"You're scary when you're mad, Kuru-Kuru... But you're so soft, heheh~!"

"So where should we look for my brother at? Should we go to the cemetery?" Orihime asked without a trace of skepticism.

"First, how long have you lived here and where were you living when your brother died?" Rangiku asked.

"I just moved in right at the start of Spring Break a few weeks ago. I bumped into a girl on the street and she told me that she owned a nice place to live for people like me so I moved in immediately. She was very nice!"

Orihime started to remember running into Kurumi on the street and just now realized how easy it was to get a nice place to live for so cheap.

"Now that I think about it, I got really lucky to run into her!"

Rangiku and Isane raised their brows in suspicion, but Marin didn't think too much about it as she had had a similar experience.

"That's nice, Orihime, but let's focus on the next part. Where were you living when your brother died?" Rangiku asked, trying to get Orihime back on target.

"Oh! I was living in a small apartment not far from here. I can take you all there!"

Orihime smiled and ran in front of the group, taking the lead as they left Roselia Heights.

The girls chatted about various unimportant topics to pass the time as they arrived at Orihime's old apartment.

It was just a small apartment with a few units, but to Orihime, it was a home she felt the safest in after her brother took her away from their abusive parents.

Noticing the somber demeanor Orihime now had, Marin walked up to her and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Orihime? You seem a bit down now," Marin said.

Orihime put a big smile on her face again before she looked at Marin and nodded. "Mhm! I was just thinking about my brother. I still pray to him every day, but I'm slowly starting to feel better about it. I thought that he was already in a better place, but it seems that's not the case now..."

Marin was about to say something, but then she, Rangiku, Isane, and Yoruichi saw a man with a broken chain on his chest fly out of the apartment and land in front of Orihime.

"Orihime! Where were you?!"

The girls were taken aback by the sudden new arrival, but the Shinigami had quickly figured out who he was.

Orihime didn't respond to the question of the man since she couldn't see him so she just continued looking at Marin with a smile.

Marin pointed at the man and said, "I take it you can't see him?"

Orihime looked to where Marin was pointing and tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? See who?"

Marin nodded to herself and raised her hand, aiming her palm at the man. A pink light shot out of her palm and surrounded him before dimming down.

"Sora?!" Orihime shouted as she turned to look at the man.

"Orihime, you can... You can see me?" The man asked with a big smile on his face.

"Yes!"

Orihime nodded her head and ran up to Sora, jumping on him and giving him a hug.

Sora was confused, but felt grateful for Orihime's affection. While he couldn't feel the hug Orihime was giving him, he wrapped his arms around her to return the hug anyway.

With Marin's illusion magic, she could allow Orihime to feel the hug from her big brother, but couldn't do the same for him. Unfortunately, her skills weren't good enough to affect Souls like that yet.

Orihime released the hug and turned to look at Marin. "What did you do? Why is my big brother here now?"

"I cast illusion magic to allow you to see what we can see. This is your big brother as a Soul and since you don't have any spiritual energy, you can't see him."

Marin looked over at Rangiku and asked, "That's why, right?"

Rangiku nodded. "Mm, that's indeed why she can't see him. I have to say, I'm impressed that you're able to do something like this!"

"Heheh~, in the future, I'll be able to do even more cool things. This is just a parlor trick!" Marin said proudly.

Sora looked at the women and asked, "I'm sorry, but who are all of you? From listening to your conversation, I know you're responsible for Orihime being able to see me, but what are you here for? And Orihime, where did you go? One night you were here and the next, your stuff was suddenly all gone and I couldn't find you!"

"I'm sorry, Sora. I moved to a nicer place, but I brought the shrine and everything! I still pray to you daily, can you not hear them anymore?"

"No, I've been able to hear them, but I was never able to find where they were coming from or where you were. Yesterday, I even felt the connection between us get even further, as if there was a barrier blocking me out completely."

