Chapter 22: The Five Sisters' Conversation
Evening, after dinner.
Sakurai Saki was playing online games with a friend, putting the matter of the five sisters aside for now.
Spending the whole day thinking about how to help others? Only an idiot would do that. At the very least, Sakurai had no interest in such things.
Besides, he already had a fairly clear idea in mind.
"Aki, you've been distracted today! You've been ganged up on by the enemy team several times already! Something bothering you?"
( ╹ -╹)?
This was a female online friend. The two of them were duo-queuing in League of Legends.
Tonight, playing Apex didn't seem possible—Sakurai's main team consisted of Ishigami Yuu and Hayasaka Ai, but both were busy. Not wanting to solo or play with randoms, Sakurai called on a support buddy for this MOBA game.
"Gab-chan, just keep buffing me. Let me handle the damage output."
Sakurai was controlling his in-game character with such precision it seemed like he was using a script, dodging dozens of enemy skills.
The enemy players were already accusing him of hacking.
Ha, play well and they call it hacking?
Guess they've never seen someone using superpowers before.
( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀) O' Kawaii Koto~
"Jeez, this is way over the top! You're making it boring for me. Hey, don't forget about that top-up you promised me for that other game!" Gab-chan suddenly brought up.
Top-up? I don't remember that.
Wait—oh yeah, maybe that did happen.
"Didn't you quit that game already?" Sakurai typed as he single-handedly wiped out the entire enemy team.
The enemy team's insults were all just the same old garbage. Nothing impressive, not even irritating. Honestly, he felt nothing.
( ︶︿︶)_╭∩╮
After a while, he got bored of the insults and muted both the enemies and his own teammates.
At first, it was just the enemies flaming him. Then the "righteous" teammates joined in too, scolding Sakurai for cheating.
Even in games he got isolated and bullied. Wasn't this world just a little too unfair?
"That's just your assumption, Aki! I didn't quit—I spent so much on that game, how could I just quit?" Gab-chan said, watching Sakurai go 1v5 again. She suddenly shouted, "Hey, I haven't even got a single assist yet! Kill them slower!"
With a [Ace], Sakurai ignored his teammates throwing the match and proceeded to destroy the enemy's crystal.
"Hey, Gabriel, do you know what a 'sunk cost' is?"
Sakurai finished destroying the enemy base and explained: "The more money you spend, the more the game traps you. Eventually, you become just another useless whale with a wasted life."
The enemy team had played so badly it was almost bizarre, but the satisfaction of base-breaking was enough.
"Hey, I do work, y'know! You're making me sound like a total deadbeat."
"Didn't you once say you only work so you can top up in games?"
(╭ರ_•́)
Sakurai resumed clicking, starting the next match.
...
Meanwhile, in a rented room somewhere in Tokyo—
"I never denied it, though." Gabriel glanced at the pile of household trash at her feet, then looked up at the dark halo above her head, feeling no guilt whatsoever.
An angel? She couldn't care less.
Helping people? Only angels would do that. Had nothing to do with her—a lazy fallen soul like this.
꒰ঌ(* ´ ﹃｀*)໒꒱
Games were number one!!
If it weren't for topping up, who would even bother working?
...
Minato Ward, Tokyo – The Nakano Household.
The five sisters had just finished dinner, cooked by Nakano Nino.
"So Sensei-chan really left? I just took a nap and missed everything," Nakano Ichika said lazily from the couch, curiosity in her voice.
(•̪ o •̪)
"Don't mention him. Just thinking about his face pisses me off," Nino replied, clearly displeased.
(¬`‸´¬)
Nakano Itsuki remained silent, feeling somewhat responsible.
If she hadn't warned her sisters in advance about how Sakurai allegedly cycled through multiple girlfriends each week, Nino probably wouldn't have been so wary. In hindsight, this might've all started because of her.
But Sakurai was overly friendly with girls—holding hands and stuff like that wasn't exactly subtle. Letting him tutor them might not have been a great idea.
Still, to run into him that many times in a week… Was it just bad luck? Or was Tokyo really just that small?
Itsuki began to retrace the timeline in her mind.
Beginning of the week, she had seen Sakurai hanging out with various girls, and then she told her sisters about it. After all, someone ranked third in the entire school at Shuchiin being a playboy? That was big news.
And then, unexpectedly, came a coincidence.
He ended up being hired by their father as a tutor—something she only found out last weekend when Sakurai came to their house.
Since Sakurai and Miku had been in the same class last year and talked closely, she was afraid Miku might be tricked, so she tried to stop it. Back then, Ichika had work, Yotsuba was helping out in her club, and Nino had cooking class, so none of them met him.
After that, she briefly explained the situation to her sisters, and no one paid it much attention.
And then...
Maybe everything that happened today had all stemmed from that.
Nino cared deeply about her sisters and their home. That's why she reacted that way.
But Sakurai hadn't actually done anything wrong. In fact, it was her own words—Itsuki's—that had gone too far. That "pervert" comment should never have been said, and what she said afterward was questionable too.
He didn't seem particularly interested in anyone's body, and he had clearly put serious effort into his tutoring preparations.
Tomorrow, I'll apologize to him.
(づ◡﹏◡)づ
Itsuki made up her mind.
After all, personal life and professional tutoring could be kept separate.
"I think Sakurai-san is pretty decent—and handsome too. Didn't you say before that you liked his face, Nino?" Yotsuba chimed in.
Nino's face darkened.
"But I don't like playboys."
"What if he's not a playboy?"
"No way! Itsuki saw it with her own eyes."
Dragged into this argument so suddenly, Itsuki stiffened.
...Wait a second!
Don't pin that kind of "flag" on me!
"Maybe I was mistaken." Itsuki replied coolly.
"You said what?" Nino couldn't believe her ears.
(⊙ _ ⊙ )
Mistaken? That kind of statement? She had already rejected a guy who was practically her dream type!
Everything she had said was based on the assumption that he was a playboy!
Now? There was no going back.
After all, she'd tossed his backpack off the 30th floor.
After being treated like that, what guy would even consider continuing as their tutor?
"But he held hands with lots of girls. Even hugged some. I saw it clearly." Itsuki insisted.
(,,Ծ‸Ծ,, )
"What about kissing? If it's just hugging and holding hands, that's not enough evidence to judge anything." Miku shot back.
She was a little upset after being stood up by Sakurai today, but the ones she was truly mad at were her sisters.
Itsuki said nothing.
Nino was also silent.
Yotsuba sensed the tension and quickly tried to defuse it:
"If we really misunderstood Sakurai-san, we can all just apologize together. It's not a big deal."
The two of them let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Then Ichika poured a bucket of cold water on the mood.
"You guys did throw his backpack from the 30th floor. Think he's really gonna forgive us?"