Chapter 291: Apologize to Me!

Their stop.

After teachers took roll calls, each class disbanded on the spot.

The next two days happened to be a holiday.

If not for the big exam right after the break, this combo of the school trip plus vacation would’ve been the perfect package.

“Himekoji~ Sensei’s home drain got clogged again somehow.”

“Don’t you have free time now, Himekoji?”

“Wanna hang out with us, Akio?”

He refused the female teacher who asked him to fix her drain, said no to the senpai inviting him to the aquarium for “material,” and also turned down his classmates’ invite to a boob-touching party.

Anyway, after much difficulty and escaping the crowd, Himekoji finally got home.

His female roommates?

Nanami dashed straight off to her part-time job the moment they disbanded. She was so busy she barely touched the ground.

But Himekoji strangely felt like she was avoiding him.

Mashiro, apparently struck by some great inspiration, locked herself in her room, obsessed with drawing manga. She didn’t come out even for dinner, forcing Himekoji to bring the meal to her door.

Akiko hung around him at first, glued to his side. But after a phone call during dinner, she suddenly got all mysterious, scampered into her room, and closed the door tight.

So, Himekoji, after a whole day surrounded and annoyed, finally had some rare peace.

He laid down to rest, dozed off hazily, and woke up in the dead of night. Tossing and turning awake, unable to sleep back.

With nothing and no-one keeping him busy, bored stiff, Himekoji decided to reward himself with some manga relaxation.

Huh? You say he’s blind and can’t read?

What a rookie!

He could just use the system to read in his head!

That’s how he slacked during regular classes.

[Ding!]

[Due to your previous neglect and accumulated unfinished quests, entertainment functions are temporarily disabled. We apologize for the inconvenience!]

“Are you freaking kidding me?”

Himekoji absolutely couldn’t believe this! So, it makes sense to overwork labor these days?

“The mountain of quests is my fault? Who dumped those scam quests in the first place?!”

[Warning —]

[You currently have two quests in HIGH-RISK STATUS. If you fail them by deadline, besides the quest penalties, you will suffer additional impact on your credit score. Treat this seriously!]

“Where am I NOT serious?!”

It’s all on the quests! Each one was ridiculously, outrageously scammy!

Himekoji checked the two “high-risk” ones —

Besides the “Nanami’s Underwear” quest (totally expected), the other one… was a quest he’d almost forgotten… “Kuchikamizake”…

[Have Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Kasumigaoka, and Eriri genuinely enjoy your Kuchikamizake!]

[Quest Completed Reward: Permanent Skill – Master Mixologist!]

[Quest Failed Penalty: Turn into sticky rice. Get chewed to death by Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Kasumigaoka, and Eriri in turn. Your “corpse” will then be brewed into wine.]

[Time Remaining: Two Days!]

What?! Only two days left?!

Seeing the deadline genuinely startled Himekoji.

The content of this quest flooded back in an instant.

Originally time-limited for a month, Himekoji, being a serious procrastinator, simply shoved it aside with zero urgency.

Though, there might have been another reason he shelved it —

This quest included Eriri! Someone the system usually never treated as a real target!

Probably just casualty due to system-wide AoE effects, but Himekoji still felt this indescribable, frustrating ache deep down.

If he had to put it into words…

“I thought there might be one or a few who my pervert tendencies wouldn’t taint, you know.”

“Fine… Doesn’t exist.”

“I guess I turn pervert towards anyone.”

“Absolute worst.”

That kind of stuff.

So, after Nanami messed up one time, Himekoji subconsciously pushed the quest to the back of his mind.

Now, with the deadline looming, he was forced to confront it again.

So, like… fail it, and kick the bucket for real?

A sudden urgency gripped Himekoji.

The system NEVER skimped on punishments!

[Only two days remain. We’ll help you depart peacefully!]

[Ding!]

[“Option Immunity” Activated!]

Predictably, the system chose to add insult to injury.

“Only two days your head!”

Himekoji ignored that scam system.

Two days — impossible? Hardly.

With that thought, fighting spirit sparked.

Himekoji leapt out of bed — and fell FLAT on the floor.

Crap! Forgot he was blind!

Didn’t waste time groaning; he’d gotten numb to the tumbles these past days. He scrambled up quick, blindly feeling along the wall towards the living room.

Stumbling a bit, he managed to feel his way to around where the fridge should be…

—

Meanwhile…

Family restaurants, twenty-four-hour convenience stores…

Her part-time shift ended late into the night.

Nanami always worked hard. Lately, harder than ever.

She needed enough money — for tuition, extra tutoring, living costs…

And rent.

She wanted to move out.

It wasn’t her style, imposing for this long.

Actually, she’d had a huge fight with the house owner last week…

Then came the mutual cold shoulder treatment…

What had she done?

She shook her drowsy head forcefully – she’d been feeling sleepier than usual lately, probably because she wasn’t resting well.

And those words she overheard on the bus this afternoon had left her restless and uneasy.

Returning home, faced with utter darkness, the exhausted Nanami couldn’t even muster the effort to flip the light switch.

Guided by the faintest sliver of moonlight, Nanami shuffled towards the refrigerator.

She hadn’t eaten dinner, but it didn’t matter. Having a bag of milk now would fill her stomach just the same.

Leaning against the wall beside the fridge, Nanami took small sips through the straw.

Her eyelids felt heavy, a sluggish fog clouded her mind, and a wave of sleepiness washed over her.

She was practically about to fall asleep standing up then and there.

The next moment, just as the girl drifted in that hazy state between wakefulness and dreams, a pair of hands suddenly stretched out from the darkness toward her.

…

Something was weird about this wall!

Smooth, tender, and curved!

Wait, there was actually a hole in it!

Oh, and not just one!

The largest hole could even fit several fingers!

It was wet inside.

Huh?

Hey guys, guess what I found?

There’s a slippery little snake inside the hole!

Himekoji tugged and pulled at the little snake for a good while; then, a sudden jolt of foreboding shot through him…

This feels weird…

Wait, forget ‘weird’! What the heck?! This was a mouth!

“Um… sorry about that… totally didn’t mean to…”

Himekoji carefully put back the tongue he’d pulled out and ‘played’ with, slipping it back into the other person’s mouth.

His fingers were coated in slobber, sticky and uncomfortable.

Himekoji didn’t quite know what he was thinking – lost his mind, probably – but wanting to wipe his hand somewhere, he absentmindedly slid it downward and wiped his damp hand on the other person’s clothes.

So soft! So springy! And… terrifying!

What the hell?! That was a chest!

Crap, crap! Anywhere else but there! Why did it have to be the chest?!

And, why anyone else’s chest? Why did it have to be Nanami’s?!

Relying entirely on his special skill of ‘identifying women by chest feel’, Himekoji recognized that ‘wall’ the instant he touched it –

Aoyama Nanami, a fake wall! A total fake!

Seriously? This was a person with curves! Why was she standing there pretending to be a wall?

Himekoji felt angry on behalf of someone else!

Apologize to that person! Right now!

Wait, no… right now, the person who needed to apologize the most…

Wasn’t that himself?

“Sorry! Here, feel mine back!”

An apology is what he’d give!

Himekoji braced himself, going all-in!

He proclaimed with the solemn resolve of marching off to his own execution.

…