A strange atmosphere settled inside Yuuki's house.
In the living room of the aforementioned house, there were four people gathered in total, and among them, there were two with strange expressions on their faces.
For Yuuki Rito, that day was just another day like any other, although the disappointment of not being able to confess to Sairenji was immense.
He realized the moment he tried that it would be much harder than he initially thought, but he didn't intend to give up anyway.
He had already decided to try again the next day, but it was at the same moment he reached this conclusion that the change in his routine happened.
His father, appearing completely out of nowhere, something contrary to his usual routine of not coming home and staying at work, came back early and without warning, but that wasn't even the most surprising thing, because he wasn't alone.
He brought someone with him, with that easy irritating smile on his face, as if what he was doing was no big deal.
Although Rito could sense that the situation would definitely not be as simple as his father would predictably present it, and looking at his sister beside him, the expression on her face indicated that she had the same kind of thoughts.
In fact, for Mikan Yuuki this situation could not be more unusual and strange, her father simply seemed to have a special way of irritating her.
She was just going about her normal routine and out of nowhere he shows up bringing a boy with him, supposedly the son of a close friend she's never heard of.
If her crossed arms were any indication, she didn't look too comfortable with this abrupt information, but despite her internal irritation, she didn't show it, maintaining a calm demeanor.
"So, let me get this straight, you brought your friend's son to live with us because that friend in question is too busy with work and can't take care of him, so he asked you this as a favor?" With a calm expression on her face, Mikan asked as she looked at her father's stupidly smiling face.
"Exactly." That's what her father said, nodding as if it was no big deal.
Mikan just gave him a silent look with an expressionless face without saying anything else. Sometimes, she really wished she knew what was going on in her father's mind. It seemed like his mind worked differently.
"Haaaa, I don't even know what to say about this...and you, Rito, what's your opinion?" She asked looking at her brother, a feeling of tiredness taking over her and making her want to just ignore everything.
"Uh, I honestly don't care." An awkward rubbing at the back of his neck accompanied Rito's response, the casualness in his actions clear.
A slow blink and an identical, empty emotion as she looked at her father was what appeared in Mikan's eyes upon hearing his answer. She didn't know why she expected a different answer.
"Sigh." Letting out a tired sigh, she looked away to the target of the conversation with an apologetic smile. "I apologize for that, I wish I hadn't argued about it, but...that's so abrupt."
The target of her words, a boy who looked to be around her brother's age, pushed his glasses up on his face and gave an understanding smile. "It's okay, I would have reacted the same way."
Mikan could only strengthen her apologetic smile. "I appreciate your understanding...uh..."
Noticing her difficulty, the boy with glasses responded. "Rafael."
"Thank you for understanding, Rafael-san."
"You're welcome, and you don't need to use honorifics, you can refer to me directly as Rafael."
Mikan nodded, her slight smile no longer apologetic, but when she looked at her father and saw him smiling as if everything was going well, it made her stop smiling immediately.
Casting a critical glance at her father, Mikan decided to scold him again. "There's an extra room upstairs, you can put your stuff there."
Taking her words as a sign to leave, Rafael wasted no time in grabbing his bags. "Thank you for having me, I promise to help with whatever is needed and not to cause any problems." His words accompanied by a bow.
Mikan returned the bow and replied in a light tone. "You are welcome in our home." She followed up by giving Rito a quick slap on the arm.
Understanding that, Rito quickly bowed and responded in the same manner. "Yes! Welcome to our home, we will get along well."
Beside Rafael, Mikan and Rito's father repeated his son and daughter's actions by bowing as well. "You are welcome in our home." He didn't lose his smile from beginning to end.
Bowing to the man as well, Rafael walked up the stairs towards the aforementioned room.
And meanwhile, Mikan looked away at her father, staring at him as if she were about to have a serious conversation with him while Rito beside her scratched his cheek, not knowing what to do.
...
Okay, I've organized my things, I think now I can finally sit down and start reflecting on my life choices...
I mean, I wish someone had told me that when I died, instead of going to heaven or hell, I would go to an anime world.
I would have definitely killed myself faster if I had known sooner.
Or I could have let myself get hit by that truck when I was a teenager instead of swerving to avoid it.
I'm sure it would be like being kissed by a woman's soft lips, heh, a woman weighing over ten tons and coming towards you at over 100 kilometers per hour would be extremely gentle, I'm sure of that.
But leaving my fantasies aside, before anything else, there is something I need to do first.
I want you to know that I definitely know where you live and who you live with, so you better not mess with me or I'll beat up your grandma, your dad, and your mom.
...Hmm, nothing?
Great, so whoever is reading this is the gayest person in the visible universe and beyond.
...Nothing again?
Alright then, stop reading this shit, you loser son of a bitch. I know living in your mom's basement all day glued to the computer and harassing people while hiding behind an anime picture gave you courage, but that doesn't mean i can't beat the shit out of you and your fat ass a ton.
And you, failed woman, don't think you're special just because you read a harem story made for men, no, you're no different from other girls and no one is going to give you the validation you want, it's better to look for your absent father who went to buy milk.
