Several days had passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, the Kasumigaoka household was embroiled in a fierce, unspoken battle of pride and desire. Kasumigaoka Utaha and Kasumigaoka Touji had been engaged in a strange kind of cold war—or perhaps it was more appropriate to call it a hot war. Each day was filled with silent competitions, not of words but of willpower and stamina.
Utaha, determined to keep Touji in check, sought to drain his energy and keep his wandering thoughts tethered. On the other hand, Touji, ever the sly tactician, seemed determined to utterly conquer her both mentally and physically.
It was a daily war of attrition.
Yet, it was Utaha who began to falter first. Each passing day left her more sluggish and disoriented, her sharp remarks dulled, and her once-imposing aura faded. Her eyes, once so quick to catch Kani Nayuta's every move, now struggled to even muster a glare.
Touji, meanwhile, remained bafflingly full of life.
Perhaps it was his solar-powered physiology—no, really, it almost felt like it. He didn't go out of his way to bask in the sun, but the mere hour or two he spent seated beneath the afternoon sunlight while at school seemed to be enough. It revitalized him, like a plant undergoing photosynthesis. His energy levels remained absurdly high, and Utaha was starting to suspect he had an infinite stamina cheat activated somewhere in the background.
She couldn't keep up.
And so, her resistance weakened. Though her pride remained intact, her energy waned, and Touji seized upon the opportunity with the patience of a seasoned falconer slowly taming a hawk.
Each day, he would prepare delicious meals in creative, delightful ways—her favorite snacks, carefully seasoned bento boxes, and sweet desserts that melted her resistance little by little. After satisfying her taste buds, he'd follow up with affectionate attacks that left her breathless.
As a result, Utaha had grown visibly more content. At school, when Kani Nayuta made her usual approach, Utaha would no longer retaliate with sharp words. Instead, she would merely glance in her direction with mild annoyance before returning to her novel or nibbling away at her lunch.
Of course, Nayuta understood the unspoken truce. She maintained a respectful distance, refraining from any overtly intimate gestures. She wasn't stupid—one wrong move, and Utaha-san would still snap like a vengeful viper.
Meanwhile, Touji himself remained oddly restrained with Nayuta. It wasn't for lack of opportunity—he could have made his move—but rather, he held back on purpose.
Utaha's emotional instability hadn't been fully defused yet.
He treated her with the calculated precision of a professional trainer, slowly reshaping her moods and expectations. That delicate balance couldn't be disturbed just yet.
Besides, there was still Nayuta's own dream—that romantic, absurd little fantasy of being the lover of an idol. That alone was a massive obstacle.
Touji knew if he were to recklessly act now, Nayuta's whimsical expectations might shatter and, with it, a considerable amount of his hard-earned happiness points. That was not something he was willing to risk—not just yet.
This damned happiness system and its arbitrary limitations!
—
And so came Sunday.
Tokyo, Shibuya. Inside the private Rock and Roll recording studio—
"Good work today. Let's give it a listen together."
"Hai!"
"..."
Touji gave a short nod, pulled off his headphones, and stepped out of the booth with casual grace.
Today's task? Record the vocal track for "Kasumi Utako."
Over the past week, he'd already fine-tuned the lyrics, composition, and arrangement to perfection. To make sure the final product was flawless, he had rented a professional studio here in the heart of Tokyo.
"Winter-kun, have you been training under a professional recently?"
Nishino Kazuki, the music producer and owner of the studio, spun around in his chair, adjusting his black baseball cap. His voice was filled with a mix of admiration and… something else.
"Your singing has improved dramatically. Honestly, it's on par with top-tier professionals. Your tone, the emotion—it's so real… so intoxicating."
He paused.
"No, actually, it's too intoxicating."
Kazuki squinted slightly, his expression slowly shifting from awe to suspicion. That song just now—it made even a jaded forty-year-old like him want to go chase after some sweet, mature Onee-san and live out a melodramatic romance.
It was dangerous stuff.
Seriously, what kind of toxic song was this?
Kazuki briefly considered tattling to Kasumigaoka Eiji. After all, his son was obviously head over heels for his own daughter. What kind of twisted domestic soap opera was unfolding before his very eyes?
He glanced toward Touji's legs.
