Afternoon.
After teaching Hitori to swim, the group spent the evening enjoying a barbecue.
Toru and Ijichi Seika handled washing the ingredients, while Nijika and Hitori, both capable cooks, took charge of the grilling.
As for Ryo and Kita, the former had provided the ingredients and therefore claimed a justified exemption from labor, while the latter busied herself arranging and lighting the charcoal.
Kita seemed to really love fire. When she lit it, she grinned so brightly that Toru felt a chill.
Truly passionate, burning with enthusiasm.
A woman of fire and return.
After dinner came the night.
They played board games together for quite a while, then watched a horror movie.
During the screening, the four girls took turns throwing themselves at Toru, each claiming to be frightened of ghosts.
Toru had good reason to doubt that excuse. But he couldn't prove anything, because they really did look terrified, clinging to him tightly whenever a jump scare appeared.
Over these past few days, Toru had begun to notice something. The "wives" from his simulated world all seemed to have developed very strong feelings for him in reality.
Especially a certain blue-haired girl with a beauty mark beneath her eye, his supposed "ex-girlfriend."
Since yesterday, she wasn't even pretending anymore.
It was as if she'd written "I like you" directly on her face, her directness hitting him like a fastball.
If she kept pressing this hard, Toru thought he might just raise his hands and surrender, march straight to city hall and marry her on the spot.
But… he couldn't just abandon Nijika or Hitori either. What then?
Was he really going to start a harem?
Honestly, he didn't think it was impossible.
In the real world, powerful and wealthy men at the top of society often had multiple lovers or wives.
No, better not go down that path.
Still, he didn't hate the idea.
The real challenge lay in what the girls themselves thought.
After all, convincing women to share affection with one man required one of two things:
Feelings so deep they transcended life and death.
A man whose power exceeded the limits of ordinary morality.
That was the difference between an urban romance and a fantasy novel.
Before crossing into this world, Toru had read plenty of fantasy and cultivation stories. In those worlds, a protagonist could have a harem without anyone thinking it strange, it fit the strength-based worldview.
But in urban love stories, that didn't work. No self-respecting woman would give up her dignity just because a man was rich.
Complicated business.
Maybe he should test it out in the simulator first.
He remembered seeing a [Harem King] class last time.
If it worked in the simulation, maybe it would work here too.
That was how Toru thought.
———————
Late night.
Toru sat on his bed, looking out through the window at the enormous moon hanging over the sea.
The villa's location was perfect, perched on a rise overlooking the shore.
A line of poetry surfaced in his mind: The bright moon rises above the sea, and we share this moment from afar.
Without realizing it, he had lived in this unfamiliar world for more than ten years.
Night always had a way of stirring melancholy.
Feeling restless, Toru decided to go down to the beach for a walk.
Maybe he couldn't sleep because of Ryo's teasing during the day.
He moved quietly, careful not to wake anyone.
Descending the stairs, he found someone else at the villa's entrance who apparently couldn't sleep either or perhaps, a certain familiar someone.
"What a coincidence. You can't sleep either, Toru-kun?"
Ryo's short blue hair fluttered in the sea breeze, revealing the lovely eye usually hidden beneath her bangs.
She wore a white off-shoulder top, the perfect image of summer.
"It's not that I can't sleep," Toru replied, feeling the night wind as he looked at the moon. "Just… a little restless tonight."
He added, "I was planning to walk along the beach. Didn't expect to run into you."
"I see. I was thinking the same thing."
Whether her words were true or not was impossible to tell.
That was part of her mystery, Ryo's charm lay in her enigma.
She had a way of being unforgettable, of standing out effortlessly in any crowd.
"Want to walk together?"
"Sure."
Ryo nodded and held out her hand.
The gesture was clear: Hold me.
Toru didn't think twice. It felt natural, like an ordinary request, so he took her hand.
After all, it wasn't the first time.
Ryo's way of showing affection was always genuine.
And sincerity, sincerity was the most powerful weapon. She had perfected it.
A few minutes later, they reached the shore.
Moonlight washed across the sea in silver light.
Toru and the girl beside him walked quietly along the beach.
Ryo slipped off her sandals, her pale feet leaving soft prints in the sand. Each wave that rolled in erased them gently, over and over.
They didn't speak at first. They simply walked.
That alone felt enough.
Not until the fifty-second wave touched Ryo's ankles did she finally speak.
"Toru-kun."
"Yeah? What is it?" He stopped when she did.
"We look like a runaway boy and girl," she said softly. "Not sure where the future leads, but walking forward anyway."
Their eyes met again, just like earlier that day on the beach.
Ryo smiled faintly. "It's kind of romantic, isn't it?"
Toru nodded. "A midnight walk by the sea, talking under the moonlight,, it's hard not to be."
"…I'm glad you're here with me," she murmured.
She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, adding with a shy laugh, "It'd be too lonely walking alone."
"So, you're saying my insomnia worked out for you?"
"Mm."
Ryo smiled again—a rare, genuine smile. "Maybe it's fate. Don't you think?"
After saying that, she gazed toward the horizon.
The air between them grew warmer, tinged with unspoken tension.
For a moment, Ryo felt the urge to confess, but she calmed herself.
In love, acting on impulse was the surest way to lose.
Ryo never fought battles she couldn't win.
"This kind of place feels perfect for making a wish, doesn't it?"
Toru looked at the moon above and the glowing waves beneath.
"Do you have a wish, Toru-kun?"
"World peace… maybe?"
It seemed like a decent wish—grand, impossible, yet pure.
Come on, dear gods, give it a shot.
"…World peace? That's so dumb."
Ryo turned away, shoulders shaking as she tried not to laugh.
Seeing her struggle to hold it in, Toru explained, "I didn't really have anything in mind, so that's all I could come up with."
"Got it."
"What about you? Do you have a wish? Maybe the gods will make it come true."
"I want the person I like to confess to me first."
"You… have someone you like?"
At that, Ryo's clear eyes turned toward him.
Their gazes met once more.
Everything that needed to be said was already there in the silence.
...
————————
In the days that followed, their beach vacation passed peacefully or perhaps, not so peacefully.
Somehow, Toru and Ryo's relationship quietly crossed the line between friendship and something more.
Their time together carried a trace of warmth, a hint of sweetness, something that could only be called romance.