As Reiji approached Nozomi's door later that day, intending to return the clean glass jar, he found the young mother greeting him with a warm smile. She was wearing an apron, and her smile widened as she dried her hands on the fabric. "Ah, it's you, Reiji-kun. Come in and let's have some tea."
"I just came to return this, Nozomi-san," said Reiji, extending his hand with the container.
She glanced at the gleaming glass jar and insisted with a smile, "Even so, I won't let you go just like that. Come in."
Faced with her insistence, Reiji agreed without further objections.
Upon entering, he was led to the living room, a space he hadn't thoroughly observed on his previous visit. This time, he noticed that her apartment was visibly more spacious than his, at least twice the size and exuding an unmistakable feminine charm, in contrast to his own place.
The decor brought a softness and harmony that calmed the senses, from the gentle colors of the walls to the carefully chosen furniture, each detail contributing to an inviting and serene atmosphere. Even the scent that permeated the air was captivating, a delicate mix of flowers and some essence he couldn't identify, making the experience of being there even more enjoyable.
The moment Reiji settled down after handing over the glass container and receiving his tea, something unexpected happened. As he savored the drink, he was awarded an action point, which surprised him greatly.
'A simple cup of her tea can earn me points?!' He wondered internally, astonished.
His expression of surprise was misinterpreted by the young mother, who found the situation amusing and smiled even wider, thinking he had particularly enjoyed the tea. 'He must really like the tea, or perhaps it was the way I prepared it~'
In fact, she was partly right. Reiji did indeed enjoy the tea, which was delicious, but what truly enchanted him was the action point he gained, more than the taste of the beverage itself.
"It's delicious," he commented, in a murmur.
"I'm glad you liked it," she responded with a soft and melodious laugh.
Wishing to change the subject, Reiji asked about her daughter: "How is she? Is she better?"
"Mm, she's still a bit shaken by the incident," Nozomi replied, maintaining a light tone. "But she was visibly better this morning. Thanks to you, of course~"
Ignoring the slight tease, Reiji steered the conversation to another topic: "Even though I believe she's no longer in danger, it would be wise if she had company on her way to school."
"By the way," Nozomi interjected, "my daughter has already arranged with her best friend, Chiaki-chan. They will go to school together."
In her heart, she murmured with a sigh: 'It would be ideal if you attended the same school as my daughter, but unfortunately...'
Reiji agreed: "With both of them together, if something happens, there will still be a chance to call for help or trigger an emergency."
"Exactly, that's what I was hoping for," Nozomi concurred, and then explained: "Just to be sure, I asked her to send me messages periodically to update me on her situation."
"Mm, that's a smart strategy," Reiji observed.
At that moment, Nozomi's smartphone vibrated. She excused herself before checking, and a smile lit up her face as she showed the screen to Reiji: "Look, she just sent a message."
Reiji saw the message: [It's 13:53 and nothing bad has happened; Thank God, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Amen~!]
"Pffft~" Those words drew a smile from Reiji and made him laugh a little.
Nozomi, revisiting the message, also burst into laughter.
'Why didn't I realize before how funny my daughter's message was?' Nozomi reflected, amused by the situation.
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Then, Reiji and Nozomi exchanged knowing looks, sharing a silent laugh.
///
During his visit to Nozomi's residence, Reiji gained 3 action points thanks to the snacks and teas kindly offered by her. He enjoyed her company for just over an hour before saying goodbye.
Already back home, Reiji turned on his laptop and started preparing for his live broadcast.
"Should I invest in a computer now that I've received my paycheck?" Reiji pondered as he noticed the delay in the laptop booting up.
However, he quickly abandoned the idea. The current laptop still met his basic needs. He saw no need to spend his limited financial resources on new equipment at this time.
After a moment's reflection, Reiji named the day's live broadcast with the intriguing title: "If She Doesn't Dance, I Dance; If She Doesn't Sing, I Sing."
Despite feeling a slight embarrassment about the chosen title, he hoped it would catch someone's attention.
Carefully adjusting his microphone and webcam to capture the best angle, he began the broadcast.
In the first 10 minutes, three visitors made their presence known, disappearing as quickly as they appeared.
At the 12-minute mark of the broadcast, 'Flying Fish' made her entrance.
With a smile, he greeted: "It's a pleasure to see you here again, Flying Fish~"
A few seconds later, she typed: [Handsome, although it's a pleasure to see you again, it seems I'm the only one doing this now, you know~]
It took Reiji just a moment to absorb the comment before he burst out laughing and, with a mysterious smile, replied: "Haha, that's true. But look, I can feel your energy from here, and it gives me the impression that I am seeing you too."
Flying Fish typed enthusiastically: [My God, handsome... I didn't realize you had this kind of talent... Wow, I feel totally seen now~!]
With a laugh, Reiji responded: "Alright, the conversation is great, but I think it's time to get into action... Just like yesterday, I will sing and dance for you. If you have any song in mind, just ask."
There was a moment of hesitation from Flying Fish, who started to type, paused, and then continued: [Do you know the song goose house - hikaru nara?]
"Oh, I didn't expect you to have such refined musical taste," Reiji responded with a smile: "Of course, I know that song. I'll start now."
