My System Always Wants to Force Me to Confess

Miss Kaori's machete threat successfully kept a certain scumbag on edge for a while. After thinking carefully, he felt that although Little Arrogant's threat sounded terrifying, opportunities often came with risks—Hayakawa Kashi coming to knife him tomorrow might mean that Little Arrogant would soon come to see him, right?

Hold steady, we can win!

The Higashino family finished dinner and began to hand out New Year's money to little Koseisai and Shirakawa Sawahei. The old scumbag was, of course, too embarrassed to accept the money, but considering that in the eyes of the elders, as long as you haven't found a job and become independent, you're still considered a child, he could only helplessly accept the New Year's money in the end.

The money wasn't much, just a bonus, but for Higashino Seira, it was a rare source of pocket money for the entire year. She immediately ran back to her room to save it after receiving it.

The village was remote and poor, and since it was close to the mountains, fireworks were not allowed for celebrations from a forest fire prevention perspective. The New Year's bell rang slowly from some unknown shrine in the distance, passing through mountains and forests, and eventually dissipating, leaving a silence by the time it reached Shirakawa Sawahei.

This was his first New Year at the Higashino family, and last year he had spent the day alone in a rented room, quietly treating it as New Year's Day. No New Year's money, no family laughter—thinking back, it was a bit bleak...

He looked at the vast night sky, where specks of light blossomed—not knowing whether they were starlight or distant fireworks. Far beyond the mountains, Tsukimi Sakurazawa, dressed in a traditional red kimono with golden patterns, clasped her hands together in prayer in a certain direction.

Ise Yu Yuzhijin and her family sat around the TV, waiting for the New Year's Red and White Song Battle to begin. Ise Yu Yudomura and Ise Yu Yuka were arguing non-stop about whose favorite singer was stronger, earning several glares from the girl, but failing to make them lay down their disputes and watch TV peacefully.

The goof-off girl sighed and turned her attention to her phone instead.

The invisible Tachibana Tomoku sat on the platform of the He Style Courtyard, her legs swinging, showing a bit of girlish charm. Like Ise Yu Yuzhijin, she held a phone, looking troubled yet focused. In the background, Tachibana China and Tachibana Kaisuke were clinking glasses with a group of people, glancing sadly at their daughter outside.

"Happy New Year."

Shirakawa Sawahei edited this sentence, selected three contacts, and was about to send it all at once when, at the moment his finger hovered over the screen, he suddenly remembered the murmurs Tsukimi had whispered into his chest earlier.

"Even if I might lose in the end, I don't want to see her sad..."

Shirakawa Sawahei was stunned for a moment, then sighed, and selected one more contact with a swipe of his finger.

Hmm? There's also the little girl? Forget it, let her see her sister's efforts... She hasn't confessed to me yet, being too diligent would only level up Little Arrogant's machete skills.

Despite saying that, in the end, he still sent out five messages.

Almost instantly, the goof-off girl and the invisible girl's messages showed as read, and replies from them quickly followed.

"Happy New Year, Shirakawa..."

"Humph... when are you coming back... I moved back and have a lot of stuff. Can't move it by myself... When you come back, I'll move again..."

"Did you hear me? I'll get mad if you don't reply."

"I heard you."

"Mhmm~ Happy New Year... Alright, I'm going to watch the Red and White Song Battle... don't disturb me."

Before long, replies from Tsukimi Sakurazawa and the little girl also popped up on his phone screen.

"Shirakawa~ Happy New Year, do you think I look nice like this?"

"[Image]"

"[Image]"

Shirakawa Sawahei looked and couldn't help but shake his head.

Tsukimi, Tsukimi, you're sending photos to your boyfriend. Couldn't you send something in pajamas? Wearing a kimono... although it looks nice... it's not the kind of photo I most want to see!

Gradually becoming an old lecher.jpg

"Looks nice."

"So perfunctory! Tell me, what's nice about this outfit? If you can't say it, I'll kill you, scumbag!"

"Looking at the outfit? Aren't I looking at you?"

Don't ask, if you ask, it's the scumbag's sweet talk. Learn well.

Tsukimi Sakurazawa smiled, puffed up her cheeks, and continued chatting with her scumbag boyfriend, while Tsukimi Yamadori watched her daughter's expressions with a silent smile.

Black Hearted Lolita: ?

Why is this pretty boy only messaging me and not replying quickly? Is it because the countryside has a bad signal?

With each queue, by the time he got to Miss Kaori's side, Shirakawa the old scumbag was finally at a loss—Little Arrogant didn't reply with any Happy New Year, nor did she reply at all, just simply marked it as read.

However, just this simple read mark made Shirakawa Sawahei breathe a sigh of relief.

Since Little Arrogant could read the message, it means she was less angry... there's still hope tomorrow...

Scumbags must be strong!

With three girlfriends plus the invisible girl, after going through the routine, Shirakawa Sawahei finally started to reply to Black Hearted Lolita's message. The result was as expected; her messages contained nothing substantial, just expressing regret for her failed backstabbing and capture by the black-hearted woman. She also claimed that given another chance, she would do better... Higashino Seira would willingly say she's cuter than Tsukimi Sakurazawa... all kinds of nonsense, essentially meaning one thing.

Don't get too complacent, I'll be back!

Luckily, I didn't reply to her first...

Shirakawa Sawahei felt secretly thankful, though a bit puzzled, and asked back: "Are you coming over with your sister tomorrow?"

"???"

"Who said she's coming over tomorrow? How come I don't know about it!"

Shirakawa Sawahei: ?

Oops, this might go wrong!

"Pretty boy! You're not lying to me, are you? Is the black-hearted woman really coming back for a counterattack? Damn it, I knew she didn't mean well bringing me back... Just you wait, I'll hold onto her leg if I have to, and go to your house with her tomorrow... this time I'm bringing cheese puff macarons! Humph... Higashino Seira, right? Missy just doesn't believe she can't win you over!

"..."

Koseisai said the little girl was a bit immature, and it seems it wasn't just talk...

The New Year atmosphere was thickening with the sounds of bells and fireworks. Shirakawa Sawahei put out the screen, looking at the sky as feelings of melancholy and hope intertwined, and finally spoke softly.

"Getting to know you all for another year, it's really nice."

It seemed there was some kind of awareness, as Tsukimi Sakurazawa, Tachibana Tomoku, cute little Ise Yu, Hayakawa Kashi, and even Black Hearted Lolita all suddenly raised their heads, looking towards the horizon.

Peaceful night.

...

Early the next morning after breakfast, Higashino Kei headed out to a village meeting, a traditional yearly event. On this day, as a housewife, there was technically no need to cook, as it was considered Higashino Rin's day off. However, with Shirakawa Sawahei at home, Higashino Rin clearly didn't plan to rest, starting to ask early in the morning what he wanted to eat.