Chapter 2

“…It’s already this late, huh.”

The blaring alarm yanks me from sleep, and I drag myself out of bed with all the enthusiasm of a sloth. Mornings are my kryptonite—every dawn feels like a personal attack, heavy and bleak.

I tame my bedhead, swap pajamas for my school uniform, and shuffle to the dining room. Breakfast waits on the table, a quiet gift from someone already gone. As I eat, I fire up my mobile game app, claiming the login bonus and diving into a random dungeon. Burning through the stamina that recharged overnight is my morning ritual, as essential as coffee to some.

This habit’s why I’m always cutting it close to school’s start time. Not that it matters—arriving early just means twiddling my thumbs alone. Friends to chat with? Not in my orbit. By the way, Dad, Mom, and Mio are long gone for work or school, leaving me the last one standing in this empty house.

“Huh, a swimsuit gacha this year too,” I mutter, scanning the game’s announcements. Summer break’s creeping up. For the popular crowd, it’s probably a non-stop party. For a loner like me? Just an extended weekend, no frills. Last summer was more of the same—routine weekends stretched long. The closest I got to “summer vibes” was the family trip to Grandma’s in Kurashiki, Okayama during Obon, and tagging along with Mio to a local festival she dragged me to.

Sure, I’d kill for a summer packed with beach days, mountain hikes with friends, or a fireworks date with a girlfriend. But as a certified loner, that’s pure fantasy. The Instagram-perfect summer belongs to the elite—like Reona and Riona.

“This summer’ll probably be a repeat,” I sigh. “Half-assed homework, light novels, and grinding my game.”

A key rattles in the front door, snapping me out of my gloom. Mio forgetting something? Doubtful—she’d text me to bring it. Before I can puzzle it out, the dining room door swings open, and Reona and Riona stride in.

“Morning, Ryouya,” Reona says brightly.

“We’re here to pick you up,” Riona adds.

“Hold up!” I blurt, nearly choking on my toast. “How do you two have a key to my house?”

“Your mom gave us a spare yesterday,” Reona explains, casual as ever.

“Yeah,” Riona chimes in. “When we mentioned picking you up, she just handed it over.”

“…Mom, seriously? Trusting people you barely know?” I mutter. Is she too naive, or are these two just that persuasive? Either way, they’ve got free rein to my house now.

The three of us head to school, walking side by side. I can’t exactly ditch them after they went out of their way, even if I’d rather fade into the background. Attention’s the last thing I want.

“You guys timed it perfectly,” I say. “A bit later, and I’d have been gone.”

“…Woman’s intuition,” Reona replies with a sly smile.

“Just a coincidence,” Riona adds, but their brief, awkward glances feel off. I’m too groggy to dig deeper, so I let it slide.

“Ryouya, what was your rank on the last midterm?” Reona asks.

“Uh, it’s kind of embarrassing,” I hedge.

“I answered you yesterday,” she presses, “so it’s only fair, Ryouya-kun.”

She’s got me there. Swallowing my pride, I mumble, “…Around 180th.”

“Huh,” Riona says, tilting her head. “You seem so serious, but that’s surprisingly low.”

“Exactly why I didn’t want to say,” I groan. People always peg me as studious at first, but my mediocre grades at Amaki High—a school with a high academic bar—shatter that illusion. My national mock exam scores never dip below 50, but internally? I’m just average.

“Don’t sweat it, Ryouya,” Reona says confidently. “You’ve got me.”

“With Riona around, you could aim for the top of the grade,” Reona adds.

“That’s reassuring,” I reply, a small smile tugging at my lips.

As we near the school gate, students swarm around us, and the stares hit like a spotlight. No surprise—it’s because I’m with Reona and Riona. The “why’s he with them” glares burn, and I squirm under the weight of it.

“…Sorry, I can’t hold it,” I blurt. “Gotta hit the bathroom.” I bolt to the shoe lockers, hiding out in the restroom until the first-period bell’s about to ring.

First period passes uneventfully, but the moment break hits, Reona’s at my desk, chatting away. Same deal after second period. By the break before fourth, the classroom’s vibe is suffocating—stares from classmates bore into me like daggers.

“…This is beyond awkward,” I mutter, escaping to the vending machine area. The attention’s been building since yesterday, but living it is brutal. I’ve always been Mob Character B, invisible and safe. Now, hanging with Reona, the class idol, instead of the popular clique? I’m a walking anomaly.

The random attacker incident threw me into their orbit, but no one else knows that. To them, I’m just some nobody who wormed his way into Reona and Riona’s circle. I catch whispers—petty jabs from the less impressive guys, probably bitter that a “loser” like me is close to Reona. The popular kids, at least, seem to ignore me entirely. Small mercy.

