As soon as Shizuru voiced her suspicion, Reina also turned toward Haruto with a puzzled expression. The two of them might have lacked relationship experience, but they were far from stupid. Over time, it was impossible not to notice that something was off.
Haruto and Yukino had been acting quite strange lately. They often used overtime at Haru-Yuki Animation as an excuse to stay out late. Once or twice was fine, but when it became a regular occurrence, it started to look suspicious. Beyond that, they left for the office together, came home together, and even ate their meals as a pair.
"Uh, well..." Yukino's eyes darted around the room as she searched for an explanation. "It's just that I spend every day working with Haruto."
"You guys know how it is. He's the Chairman of Haru-Yuki and I'm the Vice Chairwoman. Reina, you're a shareholder, but you aren't interested in the day-to-day management. Running that company really falls on the two of us..."
"You two didn't fall for each other after working together for so long, did you?" Shizuru asked with her usual bluntness.
"No way... ow, ow, ow!" Yukino accidentally bit her tongue mid-sentence, her expression instantly shifting from defensive to flustered.
Shizuru had meant it as a joke, but seeing Yukino's panicked reaction, both she and Reina felt their hearts sink. They turned their gaze toward Haruto.
Haruto, who had been chewing on a piece of corn, took a slow sip of milk to wash it down. He offered a smile that was equal parts awkward and polite.
"Well, how should I put this? It looks like the secret is out."
The secret... was out?
Shizuru's mouth fell open.
Reina's hand trembled, and the spoon she was using to eat her watermelon slipped from her fingers, clattering onto the floor. Yukino watched them nervously, her eyes lingering specifically on Reina.
"Since... since when?" Reina asked after taking a few deep breaths to steady herself.
"Just over the last few months," Haruto replied after a brief pause.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"We didn't want to make things awkward for you and Shizuru," Yukino cut in quickly. "With the four of us living in this house, we were worried that having a couple around might make you two feel out of place."
Shizuru looked stunned by the revelation. Reina, meanwhile, used every ounce of her self-control to hide the shock and emotion swirling beneath her cold exterior. After a long silence, she looked as if she wanted to say something to Haruto, but she couldn't seem to find the right words.
"Congratulations to both of you."
A smile finally broke across Reina's usually cold face.
"You didn't need to be so cautious around us. You should have just told me from the start. Now that Shizuru and I found out on our own, it's actually more awkward, isn't it?"
Yukino looked at Reina and exhaled a long breath. "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? You're just dating Haruto. It's not like you were obligated to report it to us. There's nothing to apologize for."
Reina reached down to pick up her spoon from the carpet and began meticulously cleaning it with a tissue, wiping it over and over again. Shizuru stared at Haruto for a long time before finally letting out a sigh.
"I should have guessed. You are a normal guy, after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Haruto felt the atmosphere in the room turn heavy, but he didn't read too much into it. He figured that if Reina or Shizuru suddenly announced they were dating someone, he would be shocked for at least half an hour too. It was just the nature of sudden news.
"I mean, you live in this big house with me, Reina, and Yukino," Shizuru explained. "Even if it's for work, it's inevitable that you'd be attracted to the women around you. I just didn't expect you two to officially become a couple without us having any idea."
"Anyway, this news has drained me for the day. I need to go to my room and process this," Shizuru said as she stood up to leave.
"Me too. The watermelon made me sleepy, I think I'll head to bed," Reina added. She stood up but stumbled slightly on her second step. Yukino was quick to reach out and steady her.
"Thank you," Reina said quietly before heading upstairs to her room.
"Was that really necessary? I just announced our relationship and they both run away? Are they trying to avoid being third wheels already?" Haruto blinked and shifted on the sofa until he was sitting right next to Yukino.
"You... you really are incredibly dense," Yukino said, looking at Haruto with a look of pure exasperation. "You've known Shizuru for three years and Reina for five. How can you be this oblivious?"
"Why are you scolding me?" Haruto asked, genuinely confused.
"Have you ever considered why Shizuru and Reina haven't had any interest in dating during university?"
Hearing this, Haruto finally picked up on the strange tone in Yukino's voice. He wasn't stupid; he just tended to have blind spots when it came to the people closest to him.
"Neither of them has a single male friend. In a place like Minazuki university, they must have had hundreds of guys chasing them over the last two years. And yet? Not a single one succeeded. They keep every other man at a distance, yet they both agreed to move into your house and live under the same roof as you for years under the guise of 'work convenience'." Yukino's voice grew calm. "Why do you think that is?"
"That seems... unlikely," Haruto muttered after a long pause.
"What's unlikely about it?" Yukino sighed. "Forget it. As long as they don't admit it themselves, anything we say is just speculation. They might not even be sure of their own feelings yet."
Yukino fell silent for a moment before continuing. "It's like when I agreed to move in with you. I questioned myself back then, too. Why would I agree to live in the same house as a young man just because it was convenient for work? It wasn't until I finally realized how I felt about you that I understood my own decision. Subconsciously, I just wanted to be closer to you."
Haruto listened to Yukino, feeling a bit dazed by the weight of her words.
"But... none of that matters now," Yukino said, taking a deep breath and reaching out to take Haruto's hand. "To be honest, I'm happy. You didn't hesitate for a second before telling them about us." A small smile played on her lips as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "It shows that your feelings for me, and your attitude toward them, are honest. You aren't hiding any strange motives."
"What kind of strange motives would I have?" Haruto asked.
Yukino smiled but chose not to pursue the topic further. Even though it was sudden, they hadn't done anything wrong. She cared deeply about the feelings of her friends, but if they really did have feelings for Haruto, she wasn't about to step aside. Friendship was one thing, but love was another. She wouldn't let go of either, but she wouldn't yield, either.
