Tokyo: Oreimo

"hiss!"

Takashiro Ryouno bit him hard, then quickly released him.

By the time Ryosuke realized what was happening, the soft touch on his thigh was gone, and the girl was standing at the door looking at him with a displeased expression.

"Don't get too cocky, next time you two are alone, don't brag about the Giantess in front of me..."

"I'll bite you to death!"

After saying that, Ling Nai snorted and slammed the door shut.

What's going on? Why did you suddenly give him a bite?

Didn't they make up?

Ryosuke stared blankly at the doorway, and could only silently rub his injured shoulder.

A dull ache swept over him, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"I should have kept quiet."

Chapter 193 I'm Different From Her

"What? Are you using that guy's words to provoke me?"

Back in her room, Takashiro Ryouno muttered angrily.

She leaped onto her bed, clutching the "White Album 2" disc in her hand, examining it closely.

I was quite happy when I first got it.

Then that guy suddenly said something like that.

"When it comes to being a spoilsport, that guy is truly one of the best."

Upon hearing Ryosuke mention Phoenix Inu Saori, Ayano immediately recalled the awkwardness she felt facing Saori at the coffee shop that day, and now, thinking back on it, she wished she could disappear into the ground.

They cried and sobbed, as if they had been caught doing something wrong.

It was as if he was naturally suppressed by the other party's aura, and he appeared so weak in front of that female giant.

Even though she's his girlfriend, they haven't been together for very long, have they?

They might break up someday. If you think about it carefully, the relationship is far less stable than that between siblings.

"Oh dear, what am I thinking about?"

Ling Nai blushed, grabbed a pillow from the side and hugged it tightly to cover her face.

After a long while, the girl poked her head out from under the pillow, her face flushed, and her emotions had calmed down a little.

She pulled the CD from under her pillow, turned over, lay on her back in bed, and stared at the ceiling.

"White Album 2..."

Ling Nai still remembered the progress of the demo version, which was maliciously stopped at a very crucial point by Ryosuke. The music started playing, and Ogiso Setsuna on the rooftop looked like an angel descending to earth.

Even though I was quite satisfied with the CG I drew, the atmosphere created by the music and text made it feel completely different.

"That guy, who's so slow-witted, how could he write a story like this?"

With a skeptical attitude, the girl got up from the bed and sat down in front of the computer.

The CD drive started, and the game officially began.

......

Five hours later.

Three o'clock in the morning.

Takashiro Ryou sat on the chair with her knees drawn up to her chest. The light from the computer screen shone on her face, making the tears welling up in her eyes appear crystal clear.

...

I will still want to see you after graduation.

"Tell me, Touma, have you been happy all these years?"

.....

I...confessed my feelings to Setsuna.

"It's unbelievable, but Setsuna agreed, so... I've decided to date her."

"...What does this have to do with me?"

"Don't worry, nothing will change. I'll continue to keep you company; it'll still be the three of us."

"Otherwise, Kiso will cry."

.....

"Based on your performance, you can come to Vienna with me."

"I wanted to go three years ago."

"Is that so? Am I... finally going to... abandon this country?"

......

The image on the screen finally froze on Kitahara Haruki's back as she stood in the snow outside the airport, gazing at the sky. Above her was a gray sky, and an airplane was flying, about to disappear into the clouds.

Behind him, she was being tightly embraced by Setsuna Ogiso, just like in the opening scene of the game.

When the intro to "Unrequited Love" started playing, Ling Nai released the mouse.

This time she held back her tears.

The story didn't unfold as Ling Nai had imagined, like Clannad, with completely independent romantic storylines. Instead, it consisted of two tightly intertwined routes.

Perhaps at the beginning, Ayano really liked the character 'Ogiso Setsuna', but when she advanced the story to the part near the end of the prologue, after seeing the story from the perspective of 'Touma Kazusa'.

All impressions were reversed.

From the very beginning, Touma Kazusa and Kitahara Haruki harbored mutual unrequited love, and the appearance of Ogiso Setsuna became the bond between them.

As one of the three, Setsuna realized that Touma Kazusa only had eyes for Haruki. Because of the shadow of being abandoned by her best friend, she also made her own choice.

On her way to see Touma Kazusa off at the airport, she revealed the truth to Kitahara Haruki.

"The reason I confessed to you, Haruki, wasn't because I desperately wanted to be your lover... that's why I did it..."

"I just... want our friendship to last forever."

"I don't want to see you two getting too close and excluding me."

"That's the only reason I want to be your girlfriend."

"Kazusa only has you in her heart, and you're always thinking about Kazusa. Even so, if I make my move at that time, I'm sure you'll still agree to my request."

"I'm sure I'll win before Kazusa even tells you how she loves me."

It wouldn't be accurate to call it despicable; at most, it's just cunning.

Ling couldn't bear to take her anger out on Ogiso Setsuna. Knowing Ogiso's past experiences, she couldn't blame the current situation on her no matter what.

As for Touma Kazusa, her personality of always belittling herself and stubbornly pushing herself to the limit is something that girls can empathize with even more.

"Watching the person you like spend time with your best friend, and having all three of you together, is just......"

A torture comparable to slow slicing.

Lingnai imagined a scene she had seen in the previous episodes: Touma Kazusa pretending to be nonchalant, Yukina pulling her and Haruki along on a hot spring trip, the three of them soaking in the hot spring together.

The emotions subtly expressed in the dialogue all surfaced during the scene of the snowy street.

The overwhelming emotions engulfed Ling Nai.

She stared at Touma Kazusa's character portrait on the screen and almost burst into tears.

It's not that I don't want to take it.

They were afraid that if they robbed someone, they would hurt another person, so they had no choice but to flee.

"What is that?"

The girl buried her face in her knees, her voice muffled.

"That guy is usually as dense as a block of wood, but he writes these kinds of stories with surprising skill. Did he allocate all his emotional intelligence to his writing?"

The prologue has ended.

Ling Nai saw that the content on the screen had already reached the second half, and the list of production staff was slowly scrolling on the black background.

Until the game screen goes dark and you return to the menu interface.

She discovered that the words 'Prologue' had been replaced with 'Final Chapter'.

"Sure enough, that guy always likes to use this kind of trick."

Ling Nai had long suspected that this was far from the real ending.

Five hours is too short for a high-quality visual novel.

Moreover, the prologue doesn't offer any choices; it's simply telling a story.

"That guy won't just serve up the prologue; he's showing some sincerity in that regard."

Just like the After Story of Clannad, which is the 'main game'.

Ling Nai was also quite looking forward to the content of the 'Final Chapter'.

"It's already this late..."

She muttered to herself, but her fingers were already gripping the mouse.

The cursor hovered over the "Continue Game" option for a few seconds before finally moving to the upper right corner and closing the game window.

No more playing today.

"If I keep playing like this, that guy will definitely laugh at me tomorrow, saying things like I have no self-control at all."

After the computer screen went dark, the room was plunged into complete darkness.

Ling Nai neither got up to turn on the light nor got into bed.