The Day After I Told My Shut-In Genius Childhood Friend, Who’s Highly Dependent on Me, “I Got Confessed To,” She Showed Me a Hypnosis App - Chapter 5

Mio called me, so I headed to her room.

“…You said it’s an invention, right?”

I wondered what she meant, but this wasn’t the first time she had made some kind of invention.

Before, she suddenly got inspired and made things like the “Seven Wonders Cards,” which somehow had 52 cards from the front and 53 from the back, or the “Self-Balancing Beanbag” that never fell no matter who threw it. Honestly, I still have no idea what some of them were for.

(Another useless thing…?)

More than that, the last time I saw Mio yesterday, she was acting really strange and had locked herself in her room. That worried me more. I hoped she was okay.

I walked into her room, still half-dazed from sleepiness, and saw her.

“Honami… you came.”

“Whoa.”

Mio was standing in the middle of the messy room, her face pale and ghost-like.

“A-are you okay? You look terrible.”

“Really? I’m fine, now that you’re here, Honami. I’m fine, yeah.”

Yeah, right. She definitely didn’t look fine. Her face was much paler than mine, and I hadn’t slept at all.

“What happened? Wait, stop…”

The room was a mess. Energy drink cans were scattered everywhere. Had she been up all night?

“Come here.”

“Huh? —Hey!”

She grabbed my arm impatiently and pushed me onto the bed.

Her strength was weak, but I was too tired from no sleep to resist.

Mio climbed on top of me. Her long hair brushed against my cheek, and her warm breath touched my forehead.

“Haah… um…? I was thinking?”

“…Um, Mio?”

“I always thought Honami would always be by my side. But that’s not how it is, right? You have school and a normal life. I was wrong. I was imagining things, all of it…”

“Mio-san? Hey.”

“So, I got a little anxious when you weren’t around.”

Her dark eyes glowed strangely, like they carried some kind of heat.

For some reason, I couldn’t look away. Her gaze held me in place.

“I thought you might need it.”

Mio lifted herself up.

The room was dim, the curtains completely shut. I noticed the smartphone in her hand glowing brightly.

“Tada… My latest invention!”

“…You didn’t make a smartphone, either?”

“Bzz… wrong. It’s an app.”

I thought maybe she had made the phone herself, knowing Mio, but this time, she hadn’t.

“…What kind of app?”

“A hypnosis app.”

“Huh?”

I froze at the strange words.

“I said… a hypnosis app.”

“No way…”

Even though it was Mio, there was no way…

(…)

…Could it be?

“Do you think I’m lying?”

It rationally seemed impossible. But I couldn’t nod. I couldn’t shake my head.

And I couldn’t run away either.

“If you think it’s a lie, I can try it on you?”

“W-wait…”

Mio was sitting as she slowly held out the phone screen.

On it was a purple background with a heart symbol―.

(―Huh? Is this for real?)

I couldn’t look away from the heart.

The sounds around me faded, and the heart seemed to split into many.

A silly and bouncing sound echoed in my head, over and over again.

(I’m being drawn in―)

◇

(―Huh?)

I felt like I was waking up from sleep, my head spinning for a moment.

I closed my eyes and pressed my hands to it.

“…Wait, what was I just doing…”

I couldn’t remember the last few moments.

I had heard about some invention… and came to her room…

“―Honami?”

Mio was right in front of me, so close I could feel her breath.

Her eyes looked different from usual.

Her pupils were wide.

She looked flushed, like feverish.

I could hear her swallow.

“…Mio?”

“Ah… I’m sorry. Are you okay? You were holding your head.”

“…Yeah. I was dizzy for a moment, but I’m fine now.”

After a moment, her eyes returned to normal.

The problem was that I had lost focus for a bit.

I must be sleep-deprived.

Staying up late really isn’t good.

(Wait… why did I come here again?)

A hazy sound floated in my head.

The same myon, myon, myon sound.

I looked between Mio and me.

Ah… I forgot the usual thing we do.

“…Since it’s just the two of us… I should do that.”

I wrapped my arms around Mio as she was so close to me and hugged her like I always do.

“A-aah.”

“What’s that weird noise?”

“C-could this… be?”

“No… seriously, what’s wrong with you?”

She looked at me strangely and murmured.

“―‘To hug you until we’re satisfied whenever we’re alone.’ That’s what we always do, right?”

Mio froze for a moment, then started nodding quickly.

“Y-yeah, that’s right! That’s what it is!”

“…What’s with that energy?”

“W-well, it’s like the test hug worked, and I’m happy, and also body contact is so rare, so I’m surprised, and maybe I should’ve added more options…”

“What are you even saying… huh, wait? Is it already this late?”

I thought I would come to her room early, but somehow time passed. At this rate, I’d better get ready quickly, or I might be late.

But the hug wasn’t over until she was satisfied.

“I’m gonna be late… are you done yet?”

“Yeah… ah, no, one more minute! Just one more minute!”

“Yes, yes…”

I held Mio in my arms for exactly one more minute as she let out a soft, melting “Ehehehe…” sound.

She’s acting kind of strange today, too. Maybe she’s sleep-deprived like me. She seems a bit more energetic than last night, though.

“Hey, Honami?”

“Hm?”

“What about the reply to the confession yesterday… what are you going to do?”

“Ah—”

I wondered why she suddenly asked that, but her words just faded away into the air.

The reply to her confession. A reply. I had already thought about it yesterday, late into the night―.

“…Maybe ‘I couldn’t decide, so let’s leave it for now’?”

“…I see.”

For some reason, Mio’s lips curled up in a happy little smile.

What’s going on? She really is acting strange.

I tilted my head and headed off to school.

◆ “Shinonome Mio”

I watched Honami leave my room and clenched my fist in triumph at the app’s success.

“Ehehe…”

I covered my mouth, but I couldn’t stop grinning.

“Ehehehe…”

Because it worked.

Because Honami listened to me.

“This means we’ll be together forever…♡”

I watched Honami walk toward school outside the window.

Today’s hypnosis has changed his recognition in two ways, “to put a classmate’s confession on hold,” “to hug you until we’re satisfied whenever we’re alone.”

I hadn’t changed our relationship in a big way yet; it was just a test.

I also had to think about the possibility of him finding out.

Even if he did, this little change would probably only make him a bit annoyed. The confession was put on hold, so nothing in our relationship would progress.

Important hypnosis needs to be done carefully.

I had to make sure he wouldn’t hate me or that our bond wouldn’t break.

If he found out, got angry, and our relationship collapsed, that would be the worst.

(This is enough for today.)

Still, I felt very relieved.

With this, it seemed like I could be with Honami forever.

I didn’t want to share him with any other girl.

“…Honami made me do this?”

I felt safe as sleep finally caught up to me, and I lay down on the bed, sinking into it.

Curling up always made me sleepy.

But I didn’t realize it yet.

Maybe it was because of staying up all night.

Or maybe I was just satisfied with the success of the hypnosis app and didn’t think further.

I would only realize it a little later.

―Today’s hypnosis has changed his recognition in two ways, “to put a classmate’s confession on hold,” “to hug you until we’re satisfied whenever we’re alone.”

But just now, when Honami hugged me, he said, “to hug you until we’re satisfied whenever we’re alone.”

The hypnosis target hadn’t been fully set.

“Let’s stay together forever…”

Not noticing that, I drifted into a deep sleep.