I linger by the vending machine, dreading the return to class. Right before fourth period, I slink back, only to catch a snide remark about how I’m “bothering Tsurugi-san by clinging to her.” So that’s the narrative, huh? Fourth period drags, and lunch break finds me still rattled.

“Hey,” I say hesitantly as Reona and Riona invade my usual spot again. “Is it… maybe a hassle for you guys to be around me?”

They blink, caught off guard.

“Huh?” Reona says. “What’s that about?”

“Did something happen, Ryouya?” Riona asks, concern in her voice.

“Just wondering if I’m causing you trouble,” I admit, the pre-fourth-period jab still stinging.

Their expressions flatten, and then they unleash a torrent of words.

“Bothered by you? No way,” Reona says fiercely. “You’re the guy who risked his life to save us. Riona and I want to be around you, Ryouya-kun—that’s why we’re here. Zero reason to feel bothered. If anything, we’re worried we’re the ones bugging you. And honestly, you’re way more charming than you think. Have some confidence—you wouldn’t even be stressing about this if you did.”

“There’s no chance we’d find you a bother,” Riona adds, just as intense. “Onee-chan and I trust you completely. It’d be insane to resent the guy who saved our lives. You might not get it, but what you did was incredible. If you hadn’t been there, we might be dead. We can’t thank you enough, and we’re planning to spend our lives repaying you—so you’d better be ready.”

Their rapid-fire sincerity is overwhelming, borderline intimidating, but it washes away my doubts. They mean every word—if they didn’t, they’d be world-class liars.

“…Got it,” I say, exhaling. “I was overthinking it.”

“Alright, case closed,” Reona declares. “Let’s eat.”

“We worked hard on this bento this morning,” Riona says, presenting it proudly.

“Thanks, it looks amazing again,” I reply, already salivating. Their cooking’s starting to win me over, one bite at a time. Today’s spread—wieners, boiled eggs, ginger pork, cherry tomatoes, and white rice—is as delicious as yesterday’s, though the ketchup on the wieners has an odd, metallic tang. I devour it anyway.

Afternoon classes roll by, whispers trailing me like shadows. I ignore them, buoyed by Reona and Riona’s words. Homeroom ends, and the class buzzes with Friday energy—weekend plans and after-school hype fill the air. Me? I’ve got another study session with the twins at my house, but there’s a twist.

“Wait, Mio-chan’s not here today?” Reona asks, disappointed.

“Yeah, she’s at a friend’s for a sleepover,” I say. “Won’t be back.”

“I wanted to see her,” Riona pouts.

Mio’s already charmed them, which isn’t shocking—she’s cute enough to make you forget we’re related. “By the way,” I add, “Dad’s on a business trip, and Mom’s visiting a friend in her hometown. I’m solo tonight.”

With Mio usually handling meals, I’m not thrilled about cooking, but the freedom of an empty house has its perks.

“Oh, really?” Reona’s eyes light up. “Then let’s make tonight’s study session a sleepover at your place, Ryouya-kun.”

“I’m with Onee-chan,” Riona says.

“Settled,” they chorus.

“Whoa, hold on!” I protest. “I’m against this!”

“Aww, but we voted,” Reona teases. “Democratic majority.”

“Something this big needs unanimous agreement, not a majority!” I argue.

“Then we’ll vote on whether it should be unanimous,” Riona counters.

“That’s rigged!” I groan, outmaneuvered. I try one last angle. “What about your parents? They cool with this?”

“They’re pretty hands-off,” Reona says. “It’s fine.”

I’m speechless. The study session’s postponed so we can prep for their impromptu sleepover. We part ways, and I race home to clean my room.

“Gotta hide the embarrassing stuff,” I mutter. A sleepover means they might snoop while I’m out of the room—say, during a bath. Adult magazines would be bad enough, but my onahole or lube getting found? Catastrophic. I stash them in an empty game console box and slide it under the bed. Cliché hiding spot, sure, but maybe too obvious to check.

Just as I finish, Reona and Riona arrive, lugging massive travel bags. They’re all in. We dive back into studying, picking up where we left off yesterday.

◇

“I’m seriously exhausted…”

Soaking in the bathtub, I mutter to myself, the day’s chaos replaying in my head. From Reona and Riona barging into my house this morning to this impromptu sleepover study session, it’s been relentless. And then there was that other incident before my bath, the one that kept me scrambling.

The incident? They found my onahole and lube.

We’d been studying until just past 8 p.m. when we called it quits for dinner. After some back-and-forth, we settled on ordering bentos from a nearby shop. I stepped out to pick them up, gone for maybe fifteen minutes. That’s when it happened.

“How the hell did they find it?” I groan, sinking deeper into the water. “It’s a total mystery.”

I’d hidden the stuff under my bed, tucked inside a disguised game console box. Foolproof, I thought. But when I returned, arms full of bentos, there they were—my onahole and lube, sitting on my desk like a crime scene. Reona and Riona stood nearby, arms crossed, waiting.

