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"Are you sure they're here?"
"Of course! I heard it loud and clear over the phone. Not only are Kanako and the others inside, there's also a... man!"
"..."
Keiko's mouth twitched slightly. She couldn't understand why there would be a man at Aina's place. Maybe Kanako ran into someone at a shop on her way?
Still, since they were already here, they might as well check it out.
The two girls exchanged a look, then—just like Kanako before—pressed their ears against the door to eavesdrop.
Perverts ×2!
Luckily no one else was out and about. Otherwise, they might've been invited to the police station for a little midnight chat.
Eavesdropping at someone's door in the middle of the night? Being cute girls won't save you!
But Kiyoko and Keiko weren't thinking that far ahead because… there were actual sounds coming from inside!
"Aah~"
"No, not there~"
"Slower~"
Those breathless, heart-racing moans drifted intermittently through the door.
The eavesdropping girls exchanged heavy looks.
This really was Aina's place, right?
That's one hell of a leap in progress!
No—this wasn't progress, this was evolution!
The girls silently stepped back a bit. As shocked as they were, listening in on a best friend's private moment… that's a little unethical.
Thinking about their worrywart of a love-idiot friend Aina, Kiyoko and Keiko both sighed in relief.
"Phew, this is what a proper college student should be doing~"
"Yeah, yeah, Aina's finally growing up~"
That look on their faces was like a mother watching her clueless daughter finally mature.
Now, just one question remained:
Where was Kanako—the one they were talking to on the phone earlier?
Just as Kiyoko was about to call and ask, a familiar voice came from inside the room.
"Huh? You want me to join too?"
Kanako?!
The two girls' eyes widened in disbelief as they stared at the door.
So it wasn't Aina and some unknown guy inside—Kanako was there too?!
Wait, or was it just Kanako, and not Aina?
No, if that were the case, she wouldn't be asking that question!
Damn it! Why was this turning into some kind of absurd adult video plot?!
Determined to get to the bottom of this, the two girls pressed their ears back to the door.
"Yeah, Kanako, come join in."
!!!
That idiot Aina actually agreed?!
We get that you're generous, but don't be that generous!
BAM!
Kiyoko couldn't hold it in anymore and kicked the door open.
"A threesome is way too soon for you three!"
"What?!"
Aina turned toward the door, her face burning red—like a kid caught watching porn by her mom.
Seriously?! Can people please start respecting this door?!
Even if you have a key, could you at least knock first?!
"Kanako! What exactly are you doing with Aina?!"
"A threesome? Wait, why are you still dressed—were you not at that stage yet?"
Kiyoko and Keiko burst into the room and started interrogating Kanako at full speed.
Faced with this barrage from two seasoned ladies, Kanako's face flushed bright red.
What the hell did they think was going on?!
Kouhei, standing awkwardly on the side, turned to Aina and asked, "What's up with your friends?"
This had a weird déjà vu... like being around Yamamoto and the guys.
Except Yamamoto's crew was way more extreme.
Aina's mouth twitched. Now that she thought about it, she didn't have many normal people around her...
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A few minutes later
"Ahaha… So that's what this was all about."
"You were just playing an eroge, huh…"
Kiyoko sighed, a bit disappointed. Eroge? That wasn't exciting at all.
Just moments ago, they had finally been filled in on the whole story:
Aina wanted to stop her crush from going on a date with another girl. No, more than that. Let's be bold:
She wanted to take the place of that girl and go on a romantic trip with him herself—and even give him her first time.
But since she had zero experience, she enlisted outside help.
And that help was Kouhei!
His reward? That very eroge.
In the middle of things, Kanako barged in, and then… the three of them started playing the game together.
"No! Kohei was the one who said the game felt off, that's why we played it!"
Kanako blushed furiously, quickly correcting the misunderstanding. Don't say it like she walked in and immediately jumped into playing an eroge! She didn't even know what it was at first!
"Wait, Kiyoko, you knew this was an eroge?"
Aina demanded, face as red as a tomato. This was a game Kiyoko had forced on her before!
She thought it was just a normal game—until those scenes hit her like a truck!
"Oh, yeah. Isn't it fun?"
Kiyoko answered totally unfazed.
