Crossover Anime: The Heroine's Savior in the Other World

"Can you see ghosts or something like that, like in anime?"

"No."

"then you……"

"Aoyama-san!"

Kitahara Sosuke angrily put down his chopsticks, interrupting the other person's inquisitive question.

"Fortune telling isn't as magical as you think. I'm just an ordinary person, no different from you."

"Oh."

"It's clearly not ordinary at all," Aoyama Nanami thought to herself.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Aki Tomoya's Invitation

Before the lunch break ended, Kitahara Sousuke and Aoyama Nanami returned to the classroom one after the other.

After the forum incident this morning, Kitahara Sousuke has gotten used to the feeling of being the center of attention wherever he goes, and he just hopes not to cause any trouble for Aoyama-kun.

As Kitahara Sosuke passed Touma Kazusa's seat, he noticed she was still slumped over her desk, seemingly dozing. Kitahara Sosuke occasionally observed her during class; pretty girls always attract attention.

But this girl seemed genuinely withdrawn; during class, she would either sleep or play on her phone with her head down. Throughout the day, the teachers came and went, all seemingly ignoring her.

After all, he's the child of a major shareholder of the school, so probably no one really dares to discipline him.

Kitahara Sosuke also tried to talk to Touma Kazusa, but she rubbed her eyes, gave him a look that said, "Who are you? Don't bother me while I'm sleeping," and then changed her position and went back to lying down.

If this were a dating sim, it would probably mean, "Sorry, your level is not high enough to unlock this instance."

Kitahara Sousuke shifted his gaze from the beautiful girl's back to the teacher pointing out the world on the podium.

The afternoon classes were quite boring. Kitahara Sosuke disliked Japanese history classes the most. To be honest, after excluding World War II, the already limited number of pages in the country's history textbooks was even more insufficient.

Compared to the sheer volume of Chinese history that could physically bury an adult, the textbooks of small countries seem as laughable as child's play.

Kitahara Sousuke used to love flipping through his history books as soon as he received his new textbooks each semester, almost like reading a novel. Now, however, he's lost interest in this book.

When you're daydreaming, it can easily last an entire class period. By the time Kitahara Sousuke snapped back to reality, the bell had already rung to signal the end of get out of class. Damn it, my promise to study hard has to be postponed for another day.

"Kitahara-kun, someone is looking for you."

While he was packing his schoolbag, someone kindly delivered a message for him.

It was rather strange that someone was looking for him at this time. Kitahara Sosuke couldn't recall having any contact with people from other classes; his classmates from the previous year already knew everything about him.

It's just a "shady corner," as Sawamura-kun clearly stated.

As he approached the classroom door, he recognized someone. A girl with short black bob haircut waved at him.

"Kato-san."

"Good afternoon, Kitahara-kun."

Kato's face remained expressionless, a trait Kitahara Sosuke found somewhat similar to Rin's, yet also fundamentally different.

"I'm here to return the key to the activity room from last time."

As Kato spoke, a hint of worry seemed to flash across his brow, so fleeting that it would be almost impossible to detect without careful attention.

This is probably the difference between Kato and Rin. Kato is not without emotional changes, but they are so subtle that they are hard to notice. In addition, she has a weak presence and is easily overlooked.

Rin is a true emotionless girl; behind her face, which shows no emotional fluctuations, lies a wealth of delicate emotions, and... a cunning mind?

"Is there something else, Kato-kun?"

Kitahara Sosuke carefully observed the girl's subtle changes in expression.

“There is indeed one more thing.” The girl tidied her hair behind her ear and continued, “Aki asked me to invite Kitahara to meet me at the coffee shop near the school gate. It seems she has something important to say.”

"I don't think I'm very familiar with Aki-kun."

Kitahara Sosuke found it strange; why was Aki Tomoya looking for him?

"That's true. It seems that Aki-san knows this too, which is why she asked me to invite Kitahara-san. I think she originally wanted to ask Sawamura-san, but it seems that Sawamura-san refused her in a very angry manner."

“Aki said this is a matter of life and death for the blessing software club. If I don’t agree, I feel like I might be forced to dogezumi (a traditional Chinese prostration) on the spot. It’s so troubling.”

After Kato gave a brief explanation of the situation, he remained silent, waiting for Kitahara Sosuke's reply.

"it is good."

Kitahara Sosuke nodded. Apart from himself, all the members of Aki Tomoya's club are currently very promising resources, and there's no harm in befriending them.

Furthermore, Kitahara Sousuke himself had previously planned to make games, but he shelved it due to the long production cycle. Now that the funding issue has been resolved, can it be put back on the agenda?