Rangiku raised her hand to cut in. "Ah, what you felt yesterday was probably an actual barrier that keeps the residents in Orihime's new home safe. It wasn't anything specifically targeted at keeping you away from Orihime, but the reason that you couldn't find her when she moved is still unknown to me."

Isane took this moment to interject. "I apologize for being so abrupt, but looking at your Chain of Fate, it seems that you're going to turn into a Hollow soon. Judging by how degraded the Chain looks, I'd say it'll happen within the next two months."

Orihime shot her gaze at the chain that was coming out of Sora's chest and noticed that it looked like it was crumbling.

"What does that mean, Isane? What is this chain?" she asked.

"It's essentially their connection to life. Since he's already dead, it's broken, but still exists. If the Chain degrades completely, it'll get sucked into himself and he'll undergo a Hollow transformation, changing him from what we call a 'Plus Soul' into a Hollow."

David would've wanted Rukia's terrible drawings at this point to better explain things to Orihime.

Orihime looked a little confused so Rangiku said, "Basically, it means that if the Chain falls apart, he'll turn into a monster."

Rangiku's words scared Orihime and she subconsciously grabbed Sora's arm.

"We can't let that happen! Why is he still here and not in Heaven?"

"Ehh, the afterlife is a bit tricky. Souls that haven't committed any egregious crimes during their lives will be sent to the Soul Society to live. Heaven isn't a place for most people to live unless they've done good deeds for the Church, but that's not something you need to think about. Soul Society is a good place to live and isn't really any worse than the Heaven you're thinking of," Rangiku said with no small amount of disdain toward Heaven.

"As for why he's still here, that's a question for him to answer," she finished, staring directly at Sora.

"Orihime was devastated when I died and she asked me not to leave her. I stayed to watch over her, that's all," Sora said with a hint of solemnity.

[Orihime] 'But that's not what I meant!'

Orihime teared up when she heard that. "While I was sad about it, I didn't want you to stay here and become a monster! Big brother, you can let me live my life now! I'm in a good place and I'm sure to make new friends when school starts, okay? I want you to know that I'm doing fine and even when you're gone, I'll still pray to you every day. I don't want to see you become a monster..."

Sora looked hesitant, but Yoruichi's next words made his non-existent blood run cold.

"The first people a newly-transformed Hollow goes after are the ones they love the most. Ever wonder why grieving widows die soon after their spouses? If you were to transform into a Hollow, you'd be overrun with negative emotions linked to Orihime and you'd kill her, no questions asked."

Orihime was startled by the talking cat, but was even more startled by what she had said.

"That's...," Sora started to say.

"It's true, young man. The best thing you can do is allow us to send you to Soul Society where you can live in peace. I'm certain that in the future, your little sister will be even happier than she is now. Look at her, does she look like she's suffering anymore?"

Sora looked at Orihime as he felt the truth in Rangiku's words.

After looking at her for a few seconds, Sora just smiled and nodded his head. "I see... If that's the case, then I will accept it. Orihime, I only wish for you to have a successful and happy life. No matter what the world throws at you, I know you'll be strong enough to overcome it. I feel like the happiest big brother in the world having been able to take care of you."

Orihime started to cry again, knowing this is the last time she'll be able to see Sora.

"Big brother, I... I'm so sorry that I was mean to you before you left... *sob*... I didn't mean it, I swear! I'm really grateful for everything you did for me growing up and I promise to become a woman you can be proud of in the future! I'll always cherish the hairpins you gave me, too!"

Orihime's face was covered in tears and snot as she sobbingly said goodbye to her brother and pointed up at the snowflake-shaped hairpins in her hair.

Marin walked up and rubbed Orihime's back to try and calm her down.

Orihime turned and hugged Marin.

[Marin] 'Eh? Why hug me and not your brother?'

Rangiku left her Gigai and allowed Isane to hold it up so it wouldn't get dirty. She then took the necklace from her Gigai and transformed it into her Zanpakutou.

