Kasumigaoka Residence, second floor—Utaha's bedroom.
The main ceiling light was off, and the cozy room was softly lit by a single desk lamp perched on her writing desk. Shadows lazily stretched across the wooden floor, painting a scene of quiet elegance.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, having finished her bath and changed into a loose lavender pajama set, was nestled comfortably beneath her fluffy covers. Her damp hair was loosely tied into a messy bun, and a faint fragrance of her shampoo lingered in the air. With one hand supporting her chin, she lazily scrolled through her phone.
She had just sent a message to Kasumigaoka Touji, and when a few minutes passed without a reply, she immediately assumed the obvious—he must've gone to shower.
Not one to idle, Utaha casually switched apps and began watching short videos on YouTube. Just as she tapped through a compilation of cat videos, a message popped up from Kani Nayuta.
[Kani Nayuta]: "Can I be a 2nd wife/sidechick?"
[Kani Nayuta]: "I'll follow his lead!"
Utaha stared blankly at her screen.
"…Haa?"
The corner of her mouth twitched.
"What kind of shameless era are we living in…?"
She gave a small tsk, narrowed her eyes, and immediately labeled this silver-haired kouhai as a troublesome kouhai. A wild 'yandere fan' had appeared!
Utaha couldn't help but regret letting Kasumigaoka Touji handle the friend request. She had foolishly assumed she could keep the girl around and monitor her through Moments, but now it seemed like she had fed a tiger.
Still holding her phone, Utaha responded expressionlessly:
[Kasumi Utako]: "What do you think?"
[Kasumi Utako]: "Girls should have a little self-respect."
[Kasumi Utako]: "You understand what I mean, right?"
A short pause.
[Kani Nayuta]: "I understand!"
[Kani Nayuta]: "But I'm certain I like him!"
[Kasumi Utako]: "You haven't even met him in person and you're saying you like him? Don't kid yourself."
[Kasumi Utako]: "You're in love with your imagination. Wake up, baka."
Utaha rubbed her temple with a sigh. This girl… was she genuinely delusional or just fishing for drama?
Memories of that woman from seven years ago surfaced. Utaha's frown deepened. She absolutely detested obsessive fans.
Everything else could be shared or negotiated—but not her Younger brother!
Yet, despite her irritation, Utaha didn't block Nayuta. Not yet. Since Touji had already added her, there might still be some useful information to squeeze from her.
Strategic tolerance.
Besides, deleting her outright would be like surrendering the battlefield.
After a breath, she softened her tone slightly:
[Kasumi Utako]: "Kani-sensei, please be rational with your affections. Don't bring unnecessary trouble to the person you admire... or the people around him."
She sent it with a calm tone—but if this girl dared step over the line again, Utaha wouldn't hold back. She'd verbally demolish her so thoroughly even her pixel avatar would cry.
To her surprise, the other side only replied with a long string of ellipses, and then went completely silent.
Utaha waited a moment, then, driven by curiosity, tapped open Kani Nayuta's profile to check her Moments—but it was locked.
"…Smart move."
Was it worth keeping her around?
Utaha closed her phone and fell into thought.
Meanwhile, in the mist-filled bathroom downstairs—
Kasumigaoka Touji, freshly rinsed and resting his head against the cool tiled wall, stared at the screen of his phone with an expression that could only be described as... stunned.
"That… was a confession, right?"
"No, wait—this is a marriage proposal!"
"She actually said she'd be okay with being a concubine... I'm gonna cry…"
Men were weak to sincerity in strange ways, and Kasumigaoka Touji wasn't immune. At this moment, his heart was genuinely swayed—just a little!
It was, after all, his first real confession... even if it was about being a side character in someone else's fantasy.
And she was cute. The photo Nayuta sent—a delicate silver-haired girl with luminous eyes and soft features, practically a walking anime heroine. She looked just as he had vaguely imagined her. Cute, mysterious, and a little… dangerous?
Honestly, the fact that he hadn't immediately replied with "Yes, please marry me!" already proved his restraint and moral fortitude. In other words—he was a man of integrity.
