{Transitioning to Shin}
After being busy in two mission worlds, the time in the real world had also arrived at dawn, with gentle sunlight streaming into the room through the window.
When Shin woke from his dream, he felt as if someone was lying on top of him. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was Megumi Kato.
Wearing pajamas, Megumi was curled up lightly on top of him like a kitten, her head resting on his chest as she stared intently at him.
Noticing Shin had woken up, Megumi gave a faint smile before leaning in to press a kiss on his lips. Only then did she climb off him. Shin watched as Megumi got out of bed, completely dumbfounded.
It had to be said—though Megumi was far less experienced than him in that kind of thing, when it came to teasing, her skill level was undeniably high.
If not for the fact that Shin was now well-traveled and experienced, Megumi's combo just now would have been devastatingly effective on a pure-hearted young man. Her girlfriend energy was practically overflowing.
If this had been Shin when he first arrived in this world, he probably would have been flustered by Megumi's move.
Unfortunately for Megumi, she was dealing with the current Shin, who had already been through a lot.
Though he had been momentarily stunned, he quickly regained his composure.
All he could say was—Megumi really did have the makings of a heroine. She usually kept a low profile, but at critical moments, she had the presence of a true female lead.
Shin even considered whether he should make a game based on Megumi, just like in a certain original story—she definitely had the potential for it.
But upon further thought, this really wasn't his forte, so he decided not to meddle. He wasn't the kind of useless guy who had no self-awareness of his own abilities.
He absolutely couldn't bring himself to shamelessly ask others for help to make a game without doing any preparatory work.
Of course, if Shin really did ask Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha for help, the two of them would probably agree without hesitation.
But Shin simply wasn't in the mood for it.
The kitchen this morning was particularly lively—Tohru, Sayu Ogiwara, and Megumi Kato had all gathered together.
All three of them knew how to cook, so today's breakfast was a joint effort—though Megumi also came out carrying two lunch boxes.
"So this is why Shin's school lunches are always taken care of."
During breakfast, Sayu Ogiwara noticed Megumi handing one of the lunch boxes to Shin and finally understood.
Before this, both Sayu and Tohru had offered to make lunch boxes for Shin, but he had politely refused, saying someone at school already prepared his lunches.
At the time, they hadn't known who that person was, but now, seeing Megumi make two lunch boxes, they immediately realized it was her.
They had thought Megumi was a new competitor… but it seemed she had actually been in the picture longer than any of them!
"Yes. Shin used to just eat bread at school, and I was worried he wasn't getting enough nutrition."
Megumi's face still wore that faint smile, and though her words sounded ordinary, there was an underlying sense of declaring sovereignty.
While Megumi might not know as much about Shin's home life as the others, when it came to his school life, she was one of the most well-informed.
This was also Megumi's unique advantage when facing the other girls at home—out of all of them, she was the only one who went to school with Shin.
Though Sayu was a high school student, she was currently unable to attend school and had been staying at home.
Tohru, due to her identity and duties as a maid, also couldn't follow him to school.
Irisviel was even more of an obvious case—though she still looked young and beautiful, with a girlish charm, no one would mistake her for an actual student.
As for Illya and Kanna… both of them were still elementary schoolers. Whether in terms of their school route or their age, they obviously couldn't be part of the competition.
Instantly, the atmosphere among the girls grew even more tense—though they wouldn't outright argue, they were all subtly vying for Shin's attention.
Shin didn't pay it much mind. He could tell the girls got along well—they just wanted to compete when it came to him.
Even Tohru, who was the most prone to jealousy, usually had a good attitude toward the others. She only got visibly annoyed when another girl got too close to him.
In a way…
The girls' competition only ended up benefiting Shin.
After breakfast, Shin left the house with Megumi.
Initially, he had been worried about whether Megumi would mind if rumors spread from them going to school together.
After all, some girls didn't like revealing that they were in a relationship.
In stories, it was even common to see childhood friends deliberately leave at different times to avoid being seen together, just to prevent misunderstandings.
But Megumi clearly didn't care about that. On the way, she even leaned in close to Shin.
It seemed she not only didn't mind people thinking they were dating—she actively wanted others to see how close they were.
Though upon further reflection, Megumi's presence was so faint to others that even if she walked with him, people would probably subconsciously overlook her.
It wasn't that Megumi was literally invisible, but she did have a strange ability to make people ignore her existence.
"I feel like you're thinking something very rude right now, Shin."
Megumi, sharp as ever, noticed Shin's subtly strange expression and puffed up her cheeks in complaint.
Having spent so much time with Shin, Megumi had gotten a good grasp of his personality and thought process. Just by looking at his expression, she could roughly guess what he was thinking.
But this low-presence trait of hers was something Megumi found frustrating.
Though it occasionally came in handy—like when she and Shin texted during class, the teacher usually didn't notice her—
Whenever she wanted to show something off, it became incredibly difficult. Like now, when she was trying to display her closeness with Shin, most people probably wouldn't even notice.
But those who were paying close attention to Shin would definitely pick up on it—and for Megumi, that was enough.
To be continued…