Marin didn't cast the illusion spell on Rangiku's soul body so Orihime couldn't see when she walked up to Sora and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ready? The sooner we complete the soul burial, the better," Rangiku said.

Sora nodded. "Yes, I'm ready."

Rangiku smiled gently and placed the end of her Zanpakutou's hilt on Sora's forehead.

Sora's body started turning into a bright light, but before he fully disappeared, he looked at the sobbing Orihime once more and said, "I love you, Orihime. I'll see you around..."

Orihime cried harder in Marin's shoulder as she heard Sora's last words before he completely transformed into light and disappeared.

Marin continued rubbing Orihime's back to calm her down.

[Orihime] 'Who knew this would happen today? I'm glad I finally got closure, but...'

It took Orihime about 2 minutes before she was finally calmed down.

She pulled back from Marin and rubbed her face. "I'm sorry... But thank you, everyone. I was just planning on going to the store for some snacks, but I managed to meet people that were able to give me and my brother the goodbye I always wanted to have... Thank you very much!"

Orihime bowed to the girls and tried her hardest not to start crying again.

[Marin] 'At least this is something that David won't have to deal with in the future, heheh~. I wonder how happy he'll be when I introduce him to Orihime~?'

"I'm glad we were able to help, heheh~. David will also be happy to know this issue is resolved. If we hadn't met you today, he was most likely going to end up taking care of it himself, except it wouldn't have been so peaceful. This is the best conclusion that it could've come to and I'm very happy for you, Orihime," Marin said.

Orihime just smiled and nodded her head as she took out a small red bean-filled pastry from her pocket.

"Mm!" she said, opening the pastry and shoving it in her mouth.

[Isane] 'This girl really likes to eat...'

"Anyway, the girls and I are going to go hunting for Hollows. Do you want us to walk you back to Roselia Heights or are you going to continue what you had planned earlier?"

Orihime rocked back and forth on her feet for a moment as she thought about what Marin asked.

"If it's not too much trouble, could I go with you guys? I don't think I'm in the right headspace to be alone right now, haha..."

"Oh! That was insensitive of me, I'm sorry! If you want to come with us, we can just go shopping today instead and do the dangerous stuff another day," Marin said, feeling guilty about trying to brush off Orihime and her feelings.

Rangiku was back in her Gigai and ran up to Marin. "Yesss~! Let's just go shopping today!"

Yoruichi, who had been stuck in-between Marin and Orihime earlier, said, "As long as we go somewhere that doesn't mind cats, I'm fine with it."

Everyone looked at Isane at this moment.

"...W-What? I don't care for what we do, so long as it doesn't trouble the general public."

Marin and Rangiku smiled and laughed mischievously.

Isane felt a little discomfort at their laughing, but didn't say anything else.

"There you have it, Orihime~! Wanna go shopping with us? Shopping makes everyone feel better~!"

If David heard what Marin just said, he would say that shopping absolutely does not make everyone feel better and that her and Rangiku are among some of the special few that feel that way.

With her puffy red eyes on display, Orihime smiled and said, "Okay!"

Thus, the group all left toward Akihabara to enjoy some of Marin's favorite stores while Orihime got to know everyone and the talking cat.

...

Around half-past noon, David woke up from his little nap on the floor.

Komoe was laying on his chest, fast asleep, while Mio had taken the liberty to use her lap as a pillow for David.

Unsurprisingly, Tomoe was still watching TV.

David rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and patted Komoe on the back. "Wake up, Komoe-chan."

Komoe lifted her head and rubbed her eyes cutely. "Good morning, Papa!"

He just chuckled as Komoe rolled off of him, allowing him to stand up.

"Urrrrrrraaaah!"

David made loud noises as he raised his arms up and stretched, causing Komoe to giggle.

"Ahhhh, that was a nice nap... Alrighty, I'm already late for my meeting with the editor so I'll be heading out. Komoe-chan, make sure your mama doesn't burn the house down, okay?"

