Chapter 97: Once again, this is all that happened

Yes, the beautiful blue-haired "girl" was Hoshi Amami wearing female clothing and a wig .

"Hehe, you saw through me as expected . . . " Hoshi rubbed his head where Seiji had struck him as he laughed and stuck out his tongue .

"Of course I saw through you, idiot!" Seiji struck him lightly on the head one more time .

"Ouch . . . "

"Then don't do such a thing!! Do you realize that right now I really want to fucking beat you up!!?"

"But Senpai, yesterday you said that you were really looking forward to the classical scene of being confessed to on a rooftop . . . I just wanted to do something for you . " Hoshi was now cradling his head with both hands as he knelt on the floor . Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes .

"Do something for me!? What the hell!? A boy confessing to me like this will leave me with nothing but a bad memory!!! Also, stop acting cute, you bastard!!"

Seiji's roaring rang throughout the entire rooftop, and it seemed to pierce through the heavens .

'Okay, take a minute to calm down . '

. . .

After a one minute cooling-off period .

Seiji was finally able to calmly face Hoshi, who had now taken off his wig .

"Where did you get these clothes and the wig from?"

"I borrowed them from a classmate in drama club . I later learned that she was an acquaintance of Wakaba-san, so I asked my classmate to contact her, and Wakaba-san helped me . . . "

"I see . "

Seiji's face twitched slightly as he recalled Chiaki's unnatural expression . He felt like he really wanted to beat someone up right now .

It was definitely a plot, damn it!

"Honestly, making me see such a thing in the early morning . . . I feel like all the energy's been drained from my body . "

"But . . . Wakaba-san said that Senpai would be happy to see such a scene?" Hoshi nervously poked his index fingers and thumbs together, forming a diamond with his hands .

"Chiaki!!"

'There's a witness statement providing concrete evidence . She is hereby judged guilty, and a beating will be administered to Chiaki the next time I see her!'

Seiji clenched his fists tightly . "I wouldn't be happy at all! Even though a trap character can be cute, to me, they're only cute when they're in 2-D!!"

"Oh . . . How regrettable; I had confidence in myself . . . "

"What the hell's with saying it's regrettable!? Don't have confidence in yourself in such a strange way!!"

"But this is just how I am . "

"It doesn't matter even if it's true! Anyway, didn't you want to become manlier!?"

"Yeah, even though that's the case . . . " Hoshi smiled . "I'm beginning to feel like being a girl wouldn't be all that bad either . "

"Stop! If you dare to continue this, be careful as I'll really beat you up!!!" Seiji forcefully commented .

'I knew Senpai would react like this,' Hoshi thought to himself as he smiled wryly .

'But this is how I really feel, Senpai . There's no way I can finish expressing all my gratitude and adulation towards you . If there's another life, I'd want to turn into a girl . . . But, right now, in this life, I'm a boy . That's why . . . '

"Just joking, I'm a boy after all, so . . . I'll become stronger in the future . " Hoshi looked directly into Seiji's eyes . "I'll work hard to improve myself and get stronger, in order to become . . . someone worthy of being Senpai's junior!"

Seiji was stunned .

He could feel Hoshi's determination .

A momentary silence fell between the pair .

"What's this about being worthy? You're my junior regardless of whether you're worthy or not . " Seiji chuckled as he averted his gaze and looked towards the sky .

"But it's great that you have the determination to become stronger . Just maintain your spirit, and don't forget your goal as you continue taking steps forward . "

"But it's great that you have the determination to become stronger . Just maintain your spirit, and don't forget your goal as you continue taking steps forward . "

"Yeah . . . " Hoshi turned around and also looked up at the sky .

The two of them gazed off into the distance and remained silent for a few seconds .

"How . . . is the situation?" Seiji broke the silence first .

"My sisters . . . they're going to leave home and temporarily live with my grandparents," Hoshi said in a soft voice . "And me . . . I'm also going to leave home and live together with Aunt Rika . "

Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise .

"What about your parents, then?"

"Grandfather wants them to truly self-reflect on their own actions and decide if they will get a divorce or continue living together . . . something like that . "

Another brief silence fell .