Still, as he soaked in the steaming 37℃ bathwater, surrounded by clouds of mist, Kasumigaoka Touji couldn't help but mumble to himself.
"Wait a second… am I stealing the 'siscon protagonist' route…?"
"Isn't this the 'healing through music' setup?"
"Ugh… but unravel of all songs?"
He groaned.
That wasn't exactly a warm, healing track. It was more like… tragic catharsis. It was the kind of song you played when your soul had cracked, and you were staring blankly at the ceiling in a dim room.
But maybe that was the point. Perhaps it resonated with her, reached into some vulnerable part of her heart. And now, here she was, dropping confessions like sakura petals in the wind.
"…Anime logic really doesn't mess around."
Still, he had to handle this properly.
But, well—music is strange like that.
Sometimes, the songs that break you are the ones that save you too.
"Still, this route development is a little too fast…" he muttered, submerging himself deeper into the steaming bath, the phone still hovering dangerously over the water.
From a background character to the center of a harem love comedy?
He didn't hate it.
With a towel resting behind his head and the phone propped on the bath caddy, Touji started typing:
[Touji.]: "Thank you for your kind words!"
[Touji.]: "I'm honestly really happy to receive your confession… but don't you think you're being a little too hasty?"
[Touji.]: "You like my music. Maybe you even like the image you've formed of me. But you don't really know me."
[Touji.]: "You don't know what I'm like offline, my quirks, my weird habits, or even what I eat for breakfast."
[Touji.]: "So, all that talk about concubines and devotion… let's put it aside for now. I'd be glad to be friends, though."
He let out a breath and hit send.
Sure, a harem sounded fun—and he wasn't blind to Nayuta's charm. But his heart and attention were still anchored firmly on Kasumigaoka Utaha. Until that situation had some clarity, it felt wrong to lead anyone else on.
Besides… he had standards!
(N*gga please!!)
…
Even if Japan had legalized polygamy and allowed harem marriages for high-income individuals.
Yeah, seriously! In this world, if your assets and earnings hit the legal threshold, multiple wives became a legal possibility. If he didn't eventually make use of that loophole, wasn't that just a waste of reincarnation privileges!?
"If I don't build a harem in a world like this, I might as well smash my head against a brick and die," he muttered, sinking deeper into the hot water.
He'd been growing his YouTube and Twitter presence since he was young. A real pro. And now? The possibilities were blooming like sakura trees.
With that, he switched chats and replied to Utaha's previous bombardment.
[Touji.]: "Perverted bro-con, masochist…"
[Touji.]: "Those are your real attributes."
[Kasumi Utako]: "Go die!"
[Kasumi Utako]: "You're just projecting onto me! Aren't you the one with all those weird fetishes?!"
She included an anime-style emoji of someone smacking another character across the screen.
[Kasumi Utako]: "I'll chop you to pieces! Yandere mode: ON!"
[Kasumi Utako]: [Image: yandere girl holding a blood-dripping cleaver.jpg]
[Touji.]: "My onee-san can't be a yandere!"
[Kasumi Utako]: "It's your fault for trying to push weird traits onto me!"
[Kasumi Utako]: "If you hadn't done that, maybe I wouldn't have turned yandere…"
[Touji.]: "…"
He chuckled in the bath. Teasing each other like this had long become their normal, almost ritual-like sibling interaction.
And just then—
[Kano Nayuta]: "Then… let's be friends for now!"
Touji blinked.
That easily?
If this were a visual novel, she should've triggered a dramatic flag or stubbornly insisted she wasn't giving up. Instead, she went with the logical route.
"…She's actually more mature than I expected," he murmured.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Was he unintentionally stringing her along?
After a short pause, he replied with a simple 'En' emoji, the classic understated agreement.
He leaned back, letting the gentle warmth of the bath soak into his bones. With one hand, he reached toward the dim ceiling light, its soft glow casting golden ripples across the water's surface.
"...From a background NPC to a full-blown harem lead?"
He smiled to himself.
April had just begun. School hadn't even started yet.
But somehow, Touji already had the sinking feeling that life was about to get very complicated.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard imaginary fanfare.
Congratulations, Touji-kun.
You've officially unlocked Route: Harem Protagonist.