Without looking away from the TV, Tomoe said, "Hey! I wouldn't do something like that!"

⟪ No, I'm certain Tomoe would do exactly something like that. If I didn't restrict most powers in this place, I wouldn't be surprised to come home and find Tomoe and Mio at each other's throats with the furniture in pieces. ⟫

"I shall leave you in charge, Komoe-chan..."

Komoe smiled and gave David a salute.

⟪ Heheh, once again, my daughter is too cute... ⟫

David turned around and saw Mio sulking so he gave her a quick kiss on the lips before patting her on the head.

"You, my dangerously sexy wife, should also make sure you don't get in a fight with Tomoe, okay? I shouldn't be gone for very long."

Mio smiled as she tasted the sweet taste of David's lips and nodded her head. "Mm, be careful husband~."

"Pff, I'm always careful."

Waving his hand, David cast a cleaning spell on himself and walked out of his penthouse with his signature black t-shirt, grey sweatpants, and black slides.

He didn't run into anybody new as he made his way down the elevator and out of Roselia Heights.

Pulling out his phone, he looked at the address that Sonoko had sent him earlier and put it into his Maps application.

⟪ 15 minutes away, huh? Not too bad. Hopefully Sonoko isn't upset that I took a longer-than-expected nap, heheh... I'll just tell her I got caught up with something important. ⟫

[Sonoko] 'I can hear you!'

With the route now memorized, David began his walk to Fujikawa Shoten Publishing.

'Chaos-chan, let's talk about what happened the other day, shall we?'

[I don't wanna.]

'That's too damn bad. First, why is it that I can't remember anything about the novel "Saving Kurumi"? I saw a memory where I was writing it and I mentioned a franchise that I've never even heard of before. Also, in the space where I saw the memory, there was a shadowy figure with a yellow clock eye. You seem to know something about it and I'd appreciate some information.'

[...]

'...Say something!'

[Ugh... Look, you weren't supposed to start remembering things until later so that it wouldn't affect your future actions, okay?]

'Yeah, I'm not following.'

[When you were brought here, reality-altering changes took place. I was tasked with helping you, but I promised not to tell you about who's behind it all because they wanted to do it instead.]

'So you can't tell me anything because of a promise you made? I trust you and I'm grateful toward whoever brought me here, but if there's some sinister reason behind it, I'd like to know ahead of time.'

[No no, there's nothing sinister! They just want you to be happy, the same as me! I need you to trust me that there's nothing sinister about them whatsoever, okay? They really just want to tell you about everything themselves...]

'...Well, can you tell me anything about the Seal that was mentioned?'

[Yes! There are 3 seals placed on you that seal off your memories of when you were writing your story. Those are only for keeping past information from conflicting with what'll actually happen and allowing you to get stronger powers systematically.]

'Wait, are things in my story not going to end up the way I wrote them?'

[No... I mean, the changes to the Earth will still happen, but other things won't.]

'Hm... Based on how evasive you're being, it seems like asking further will be like talking to a wall. What about my new powers then? What's up with that?'

[Well... Ah whatever, keeping secrets like this is just troublesome. Check your status.]

David nodded and thought, 'Status!'

[Status]

[Name: David Star] 

[Age: 15] 

[Title(s): The Creator, The Lonely One] 

[Race: Chaos Human]

[Chaos Points: 507,680]

[Classes: Shinigami - Ichigo Kurosaki]

[Abilities: Heaven's Eye, Harem Frequency: ON AIR, Sweet Body, Sovereign's Bond, Sovereign's Cradle - Eternal Domain, Sakai]

[Talents: Mental Reboot, Goddess of Lust's Blessing, Overflow-class Mana Core, Perfect Househusband, Computer Whiz, Super Soul, Harem Protagonist Halo, Goddess of Luck's Blessing, Translator, Divine Deception, Goddess of the Forge's Blessing, Web Daddy]

[System Functions: Royal Empress Adaptation (Passive System Function), Sovereign's Link (Subsystem)]

[Chaos Elements: Water (Elementary), Earth (Elementary), Fire (Elementary), Air (Elementary)]

David looked through his status and didn't notice anything different right off the bat until he started slowly scanning through everything.

