There were exactly three times in my life where I knew I was walking into a trap. The first was when I tried to sneak snacks past a library sensor in second grade. The second was the day Koharu Minami barged into my life. And the third? When she invited me to her house.
"Just to brainstorm the next script," she said.
I believed her.
Like an idiot.
Her house looked normal enough. Modest two-story. Potted plants. Wind chimes. A deceptively peaceful aura that made me think, "Maybe this won't be so bad."
Until the front door opened.
"Oh~? So this is your boyfriend?"
That was the first sentence out of a woman in her late thirties with messy novelist hair, an oversized cardigan, and a pen behind her ear. Koharu's mom. Misaki Minami.
Koharu turned a bright red. "He's not—we're not—MOM!"
I attempted a polite bow, which she ignored to continue grinning at me like I was an unexpected plot twist.
"You brought home a gloomy-eyed senpai with mystery vibes? Hoh... good taste, Koharu."
"I'm not gloomy. I'm just not... shiny."
She patted my head.
"You're like the serious love interest who gets the last kiss. I approve."
And then Rena Minami appeared.
Older sister. University student. Legs for days. Wearing nothing but an oversized hoodie and brushing her wet hair.
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh. He's cute."
I wished I could melt into the tatami mat.
Koharu squealed, tried to shove me inside, and hissed, "Don't look at anything. Don't listen to anything. And if she tries to flirt with you, pretend you're dead."
"Noted."
Inside was worse. Panties drying on the balcony. Romance novels scattered across the couch. And a suspiciously large photo album open on the dining table labeled 'Koharu's Cringe Years.'
Misaki offered us tea. Then wine. Then a suggestion to write a scene where the heroine "accidentally sees her love interest changing."
"For research," she said.
Koharu was halfway through strangling her mother when Rena plopped down across from me and smiled.
"So... you're the infamous NPC-kun?"
"I have a name."
"Yeah, but this one's funnier."
She leaned in.
"You like my sister?"
Koharu dropped the teacup.
"Renaaa!"
I kept my voice neutral. "She has... a unique gravitational field."
"That means yes," Rena said.
Koharu tried to argue but only managed a string of high-pitched vowel sounds.
After an hour of emotional damage and roasted snacks, Koharu dragged me upstairs.
Her room was messy. Cute posters. A bookshelf with more manga than textbooks. A whiteboard with a dozen abandoned story plots and one sticky note that just read: "Kiss him, idiot."
I didn't comment.
She paced.
"I swear they're not usually this weird."
"Your mom called me a 'draft character with potential.'"
"...Okay, maybe they are."
We sat on her bed (because the floor had mysterious laundry piles). She fiddled with a keychain.
"You still want to work on the next story?"
I nodded. "Is that why you invited me?"
Koharu hesitated.
"...Partly."
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Also, because I wanted you to see where I came from."
"The chaos?"
"The dream."
I blinked.
"I used to imagine scenes here. Right on that desk. Dramatic ones. Climaxes. Love confessions. All that dumb stuff. But I never thought anyone would actually be part of them."
She looked at me, lips a little shaky.
"But then you just... appeared. And now everything feels like a story. Even this."
I didn't know what to say.
So naturally, her sister barged in.
"Oh~ Are we at the emotional bonding scene? Should I bring tissues or a camera?"
Koharu threw a pillow. I got hit instead.
Rena smirked. "He reacts like a protagonist. Ten points."
She vanished. Probably to record this for future blackmail.
I sighed. "I feel like I'm in a dating sim running on cursed code."
Koharu laughed. Then scooted just a little closer.
"Just don't uninstall, okay?"
I didn't say yes.
But I didn't move away either.
Downstairs, Misaki Minami chuckled and scribbled something in her journal.
Scene 12: Boy meets girl. Girl has backup. Boy survives anyway.