The sight drained the blood from my face. Then, unbelievably, they started interrogating me. What were they for? How did I use them? They wanted details. I tried dodging, mumbling vague answers, but they pressed harder, relentless. In the end, I spilled everything, my face burning so hot I thought it’d ignite.

“Explaining my personal business to girls in my class…” I mutter, cringing. “What kind of humiliation kink is this?”

It was, hands-down, the most mortifying moment of my life. Some guys might find that thrilling, but me? Just pure agony. No fetish here. Too awkward to linger in the room, I scarfed down my bento and fled to the bathroom.

Ever since that random attacker incident landed me in the hospital, my life’s been a whirlwind of the unthinkable. It’s like I’ve stumbled into a light novel, cast as the protagonist against my will.

“If this were a light novel,” I muse, “the next scene would be them barging into the bathroom or something. But no way, right?”

That’s too much of a rom-com cliché. No chance. As I’m reassuring myself, a noise from the changing room jolts me.

“No way…” I whisper, grasping at excuses. “Maybe they’re just grabbing something.”

But before I can convince myself, the door flies open, and Reona and Riona charge in. For a split second, my brain stalls. Then panic hits—I’m in deep trouble.

“H-Hey!” I yelp. “What’s the big idea!?”

“We felt bad about earlier,” Reona says, unfazed. “So we thought we’d wash your back as an apology, Ryouya-kun.”

“Leave it to us,” Riona adds.

Apparently, they’re guilty about snooping. But they’re not wearing towels or swimsuits. They’re completely bare, every detail on display. Aside from my mom, I’ve never seen a woman’s body before.

Certain parts of me start getting too excited, and I mentally scramble, reciting prime numbers to cool off. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17… Is 19 prime? Math’s not my strong suit, but it does the trick, barely keeping me in check. Mission accomplished.

“That’s not okay!” I shout.

“Huh?” Reona tilts her head, smirking. “What’s not okay?”

“Explain it clearly so Onee-chan and I can understand,” Riona says, her blank expression betraying a hint of amusement.

They know exactly what’s up and are toying with me. Their sadistic streak is shocking, but I refuse to crumble.

“Just get out, please!” I plead.

“Aww, it’s not a big deal,” Reona teases.

“You don’t want us here, Ryouya?” Riona asks, feigning innocence.

This is way too much for a virgin like me. I try shooing them out, but they don’t budge, tossing out flippant remarks. Time for plan B.

“Fine, I’ll leave,” I declare. “You two can have the bath.”

If they won’t go, I will. I stand, reach for the door, and move to escape—but they’re not letting me off that easy.

“Hey, Ryouya-kun, wait!” Reona calls.

“Sorry, this is a no-entry zone,” Riona says, blocking me.

“Wai—!?”

Reona grabs my arm, and I slip on the wet floor, balance gone. I crash down, taking them with me. Instinctively, I shut my eyes. When I open them, I’m face-first in Reona’s chest, pink and soft. Then I feel something else—my right hand’s gripping Riona’s chest.

“You’re pretty bold, Ryouya,” Reona says, voice teasing.

“Should we just climb the adult staircase together like this?” Riona adds.

“I-I’m good, thanks!” I stammer, bolting from the bathroom like it’s on fire. No way I can face them now.

“…How am I supposed to talk to them after this?” I mutter, pacing my room. Burying my face in one’s chest and grabbing the other’s? No one could act normal after that. Or so I thought. When Reona and Riona return, they chat like nothing happened.

“Sleepover nights are perfect for love talk,” Reona says, plopping onto my bed. “Let’s do it, the three of us!”

“I’m curious about Ryouya’s stories,” Riona adds.

“…You guys remember the bathroom, right?” I ask, incredulous.

“You mean how you buried your face in my chest and grabbed Riona’s, right, Ryouya-kun?” Reona replies, unfazed.

My faint hope they’d forgotten evaporates. “If you remember, why are you so calm!?”

“Huh?” Reona blinks. “Was there anything to be shocked about?”

“I don’t think there was,” Riona agrees.

I’m the fool for asking. Maybe they operate on a different plane of reality. “So, about that love talk?” Reona presses.

“I really want to do it,” Riona insists.

“…A guy like me doesn’t have love stories,” I say, deflecting.

“Even a virgin like you who’s never had a girlfriend has a first love, right, Ryouya-kun?” Reona teases.

“That’s harsh,” I snap. “What if I’m not a virgin?”

Their faces go blank, eyes hollow, and I feel a chill.

“Who exactly was your first time with, Ryouya-kun?” Reona asks, voice low.

“I’d like the details,” Riona adds, leaning closer.