'Wait, my race changed?'

[No, it was just always hidden behind "Human". Your body was constructed from pure Chaos, meaning your affinity to everything is infinitely higher than others. I said a while ago that you were created to be the best in existence and this is what I meant, I just didn't want to be the one to tell you.]

'Who would've been the one to tell me, the one who brought me here?'

[Well, technically, there were three people who brought you here, but yes, they wanted to tell you. One of them accidentally left an exploit in the seal though which caused some of your memories to return sooner than expected. Honestly, she has nobody to blame but herself, tch...]

'So it's a woman...'

[Ah...]

'No, it's fine. I heard nothing. Go on, keep complaining and maybe share their names as well.'

[No! Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about it so just keep it to yourself and don't mention it in your inner voice or anything. Nobody needs to know about it anyway.]

'...You know saying something like that just makes me want to do it, right?'

[Fine, do it! I won't care!]

⟪ Hmm, a woman placed a seal on me, but due to an exploit she left in it, I gained some memories back. Chaos-chan didn't seem to want to tell me about it, but... Heheheh... ⟫

[No wait, why are making it sound like I told you something I didn't...?]

...

Far from David, a shopping mall exploded before Time magic was used to reverse the damage and casualties.

Kurumi was stomping her foot in frustration as Sawa and Shiro tried to calm her down.

"She promised! What about our surprise, huh?! She lied, she totally lied! If David wasn't so close to her, I'd have found her body and strung it up above a fucking fire already!"

Sawa stored their shopping bags in a subspace before focusing on her barrier around Kurumi, keeping her powers from going out of control and destroying the mall for a second time.

Shiro floated over to Kurumi and wrapped her in a hug. "You're scary when you're mad, Kuru-Kuru... But you're so soft, heheh~!"

The mana fluctuations around Kurumi died down instantly as she felt Shiro hugging her.

"Heehee, that's better! Wanna go eat something yummy with Shiro and Sawa-chan?"

Kurumi's aggression was completely disarmed and she just hugged Shiro back.

"Yes, I would love to go eat something yummy with you and Sawa. Sorry for scaring you, Shiro. I'll handle our issue with Chaos at a later date..."

Sawa breathed a sigh of relief and removed her barrier while Shiro just jumped up and down and smiled a big bright smile at Kurumi.

The potential city-erasing temper tantrum went unnoticed by everyone, even David.

However, Chaos-chan definitely noticed.

[Chaos-chan] 'Dammit, David! Kurumi is scary when she's angry, why'd you have to do that?!'

...

Standing in front of a tall office building in Jinbocho, David prepared himself for the business meeting ahead of him.

He walked inside and checked the directory, finding the floor where Fujikawa Shoten was located.

Once he found it, he went into the elevator and hit the '4' button.

Before the doors could close, a girl ran in out of breath, looked at the button that was lit up, and then glanced at David before turning her attention back to the front.

[Utaha] 'I made it just in time to meet him! Hahaha!'

David took the chance to size up the girl who rushed in.

She was wearing Hoshinoumi Academy's high school girl's uniform that consisted of a dark blue blazer and skirt, a red ribbon tied around the neck, and black shoes. She had a white hairband in her hair, full-length dark stockings, and a laptop in her arms.

The girl had black hair, red eyes, perfect D-cup breasts, and an absolutely beautiful face.

