The confession contest had ended — successfully, if you can call it that — but the descent from the stage was another level of hell. The instant we got off the stage, Reona and I were swarmed and interrogated.
Other couples had formed; please harass them. But I couldn’t say that, so I got captured for a while.
By the time we’d merged with Riona, I was operating at half capacity. Forced confession-contest entry + crowd interrogation = double damage.
“Ryouya, Nee-chan, good work.”
“Yeah — good — wait no, what was that?!”
I had to confirm the intent behind the unhinged stunt.
“Like, which part? Me forcing you to enter, or the actual confession?”
“All of it.”
“You’re so warped you would have invented escape excuses for a normal confession. So I left you no exits.”
“Everyone in the gym is a witness — no escape.”
“Your signature on the entry form is your own handwriting too. We just had you sign thinking it was math homework.”
The accounting-day plus the math-prints incident. When I’d been so exhausted I signed without reading. That had been the trap.
“And — accepting Nee-chan’s confession is mathematically the same as accepting my confession. So you’re now me and Nee-chan’s boyfriend.”
“So, going forward. Just so we’re clear — zero tolerance for cheating.”
“If you did, you’d receive a punishment so terrible I can’t name it out loud.”
“I will definitely not.”
Cheating would result in literal stabbing. The twins’ possessiveness was abnormal — no chance of unscathed escape. That said, the probability of any other girl existing was — near zero — so moot.
”…So why me, of all people?”
“The stabbing incident. Risking your life to save us is unfair to ask anyone not to fall for.”
“Ryouya is mine and Nee-chan’s hero.”
Yes, the stabbing. Of course — we’d had no prior contact, no other origin available.
“All right, enough chat — let’s move to the field.”
“Almost campfire time.”
“Right, part two.”
I’d mentally moved on but part two was waiting. Skipping part two was optional but Reona-and-Riona would not permit it.
We got to the field as the bonfire started lighting. With dusk falling, the red of the flame was beautiful. Most schools have dropped the bonfire tradition; if you saw this view you’d understand why ours kept it.
“So your first mission as boyfriend, Ryouya-kun: dance with your girlfriend in front of the campfire.”
“I cannot dance.”
“Match Nee-chan or me. We’ll handle the lead.”
“Take turns please.”
Reona took my hand. I followed clumsily; Reona compensated.
“Now me.”
“Be a gentleman, Ryouya-kun.”
“Best effort.”
“Sounds like Ryouya.”
Riona took the handoff. She matched my pace too.
To think Mob Character B me would be dancing in a configuration like this with main-heroine-tier Reona-and-Riona. Past me would have rejected this as fiction. The love-is-pretty-heavy part is — let’s say — load-bearing humor.
———
Next chapter: epilogue territory. Will be one or two more chapters total for the web version.
The follow-on plot is fully mapped; if print volume 3+ happens, the story continues. New characters incoming if so: tied to Kisaragi Aran (the twins’ uncle) — set parallel-world here.