Fat sizzled under the scorching oil. Wisps of fragrant steam curled into the air, carrying the rich scent of home cooking. Chopped green onions lay piled on the kitchen knife. Timing it just right for his girlfriend's return, Itō Hayato tossed the drained greens into the pot.
Itō Hayato, 24 years old, wasn't a student—he was a transmigrator.
In his previous life, he'd had a bizarre stroke of fortune... or rather, fortune had struck him. He woke up to find himself in a different world. For 20 years, he led a perfectly ordinary life—until fate flipped the script again.
It wasn't some cliché like awakening a game system. Instead, it was his parents—along with their neighbors, the Hoshizuki couple—who stumbled upon the same freakish luck as Hayato once had.
Back then, Hayato was a university student. The Hoshizuki sisters, his neighbors and childhood friends, were still in junior high. None of them were prepared for the chaos that followed.
Treatment expenses drained both families' savings and forced them into debt. In the end, there was no miracle. With no other options, Hayato had to find a way to make ends meet—and fast. Not by selling fishing hooks at the docks, but by returning to an old skill.
In his previous life, Itō Hayato had been a manga artist in the surface world. A staunch believer in pure romance, he had rarely touched the hidden, underground world of adult manga. But desperation demanded flexibility. He dove into that sea, reluctantly.
While the more provocative genres didn't have longevity, they did sell fast.
"I'm home~"
A bright, youthful voice rang from the entryway. Hayato knew instantly—his girlfriend and her sister were back.
The Hoshizuki twins stepped in, identical in nearly every way but for a subtle difference in chest size.
Hoshizuki Aoi, his girlfriend, and Hoshizuki Rika, her younger twin sister.
Aoi's shoulder-length blue hair framed her tidy, composed face. Her generous bust strained against the fabric of a white cropped shirt, cinched at the waist by a blue plaid skirt that accentuated her slim figure. Most people told the sisters apart by their legwear.
Aoi, the older sister, wore black over-the-knee socks. Rika, the younger, preferred sheer black tights.
But Hayato had his own foolproof method: Aoi had a small mole on the left side of her chest, while Rika's was on the right. And Aoi's chest was ever so slightly smaller.
In idle moments, Hayato had daydreamed about the classic mistaken-identity scenario—where the manga protagonist unknowingly charms both sisters and lives in bliss with an arm around each.
But manga is manga. Reality doesn't play fair.
And Itō Hayato prided himself on being a pure love warrior.
Still, the situation before him now felt more outrageous than fiction.
Peeking out from the kitchen, he saw only the two girls at the entrance. His gaze lingered on Aoi.
"Nobody else?"
"Who else were you expecting?"
Lately, Aoi had taken to bringing female classmates home and then disappearing, leaving Hayato to "entertain" them. Was she that confident in her boyfriend?
To be fair, Hayato had earned her trust. Since they started dating, he'd kept a respectful distance from other women—including Rika, despite their childhood bond. His contact with Aoi was always gentle: holding hands, light kisses. Nothing more.
Not because he wasn't tempted. But as a man, if his little brother ended up ruling over his big brother... then who was really in charge?
"Go wash up and help serve the rice."
Dinner for three was simple: a soy sauce-glazed pan-fried fish, yesterday's leftover bone soup, and stir-fried greens.
Simple, but satisfying.
While they ate, Aoi spoke up casually."How's your manga coming along?"
"It's alright."
Hayato hadn't told them he'd shifted into adult manga. They only knew he was drawing.
Neither Aoi nor Rika pried much.
Even as an adult manga artist, Hayato stuck to his ideals—pure love only. But his editor said the genre was fading. Sales were down. Worse, Hayato's work hadn't exactly stood out.
The editor urged him to try something spicier. Hayato tried. None of it passed approval.
Still, his bigger concern wasn't the manga. It was Aoi.
She'd been acting strange lately.
After dinner, while Aoi busied herself cleaning up the table and kitchen, Hayato pulled Rika aside. He glanced toward the kitchen before lowering his voice.
"Has Aoi been... acting weird to you?"
Rika didn't look surprised. In fact, she seemed like she'd been waiting for him to ask.
"She keeps bringing friends over and then disappears, leaving me to chat with them. Has something happened to her recently?"
Rika gave him a small nod.
"Wait for my message after dinner."
Although he really wanted to know why Aoi was suddenly acting this way, since Rika had told him to wait, Itō Hayato could only suppress his curiosity.
After dinner and tidying up the dishes, Aoi and Rika went home together. Before leaving, Rika gave Hayato a meaningful glance.
Less than ten minutes after they left, Hayato received a message from Rika.
"Come quickly."
The Hoshizuki sisters' house was right next to Hayato's. The two detached homes were built close together, and Hayato could climb directly from his second-floor room into Rika's room.
As for why not Aoi's room… When they were kids and the rooms were being assigned, Aoi had tsundere-ly insisted she didn't want a room so close to Hayato. Even now, if she regretted it, she was too embarrassed to ask Rika to switch.
"Shh!"
Rika was already waiting in her room. She raised a finger to her lips in a shushing motion, then silently led him toward Aoi's room next door.
Both Aoi's and Rika's rooms were simple and practical, with no unnecessary decorations. Besides the bed, each had a desk with a computer, a cabinet for odds and ends, and a built-in wardrobe.
Just as Hayato was about to speak, Rika again put a finger to her lips and then pointed toward the built-in wardrobe.
Wardrobe?
Curious, Hayato opened it.
The built-in wardrobe was quite spacious. At the bottom were seasonal bedding, and above hung various uniforms and casual clothes belonging to Aoi. Nothing immediately stood out.
Just as Hayato was puzzling over this, Rika suddenly pushed him into the wardrobe. The stuffy air inside was tinged with the scent of laundry detergent and Aoi's faint, captivating fragrance.
As Hayato stood bewildered, familiar footsteps echoed outside the door—Aoi was back.
Rika showed not a trace of panic. Calmly, she climbed into the wardrobe beside him and gently pulled the doors shut, leaving only a narrow crack through which they could see into the room.
Although the wardrobe was large, it was barely enough for two people. Their legs tangled together as they tried to find a stable position. Rika's soft curves—slightly fuller than Aoi's—pressed tightly against Hayato's chest. The wardrobe was filled with the sweet, youthful scent of her body, and her breath tickled his lips.
Hayato wanted to whisper something, but the footsteps were already close. Through the narrow opening, he saw Aoi enter.
He was Aoi's boyfriend, yet here he was, hiding in a cramped wardrobe with her sister. If they were discovered, there'd be no way to explain it.
Worse still… Hayato was a normal man. The warmth of the girl beside him, the soft pressure of her chest, the scent of her hair—it all made his heart race.
To keep himself from doing anything reckless, Hayato focused intently on what was happening outside.
Unfortunately… what was happening outside was even worse.
Aoi returned to her room, still holding her phone. She flopped onto the bed, eyes fixed on the screen, and began to undo the buttons of her uniform skirt. Her slender fingers trailed downward over her flat stomach.
Gentle, alluring gasps slipped from between her cherry lips. Her gaze clouded over, and the thin white fabric of her underwear slowly darkened. Her slim waist arched back, and her toes—wrapped in those black over-the-knee stockings—curled tightly.
Then, in a soft murmur—
Hayato's name escaped her lips.