⟪ Now what the hell are the chances Utaha Kasumigaoka would show up now? I thought I'd get this entire trip over with without meeting any new heroines, but it's just my luck... I gotta admit, she looks just like she did in the anime, but even more beautiful. However, that's about all there is to it. She's just a whiny losing heroine and even though I said I wouldn't mind giving her some novels from my database to help her, that was just a joke, okay? I don't want anything to do with her and Eriri's little quarrel over Tomoya in the future. It's just icky. ⟫

Before Utaha could complain or say anything at all, the elevator doors opened and David quickly walked out, leaving the beautiful girl standing inside and trembling in anger and confusion as she wondered what she did wrong for him to say something like that.

[Why the hell did you say that?]

'One reason is that I don't feel like meeting with new heroines today. Another is that I really don't feel like hitting it off with Utaha in general. Her personality in Saekano irritated me for some reason so I figured I'd just let her be the pathetic dog licker she was in the original work. They've got nothing to do with me and I'm not about to insert myself into their franchise for no reason.'

[Still, you didn't have to be so rude.]

'...The hell is up with you? Since when did you become a saint?'

[Nothing is wrong with me! I just don't feel like you realize how rude that was. Since when did you become such an asshole? You don't know her in this world, you only know how she was in the original work. Didn't you say a while ago that you wouldn't treat people like their characters? You've been doing the exact opposite for a while now.]

David slowed his steps as he heard what Chaos-chan said.

'Right...'

[What you did was essentially just judge a sweet girl as soon as you saw her without even getting to know her. Who's to say that her franchise isn't completely twisted and that she'll ever even meet Tomoya?]

'...'

[Well?!]

⟪ Right, sorry, Chaos-chan... That was pretty rude. I think spending all that time in the world of Tsukimichi made me think that people are just like their characters in their original works. If I come across Utaha or anyone else from a franchise, I'll see them for who they are before judging them, I promise. Well, except for the antagonists, they'll get what they deserve. Even though Utaha can't hear me, I'll still apologize in my heart... Ugh, now I feel like an asshole. This isn't a good feeling... I'm sure she'd be confused if I just went up to her and apologized for no reason, right? ⟫

Utaha, who was riding the elevator back down before going back up, just stood where she was and harrumphed.

"Hmph... I thought he was nice, but he turned out to be an asshole. Fine, see if I even give you the time of day in the future, bastard..."

David continued walking through the hallways until he came to the door that led to Fujikawa Shoten.

He entered the door and stopped at the reception desk.

"Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"Good afternoon, miss. I had a meeting with Sonoko Machida a little before noon, but I was a little late... Is she available right now?"

"Please wait a moment while I find out."

The receptionist picked up her phone and called Sonoko.

A few seconds later, she hung up and said, "Please follow me."

David nodded with a slight smile, still feeling guilty for what he said about Utaha. He then followed the receptionist as they walked toward Sonoko's office.

The receptionist opened the office door and bowed slightly as David entered.

When Sonoko saw David, she was first startled by how handsome he was, but then her mood dropped again when she remembered what David had just said about Utaha.

"Sit," Sonoko said.

David took a seat in front of Sonoko's desk and sat with his hands clasped together in his lap as he patiently waited for Sonoko to speak.

"..."

"..."

They sat in awkward silence as Sonoko just stared at David without saying anything.

"Why--" Sonoko had wanted to ask why he said what he did about Utaha, but quickly learned about the inner voice's restrictions.

David didn't want to do his normal confused and questioning routine this time as he already knew what Sonoko had wanted to ask him.

Instead, he just sat there patiently.

"Nevermind... It's nice to meet you, Star-kun. My name is Sonoko Machida. Let's talk about your novel, shall we?"

'Switching to last names, huh? Yeah, I feel even worse now...'

"Yes, let's do that," David said with a half-smile.

"You've sent me the first volume, but how long would it take you to get the rest out?"

"I already know what'll happen for the next 22 volumes like I said before and it will only require me to type it up. I can send you them whenever you want, just ask."

"To clarify, you're only looking for us to publish it, correct?"

