It was night, after dinner.Sakurai-kun was gaming with his online friends, so the matter of the Five Sisters could be shelved for now.
Only an idiot would constantly stress over helping others—Sakurai, at least, wasn't that kind of person. Besides, he already had a rough idea of how to handle things.
"A-Ying, you pushed too far forward again! You got focused down like three times. Is something up with you today?"
The voice in his headset was a female friend from his online circle. The two were duo-queuing in League of Legends.
Tonight's Apex Legends session seemed like a no-go. Ishigami Yu and Hayasaka Ai, his usual squadmates, were both tied up. Sakurai didn't feel like solo-queuing or dealing with randoms, so he called up his regular support and switched to a MOBA.
"Yuki, just stick to me as Yuumi," Sakurai said, fingers flying over the keyboard as he controlled his champion. He danced through a barrage of enemy skills like he had scripts enabled.
The enemy team was already raging in the all-chat.
Cheater. Script user. Report him.
He chuckled.So good mechanics make you a cheater now? Seriously?If using scripts makes you a cheater, then sure—go ahead and call me one. But really, you're just average folks who haven't seen the real world.
Stay out of Superpower User business, normies.
"Jeez, this is too insane. It's no fun for me if you wipe them out like this," Yuki pouted. "Hey, you didn't forget about helping me with gacha pulls, right?"
Gacha pulls?Huh? That does sound vaguely familiar.
"Didn't you quit that game already?" Sakurai asked while casually trash-talking all five enemies in team chat.
The insults from the island nation's players were as predictable as ever—basic, repetitive, and almost quaint. He couldn't even be bothered to get mad.
Bored of the flaming, Sakurai muted both teams.
First, the enemy players had started it. Then his own teammates, those self-righteous keyboard warriors, joined in—lecturing him on fair play and reporting him for cheating.
To get shunned in real life is one thing... but even in a game? Maybe this world really does deserve to end.
"That's you, A-Ying, isn't it? I didn't quit! I've spent too much money to just walk away," Yuki huffed. Watching Sakurai's flawless plays, she added, "I haven't even gotten a single assist! Slow down with the kills!"
After wiping the enemy team, Sakurai ignored his AFK teammates and went straight for the base crystal.
"Hey, Gabriel, ever heard of the sunk cost fallacy?" he asked, casually explaining as he pushed down the enemy nexus. "The more money you dump into a game, the harder it is to quit. That's how they trap you—and before you know it, you're a shut-in spending your life savings on pixel waifus."
"By that logic, I'm more of a Slothful Angel," Sakurai added, stretching as he let go of the mouse.
The enemy team was laughably weak. Still, his destructive urges had been satisfied, and that was what mattered.
"I do work part-time, okay? Don't make me sound like some deadbeat."
"You said yourself your part-time job is just to fund gacha pulls," Sakurai replied, clicking to queue the next match.
Meanwhile, in a rental apartment in Tokyo…
"I didn't deny that," Gabriel mumbled, glancing at the pile of trash near her feet, then at the faint black halo floating above her head.
She didn't think she was doing anything wrong.
Angel? Not even a dog would act like that.Helping humanity for no reason? That was for angels—real angels.
She was a Slothful Angel. That life had nothing to do with her.
Long live gaming!If not for gacha pulls, who would work part-time anyway?
Tokyo, Minato Ward – Nakano District.
The Five Sisters had just finished dinner. Nakano Nino had done the cooking.
"Teacher-chan already left? I just took a quick nap," said Ichika lazily from the sofa, sounding curious.
"Don't mention him. Just thinking about his face pisses me off," Nino snapped, visibly annoyed.
Itsuki remained silent. Deep down, she felt responsible for this whole situation.
If she hadn't warned her sisters about Sakurai-kun possibly having a new girlfriend every week, Nino might not have become so suspicious of him.
Looking back, it felt like everything that followed was her fault.
But the truth was, Sakurai-kun was unusually close to several girls. He even held hands with them—there was no denying it. That kind of guy wasn't suited to be a tutor.
And yet... why did they keep running into him?So many times, in so many different places.
Was it just terrible luck? Or was Japan truly that small?
Itsuki began reviewing the timeline in her mind.
It had been the week before last when she spotted Sakurai-kun hanging out with a different girl each time. That discovery had prompted her to warn her sisters.
After all, someone ranked third at Shuchiin Academy being a complete playboy?Now that was a scandal.
But after that, strange coincidences began piling up…
She had only discovered last week—when he showed up at their home—that Sakurai-kun had actually been hired by their father to be their tutor.
Because he had been in the same class as Miku the previous year, the two had hit it off immediately, chatting enthusiastically.
Worried that Miku might be misled by his charm, Itsuki had tried to intervene.
At the time, Ichika had been busy with work, Yotsuba had club activities, and Nino was attending her cooking class. None of them had met him yet.
Later, she gave them a brief explanation, but no one seemed especially concerned.
Then...All the drama that unfolded today happened.
Nino cared deeply about their home and their bond as the Five Sisters. That was why she'd reacted so strongly.
But in hindsight, Sakurai-kun hadn't actually done anything inappropriate.
If anything, her own words had crossed a line.That word—"pervert"—should never have left her mouth. And some of her later accusations were also unfair.
He didn't seem to care about their appearances in that way, and he'd clearly taken the tutoring job seriously—he'd come well prepared.
I should apologize to him tomorrow, Itsuki thought, her expression softening.
After all, someone's private life and their work could be entirely separate matters.
"I think Sakurai-kun's pretty great—and super handsome, too," Yotsuba chimed in cheerfully. "Nino, didn't you say once you liked his face?"
Nino's expression darkened.
"Yeah, well... I don't like scumbags."
"What if he's not a scumbag?" Yotsuba tilted her head innocently.
"Impossible! Itsuki saw it with her own eyes."
Suddenly thrown into the spotlight, Itsuki stiffened.
Wait—don't throw that kind of flag on me!
"I... I might've been mistaken," she said quietly.
"Now you say that?" Nino said, voice rising in disbelief.
So that's it? Just like that?I pushed away a perfectly decent, not to mention handsome, tutor because you said he was a player!
All my anger, all my words, were based on the assumption that he was trash.And now it turns out he might not be?
There's no recovering from this.Not after that.
We literally threw his school bag out the window. From the thirtieth floor.
A guy who'd still want to be their tutor after that kind of treatment?No way. He'd have to be some kind of saint—or a masochist.
"But he held hands with a bunch of girls. Even hugged them. I saw it clearly," Itsuki insisted, clinging to at least that part of the story.
"Did he kiss any of them?" Miku asked, arms crossed. "If it's just hugging and holding hands, that's not really conclusive, is it?"
She wasn't hiding it well—Miku was clearly annoyed that Sakurai had stood her up earlier.And that frustration was now directed squarely at her sisters.
Itsuki fell silent.Nino said nothing.
Yotsuba, sensing the tension rising, jumped in with a bright smile.
"If we really did misunderstand Sakurai-kun, then let's all apologize together. That way it'll be fine!"
The tense air seemed to lighten just a bit.A collective exhale.
But then Ichika, from the sofa, coolly poured cold water over the moment:
"We threw his school bag off the thirtieth floor," she said, her tone flat. "Do you really think he's going to forgive us?"