The Voice Cannot Be Photoshopped

The room was simply furnished, yet far from messy. There were no random odds and ends lying around, making it rather different from the Boys' Dormitory Horikita Suzune had imagined.

The bed was neatly made. The desk held only a closed laptop and several neatly stacked books, and the whole space carried the casual air of someone living alone.

"Horikita, it's a long story..."

"Then keep it short." Horikita Suzune did not sit down, her voice taut.

"Oh." Kitagawa Kai responded, as though he were genuinely considering how to phrase it more concisely.

Then, in an almost offhand tone, he dropped the words that were enough to set off thunder in Horikita Suzune's mind:

"Simply put, your brother entrusted you to me. From now on, I'll take care of you in his place."

The air instantly froze.

Horikita Suzune's pupils contracted sharply.

Her brother?

Entrusted?

Take care of her?

How could those words possibly be put together—and come from this man's mouth?

"I don't need you to take care of me! I can handle my own affairs! My brother... he must have made a mistake, or you've twisted what he meant!"

She refused to believe it, and she could not accept it.

Seeing her fierce resistance, Kitagawa Kai took the Universal Video Recorder from his pocket, his thumb hovering over the play button.

Aside from high-definition image quality and stabilization, the system's Universal Video Recorder had one most important function: it was always on.

Pressing the record button was merely for the sake of ceremony.

"Whether I twisted it or not, listen to this."

After a brief silence, Horikita Manabu's distinctive voice came through the speaker:

"...Most importantly, I hope you'll protect her."

It was as though Horikita Suzune had been scalded by those words. A blush rose on her face, spreading all the way to her ears.

He hoped this person would protect her?

Her brother had spoken to this person in that tone... asking him to protect her?

So her brother did care about her after all, even if he had pushed her away so coldly.

[ Ding! ]

[ Horikita Suzune's Affection Level +10. Current Affection Level: 30 (Confused) ]

[ Ding! ]

[ Horikita Suzune's Affection Level +5. Current Affection Level: 35 (Curious) ]

The system notifications sounded in Kitagawa Kai's mind.

That completely threw Kitagawa Kai off. Seriously, you siblings were more twisted than the other.

The blush had yet to fade from Horikita Suzune's face as she looked at Kitagawa Kai again.

Her gaze was filled with complicated emotions: embarrassment at having been entrusted to someone else, confusion over the meaning behind her brother's actions, and a subtle feeling toward the person her brother had acknowledged.

She still gripped the compass tightly in her pocket, but her knuckles were no longer quite so stiff.

"...My brother," she said, her voice softer than before and carrying a faint, barely detectable bitterness. "Did he really say that?"

"As everyone knows, voices can't be faked, Suzune-chan~" Kitagawa Kai used a somewhat intimate form of address.

The name "Suzune-chan" made Horikita Suzune's ears redden even further. She corrected him aloud.

"Kitagawa, I acknowledge you as the executor of my brother's request. However, please do not casually address me by my given name."

Kitagawa Kai shrugged. "Fine, Suzune-chan. Want something to drink? Milk or juice?"

He understood.

But he would not change.

Horikita Suzune looked at his utterly matter-of-fact face and stiffly refused.

"No need. I only came to verify the information in the announcement. I should leave now."

"For your brother's sake, I'll give you one reminder: observe more carefully, or you'll regret it~"

"I will act according to my own judgment." She stepped toward the door.

Horikita Suzune's steps as she left the room were slightly flustered.

The instant she stepped outside, a girl with short chestnut-colored hair was watching avidly from a corner.

Horikita Suzune!

You bitch!

Coming out of the Boys' Dormitory first thing in the morning—weren't you supposed to be so aloof?

I found your secret, hahaha.

"Mm, the weather's nice today." After changing clothes, Kitagawa Kai glanced at the bright morning light outside the window.

"A perfect day to bump into Hiyori at the library. Let's see if I can run into her."

As he walked, Kitagawa Kai immersed himself in the system interface in his mind.

[Personal Information]

[Name: Kitagawa Kai]

[Stamina: 7 (Full of energy, above-average endurance)]

[Intelligence: 6 (Superior to ordinary people)]

[Charm: 8 (Eye-catching)]

[Items: Universal Video Recorder]

[Abilities: Affinity, Master-Level Chess Skill, Narrator, Shoulder Throw, Master-Level Painting, Wilderness Survival Expert]

[Beautiful Girl Encyclopedia]

[Characters Available to Pursue]

[Yamamura Miki (40)]

[Sakayanagi Arisu (40)]

[Ichinose Honami (52)]

[Kamuro Masumi (66)]

[Horikita Suzune (35)]

Advanced Nurturing University's library was built in a distinctly modernist style, its entire structure composed of vast panes of glass.

Under the morning sunlight, it resembled a crystal palace of dazzling clarity.

Kitagawa Kai entered the library. It was unusually quiet inside, with only the sparse sounds of pages turning and footsteps.

Fine motes of dust floated in the air, mingling with the distinctive scent of old book paper.

After looking around, Kitagawa Kai quickly spotted a silver-haired girl in a corner.

She wore the standard uniform. Her burgundy blazer made her skin appear even fairer, while beneath it was a spotless white shirt with a dark blue ribbon tied at the collar.

Below her white pleated skirt were a pair of slender legs clad in gray thigh-high socks, outlining the girl's delicate and graceful figure.

She held a detective novel in her hands, completely absorbed in it, with an open notebook spread across her knees.

Shiina Hiyori.

Kitagawa Kai felt like he was about to fall in love all over again.

He softened his footsteps and headed toward the shelves diagonally behind her, pulling out a copy of The Inugami Curse.

A classic Honkaku mystery novel.

Holding the book, he walked to another window-side reading table about one seat away from Shiina Hiyori.

Time slowly passed between the turns of pages.

When Kitagawa Kai reached a certain passage, his fingers unconsciously tapped against the edge of the page—a small habit he had when thinking.

At that very moment, a bookmark tucked inside the book slipped out with the motion of the page turn and fluttered to the floor.

Almost at the same time.

Shiina Hiyori turned slightly. Her amethyst-like eyes first glanced at the bookmark on the floor, then naturally lifted and settled on Kitagawa Kai.

When she saw the title on the dark blue cover in his hands, her gaze lingered for about a second.

The Inugami Curse.

Yokomizo Seishi?

"Sorry, I accidentally dropped it."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Kai had already bent down and picked up the bookmark.

"It's alright. Are you visiting the library for the first time today? I don't think I've seen you here before."

Shiina Hiyori's voice rang out, polite and seemingly not deliberately trying to strike up a conversation.

[Detected a character available to pursue near the host: Shiina Hiyori]

[Character Strategy Support Pack: Intelligence +1]

[Affection Level: 30 (Friends)]

"Mm, I suppose so." Kitagawa Kai wore the shy expression of someone visiting for the first time.

"This building is beautiful. I've always wanted to come take a look. I didn't expect the collection inside to be so extensive, especially the mystery section. It's exactly to my taste."

"Yes, the collection here is indeed very complete. There are also many out-of-print books." Shiina Hiyori glanced at the blue cover again. "A work by Yokomizo Seishi... Do you like mystery novels too?"

"They're alright. I've been reading this one lately. It's a classic Honkaku mystery, and the atmosphere is especially well done." Kitagawa Kai even gave the book in his hand a little shake.