"Uh… this kind of relationship is truly unparalleled." Kazama Haruka scratched his cheek and forced out a stiff smile.
What he didn't say was that, by ordinary standards, there was actually a far more fitting word for this kind of relationship.
—Lover.
"Right, right!"
Amanori Reinako looked visibly excited as she spoke. "If you ask me, a close friend relationship is the best! So, Kazama-san, if you don't mind, please—please become my close friend! I beg you!"
The pink-haired girl bowed deeply, extending one arm toward him.
Rina, her younger sister, who had been hiding behind the door, could no longer hold back her reaction.
What was the difference between this and a confession? Even the posture was exactly the same!
"Um… Kazama-san?"
Seeing Kazama Haruka hesitate, Amanori Reinako immediately grew nervous. "What do you think… about my request to become close friends?"
"Hmm…" He paused for a moment, then smiled faintly. "It sounds… pretty good?"
Under Rina's shocked and flickering gaze, Kazama Haruka stepped forward and firmly grasped Amanori Reinako's outstretched hand.
The moment his hand covered hers, her soft, warm palm trembled violently.
"Then, please take care of me from now on, Amanori… no, Rinako?" Kazama Haruka tested the waters as he called her by her first name.
"Eek! Um… y-yes, Kazama… no, Haru-kun!"
Amanori Reinako suddenly lifted her head. Although her words stumbled over each other, the volume of her voice made Kazama Haruka briefly worry that the neighbors might complain.
"Kazama-senpai… actually agreed?!"
From the shadows, Rina instantly broke down.
She had been certain that when her sister made such an eccentric 'friend invitation,' a handsome guy like Kazama-senpai—someone who clearly didn't lack female attention—would show disgust, reject her outright, or even scream and run away.
Yet he had agreed without hesitation.
As expected, only someone almost divine could get along with her sister.
"Um… bye-bye, Kazama… Haru-kun! See you at school tomorrow!"
After seeing Kazama Haruka off, Amanori Reinako hummed a cheerful tune and skipped back toward the door—only to run straight into Rina's excited gaze.
"Huh. I never noticed before, but you're actually quite the dark horse, Big Sis," Rina teased. "You never had friends before, but suddenly you reel in a big fish like Kazama-senpai!"
"Ah!"
Amanori Reinako hadn't expected to be caught eavesdropping. She jumped nearly three feet into the air in fright and almost lost her balance.
Remembering the embarrassing scene from earlier, her face instantly flushed bright red.
"D-don't say such silly things! What big fish?! I don't look at Haru-kun with such impure thoughts! It's really just a close friend—a close friend!"
"Oh? Oh? Oh~ Haru-kun already?" Rina laughed. "Calling him by his first name so naturally?"
"Alright, alright. Close friend, close friend," she continued teasing. "You can fool your sister, but don't fool yourself."
"It really is just a close friend!"
Amanori Reinako slammed the door shut, her voice rising several octaves as if to emphasize her point.
Ignoring her sister entirely, the red-faced Amanori Reinako fled upstairs as though escaping a disaster, running straight to her second-floor bedroom.
She shut the door, threw herself onto the bed, and buried her head beneath the covers.
Self-reflection time beneath the duvet.
This was her nightly ritual before sleep.
"Hehehe… I didn't expect to actually establish a close friend relationship with Kazama-san."
"It feels like a dream."
Her face burned as red as a ripe tomato. In her imagination, Kazama Haruka was already smiling gently as he spoke with her at school.
If she acted just a little more casually, wouldn't Nakamura-san—the leader of the gyaru group—and the others be completely dumbfounded?
But the moment she thought of them, the scene from the karaoke room earlier that day surged uncontrollably into her mind.
Given what had happened, and considering their malicious personalities, they would probably bring it up in class and ridicule her mercilessly.
Amanori Reinako began imagining the worst-case scenario.
If Haru-kun suddenly acted especially friendly toward her in class, their jealousy and boredom might push them to isolate her even further.
Worse still, it could escalate into outright bullying.
Especially Nakamura-san herself—someone who looked imposing and difficult to deal with. In conversation, she often boasted about her delinquent past and how she had dominated her all-girls middle school.
And the foundation for all of that confidence was her boyfriend: Uda Koji, a minor leader within the violent gang known as the Dragon God Society.
According to Nakamura-san, he was a genuine 'yakuza'—the kind who could pull out a knife and stab someone without batting an eye.
Ordinary delinquents would wet themselves just from seeing him.
If she somehow incurred Nakamura-san's hatred, her school life would undoubtedly become unbearable.
So… what should she do tomorrow if Haru—no, Kazama-san—greeted her proactively?
If she ignored him, he would surely be hurt, and the hard-earned 'close friend relationship' might collapse before it even began.
Caught in this spiral of inner conflict, Amanori Reinako eventually drifted into an uneasy sleep.
[Successfully established a 'close friend relationship' with Amanori Reinako. Reward: 5,000 wish points.]
Shortly after parting ways with Amanori Reinako, the pleasant system notification echoed in Kazama Haruka's ears.
He struck it rich.
His mood immediately soared, and his steps grew noticeably lighter as he headed home.
He had expected that breaking the ice with Amanori Reinako would require considerable effort, but he hadn't imagined the awkward pink-haired girl would be so proactive. Just a few hours of gaming together had earned him such a generous reward.
Five thousand wish points—equivalent to 2.5 million yen.
Was there anyone else in the world earning a higher hourly wage than him?
By that logic, Rinako-chan really was convenient—and incredibly useful.
Carried by his high spirits, Kazama Haruka pushed open the front door to his home.
"Welcome home, Rina."
Sena Ajisai sat gracefully on the sofa, greeting him with a radiant smile, like a gentle wife patiently waiting for her husband's return.
"Ah, Ajisai. Good evening. I'm home."
Kazama Haruka responded casually. He had already grown accustomed to Ajisai waiting for him like this. In fact, he could no longer imagine the emptiness of returning home without her presence.
"You don't have a work shift today, do you?" Ajisai asked softly. "Why are you home so late?"
A faint, almost imperceptible note of resentment slipped into her gentle voice.
She had been hoping to use this rare opportunity to have a proper conversation with him.
Sena Ajisai missed the intimate days they once shared.
Back then, they went to and from school together and talked about everything under the sun.
It wasn't until middle school that their lives began to diverge—especially Kazama Haruka, who was always busy trying to make a living.
Even though she understood how hard he worked, Ajisai still secretly longed for a day when neither of them was busy—when they could sit together, sip hot tea, and chat leisurely for an entire afternoon.
Just like they used to.
The start of the new semester, when neither of them was particularly busy, was a rare opportunity like that.
Combined with the embarrassing 'wish' she had blurted out to Kazama Haruka the night before, her longing only intensified.
That was why, the moment school ended, she rushed to his house to wait for him.
Yet it wasn't until now that she finally saw him return.
Seeing the disappointment and grievance almost spilling over from Ajisai's face, Kazama Haruka's heart trembled.
Although he didn't know what he had done wrong, if the angel-like Ajisai looked like this, he felt compelled to apologize.
"Um—"
But before he could finish, Ajisai suddenly froze, her fingers clutching at his clothes.
Huh?
Did hanging up clothes really require that much hesitation?
With a growing sense of unease, Kazama Haruka followed her gaze.
There—gleaming conspicuously under the lamp's light—was a slender, slightly curled strand of pink hair.
"Rina?"
Sena Ajisai gently pinched the hair between her fingertips and slowly twirled it around her finger. She looked straight into Kazama Haruka's eyes, her voice unnaturally sweet.
"Could you please explain," she asked softly, "what… this is?"