I grabbed four glasses and a medium-sized plate from the first-floor kitchen cupboard, setting them onto a tray to carry back upstairs.
(I just hope those three aren't getting into anything weird while I’m gone...)
While my room was decorated with moe tapestries and figures, I kept the truly incriminating items—the eroge, the Blu-rays, and my Oppai Mousepad—hidden under the bed unless I was actually using them. I didn't want my mom stumbling across them when she came in to clean during the day.
Essentially, as long as they didn't go poking around under the bed, everything was fine. No problem at all.
Still, Miyama and Kuroki’s reactions to my room had been surprisingly mild. Yuria was a fellow otaku, so I wasn't worried about her, but Miyama and Kuroki had no interest in that world. I’d fully expected them to be completely grossed out by the moe tapestries and figures.
(But neither of them really seemed to mind.)
Miyama especially—she used to loathe otakus before we became friends, but she hadn't shown a hint of that since we’d started talking.
Did that mean even a Gloomy Otaku like me had managed to get that close to girls like them?
"...Close, huh?"
It was still hard to believe I’d ended up in this kind of relationship with girls that beautiful. Just a short while ago, it would have been unthinkable.
Lost in thought, I reached my door and nudged it open.
"Hey, I've got the glasses... guys?"
When I stepped inside, the three of them were lounging around as they pleased. Miyama had pulled a cushion in front of the TV and was sitting on it with her legs tucked to one side; Yuria was sprawled in my gaming chair, fiddling with her phone; and Kuroki was sitting on the edge of my bed, her eyes wandering around the room.
"Ah, Ryouta, finally."
"Thanks for the glasses, Ryouta-kun."
Despite Kuroki being perched on the bed, it didn't look like my stash underneath had been compromised. There was no sign that they’d messed with anything else, either.
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"I'll pour the juice, then."
"I'll help, Rui."
Kuroki took the tray from me, and she and Yuria set to work opening the snacks and drinks. They seemed strangely practiced at it. I wondered if they did this kind of thing together often.
"Hey, Ryouta? The console won't turn on!"
Miyama was frantically clicking the buttons on the controller for my SP5, looking toward me with a pout.
"Are we playing games already? What about the Script Reading?"
"I want to play!"
"Sigh... I had a feeling it would end up like this."
I grabbed the power cable and plugged it into the wall to give the SP5 some juice. At this rate, the day was probably going to end with us just idling the time away.
"What do you usually play, Ryouta? Those games where you shoot guns at everyone?"
"Nah, I stay away from FPS games. They give me motion sickness. I mostly stick to RPGs. Recently, I've been..."
Wait. Recently?
When was the last time I’d actually used the SP5?
If I recalled correctly, it was when that Blu-ray arrived...
Wait.
Oh, god.
This was bad. This was really bad! Right now, inside the disc drive...!
The "Shocking! A Swimming Meet Full of Former Gravure Idols! Nothing But Wardrobe Malfunctions!?" Blu-ray was still inside!
There was no way in hell I could explain what that was, but at this rate—
"Ah, it's finally starting up!"
"Wait, hold on, Mi—"
"Huh? Hey, what kind of game is 'Shocking! A Swimming Meet Full of Former Gravure Idols! Nothing But Wardrobe Malfunctions!'? That's a weird title."
"...Huh?"
The moment Miyama read the title aloud, the air in the room turned sub-zero.
(I'm dead. I'm absolutely dead.)