Giving a friend an eroge should make the friend kneel and call you 'father' in gratitude!
"That's not the point here!!"
Kanako was blushing too. She knew a little more about boys and girls than Aina, but she still couldn't keep up with this veteran player!
"C'mon, what's the big deal? We're all over 18, right? This kind of stuff gets taught in kindergarten these days."
Kiyoko waved it off like a sage from some mountaintop.
Honestly, the things she and Kamishiro got up to made the contents of this game seem tame.
Kanako: "Well, yeah, but still…"
Aina: "If it's a game like that, you should've told me first!"
Kiyoko: "Didn't I tell you it shows girls at their cutest?"
Aina: "You call that cute?!"
Kiyoko: "Totally. Kamishiro always says I'm cutest during those times~"
"..."
Great. Neither Aina nor Kanako could counter the seasoned veteran anymore. This girl's head was full of lewdness!
Kohei looked like he was about to die of secondhand embarrassment. As a textbook introvert, this whole situation just screamed: "I don't belong here."
Neither the conversation nor the setting was within his comfort zone.
So he stood up and made to leave.
"Hey, um, I should probably head out now."
At that, the girls finally remembered: Kohei was still here.
Also…
Kanako: "Come to think of it, Aina's love advice session was only halfway done."
Kiyoko: "Really?"
Keiko: "Then why the heck were you guys playing an eroge?"
Aina: "Because we didn't know what it was!!"
None of the three of them had been in a real relationship before!
"If you want to learn about love, just study it through the game," Kohei explained calmly.
But Aina remained skeptical. "Can that really help?"
Hearing that, Kohei's eyes lit up. "How can you say that!"
Let it be known: he was a devout fan of romance games. And romance games were made to teach people how to love!
"The root of romance is the continuation of the human race!
To put it bluntly—sexiness!
And eroge are simulators based on that very purpose!
They are basically textbooks on love!"
Aina stared at the eroge in her hands, her mouth twitching. Was this thing really that amazing?
Faced with Kohei's explosive claims, Kiyoko—the only one with actual relationship experience finally pushed back.
"It's not that miraculous. Eroge are basically the fantasies of shut-in nerds. Heck, the writers probably haven't even been in relationships themselves!"
"Impossible!!!"
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Hearing the rebuttal, Kohei became unusually excited, his social anxiety instantly cured. Instead of leaving, he walked straight over to the computer and began operating it.
"Seeing is believing—let's try it out ourselves!"
Seeing this,
The four girls gathered around as well. They were pretty curious about what would happen next in the game.
Under Kohei's control, the story progressed quickly.
It jumped straight to the classroom confession scene!
Up until now, the girls felt everything was still fairly normal—and actually kind of interesting.
Especially Aina, who found the nighttime confession in the classroom to be especially romantic.
However...
The next scene showed the female lead lying on a desk, revealing her assets.
"C-Can I?"
"Mhm."
??????
"What?!" ×4
The sudden turn of events left the girls stunned.
This is what happens after a confession?
Wasn't something skipped?!
Even someone like Kamishiro would at least go on a date first, right?
Unlike the girls, Kohei was very satisfied with the storyline.
"Yes! This is the plot!
After overcoming so many trials, the male and female leads finally get together. Then, in the classroom where they first met, she asks, 'Can I?'"
"It's not romantic at all!"
Aina interrupted this otaku's fantasy straight away.
"Huh?!"
Snapped out of his dream, Kohei looked at them in disbelief. This wasn't how he imagined it would go.
The girls were clearly very dissatisfied with the scene.
Kanako: "Just asking 'Can I?' and the guy says yes? That's totally unrealistic."
Aina: "And she just started dating the guy that day!"
Keiko: "And they did it on a high school classroom desk—seriously, that's advanced."
Only Kiyoko didn't seem too shocked. After all, she had seen her fair share of wild things.
She simply gave her thoughts on the location. "With that position, the back would really hurt."
(???)
The three girls turned to Kiyoko with deadpan stares—there was a traitor among them!
"Hey hey hey, don't look at me like that! It really does hurt—I've tried it!"
Keiko's mouth twitched. She softly muttered, "Kiyoko… you've had a lot of experience, huh?"
