Tokyo: Oreimo

Ryosuke splashed cold water on his face, the icy touch slightly clearing his muddled consciousness.

I changed my clothes and went downstairs.

Mieko was frying eggs in the kitchen, while Takashiro Isao was still sitting at the dining table reading the newspaper, with black coffee in front of him, just like yesterday, the day before yesterday, and every morning before.

Ling Nai appeared at the restaurant entrance.

She was dressed neatly in her school uniform, her long golden hair was tied in a ponytail, and those familiar dark circles were under her eyes.

"morning."

Ryosuke spoke, his voice no different from usual.

".....morning."

Ling Nai lowered her head and walked to the dining table to sit down, her hand holding the chopsticks still trembling slightly.

There was no interaction between the two.

"I'm done eating."

The girl quickly finished her breakfast, grabbed her schoolbag, and got up to leave.

"Huh? Today too?"

"I made a promise with Liuli."

The door closed.

"Ryosuke, what's wrong? You don't look well."

Mieko's voice pulled him back to reality.

"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well last night."

...

For the next few days, until Saturday, Ling Nai focused on completing Steins Gates, unlocking several other characters' endings starting with the first one.

But the only thing that didn't happen was that it didn't lead to a happy ending for Makise Kurisu.

These past few days, Ling Nai has been sneaking into Ryosuke's room every night and lying in his bed, as if she's addicted to it. She can't fall asleep without going through this part.

Ryosuke, on the other hand, was tormented by the dilemma of whether to sleep or not, and even found himself dozing off in class.

Sin ah.

He was genuinely afraid that he might do something inappropriate without realizing it after falling asleep, so he didn't dare to fall asleep until Ling Nai left the bed.

I could only grit my teeth and try to catch up on sleep at school.

On Saturday, Ryosuke didn't stay at home but went to the company.

.....

Aniplex Corporation.

Ryosuke sat in his office, the original manuscript of "Is This a Zombie?" spread out in front of him, his pen hovering above the paper, hesitant to put it down.

He stared at the half-finished draft for almost five minutes, his mind filled with the events of the previous nights.

".....no."

He put down his pen and leaned back in his chair.

Phoenix Inu Saori's face appeared in my mind.

Long black hair, a confident smile, and a slightly raised chin.

He already has such a perfect and enviable girlfriend, but now his mind is full of another girl.

His sister who is not related to him by blood.

"That's really terrible."

Ryosuke cursed under his breath.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Phoenix Inu Saori walked in.

Her long black hair was tied back with a plain-colored hair tie, and she was wearing her usual white shirt and black trousers, holding a folder in her hand.

"morning."

She placed the folder on his desk.

"The pre-release hype for Steins;Gate is pretty good, and there's a lot of discussion about it on the Future Dimension forum. I think the sales will be pretty good when it's officially released."

"Yeah."

Ryosuke picked up the folder and flipped through it, his eyes scanning over the statistics and summaries of trending posts.

Saori sat down opposite him, her hands folded on her knees, her dark eyes quietly watching him.

"You look terrible, Shi Yuze."

"I didn't sleep well."

"That's unusual. You shouldn't have any busy work lately, right?"

Saori tilted her head.

The game had just finished, and at this point, all Ryosuke had left was the NAME of "Zombie".

Compared to his previous workload, he can now be considered to be on 'vacation'.

The dark circles under his eyes couldn't be explained away by simply not having slept well for a day.

"Is it because of Ling Nai?"

Saori, quite perceptive, noticed something and asked with a smile.

"...I guess so."

He closed the folder and put it aside.

"Heh, could it be that we've been attacked?"

Saori winked at him.

Ryosuke looked slightly embarrassed.

Is this the reaction a girlfriend should have? Now that she's noticed, shouldn't her normal reaction be anger?

To be honest, he felt guilty for not stopping Ling Nai from continuing that behavior at night recently.

"Don't make that face, Shi Yuze."

"I expected things to turn out this way. I allowed my sister to do what she wanted. Just make your own choice."

Phoenix Inu Saori chuckled softly, walked behind him, and hugged his neck.

She whispered softly, her lips brushing against his earlobe.

"I'm not the kind of little girl who doesn't allow other women to be around her boyfriend."

His long black hair fell from his shoulders, the ends brushing against the back of his hand, carrying a faint scent of shampoo.

"But if my sister has already made her move, I can't just ignore it."

As she spoke, Saori tightened her arms around him, and Ryosuke could feel her body heat coming through the two layers of fabric.

Phoenix Inu Saori's body temperature was slightly higher than Ling Nai's, and when she was held, she resembled a quietly burning fire.

Her fingers gripped his chin, not firmly, but with certainty.

Ryosuke was guided to turn his head to the side by that hand.

Then Hououin Saori kissed him.

.....

When her tongue pried open his teeth, Ryosuke's breathing became completely disordered.

His fingers had somehow climbed up to her waist, and through her white shirt, he could feel the smooth lines of her waist.

Saori made a very soft nasal sound.

It sounded like satisfaction, or perhaps like saying, "That's right."

As she straddled the chair, it creaked under the weight.

Ryosuke's back pressed against the back of the chair, Saori's knees resting on the seat beside his legs, her long black hair falling down from her shoulders, enveloping them in a small, dimly lit space.

"Shi Yuze".

She called his name, stepped back slightly, her lips still pressed against his, and her breath brushed against his lips as she spoke, carrying a faint, unique fragrance of hers.

"You've been awake every night lately, haven't you?"

Ryosuke's back stiffened.

Saori pulled her fingers out of his hair, ran them down his earlobe, her fingertips brushing against his earlobe, and landed on the side of his neck.

In that spot, the carotid artery was throbbing rapidly under the skin.

"Dark circles under the eyes, dozing off in class, and daydreaming in the office."

She counted them one by one.

"You've never been like this before. What happened at night that made you afraid to sleep?"

Ryosuke didn't say anything.

He couldn't say it.

Because he couldn't tell his girlfriend that Ling Nai would sneak into the room and get into bed every night.

No matter how magnanimous Saori is, she couldn't possibly be indifferent to such words.

But Saori didn't seem to need his answer.

"You don't need to explain."

Her thumb slid from the side of his neck to his chin, applying slight pressure to lift his face so he could look her in the eye.