In her room, Shizuru held her stylus over her tablet, but she couldn't bring herself to draw a single stroke.
In the room next door, Reina lay on her soft bed, staring at the ceiling. She had always believed that her feelings for Haruto were strictly limited to friendship and rivalry. That was a fact she would have sworn by until today.
Even though people at school gossiped about them being a couple because of how often they were seen together, she had always dismissed those rumors as nothing more than background noise. When she agreed to live in this villa, she told herself it was because she trusted Haruto's character and wanted to observe his creative process up close, to understand him, deconstruct his talent, and eventually surpass him.
But now, having heard Haruto admit he was dating Yukino, she found it impossible to focus. Her mind was a mess of conflicting emotions.
"Calm down... I can't let this distract me," she muttered, tapping her forehead as if she could force her emotions into submission. "Instead of worrying about who Haruto is dating, I should use this time to write."
It was no use. Her heart was in total disarray.
Over the next few days, a strange tension hung over the villa. Shizuru had suddenly spiraled into a workaholic frenzy, drawing for hours on end and sleeping only two or three hours a night. As for Reina, she retreated into her room to write, but the news from Kiyozawa Library was concerning. She had contacted her editor to inform them that she wouldn't be able to meet her deadline for the week.
For the first time, she was requesting a hiatus.
Her reason? She was stuck.
She had no inspiration.
This wasn't uncommon for light novel authors, so the editors didn't think much of it. They told her to rest and focus on her creative state, agreeing to put her series on break for the upcoming issue of the magazine. However, the sudden change in both women left Haruto feeling incredibly uneasy.
Could Yukino have been right?
Haruto knew he wasn't bad-looking, but Minazuki University was full of guys who looked like idols. He was wealthy, sure, but Reina and Shizuru weren't the type to care about money. Charisma? He spent all day writing and drawing; what kind of "charisma" could he possibly have shown them?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't convince himself that they were both in love with him. But the timing was just too perfect. It made him feel restless. Then again, he was just a normal guy in a normal relationship with Yukino. He hadn't done anything wrong.
Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
The sixth and seventh episodes of Code Geass were broadcast. C.C., finally made her proper debut. Episode six was a slice-of-life transition episode that showed Suzaku transferring into Lelouch's school.
This was the established rhythm of the show.
On the surface, Lelouch was a brilliant student at an elite academy with a spotless record, while in the shadows, he was Zero, expanding a rebellion to topple the Britannian Empire.
By the seventh episode, the audience had grown accustomed to this narrative flow, but some fans were starting to find the early-game formula a bit too slow for their liking. As a result, the ratings stalled at 5.35%, showing little movement for two consecutive weeks.
Haruto's popularity was immense, but even that could only carry a show so far if the plot didn't escalate. Seeing the stagnation in the ratings, the critics and anti-fans finally saw their chance to strike.
A rating of 5.35% was objectively fantastic, but Haruto had made a bold claim before the show premiered. During a televised interview, he had stated that his goal for Code Geass was to surpass Madoka Magica.
The marketing campaign had even leaned into this: "Haruto's latest masterpiece, destined to eclipse Madoka Magica!" Most people viewed this as typical marketing hyperbole, but his haters were now using it as ammunition.
For several days, various experts published articles predicting the downfall of the show.
In the past, Haruto might have attended a press conference just to shut them down, but he didn't have the energy for it right now. These people came out of the woodwork every few months anyway.
Instead, he simply posted a single comment.
"This is the beginning of a masterpiece."
This served as a double entendre, referring both to the show's upcoming ratings climb and Lelouch's own journey from a mere student to the emperor of the world. With his fans' confidence bolstered, Haruto ignored the noise.
By the end of those two weeks, Shizuru had finally emerged from her workaholic haze. After a day of binge-eating and twenty-four hours of sleep, she returned to her usual self. She still seemed a bit awkward around Haruto, but she was managing her emotions.
Reina, however, was a different story. Her hiatus at Kiyozawa Library had stretched from one week to three.
The editors were starting to panic. Something was clearly wrong. Yukino was deeply worried, but her attempts to talk to Reina had led nowhere.
Finally, this week, Reina submitted her manuscript on time.
But she also delivered a shock to the publisher.
She informed them that she intended to move The Absolute Realm into its final arc immediately.
She wanted to end the series.
The decision blindsided Kiyozawa Library, but Haruto and Yukino were equally stunned. They looked at each other as soon as they heard the news.
"Haruto, you still think this has nothing to do with you?" Yukino asked, her expression pained. "Look at the state she's been in for the last three weeks. She takes a break and then immediately comes back to kill off her most popular series. I told you we shouldn't have gone public yet! She's clearly been triggered by this."
"How is this my fault?" Haruto felt he was being unfairly blamed. "Besides, that's just your theory. Maybe she just used the break to figure out the ending and realized it was time to wrap things up."
"Are you absolutely certain that this has nothing to do with us dating?"
"I..." Haruto faltered.
"What do we do now?" Yukino asked, her voice tinged with urgency.
Reina was the genius author she had personally discovered. Even though she was no longer her editor, she still felt a deep sense of responsibility.
"How about I ask her to go to a cafe with me tomorrow? Just the two of us," Haruto suggested after a moment.
"I'll try to feel things out. I'm telling you this now so there are no misunderstandings later. It might involve some personal topics, so regardless of how it goes, I won't be sharing the details with you. If you're okay with me meeting another woman like that, I'll go. If not, I won't."
Yukino hesitated for a second, then nodded.
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