"It seems like you must have had quite the imposing family meeting . "

"Yeah, as Senpai instructed me, we talked to Aunt Rika and told her everything . Then . . . Aunt Rika went and brought along my grandfather and grandmother, as well as my uncle . "

"My grandparents . . . they're really strict . Father . . . he's afraid of them . " Hoshi smiled wistfully . "If only I could have seen the truth much earlier and asked for help . . . from Aunt Rika, my grandparents, and my uncle . . . Things wouldn't have become the way they are today . "

Seiji had no words to say in response .

"I regret it so much . . . But I also feel that it's wonderful how things didn't turn out even worse . My sisters truly wish to change themselves now, so they . . . will definitely become better than before under my grandparents' guardianship .

"My parents . . . are being watched over by my uncle, and I think they'll reflect on themselves as well . I'll continue to work in my aunt's confectionery store to train myself and become stronger . "

Hoshi's smile kept increasing in brilliance as he looked once more at the tall figure besides him . "And I feel like the best part of it all was meeting you, Senpai . Even though I suffered a lot recently, if I think of it as something I needed to go through in order to meet Senpai, I feel like I can accept it all . "

'Thank you for saving me . Thank you for saving my sisters . Thank you for preventing my entire family from sinking into a bottomless abyss . Thank you for everything . . . I'm grateful to this world for allowing me to meet you . '

Seiji smiled and turned around to look at the person beside him .

"Don't say it like I'm someone incredible, silly . I'm simply your Senpai, as well as your friend; that's all there is to it . "

That's all there is to it .

That's all there is to it .

This was simply another case of "that's all there is to it . "

Hoshi kept smiling . His current smile was the most joyous smile of his entire lifetime!

He couldn't restrain his tears any longer, and they began rolling down his cheeks .

Ahh—he hadn't wanted to cry; he didn't want to seem unsightly in front of this person anymore .

But he couldn't stop himself .

"Thank you . . . Senpai . . . "

"You've finally stopped apologizing; at least that's progress . "

Seiji looked deeply at Hoshi's brilliantly smiling yet tear-stained face .

Then, he averted his gaze, turned around, and began walking off .

"I've received your gratitude . No need to be courteous with me, junior . "

He casually waved his hand as he walked off .

Hoshi etched the handsome figure's back into his memory and slowly bowed deeply towards Seiji .

. . .

*Ding!* A notification came from Seiji's system .

A notification appeared in front of him .

[A male friend of yours now has a friendship rating towards you of over 100 . The [friendship] option is now available . You can now see your male friends' friendship ratings towards you, and if a male friend with 60 friendship points or higher gives you any gifts containing their emotions, you'll also receive rewards through the [gifts] option . ]

[A person now has a favorability or friendship rating towards you of over 100 for the first time . You have now acquired this person's character reward card . ]

Seiji was speechless at the situation .

What the hell, favorability . . . whoops, friendship rating over 100!?

Seiji was speechless at the situation .

What the hell, favorability . . . whoops, friendship rating over 100!?

This . . . could only be Hoshi .

If 1 friendship point equaled 1 favorability rating point, then this value . . . was even higher than Mika's favorability rating towards him!!

Seiji received yet another shock from his system .

Boys actually had a friendship rating, and it could even surpass 100 . . .

When Mika passed 90 points, his system had informed him that she would readily agree to become his intimate girlfriend . Now Hoshi's friendship rating was over 100, what would he do?

Heavens, stop imagining such a thing!

Hoshi Amami! Your friendship is too much for me, hey!!

Seiji clutched at his face in frustration .

It was a good thing that a new option appeared, but his current feelings . . . were indescribable!

System . . . this is your idea of a joke, isn't it!?

You're just a freaking dating sim system, but you have an option like [friendship]!? How can this be seen as anything other than a joke!!!

If Seiji's anguished mental shouting had been physical in nature, surely his shouting would have pierced the heavens!

He needed three minutes to calm down .

No wait, after three minutes, Hoshi will probably come downstairs as well . . .

Seiji could only sigh to himself as he continued walking .

He should have been happy about unlocking a new option, but right now he didn't feel like inspecting it more closely at all .

When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he suddenly caught sight of two identical beauties standing there .

It was Rion and Kotomi Amami .