"By the way, would Kamishiro do that kind of thing?"
Faced with the question, Kiyoko shook her head. "Kamishiro? He wouldn't even ask. You might find your clothes gone before you even realize what's happening."
"..." ×3
Scumbag!!!
How many times has he undressed people to reach that level of skill?!
"And from what I know… Kamishiro really could talk someone into going to a hotel on the first day."
"..." ×3
Total scumbag!
And Kiyoko—why do you sound proud when you say that?!
"But doing it in a classroom the first time is still too much. I don't think any sane person would choose to do it outside for their first time."
Upon hearing that, the three girls actually sighed in relief. At least… Kamishiro was still somewhat human?
But Kohei on the side looked like he had been mentally devastated.
"This… isn't this common sense?!"
A first confession in the classroom is supposed to be romantic, right?!
"Kohei, that kind of thing doesn't happen in real life. Didn't you hear Kiyoko? Even Kamishiro wouldn't go that far."
Before anyone noticed, Kamishiro had somehow become the last line of moral defense between the 2D and real world...
"Exactly!" With her friends backing her up, Aina boldly shared her view.
"This kind of thing should wait until your honeymoon, on a romantic night!"
"That's not exactly normal either..."
Kiyoko and the others twitched at the corners of their mouths. As expected, Aina was still the same old Aina.
Too pure!
Keiko: "I wouldn't say it's impossible, but nowadays very few people are that conservative."
Kanako: "Usually it's at the boyfriend's place, or in a trendy hotel."
Kiyoko: "Also, that female lead was wearing matching lingerie. That clearly means she came prepared."
!!?
"What Did You Just Say?!"
Kohei was so shocked he started speaking in English. Aren't bras and panties supposed to match by default?!
He had a bad feeling that he was about to learn things a normal guy might never learn in his entire life.
Kiyoko: "Well, I usually just wear whatever. It's only when I see Kamishiro that I wear matching sets."
Keiko: "Because it's hot in summer, and you want breathable clothes, matching sets are rare."
Kanako: "Of course, if you take it seriously, then matching is a must."
BANG!
"Don't shatter my illusions with cruel reality like this!"
Kohei pounded the floor with both fists. The image of girls in his head was now completely ruined!
But you couldn't really blame him.
After all, this kind of secret knowledge wasn't something he—or even Iori and the others—could easily come across.
What they saw was always the full matching set~
(λ?_??)
…
For the next thirty minutes,
Kohei completely shut down. It felt like his entire belief system had collapsed.
Kanako: "They just went straight to oral?!"
Aina: "It was her first time!"
Keiko: "No way she's going to feel good that fast."
Kiyoko: "I told you, the first time's more like getting a wound~"
Aina: "And the second time was outside?!"
Kanako: "The first time in a classroom was already too much!"
Kiyoko: "They really like public places, huh~"
"..."
Kohei sat silently in the corner, totally defeated. If he could do it all over again, he definitely wouldn't have stayed.
He would've left the moment the debate began!
He had brought this on himself!!!
"There's no way this story is believable." ×4
"AAAAHHH!!! STOP TALKING ALREADY!!!"
He had lost all his faith.
It wasn't supposed to be like this! Romance games… were supposed to be guides to life.
(っ╥╯﹏╰╥c)
Seeing Kohei's pitiful state, Aina didn't even know how to comfort him.
All she could say was...
They had just given a clueless boy a much-needed lesson in reality!
"Oh, by the way Aina, Kamishiro should be home right now, right?"
Kiyoko turned to her best friend.
That little game had gotten her fired up—she wanted to go find her darling for some quality time!
"Eh? Kamishiro…"
Aina's eyes started to wander. She had apparently forgotten to tell her bestie where Kamishiro had gone.
Hopefully it wasn't too late...
"Um, I think his editor dragged him away. Azusa said we probably won't see him for a few days…"
"WHAT?!"
Kiyoko stood frozen like she had been struck by lightning.
Then she bolted out the door, yelling, "That woman can't be trusted!!!"
Ever since the lie detector incident, Kiyoko hadn't trusted that woman at all!!!
Aina: |????????)
Wait… she really can't be trusted?
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