I stand in the shower until the water runs cold.
Riko's scent (strawberry shampoo, baby lotion, and the faint sweetness of her skin) is still on me.
I scrub until my skin is red, until the last trace of her is gone.
It doesn't help.
I pull the arrow up in my palm (pink, glowing, heart tip pulsing like it's impatient).
I stare at it for a long time.
Then I close my fist.
"Not this month."
The arrow dissolves into light and sinks back under my skin, dormant.
The Cupid System is quiet for a full minute (the longest it's ever been silent).
‹ …Acknowledged. ›
‹ Arrow on standby. No target registered. ›
‹ Enjoy your vacation, Host. ›
June begins with nothing to chase.
I wake up at 10:47 a.m. alone.
The bed is cold on both sides.
No tiny body curled against me.
No soft "Daddy" whispered in my ear.
No warm, tight pussy fluttering around morning wood.
Just silence.
I jerk off in the shower to the memory of Riko's tears and the way she said "thank you" when I came inside her for the last time.
I come hard, but it feels hollow.
The water washes it away like it never happened.
I spend the day doing nothing.
- Convenience-store onigiri for lunch.
- Four hours of video games I don't care about.
- Staring at the ceiling while rain taps the window.
At 11:11 p.m. I open my phone gallery and scroll through the hidden folder (videos of Riko in the maid uniform, the onesie, the bunny pajamas, crying "Daddy" while she rides me).
I watch one clip on mute.
Then I delete the entire folder.
I go back to the maid café.
Riko is working.
She greets me at the door with the same bright smile she gives every customer.
"Welcome home, Onii-chan~♡"
Her voice is sugar, but there's no recognition.
No blush when our hands brush.
No tremor in her thighs.
She seats me, serves my parfait, draws a little cat face in chocolate sauce on the plate.
Exactly like she did the first time (before the arrow).
When I leave she bows and says "Please come again!"
I walk home in the rain and don't feel anything.
I start going to the gym again.
The yoga moms are still there (bending, stretching, tight leggings).
One of them (mid-30s, huge tits, wedding ring) smiles at me in the mirror.
Six months ago I would have had the arrow out before she finished her downward dog.
Now I just nod and keep lifting.
My cock doesn't even twitch.
I run into Aoi in the alley.
She's carrying groceries, hair in a ponytail, wearing a normal university hoodie.
She smiles politely (stranger smile).
Our shoulders brush as we pass.
Nothing.
No spark.
No memory.
No wet spot blooming between her legs.
Just two people who never happened to each other.
I get home, sit on the couch, and stare at the spot on the floor where she first knelt and begged.
The apartment feels too big.
I stop counting the days.
I eat when I'm hungry.
Sleep when I'm tired.
Jerk off once every three or four days (always to the same mental loop: Riko's tiny body folding in half, Aoi's tears when I reset her, the way they both looked at me like I was their entire world).
I never come as hard as I did when they were real.
I sit on the balcony with a beer, watching the city lights.
The arrow is still dormant (warm under my skin, waiting).
The Cupid System finally speaks again, soft, almost careful.
‹ Month complete. ›
‹ Arrow ready. ›
‹ Target selection window opens in sixty seconds. ›
‹ …You okay, Host? ›
I take a long drink.
"No," I say out loud to the empty night.
I watch the seconds tick down on my phone.
The arrow flares, bright and eager, heart tip spinning slowly in my palm.
I stare at it for a long time.
Then I close my fist again.
"Not yet."
The light fades.
The system is silent.
July begins with nothing.
And for the first time since the sky cracked open and handed me a god's cheat code…
I don't want to play anymore.
The city keeps breathing below me.
I finish the beer, crush the can, and go back inside to an empty bed.