Although he didn't know why Aki Tomoya wanted to talk to him, he was definitely interested in poaching Aki Tomoya's girlfriend.

……

Aki Tomoya chose a mid-range coffee shop not far from the school, where the prices are not particularly high and the environment is relatively quiet and comfortable.

"Good afternoon, Kitahara-kun."

"Good afternoon, Aki-kun, Sawamura-kun, um...senpai."

Good afternoon ×2

Kitahara Sosuke turned around and greeted everyone present, and Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded in response.

After sitting down, Kitahara Sosuke waved to the waitress in the coffee shop, "One caramel macchiato, please."

"Please wait."

When he's thinking, Kitahara Sosuke likes to eat something sweet.

"Um, may I ask if I may invite you..."

Aki Tomoya scratched his head. As the club president, he wanted to come up with some formal rhetoric, but his skills weren't quite up to par.

Kitahara Sosuke waved his hand: "We're all classmates, so don't be so polite. I heard that Aki-kun needs to see me?"

"Yes, I'll be frank. I'd like to invite Kitahara-kun to join my club."

"Ok?"

Kitahara Sousuke raised an eyebrow, not particularly surprised.

"Invited me? May I ask why?"

"I heard that Kitahara seems to be very good at programming."

"Oh? Where did you hear that from?"

Kitahara Sosuke was somewhat surprised, as he didn't think he had ever mentioned this to anyone before, not even Airi or Marina.

“I saw programming software on Kitahara’s computer yesterday.”

Kato Megumi, who was sitting to the side, raised her hand to indicate that she was the one who had heard the story.

Wow, you're so observant!

"I have indeed taught myself some programming knowledge."

Kitahara Sousuke nodded and readily admitted it; there was no need to hide such a thing anyway.

"Here's the thing, I've formed a doujin game circle with the goal of creating a galgame romance game. The current members include illustrators, writers... well, anyway, I'd like to invite Kitahara-kun to join the circle and be in charge of the game's programming."

"Oh, I understand the situation."

I'm sorry, my reply is no.

Kitahara Sousuke said without any hesitation.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Impressions

Kitahara Sosuke didn't have a good impression of Aki Tomoya.

Whether it's an impression from anime in a past life or our first meeting yesterday.

If we were to evaluate Aki Tomoya from Kitahara Sosuke's perspective, he would say that Aki Tomoya is someone who is very clear about what he wants to do.

The story begins with an encounter on a cherry blossom hill. Aki Tomoya, riding a bicycle, picks up a pure white beret and meets the goddess of his destiny. He wants to seize this destiny, and thus the blessing software club is born.

He wanted to create the best bishoujo game to commemorate the beautiful image etched in his heart.

So he invited the well-known x18 illustrator Eri Kashiwagi and the up-and-coming novelist Shiko Kasumi, and without a second thought, he also brought Megumi Kato into his group.

A high school club with a rather impressive lineup.

With such a ridiculous proposal, how did Aki Tomoya manage to recruit such a splendid group of members? Doesn't he understand Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha's original intentions for joining the club?

Kitahara Sosuke felt he knew exactly why the other person had joined the club, but the only resources he could utilize to help him achieve his dream were these. Thus, we see a clueless male protagonist.

This mask is really great. "I only like girls in two-dimensional worlds and have no interest in three-dimensional girls," making all the waiting, silence, and avoidance seem perfectly natural.

In any chaotic situation, in any potential rift, he can wear this mask and pretend he knows nothing.

A person who wholeheartedly hopes to create the best romance visual novel, a person who claims to be able to conquer all the heroine routes in a single night, and who claims to be clueless about romance in the real world.

It's ridiculous that someone who doesn't understand love wants to create the best bishoujo romance game.

Do you really not understand?

No, because he knew very well that whether it was Eriri or Kasumigaoka Utaha, whether they refused or accepted, the club he had worked so hard to build would fall apart.

Delay is the best approach. The worst outcome would be to wear down Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri's feelings for him until they are completely worn away, and he would eventually leave heartbroken. However, the time gained during this period is enough to accomplish many things.

If there's some left over... wouldn't that be even better?

He knew exactly what was best for him, and that cultivating this relationship was the way he could gain the most. He had always been clear about what he wanted and how to achieve it.

The only time he showed any weakness was when he met Keiichi Kato. He suddenly panicked and did something that no normal person could understand.

He demanded that Kato Megumi stay away from his cousin, like a child who, having no other options, simply lay on the ground and acted like a brat.

Because he has no reasonable reason to solve this problem, even if the problem is just his imagination.

"This is my leading lady!" he thought to himself.