Chapter 101: My Sister Also Has Pink Hair
She successfully debuted...
Renako felt somewhat unreal when she returned to her own classroom.
But looking at the several new LINE friends on her phone, she realized it was all true—she had successfully played the role of a cheerful person and made friends with seniors on the very first day of school.
She wasn't entirely sure who Hitori was, but seeing that the other girl also had pink hair, she mustered the courage to approach her. Unexpectedly, this led her to meet Ren.
As for who Ren was, she knew very well. Back in her third year of middle school, she had often played his October release "Loser" on repeat, never growing tired of it. It was that song that helped her endure the difficult days of ninth grade.
After studying hard and successfully getting into Toyosaki High School to escape her previous school, she had stumbled into meeting Ren by chance.
Could it be that she was actually a social genius?
Who would believe that she had met a superstar like Ren on the very first day of school?
This reality filled Renako with motivation. She had already gotten to know the seniors, so she couldn't neglect her own class.
In just one day, several small cliques had already formed in her class. She set her sights on Oozuka Mai, the freshman representative, who was undoubtedly destined to be at the top of the high school social hierarchy. Befriending her was definitely the right choice.
Taking a deep breath, Renako walked over and successfully joined her circle, officially getting to know Oozuka Mai, Koto Satsuki, and Sena Ajisai.
...
"Has Ren finally taken an interest?"
On the way home, Karen giggled as she wrapped her arm around Ren's neck.
She had originally thought that Ren, with his harem, would frantically try to bring every pink-haired beauty into his circle. Yet, he had restrained himself for nearly a year without adding any new sisters.
She had assumed he was satisfied, but it seemed more like he hadn't encountered any new pink-haired girls.
"How does her taking the initiative to befriend me suddenly mean I have an agenda?"
Ren found it somewhat amusing. While he did have a preference for pink-haired girls, he wasn't so desperate that he would try to win over every pink-haired beauty he saw. Otherwise, Mafuyu could already be preparing for motherhood, couldn't she? She was a beauty too, with a mature charm that Karen and the others lacked.
"But before this, plenty of people tried to befriend you because of your looks, right? Yet you never accepted them. Now, you've accepted Amaori's friend request. Naughty, aren't you~"
The temptations Ren faced now were no joke. Among his millions of fans, there were plenty of high-quality beauties eager to throw themselves at him.
But since none of them had pink hair, Ren had rejected them all.
"Let's talk about it later. She seems a lot like Bocchi-chan back then—probably a troubled girl."
Ren pinched Karen's cheek. Renako was indeed his type, but they had just met, and he didn't know what she was really like yet. Ren didn't dare make a move so easily.
Harem.
"Really? She's just a bit shy, isn't she?"
Karen had a different opinion. From their interactions today, she had noticed that Renako appeared sunny and cheerful on the surface but was actually not very good at socializing.
But that wasn't a problem, because they could all embrace this small flaw and help her grow.
"Who knows."
Ren refrained from commenting, since they'd just met, but among the pink-haired girls he'd encountered so far, almost none were completely normal.
Even Anon had a slight vain streak, while Karen seemed the most normal—yet she was the most forward, not only pushing him down right after confessing but actively helping him open up.
He still couldn't figure out what she was thinking during that welcome event.
So regarding Renako's forced extroverted persona, Ren believed she probably wouldn't escape this pattern either, though what specific issues she had would only become clear later.
The next day, the new semester officially began. Most routines remained unchanged, but during lunch break, Ren found himself with company.
The naive Renako, who foolishly believed everyone was just friends, actively sought out Ren during lunch to eat together with them.
For convenience, Ren had established a school club nominally for music exchange, but actually just to have a place undisturbed during lunch breaks—after all, large groups would draw attention anywhere.
"Wait, so Senior Ram and Senior Rem are actually Watanabe-senpai's maids!?"
During lunch, after hearing Ram call Ren "Master" and Rem address him as "Lord," Renako stared at them in disbelief.
There really were young masters who brought maids to school?!
"That's right, everyone knows about this. But you're a new student so you wouldn't know, no need to be so surprised~"
Karen explained to Renako with a squinting smile.
"No, this would surprise anyone, right? They're actual maids! I don't even dare order the pretend maids at maid cafes, let alone encounter real ones."
Renako's gaze toward Ren grew more admiring. Maids felt so distant from ordinary life, and with Ram and Rem standing behind Ren, waiting for his instructions or proactively addressing any issues, they perfectly matched her fantasies about maids.
And Ren, who possessed and enjoyed all this, made her both envious and admiring.
"But you're seeing them now, aren't they? Though they're maids, Ram and the others aren't that different from us."
"Senior Himemiya, please don't joke..."
Karen chatted casually with Renako as they spent the lunch break together with everyone.
After school ended in the afternoon, Yuno and Satou didn't go home with Ren, while Karen went with Hitori and the others to hang out at Kessoku Band.
Now that Karen's singing had reached the standard Ren required, she had started playing in a band—though only once a month with him.
The same went for Yuno and the others. They just needed a lead guitarist and keyboardist, or some additional instrumentalists, to form an all-pink-haired band. But so far they hadn't found suitable members, so Karen often joined Kessoku Band as an extra member.
As for Anon, she wasn't even practicing guitar anymore, either exploring new shops or on her way to explore them.
Meanwhile, Yuno and Satou followed Renako on her way home from school.
In the eyes of the girls, Renako was already a prospective sister candidate. This pink-haired junior was exactly Ren's type, and since there were certain things Ren couldn't handle directly, they took matters into their own hands.
This time, just like when they investigated Ram and Rem's backgrounds, they came to dig up any potential scandals about Renako—such as whether she had any romantic history in middle school. If such history existed, they would immediately eliminate her from consideration.
However, Renako had no romantic history whatsoever, nor any other scandals.
After spending several days investigating and uncovering every detail of Renako's middle school life, Yuno and Satou discovered she had been ostracized back then—essentially an introverted loner—though she successfully reinvented herself as an extrovert upon entering high school.
This wasn't a problem at all, nor did it qualify as a scandal.
In other words, after completing their background check, Yuno and Satou tentatively deemed Renako qualified.
Additionally, they noted she had a pink-haired younger sister currently in her third year of middle school who was also a beauty.