Their intensity is scarier than the attacker I faced. Lying might actually get me killed. “I-I’m a virgin!” I blurt.

“The honest truth?” Reona narrows her eyes.

“If you’re lying, neither Onee-chan nor I know what we might do,” Riona warns.

“I swear, I’m a virgin!” I plead, pride in tatters. Trying to act cool was a mistake.

“…Alright, back to love talk,” Reona says, satisfied.

“Fine, I get it,” I sigh.

“Start with your first love,” Riona urges. “We’re curious.”

“I had one, but it was unrequited and fizzled out,” I say, hoping to dodge. “Not exactly thrilling.”

“That’s fine, I want to hear,” Reona insists.

“What kind of person was she, Ryouya-kun?” Riona asks.

They’re relentless, ready to dissect every detail. Is this even worth it? Reluctantly, I start. “It was in sixth grade, my childhood friend who lived nearby. I crushed on her for a while, but in eighth grade, she got a boyfriend. Nothing happened.”

Light novels love childhood friend romances, but real life isn’t so kind. Riona nods. “A childhood friend first love is common, but it doesn’t always work out.”

“Exactly,” Reona agrees. “They’re just someone you grew up with. Nothing inherently special.”

“Cases like our mom and dad, who were childhood friends and married, are rare,” Riona adds.

“Oh, your parents were childhood friends?” I ask, intrigued. I met them once in the hospital, where they thanked me endlessly for saving the twins. They’re why I got that fancy private room.

“It’s not fair to make only Ryouya-kun spill,” Reona says. “We’ll share too.”

“No, I’m good…” I start, but they ignore me.

“No need to hold back,” Riona says.

Truth is, I don’t want to hear their love stories. I’m starting to like them. A low-spec guy like me falls fast when someone’s kind, and it’s a hassle. Hearing about other guys they’ve liked? Hard pass. But they plow ahead, oblivious.

“Neither Riona nor I have much to share,” Reona admits.

“…Wait, really?” I ask, stunned.

“We’ve never had boyfriends,” Riona confirms.

I’m floored. I was sure they’d have dated plenty. “You’re surprised, Ryouya?” Reona asks, amused.

“Yeah, shocked,” I admit. “I know you get confessed to a lot.”

“That’s why we haven’t even kissed, let alone more,” Riona says.

I assumed at least one of them had experience. Both being completely inexperienced is almost unbelievable. “Why no boyfriends?” I ask.

“We just haven’t met anyone we liked,” Reona says simply.

“Dating someone you don’t like wastes everyone’s time,” Riona adds.

I expected a deeper reason, but it’s just that no guy’s caught their eye. With all those confessions, not one was worthy? I almost pity the rejected. “But when we fall for someone, we’re super devoted,” Reona says.

“I wouldn’t let anyone else have a single strand of their hair,” Riona adds, her tone chillingly intense.

“R-Right,” I stammer, a shiver running through me. Dating them might be a wild ride. Not that I’d ever have a shot.

“What’s your type, Ryouya?” Reona asks, shifting gears.

“Huh? We’re still doing this?” I groan.

“Obviously,” Riona says. “The real talk starts now.”

They grill me on my ideal girl, demanding reasons for every detail. It’s less love talk, more interrogation. Two hours later, I’m drained. Was that even love talk?

“It’s late,” I say, glancing at the clock. “Let’s sleep. You can use Mio’s room.”

“Wow, it’s that time already?” Reona yawns. “Today was packed. I’m beat.”

“Hey, hold on!” I shout as they casually climb into my bed.

“Why’re you yelling?” Reona asks, puzzled.

“What’s with you acting like it’s normal to get in my bed?” I demand.

“To sleep, obviously,” Riona says.

“…No, no, no, that’s not okay,” I insist. Their confidence almost makes me question myself, but no, they’re the weird ones.

“We’ll leave space for you, Ryouya,” Reona says.

“Don’t worry,” Riona adds.

“There’s everything to worry about,” I retort. Are they seriously planning to sleep with me? I can’t even fathom sharing a bed with a guy they’re not dating.

“Fine, I’ll sleep in Dad’s room,” I say, moving to leave.

“Aww, come on, sleep with us!” Reona pleads.

“It’ll help you have sweet dreams,” Riona teases.

They grab my hands, pulling me back. Against one, I’d have a chance, but two? I’m outmatched. I resist, but they drag me to the bed.

“Gotcha,” Reona says triumphantly.

“No escaping now,” Riona adds.

“Okay, okay, just don’t get too close,” I beg.

Sandwiched between them, I can barely move. Their chests press against me, soft and overwhelming, sending my lower half into a frenzy. “Good night,” Reona murmurs.

“See you tomorrow, Ryouya,” Riona whispers.

“Seriously…” I mutter. They’re asleep in seconds, but me? No chance of sleep tonight.