Chapter 53: Futaba Rio Appears!
Aki Tomoya's sudden appearance was nothing more than a minor interruption to Saku.
He didn't take it seriously at all.
That included the bet.
In fact, neither Utaha nor Michiru cared much either, because both of them had complete confidence in Honkai: Star Rail.
The only area where they might be at a disadvantage was the development cycle.
As far as they were concerned, a game of this scale would take even a professional team two or three years before they had anything genuinely playable.
Saku was certainly solving early development problems at an almost absurd, genius-like pace.
Even so, Utaha didn't believe they'd have anything visually impressive to show for at least another six months.
For a revolutionary mobile game, that estimate was already ridiculously fast.
Tomoya's project was also starting from virtually nothing, but a galgame was much smaller in scope.
It didn't necessarily need 3D models or elaborate animation, and even much of the code could be built by modifying existing frameworks.
If Tomoya managed to produce a complete plan, Utaha estimated that roughly half a year could be enough to finish it, including the final polishing stage.
So in her view, Tomoya's game had a much higher chance of releasing first.
Still, Utaha could tell Saku had never taken the bet seriously in the first place.
There was no point worrying about it.
After separating from the others, Saku, Utaha, and Michiru headed home together.
The moment they entered the entryway, however, they noticed something strange.
Several pairs of slippers were missing from their usual places.
It didn't look like a burglar had broken in.
It looked more like someone had entered the house before them.
"We've got a visitor."
Saku didn't need long to figure out who.
Aside from himself, Utaha, and Michiru, only one other person currently had a key.
"Mai?"
He changed his shoes while calling toward the living room.
"Is that you?"
As expected, Sakurajima Mai immediately appeared from around the corner.
"That's right."
She smiled brightly.
"Surprised? Unexpected?"
Mai wasn't wearing her Minegahara High School uniform.
Instead, she'd changed into a white sleeveless blouse paired with a light gray pleated skirt, giving her a bright and youthful appearance.
The bunny-shaped hair clip pinned into her hair stood out especially clearly.
Combined with Mai's naturally mature aura, it added a touch of playful charm.
"How do you have time to come over?"
Saku's eyes swept over her outfit for a moment before naturally moving away.
"Don't you need to deal with your studio?"
He headed into the living room while speaking.
"Good afternoon, Mai-san."
Utaha and Michiru greeted her as they followed.
They were already quite familiar with Mai, so her sudden appearance wasn't particularly surprising.
They also knew she was nominally Saku's girlfriend.
Still, Utaha and Michiru lived here too.
That gave them perfectly reasonable grounds to act as though nothing about this situation was awkward.
Mai nodded toward them before answering Saku.
"My manager is handling the studio."
"And since my manager also happens to be my mother, she'll take care of most of the setup for me."
Mai's smile suddenly became mischievous.
"So I've got some free time now."
She paused deliberately.
"Except..."
"Except what?"
Mai naturally wrapped herself around Saku's arm.
"There's a condition."
Saku pinched the tip of her nose, looking slightly helpless.
"When did you start deliberately keeping people in suspense?"
"Just say it."
"Aww."
Mai scrunched her nose but made no effort to escape his hand.
The casual intimacy immediately made the other girls quietly uncomfortable.
The sour smell of romance wasn't something everyone could tolerate.
Especially when these two didn't even bother hiding it.
"Nope."
Mai looked pleased with herself.
"Why don't you guess?"
"I'm not guessing."
Saku didn't hesitate.
"Tell me or don't."
He liked Mai, but that didn't mean he planned to let her control the rhythm of every conversation.
He had his own pace.
"Fine, fine. I surrender."
Mai immediately lost interest.
Every time she tried teasing Saku at a critical moment, he somehow managed to slam on the brakes and ruin the entire buildup.
Whether Saku felt comfortable doing that, she didn't know.
Mai certainly didn't.
"My mother wants to meet you."
Saku blinked.
"Seriously?"
"We're already at the 'meet the parents' stage?"
"Feeling pressured?"
Mai smiled and lightly poked his cheek.
Saku frowned dramatically and held his thumb and index finger barely apart.
"A tiny bit."
"About this much."
Pressure?
What pressure?
He wasn't even planning to meet her mother anytime soon.
Hard to feel pressured about something he didn't intend to do.
Mai could obviously see how halfhearted his answer was.
She pouted, her enthusiasm fading.
"Fine."
"I wasn't planning to make you meet her anytime soon anyway."
Their relationship hadn't even been formally confirmed for very long.
Even if it had, they hadn't been together for a month yet.
Who rushed into meeting the parents that quickly?
To put it less romantically, Saku was still within Mai's observation period.
Of course, Mai suspected she might be inside his too.
Utaha and Michiru finally reached their limit with the public display of affection and headed into the living room ahead of them.
Then both girls stopped.
There was someone unfamiliar sitting inside.
A girl wrapped almost completely in a white lab coat, wearing glasses that obscured much of her face.
Her expression was slightly stiff and awkward.
Even so, neither Utaha nor Michiru could miss the fact that she was very attractive.
With even a little effort put into her appearance, she'd probably become strikingly beautiful.
Her natural features were simply that good.
"You are...?"
Utaha immediately felt a warning bell go off inside her head.
Something about this visitor felt dangerous.
Before Futaba could answer, Mai entered behind them and introduced her first.
"This is someone I just became friends with."
"Her name is Futaba Rio."
Mai looked toward Saku.
"I invited her over. You don't mind, do you, Saku-kun?"
"Futaba Rio...?"
The name sounded simultaneously unfamiliar and oddly familiar.
Saku blinked several times before finally remembering.
「Mai, you're really starting to act like the lady of the house, huh? You're already bringing your friends over without asking. All I can say is...Excellent work. Please continue. As long as they're cute girls, I approve.」
The corner of Mai's mouth twitched.
Right.
She'd already accepted long ago that Saku was hopelessly flirtatious.
Futaba's pupils contracted slightly too.
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, and she suddenly found herself unable to look directly at Saku.
Instead, she quickly stood, bowed, and introduced herself.
"Hello, everyone."
"I'm Futaba Rio, Sakurajima-senpai's friend."
"Sorry for intruding."
Saku studied her for another moment.
「Looking closely, Futaba Rio is actually a serious natural beauty. No makeup at all, yet she'd already outshine most girls. Those glasses are practically sealing away half her looks.」
「She's not quite as tall as Mai, Utaha, or Michiru, but at least she's of average height. Those evil dumplings of hers, though, are just too eye-catching.」
「Even wrapped up that tightly, why do I still feel ecchi? Am I really that kind of person?」
「Scary. Is this what Hikigaya called the universal gravitation of breasts? He really wasn't lying.」
Yukino: 'Hikigaya... you're truly the worst!'
Yui: 'Stop it, no being lewd!'
Megumi: 'Is she a higher level than Utaha-senpai? I'm curious, I want to see!'
Saki: 'No, why? Why is everyone a cow? This isn't fair.'
Mai glanced at Futaba's evil dumplings that seemed ready to burst free and genuinely felt their heavy weight. That was truly a natural gift, not something effort could catch up to. But she wasn't discouraged, after all, bigger dumplings weren't always better.
What Mai truly wanted was information about Futaba's future.
That was the main reason she'd brought her here in the first place.
After all, Mai wasn't Saki Saki.
She wasn't exactly trying to help Saku build a harem.
…