After the fourth simulation ended.
One weekend in June.
"Why do I have to help design the team shirts?"
Kitahara Toru tilted his head slightly as he looked at Kita and Nijika before him. He had no intention of joining Kessoku Band.
To be honest, a girls' band like that simply couldn't fit a man in without it looking awkward. Rumors would spread, like "Kessoku Band is Toru's harem band" or something equally absurd.
Though in the simulations, he really had corrupted every one of those girls in turn...
But if he thought about it carefully, in reality he hadn't even held anyone's hand.
"Because, Kitahara-kun, you have great taste." Kita offered an easy excuse.
"Yeah, yeah, exactly."
Nijika nodded eagerly.
Toru, this great Buddha of a man, was unexpectedly the indoor type, not fond of going out.
Maybe because he'd traveled so much in the simulations, being home now helped him relax. The fact that he'd even agreed to meet them at the station today was already rare enough.
After some small talk~
"We're heading to Gotoh-san's house next?" Toru touched his chin thoughtfully.
Where was the Gotoh house again...?
He had spent decades in the simulations, but somehow he'd forgotten.
Though he still remembered the hotel where he'd first booked a room with Hitori.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing Gotoh-san's house." Kita said dreamily.
In the last simulation, she'd been so absorbed in the piano that she'd forgotten all about Gotoh-san.
"Hmm, Bocchi-chan's place is probably just an ordinary single-family home, right?"
Chatting as they walked, the group soon arrived at the address.
Toru looked up at the banner hanging outside the house,
[Welcome, Members of Kessoku Band
We Hope Your Time Here Heals You In Both Mind and Body ]
What the hell?
It had been so long since he'd last dated Gotoh Hitori, he'd almost forgotten that her brain didn't quite run on the same system as normal people's.
"Ah..."
"Uh."
The two girls fell silent.
Finally, Nijika pressed the doorbell.
Before long, a soft, childish voice came from inside.
"Who are you? This is the Gotoh household."
Nijika quickly replied, "Hello, we're here to see Hitori-san."
There was a pitter-patter of footsteps, then the door swung open, revealing a cute little girl with short pink hair.
Gotoh Futari looked them up and down, then ran back inside.
"Big sister! The boy you have a crush on is here!"
And with that, she left the three visitors frozen in place, unsure how to react.
——
By the time Hitori, hiding inside her room, realized her guests had arrived, several minutes had passed.
She crept nervously into the living room, and was met with a scene she could hardly believe.
"Big brother Toru, should I go call my sister down?"
Her adorable little sister was snuggling up in the arms of the man she liked.
Hitori felt her heart take a direct hit and clutched her chest.
How could this be?
Her five-year-old sister was trying to steal her man.
Worse, it looked like Toru liked Futari more than he liked her!
Bocchi-chan squatted down, holding her head in her hands, sinking deep into self-doubt.
Was her social ability actually lower than her kindergarten-aged sister's?
Had even her charm been surpassed?
"Ah... it's my sister!"
Futari pointed toward the doorway, where a pink ahoge peeked out, her big sister herself.
Then Nijika stepped over and pulled the fragile Hitori out into the open.
She looked like a piece of paper. Poor Bocchi-chan.
"I want to die I want to die I want to die..."
Hitori fell into her own world, mumbling words like "death" and "perish," her mental state clearly on the brink.
"Hitori, are you okay?"
Toru called gently, still holding Gotoh Futari in his arms.
To everyone's surprise, Bocchi-chan didn't calm down, she grew even worse, her eyes rolling back.
No man had ever called her by name before, and for Toru to suddenly do so dealt her a fatal blow.
"Big sister froze again."
Futari, used to her sister's frequent mental crashes, snuggled a little closer into Toru's arms.
She really liked this big brother.
He smelled warm and comforting.
"I-I'm fine." Hitori took a deep breath, pulling herself together.
She stammered, "L-let's g-go upstairs."
Inviting a boy into her room was already beyond her limits.
But to keep her sister from stealing Toru, she was willing to risk everything.
"Nooo, I want to play with big brother Toru!" Futari clung tightly to him, refusing to let go.
Toru sighed, rubbing her pink head affectionately.
This child reminded him of Kitahara Shio, his daughter from the simulation.
Seeing that, Gotoh Hitori pointed toward the kitchen. "Pudding's in there. Don't bother us."
Futari blinked her big watery eyes, thought for a moment, and sighed.
"I really can't say no to you, big sister."
Then she trotted off toward the kitchen to eat pudding.
Hitori seized the chance to lead the three upstairs.
They climbed the stairs.
When she opened the bedroom door, Toru stepped back.
If there was one phrase to describe the scene inside, it was "painting of hell."
Strange talismans were plastered everywhere, and a pile of salt sat on the floor for exorcising spirits.
Even worse, the room was dim, like a graveyard at midnight, filled with eerie energy.
"..."
Kita and Nijika were speechless.
A girl's bedroom?
No, it looked more like a haunted burial ground.
——
An hour later.
The four of them finally agreed on a design for the band's T-shirt. Excluding Yamada Ryo, who was out slacking off somewhere, they reviewed the results: Kita's cheerful sports-festival support shirt, Hitori's middle-school-boy-grade chuunibyou shirt, and Toru's own masterpiece that looked like a toddler's doodle.
In the end, the only one with any artistic talent 'Mama Nijika' won hands down.
"That's impressively bad," Kita laughed, snapping a photo of Toru's sketch with her phone.
Toru-kun's art skills were just as awful as they'd been in the simulations.
"Kitahara-kun, you can do it."
Hitori, realizing she wasn't the worst, felt slightly encouraged.
"It's okay, Toru-kun," Nijika comforted him. "Everyone has something they're not good at."
Toru nodded casually, pretending not to care.
Inside, however, he swore to himself...
Someday, he would make the whole city look up to him in awe!
But how could he prove his hidden, golden-level talent for art?
Hmm... in the next simulation, he'd work hard on painting.
——
Later, they stayed at the Gotoh household for both lunch and dinner, watched a movie Kita had brought, and finally, the three guests left.
Before leaving, Toru noticed Futari looking up at him, reluctant to part. After he promised to visit again, she finally smiled contentedly.
As for Gotoh's father, he was watching with a complex expression, probably wondering if someone was about to steal his precious little cabbage from the garden.
——