"Yes, you would have the publishing rights while I keep the adaptation rights and have control over the IP. I know this will be a big hit and a manga and anime adaptation aren't out of the question. Therefore, I just want to give you the publishing rights over the light novel."

Sonoko pretended to think for a moment until she finally nodded her head. "Alright, I figured that was the case so I already completed the paperwork, though things can be changed if they're not to your liking."

She then took out a folder with a stack of papers and placed it in front of David.

"Since you just need to type the subsequent volumes and submit them, I'll give you a one-month turn-in time for each volume. That's one volume a month, though you can submit more if you want and we'll pay accordingly."

She flipped over the first page and pointed to some numbers.

"We'll pay ¥400,000 per volume as an advance and send you 10% of the royalties for each sale at the end of the month in perpetuity."

David carefully read over the documents and found nothing wrong with the deal.

"That sounds good to me," he said.

Sonoko nodded her head and said, "Good. Here's a pen, fill out the information."

After handing the pen to David, she turned to the side and started working on her computer, no longer wanting to talk with David about anything other than business.

⟪ Sonoko seems like she's upset about something. I didn't do anything to her, did I? She seemed perfectly fine this morning, what could've happened? Is she upset that I was late? ⟫

Sonoko rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything, leaving David feeling worse about what he said earlier about Utaha.

After David finished signing all of the documents much later, he set the pen down and gently pushed the documents toward Sonoko.

"All done," he said.

Sonoko just looked down and went through the documents to make sure things looked good at a cursory glance.

"Very well. If there are any issues, I'll let you know."

"..."

David waited for a moment, but all he got was Sonoko's expressionless stare.

"Alright... Then I'll be taking my leave, Miss Machida."

"Mm."

Sonoko turned back to her computer and continued with her previous work.

⟪ I hope she isn't always going to be this cold to me. ⟫

David slightly shook his head and walked out of the office, heading back to the elevator.

He passed by Utaha who was waiting outside of Sonoko's office, but she just ignored him and looked away.

'Haaa... Why the hell did I say that...'

Irritated with himself, David decided to just walk back home to think about the mistakes he made in how he treats people.

...

*knock knock*

"Come in!"

Utaha opened the door to Sonoko's office and sat in the chair with a somber expression.

"What's wrong, Shi-chan?" Sonoko asked as she walked around from her desk and knelt down in front of Utaha.

Utaha just shook her head with a wry smile and said, "Nothing. I thought I would be able to meet a nice guy today, but before we even spoke, I found out he's just an asshole..."

Sonoko thought about who she could be talking about and David's face was the first to appear in her mind.

"...David Star?"

Utaha jerked her head around. "Huh? How did you know? Did he say something about me when he was in here earlier?"

Sonoko sighed and went back to sitting in her desk chair. "Haaa... If that's the case, then can I assume you can hear his voice, too?"

Utaha's eyes went wide and she nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice, "Yes! I thought I was the only one! You heard what he said, right? About how I'm a whiny losing heroine and that I'm icky?!"

Sonoko nodded her head. "Yes, I heard. I thought he was a nice young man as well before he said that. While he looked like he felt guilty about it after the fact, I still don't approve of him judging you before he even gets to know you."

"Right! He doesn't even know me! How would he feel if someone who doesn't even know him judges him based on some stupid story that he's in?!"

Coincidentally, something David was thinking about was when Yuna made pre-emptive judgements about him in the group chat just a couple hours prior.

"Just ignore him for now, Shi-chan. Maybe he's stressed out over something and said something he didn't mean, who knows? I already gave him the cold shoulder earlier and it seemed to make him uncomfortable. However, I wasn't allowed to say anything about his inner voice so I couldn't scold him about it."

Utaha smiled. "Heheh, thanks, Machida-san... Anyway, enough about him. This is my latest work, please take a look and tell me your thoughts."

Sonoko accepted Utaha's laptop and began reading what was written, noticing a remarkable similarity between the main characters in the novel and Utaha and David.

[Sonoko] 'This girl...'