With that, Reiji picked up his smartphone, accessed the karaoke for the chosen song, and the melody began to resonate.
Soon his voice joined the soundtrack, and, unlike the previous day, his performance was vastly more tuned.
[...] Flying Fish.
As he saw the three dots indicating that Flying Fish was typing, Reiji could almost feel the impact of her surprise.
Flying Fish finally expressed the doubt weighing on her heart, after hearing Reiji sing for a minute: [How have you improved so much?]
"I've been really dedicated to training yesterday and this morning~," Reiji replied before returning to his performance.
Flying Fish typed, incredulously: [How can someone improve so much in such a short time?]
This time, Reiji chose not to respond immediately, opting to finish the song first.
At the end, with a smile, he suggested: "Maybe I have a certain talent for this, who knows?"
[... Were you pretending yesterday?] The way Flying Fish phrased the question suggested that Reiji's answer could determine whether he would stay or immediately leave the live broadcast.
"No, you can believe me when I say that yesterday I really tried my hardest," Reiji stated honestly, looking straight into the camera.
He wasn't lying. Although he acknowledged that he hadn't exerted his full strength this time, the improvement was already impressive enough to leave his viewer, Flying Fish, deeply surprised.
[Okay... I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and believe you this time, but only because you're handsome, humph!] Flying Fish sent the message, somewhat reluctantly.
Reiji responded with good humor: "Ah, yes, it's an honor to have you as my admirer."
[W-Who said I'm your admirer? Humph!] Flying Fish promptly retorted.
'Such a quick response...' thought Reiji, before saying with a smile: "I see. It seems I'll need to try even harder to win you over as my fan, then..."
Flying Fish then typed: [That's right, I'm not that easy, humph!]
Her response made Reiji picture a girl of similar stature to Nene, with long, dark hair, pouting in front of the computer and then laughing.
"Well, now I'm going to dance to a song especially for you," Reiji announced and winked.
[Yes, dance for me, you handsome~] she typed, sending a whistling emoji followed by several money note emojis.
Reiji, unable to contain his laughter, stepped back, played a song, and began his dance performance.
This time, he gave only 40% of his effort. Perhaps now it looked at least twice as good dancing than before.
Of course, if it had been before, such a performance would have impressed Flying Fish. But, after witnessing the remarkable improvement in his singing, the evolution in dance now seemed merely satisfactory to her.
After finishing the dance, Reiji returned to the camera, ready to continue the interaction.
"I hope you enjoyed it. Today, I plan to stay a bit longer. If you have any song requests, let me know. Otherwise, I'll choose one," Reiji announced.
Over the course of an hour, three more viewers joined the live stream.
[Everyone, welcome Triana!]
[A wild Blank has appeared.]
[Senna has arrived.]
After nearly two hours of alternating between singing and dancing, Reiji announced, "Well folks, thank you for staying with me so far. I'm starting to feel tired and hungry. See you next time~"
Senna reacted: [Don't go yet, handsome boy. Even if you have commitments, you can always make an excuse, saying you caught a flu or something, right? Stay a bit longer with us~]
Reiji pondered Senna's comment, wondering if there was a subliminal message there. Was she part of his school circle? Or was he reading too much into the lines noticing the words 'miss' and 'flu'?
Triana joined the conversation: [That's right, Senna is correct. Stay a little longer, you don't even need to continue singing or dancing, just you eating would be fine. Just stay with us~!]
Blank contributed five virtual apples before commenting: [Irresistible boy, give your big sister a bit more of your time. I'll be really nice, I promise~ Look, I'll even give you some sweets. How about that?]
[Humph! MobyDick won't be fooled by your tricks, lady. He prefers someone younger and more delicate, right?] Flying Fish intervened: [But, I must admit it would be interesting to continue the broadcast, even if it was just you eating.]
Reiji couldn't help but laugh, but he maintained his decision to end the session: "Unfortunately, that won't be possible. I live alone and need to go out to buy something to eat, such a sad reality of mine," he dramatized jokingly.
After a chat that extended for almost ten minutes, Reiji said his goodbyes and ended the live broadcast.
From start to finish, he accumulated a total of 15 virtual apples and, surprisingly, managed to earn 20 Action Points.
It seems that receiving gifts from a beautiful woman, along with intense emotions during the delivery, also has its value, even if it's just virtual apples.
Notably, it was Flying Fish who contributed the most, expressing through the description a desire to spend more time with him. As for Blank... well, it's best to leave that aside~
The third contribution came from Senna, who sent one apple resulting in 2 additional points. Her emotions, similar to those of Flying Fish, reflected a longing for more time on the live broadcast, especially to continue enjoying his smile.
On the channel, Reiji noticed that three new viewers had subscribed, making a total now of four subscribers.
"It's a good start," Reiji reflected.
He allowed himself to briefly dream about the future, imagining what it would be like to have hundreds of thousands of fans—beautiful women sending him apples... Okay, better not get too lost in those kinds of thoughts.
After closing his laptop, Reiji picked up his smartphone and noticed several unread messages. Upon opening them, he saw that most were from Nene and Kanade, with two other messages from Mika.