“ARGHH!!! Fine. You win this time, Takayuki-san,” Mari states.

  She hands me her phone.

  “Thank you for your compliance.”

  I take my phone from my right pocket and open it, then type her number on my phone. Once I was done, I return it safely in her hands.

  Yuka takes out hers and shivers while meekly trying to give it to me.

  “H-H-Here’s mine!”

  My hand hesitates to reach for her phone. She was so much of an angel, so innocent, so pure, it made me doubt myself.

  Is this the right thing to do?

  I shake my head.

  Do not second-guess yourself! Once you do, you lose.

  Reaffirming my resolve, I take her phone and type it on mine. It returns to her hands, no malice done. The same goes for Rin and as well as for Ran.

  I snicker and offer my hand.

  “Good game. We’ll beat you next time.”

  Good game, indeed. I’ve found the key to defeating you all.

  Ran shakes my hand in return.

  “May the winner take possession of the roof.”

  She turns around and the other girls follow suit.

  “See you ter boys!” she says in an energetic fashion and takes her leave.

  My head turns to my dear friends distraught, with a clear confident face.

  “What are you looking so smug for? We lost!” Masaru excims.

  “Hey, I got their contacts. That’s a win in my book,” I respond.

  “You’re an author, Kibe?” Takashi questions.

  Please… someone… anyone kick him in the nuts.

  I ignor his idiotic input.

  “So what? You going to chat with them every day? Never knew you were like Masaru,” Katsuro queried.

  “Hey!” Marasu excims.

  “No!” I reply.

  “Oh, then you’re gonna win their hearts? All four of them? You stooped down to a new low, Kibe,” Masaru responds.

  How ironic, you’re a pyboy yourself.

  “Let me finish, will you?” I request.

  I take a look outside and it was pretty dark.

  “Maybe I’ll tell you, people, over the phone. It’s te, see ya!”

  I dash outside the room.

  “Kibe, wait!” Madoka yells.

  However, his voice did not reach me.

  …

  ..

  .

  7:09 PM

  I arrive at my house and head directly into my room. I leap over to my bed and snuggle my dakimakura.

  Oh yeah, I have to contact the boys.

  I take out my phone and open my contacts. I scroll through, but didn’t find them, I continuously scroll up again and then down. But then it came to me that the only contacts I got were from the girls, my sister, mom, dad, and…

  MIEKO-CHAN?! HOW ARE YOU HERE?!

  It clearly states ‘Y0ur d4ily h4ck3r’ but it was obvious who the person was.

  No, I must ignore that.

  I groan and look away from my phone. I dump my face on my pillow.

  I forgot to add their contacts, didn’t I?

  I get up from my bed hurriedly.

  What if I make use of telepathy?

  Note: …He finally lost it.

  No, no, hear me out. If the concept is absurd enough, it’s bound to work.

  I rethink my decision for a bit.

  “You know what? Forget it.”

  However, I should still make use of this day. I can just rey my pns to them tomorrow.

  “Time for another analysis. Who is most suited for us to conquer?”

  Rin? No, she’s the energetic leader, the type to befriend and refuse any type of romantic retionship.

  I put my finger on my chin.

  Ran? Does she even speak much? What even is her personality?

  I imagine another one.

  Yuka? Hmm… she is the cute service to the people. A precious loli. She seems pretty vulnerable if you ask me, but honestly, I’d feel really guilty taking advantage of that.

  “Heh, FBI.”

  Mari?

  My eyes widen.

  “That’s it!”

  She’s a cold-hearted realist who is also a tsundere… probably. Also a man-hater!

  I cp my hands in excitement.

  This is perfect! These are the characteristics of someone who could 100% be dateable.

  “Then I have to choose the person who courts her.”

  If I were to ever choose between the boys, it would be either Katsuro or Masaru.

  “Can’t be me, because every girl hates me for some reason. I am the very antithesis of a harem protagonist.”

  This should be an easy pick. Katsuro is the literal definition of a simp… he is someone who fawns over a woman, if I were to ever choose him, the girls would use him against us instead of the other way around. But Masaru… thanks to Mieko’s hacking was apparently, secretly a pyboy, one who makes women fawn over him. He is the perfect candidate.

  “I think it can be properly assumed that everyone is expecting the third challenge to begin tomorrow given how the two earlier challenges were done.”

  Never done this before in my life, but I’m turning myself in as a sick person. If I do that, the challenge will be postponed and I can let Masaru conquer Mari during that time.

  I snicker.

  All while that was happening, Nakatani, unbeknownst to me, was taking a video of me.

  “I’m telling Mom and Dad that onii-chan is mentally ill,” she murmurs to herself.

  She slowly closes the door.

  “Then how do I rey the pn when I’m supposed to be sick?”

  I groan.

  Do I really have to rely on and gamble if the telepathy trick would work?

  My phone ends up in my hands again. I turn it on.

  Isn’t there a more rational thing I can do, or in this case perhaps, how anime logic can work itself?

  I press contacts and stumble upon the absurd nickname Mieko set for herself, then I had an idea.

  “Why don’t I ask her out for another favor?”

  Of course, this will come with a price, but I’m willing to negotiate if it’s for my status as a Slice-of-Life Protagonist.

  I head out the door and spot Nakatani aggressively typing on her phone.

  “Nakatani.”

  “EEK!” she yelps as she hides her phone behind her.

  “Huh? Why’d you hide your phone?”

  She whistles and suspiciously avoids my gaze.

  “N-No reason…”

  She’s obviously lying, but that isn’t my concern right now.

  “Nakatani, can I ask Mieko for a favor?”

  “Hm? Why? What errand are you pnning to use her for?” she queries innocently.

  “U-Use? That’s a strong word… but I kinda want to have a word with her, you mind letting me borrow your phone and contact her?”

  “N-NO! MY PHONE IS PRIVATE! Just rey what you want me to tell her.”

  “You might misunderstand if I ever try to say it without any context.”

  “I promise I won’t pry into your conversation,” she tells me unconvincingly.

  Lies.

  “Then can I ask her to meet up with me, so we can have a chat?”

  “A date?”

  “NO! SEE! YOU’RE ALREADY PRYING!”

  “Fine! I’ll stop! I guess I’ll invite her to our home, then you two can do your thing.”

  “Thanks, also can you put in a word for Mom and Dad, that I’ll be absent tomorrow? I’m not feeling well.”

  “H-He’s aware of his own condition?!” Nakatani ponders.

  “Don’t worry, onii-chan, I already told them.”

  “Awesome… wait, how?”

  She turns around suddenly and lets out a small tear.

  “Onii-chan, even if you’re crazy, your family will still try to help you!!!”

  She runs down the stairs, leaving me dumbfounded.

  “What was that all about?”

  END OF EPISODE 24