Would Kasumigaoka-san break them?
Beside him, the recording engineer Shikishima Shingo nodded in agreement.
"It's the emotional density that stands out," he said, clearly puzzled. "Every phrase drips with sincerity. It's like… like he's truly pouring out his heart."
Then he looked at Touji.
That kid wasn't normal.
The song wasn't normal. And the person? Even less so.
Still, Shikishima was a professional. He kept his thoughts to himself and focused on the job.
"Hmm… I haven't studied under any teacher," Touji replied with a calm smile. "But I've been reading vocal technique books and practicing at home."
He noticed the skeptical glances but wasn't bothered.
Of course he couldn't say, "Actually, I'm technically not even blood-related to my Onee-san, and I'm also her childhood fiancé."
As for Kazuki's suspicion—well, he deflected it with a little white lie.
The truth was, Touji's remarkable improvement in singing came from the [Rock Experience Pack] he'd redeemed. It had enhanced his voice with a decade's worth of experience, but more than that, it was the new ability he'd acquired recently—[Hypnosis · Infectiousness].
A Sequence 32 perk.
It granted his voice a heightened emotional weight and a hypnotic undertone that subtly influenced listeners with weaker willpower.
Cost? 16,000 Dream Points.
Expensive? Yes.
Worth it?
Absolutely.
Two abilities and ten years of professional-grade experience, all without even breaking a sweat? He'd call that a jackpot!
Especially the [Solar Energy] ability—it was practically divine-tier. Honestly, Touji wouldn't have minded shaving a few years off his life if that was the price.
"You practiced on your own?" Nishino Kazuki's expression twisted into one of genuine surprise as he digested Touji's claim of being self-taught.
"Yup. Just followed books, guides, and, you know, practiced," Touji replied casually.
Self-taught.
It sounded simple enough… but for someone to achieve this kind of quality without a mentor? That was rarer than a shiny Pokémon in the wild.
"Dayum!!…" Nishino muttered in awe.
"I've always thought you were a vocal genius since five years ago, Touji-kun. Have you ever thought of going pro?"
He sounded almost too eager, the way an idol scout might when discovering their next big star.
But Touji simply smiled faintly and shook his head. "Not right now, Nishino-sensei. I still want to keep it as a hobby."
"Such a waste!" Nishino-sensei looked genuinely disappointed, sighing heavily.
"Several agencies reached out to me recently asking about you, you know? Two of them even offered pretty sweet deals."
Touji just gave a small shrug.
He wasn't in a rush to jump into the limelight. Not yet, anyway.
Seeing he wasn't going to push any further, Nishino-sensei signaled to the recording engineer.
"Play the last take. Let's go through it together."
The three of them gathered near the monitor. Touji listened carefully, catching small details.
Even to his own ears, the improvement was obvious.
The voice was smoother, more resonant, and had a soul-gripping quality. Still, there was a single, minor flaw in the recording.
He sang just a little too fast.
So, naturally, they did a retake.
With that, Touji's work for the day was done. The rest—harmonization, track alignment, mixing, mastering—was all on the professional team.
He gave a polite nod and said, "Thanks for today, Nishino-sensei. I'll be heading home now."
"Hmm… it'll take me about three to five days to finalize the track. Should I mail it to you, or will you come to pick it up yourself?"
"I'll come myself," Touji replied. Shibuya wasn't far. He could easily drop by after school.
"Alright. I'll give you a call when it's ready."
"Mhm."
He turned to leave.
Just as he reached the door—
"Oh, wait!"
Nishino-sensei called out suddenly.
Touji turned around, blinking. "Eh?"
"Touji-kun, have you ever performed on stage?" Nishino asked, his voice taking on a mysterious tone.
"Nope," Touji replied honestly. He hadn't had the chance. Not once.
"Haha, I thought so."
Nishino adjusted his baseball cap, lowering it to hide his eyes. A grin tugged at the corners of his lips.
"Then you should try it sometime. Performing on stage... it's not like singing at home or in a studio. It's a whole different world."
"You'll definitely love it," he added in his heart.
Touji raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "Maybe another time," he muttered with a half-smile.
And with that—
He opened the studio door and stepped out into the corridor, leaving the echo of his voice behind.
...