Homework and video games. It’s funny how these two, seemingly opposite things, can actually complement each other.
“Heh heh heh. From now on, I’ll keep using any opportunity I get to approach Suzuna.”
But I can’t forget the failures I’ve made, either.
The worst incident… was probably the bathroom mishap.
There’s no need to go into detail. I was about to go to the bathroom, opened the door, and… found Suzuna already inside. A simple yet catastrophic mistake.
The moment I realized she was there, I shut the door immediately… but it was already too late.
“Why didn’t you knock? People usually knock, even inside the house, don’t they?”
Those eyes… so cold they were absolute zero. I trembled, fully understanding as I prostrated myself before her.
She had forgotten to lock the door, too, but… I only realized that after I was set free from her lecture. Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t notice it during her lecture—I’d have just made things worse. Almost painted myself into an even worse corner.
With some successes and some failures, I think I’m making at least a little progress forward.
“But still…”
With a sigh, I finished my nightly habit of reviewing my notes and reflections on how things had been going so far.
What’s important is Suzuna’s feelings. I know that rushing things won’t help.
Still… if I could put it bluntly, is there any quick way to break the ice with her?
Even if I’m not fully accepted as family, we’re living in the same house, so we’re bound to run into each other.
And one of those times is during meals. Though she eats school lunches on weekdays, we always have breakfast and dinner together. Suzuna sits next to me, and although I can’t really study her face during meals… judging by our parents’ reactions, I can tell she doesn’t seem too happy.
And I know the reason why.
“Her cooking… really isn’t great.”
One of the traits I jotted down about Suzuna Kanzaki.
But this isn’t just a quirky trait to make her stand out.
Suzuna Kanzaki has a psychosomatic taste disorder.
The loss of her parents, and the arrival of us, her new family, are the causes.
Gradually, it’s affected her sense of taste.
Maybe it’s still minor for now. But if I can’t address it, it’ll keep consuming her.
If possible, I want to free her from it, even just a second sooner.
But if we’re part of the cause of her taste disorder, acting recklessly might only make things worse… I keep going back and forth on it.
“In the game, the protagonist saves Suzuna Kanzaki by becoming her partner, deepening their bond and releasing her from her chains. But as her brother, I obviously can’t be her partner…”
I have the climax of Suzuna Kanzaki’s route carefully written down in my notes.
It’s the scene that offers a glimmer of hope as she begins to recover from her taste disorder.
The protagonist and Suzuna Kanzaki share their first kiss, and Suzuna murmurs, “Sweet,” then smiles with tears in her eyes.
“There’s no way I can follow that route!”
I couldn’t help but groan. I’ve gone over this so many times now.
A kiss is certainly a very special act in romance stories.
A princess cursed into a deep sleep or poisoned is revived by the prince’s kiss.
It’s a simple, romantic, happy ending.
Only the beloved can do it… and I’m definitely not that.
Still, it’s the protagonist’s cooking that helped him get closer to Suzuna, and I can’t avoid this. Even if I’m not the protagonist or her partner, I should be able to help my little sister!
One wrong move could make things worse.
That’s exactly what happened with Eiji Kanzaki in the game.
From the day Suzuna was accepted as his little sister, he was captivated by her cuteness and started worshiping her like an “angel.”
And that special treatment only made her shut herself off, leaving her to suffer in loneliness until the protagonist appeared.
In Suzuna’s route, his reasons for acting that way were explained, though.
And those reasons aren’t so far from where I am now. In his own way, he was thinking about Suzuna’s well-being.
Still, given the outcome, the players weren’t kind to him… honestly, it’s fair to call Eiji Kanzaki an unpopular character.
(I sympathized with him, though… maybe because I understood how he felt.)
Seeing Suzuna as she is now, I just want to cheer her up, so I keep trying to be upbeat, hoping she’ll eventually catch on and feel better.
At the very least, he’s better than the mopey me who got slapped out of it by Wakana. In terms of taking action, he’s miles ahead.
Still, I have to see him as a warning.
“This isn’t a game. It’s real life. I can’t afford to fail or make mistakes.”
Turning back time and redoing things is impossible, even though reincarnating into a game world itself was supposed to be impossible.
But waiting for some one-in-a-million chance like that and wasting the present would just be too pathetic.
“Sitting here moping won’t do me any good, either… it’s all or nothing from the start! All right! Let’s do this—cooking! And I’m absolutely going to get along with Suzuna!!”
Now that I’ve decided, there’s only one thing I can do!