...So? Nothing again? Sigh.
So I'm not really in a fanfic? And here I am thinking that if I pretended to break the fourth wall I would know if I was in one or not.
I just hope my purest, kindest thoughts have made my potential readers lose interest in being a bunch of voyeurs in my life.
Anyway, I guess I can finally have my existential crisis now and-
[...You really can't stop thinking about nonsense, can you?]
Schizophrenia? I thought you left or something.
[...I already told you I'm not your schizophrenia]
And that's exactly what my schizophrenia would say.
[...Sigh, whatever, stop thinking about these random things, it gives me a headache]
You have a headache because you're in my head Schizophrenia and I can't stop thinking or I'll go crazy.
[From what I've seen so far you're already crazy so it doesn't make any difference and for the last time I'm not your schizophrenia you idiot boy, I'm the assistant responsible for your system]
Okay, and what's your name again?
[Ariel, my name is Ariel]
Nice to meet you Ariel.
[Nice to meet you]
Hmm...anyway, what was I thinking again? Oh right, my existential crisis, like, why do dolphins rape or why do they use pufferfish like it's marijuana.
No seriously, why the hell do they do that? Is it a behavior dictated by their biology or is it just because they're sons of bitches?
[...I don't think this is relevant to you right now]
But it's relevant for biologists...I think.
—Creak
Just as I was about to continue reflecting on the profound insights my life had given me with the company of Schizo-Ariel, the bedroom door opened.
And I saw Mr. Yuuki's head and upper body appear through the crack in the door.
"Rafael-kun, I came to say goodbye to you because I'm going back to work. If you need anything, you can talk to Mikan. She may be young, but she's very capable."
The man smiled friendly, but his words and actions only made me doubt his parenting skills, but I didn't voice my thoughts and decided to just respond to him with a polite smile. "I understand, again, thank you for receiving me Saibai-san."
"Hahaha~ it's nothing, anyway bye bye."
He laughed and waved happily until he was gone.
—Creak
Huh, what a weird man.
[...]
...
If someone told me that living under the roof of people you don't know would be weird...I'd have a nickel because no one would need to say that, it's obvious.
Well, it's weird for Rito and Mikan, for me it's fine and since I spent most of the previous hours in my room, it was peaceful, I can only imagine what dinner will be like in a few hours.
—Whoosh
Opening the sliding door, I came across the famous bathroom that provided otakus with many stunning and admirable scenes.
[I think you meant those over-the-top, sexually appealing scenes, right?]
It was exactly what I said, stunning and admirable scenes.
—Whoosh
I closed the door behind me and began to take off my clothes. I thought about how I look now. I don't remember exactly what I looked like when I was younger.
Arriving in front of the mirror, I look at my appearance.
Yeah, I wasn't that bad, at least in terms of face, the lack of mustache and beard is weird and that youthful look doesn't look mature, but I'm not ugly, I'm actually pretty nice, I'd say, 6.5/10.
But my body...yeah, I was pretty skinny back then, damn, I really need to put some muscle on those bones, and fast.
And now most importantly of all, I look down and... yes, unfortunately, you've gotten smaller too, haven't you, little me?
[Pff]
You dare laugh at me, woman?
[No, I'm definitely not laughing, it's just your imagination...pff]
Just so you know, my mini me got a lot bigger than that, he reached 7 inches when I became an adult, so don't you dare make fun of me.
[Mmhm...to be honest, this doesn't seem like a very big size in my opinion]
...Isn't it so big? It must be because you're as deep and wide as the Mariana Trench, and yet I can always use my hands, those fingers work magic, you know?
[Hey, no need to call me a slut either, it's just a personal opinion, besides using your fingers as a substitute to satisfy a woman doesn't sound very good to me, don't you think~?]
And who's talking about satisfying a woman? I'm talking about strangling her.
[...Right, hahaha]
Anyway, it's not a problem, it's just a matter of time until he grows out of it. Anyway, where do I keep my glasses?
Can I-Hm? Wait a minute...now that I realize, looking at my face closely now with these glasses and this hairstyle...I look like Okarun! Pff hahaha
Danm, I remember that at that time I had adopted that hairstyle precisely because of an anime character, I don't remember which one exactly but I really liked it.
But yeah, it's not bad, I mean my hair is thicker than his so it's not exactly the same, but I kind of look similar, except I'm not Japanese, not white, and I didn't lose my dick and balls, they just got smaller, heh.
[Okay, Rafael, could you get in the tub now, please? I'd rather not have to see you naked.]
Huh? Can't you use a censor function or something? Or you could just stop looking and stop reading my mind too.
[I'm not reading your mind, they appear to me as text on my screen, and the view of you is, yes, censored, but knowing that you're naked still bothers me]
What the fuck? Are you in an office or something? Anyway, if the sight of my immaculate body bothers you that much I'm going to get in the bathtub, you're welcome.
[I thank you then for your consideration, oh great lord Rafael]
...