Well, now there were three of them.
Hara Kei lay on his bed, a gloom hanging over his face. Three beautiful girls had walked into his bedroom. Most boys might have been ecstatic, their hearts skipping a beat—or completely losing their minds. But Kei wasn't an ordinary boy.
Besides… being sick and lying in bed, surrounded by a trio of stunning high school girls, reminded him uncomfortably of those harem dramas from his previous life—
The emperor was on his deathbed, and beside him were all his most beloved concubines.
Fast-forward to the scenes of "Did you ever really love me?" and "The one you loved has long since been killed by your own hands…"
What a mess.
Kei shook his head, forcing those ridiculous thoughts from his mind.
Physical weakness really did affect the mind. Kei had never understood that as clearly as he did now.
Also… it felt a little cramped.
When he had first looked at this apartment, he had only considered living alone. Especially his bedroom—every inch had been arranged for maximum comfort for just one person.
Besides the usual furniture like the bookshelf and computer, a 70-inch ultra-HD screen hung on the wall, surrounded by a tower-like multi-channel surround sound system.
Previously, this setup had brought him immense joy. Now, it only made the room feel tighter.
The three girls in the room seemed to notice the predicament as well. Chika, ever energetic, returned to an old topic.
"So, Kei, any dietary restrictions?"
At this point, refusing their goodwill seemed… impossible.
"Yes."
Chika had assumed it would be something simple, like "I can't handle too much spice" or "Not too salty, please", but Kei's answer caught her off guard.
"I hate green onions and ginger. There aren't any of those in the fridge," Kei counted on his fingers. "And garlic."
"Especially garlic—don't even think about it," he added, wrinkling his nose with pure disgust.
It was the first time the three girls had seen such a clear expression on his face. Naturally, they found it… fascinating.
"If I eat garlic…" Yukino began, but Kei cut her off immediately.
"I'll vomit."
His expression was dead serious. This wasn't a joke.
…Seriously? Are you a vampire or something?
Chika and Yukino exchanged a glance, each seeing surprise reflected in the other's eyes. Touma Kazusa nodded knowingly, clearly understanding the concept of foods she simply could not tolerate.
"Anything else?" Chika asked cautiously, astonished at how picky Kei was.
"Don't cook fish either—I hate picking out the bones," he added.
"That's it?" Chika exhaled in relief when Kei nodded. "You actually admitted your weaknesses openly. I expected some tough-guy act of 'I'll eat anything!'"
"These things go into my mouth eventually," Kei said indifferently. "If I don't make it clear beforehand, I'm the one who suffers in the end. By the way, one of the parts of manga or novels I hate most is the trope where the food tastes terrible, but you have to swallow it and praise it with tears in your eyes as 'delicious'."
"If you don't say it this time, next time they'll make it again. Can you keep eating like that? Eventually, that guy's patience will snap. That relationship will fail. Absolutely fail," he continued frankly. "If it were me, I'd just say 'This is disgusting' the first time. That's the only way to fix the problem."
"…Kei, you really aren't romantic," Chika said, slightly dumbfounded.
"The point of that scene isn't whether the food tastes good—it's the heart behind it," she added.
"The 'heart' as seasoning will eventually expire," Kei scoffed. "Instead of using something so precious to endure foul tastes, better use it on something truly valuable."
Fine, fine. Chika raised her hands in surrender. There was no absolute answer to this debate anyway. Kei was the patient here; naturally, he came first.
"Still… I'm kind of surprised," Chika mused. "I always thought you were the kind of perfect superhuman, fearless, able to do anything… and yet, just your weaknesses with food are a long list."
"Disillusioned?" Kei raised an eyebrow.
"No, no. My actual feeling is more like 'Thank goodness!'" Chika smiled, her tone relaxed. "A perfect superhuman Kei is nice, but it feels unreal—like he doesn't really exist. Having some weaknesses… that makes you more human, more relatable."
"…You're saying that normally I don't seem human?"
"I never said that! Don't slander me," Chika quickly denied, sticking out her tongue. Oops, caught.
Before Kei could retort, she waved to the other girls, signaling it was time to start preparing dinner for him.
Yukino stood up, but Touma Kazusa remained seated on the sofa beside Kei's bed.
"I can't cook," Touma admitted, meeting their questioning looks. "I have no talent for it. I once tried really hard to make dinner for my mother… and the result was…"
The others perked up, ears sharp.
"My mother ended up in the ER for stomach pumping."
"….""….""…."
Touma Kazusa.
All three of them had always held a good impression of Touma, and now imagining her radiant smile paired with such a harrowing incident naturally elicited a sympathetic pang in their hearts.
Apparently, the kitchen black hole was among them.
"Fine, then you just take care of Kei here." Chika gave a brief instruction before pulling Yukino out of the room—they needed to check the fridge first to decide what to make for Kei's dinner.
Now, only Touma Kazusa remained beside Hara Kei.