeply towards Seiji.

...

*Ding!* A notification came from Seiji’s system.

A notification appeared in front of him.

[A male friend of yours now has a friends.h.i.+p rating towards you of over 100. The [friends.h.i.+p] option is now available. You can now see your male friends’ friends.h.i.+p ratings towards you, and if a male friend with 60 friends.h.i.+p points or higher gives you any gifts containing their emotions, you’ll also receive rewards through the [gifts] option.]

[A person now has a favorability or friends.h.i.+p rating towards you of over 100 for the first time. You have now acquired this person’s character reward card.]

Seiji was speechless at the situation.

What the h.e.l.l, favorability... whoops, friends.h.i.+p rating over 100!?

This... could only be Hos.h.i.+.

If 1 friends.h.i.+p point equaled 1 favorability rating point, then this value... was even higher than Mika’s favorability rating towards him!!

Seiji received yet another shock from his system.

Boys actually had a friends.h.i.+p rating, and it could even surpa.s.s 100...

When Mika pa.s.sed 90 points, his system had informed him that she would readily agree to become his intimate girlfriend. Now Hos.h.i.+’s friends.h.i.+p rating was over 100, what would he do?

Heavens, stop imagining such a thing!

Hos.h.i.+ Amami! Your friends.h.i.+p is too much for me, hey!!

Seiji clutched at his face in frustration.

It was a good thing that a new option appeared, but his current feelings... were indescribable!

System... this is your idea of a joke, isn’t it!?

You’re just a freaking dating sim system, but you have an option like [friends.h.i.+p]!? How can this be seen as anything other than a joke!!!

If Seiji’s anguished mental shouting had been physical in nature, surely his shouting would have pierced the heavens!

He needed three minutes to calm down.

No wait, after three minutes, Hos.h.i.+ will probably come downstairs as well...

Seiji could only sigh to himself as he continued walking.

He should have been happy about unlocking a new option, but right now he didn’t feel like inspecting it more closely at all.

When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he suddenly caught sight of two identical beauties standing there.

It was Rion and Kotomi Amami.