Chapter 183: The Ultimatum Hangover (and an Unlikely Intervention)

The air in the Cosplay Club room is thick enough to spread on toast. Thick with betrayal, confusion, forbidden feelings, and the lingering scent of Kenji’s cheap cologne (he fainted again, narrowly missing a bucket of resin). Rina, Haruka, and Aiwa stand before me like the three Fates, having just delivered their impossible ultimatum: Choose.

My brain is doing a fantastic impression of a loading screen stuck at 99%. Choose? Choose what? Option A: My sister, whose love is intense, possessive, and definitely requires years of therapy to unpack, but also strangely unwavering? Option B: Her rival, the cool, calculating ice queen who sees me as a fascinating puzzle and possibly a strategic asset in her quest for domination? Option C: My childhood friend, the shy girl who transforms into a cosplay goddess, the keeper of a forgotten promise, whose quiet affection feels both incredibly sweet and terrifyingly complicated? Option D: All of the above? (My brain immediately blue-screens at that possibility). Option E: None of the above, fake my own death, and move to a remote goat farm in the mountains? (Option E is looking increasingly appealing).

"Well, Onii-chan?" Rina presses, her arms crossed, her patience clearly wearing thin. "We are waiting. Who is it going to be?"

"This is ridiculous!" I finally manage to sputter, finding my voice. "You cannot just demand I make a life-altering romantic decision on the spot! In the Cosplay Club room! While Kenji is unconscious!"

"Why not?" Haruka asks coolly. "Pressure clarifies priorities. Make a logical assessment, Rui-kun. Analyze the variables. Choose the optimal outcome." (She means her).

"Rui-kun…" Aiwa whispers, looking utterly miserable. "We just… need to know." (She means she hopes it is her, but is prepared for heartbreak).

"I cannot choose!" I insist desperately. "You are my sister!" (Points at Rina). "You are… Haruka!" (Points at Haruka, brilliant). "And you are my friend!" (Points at Aiwa). "This is impossible!"

"So you choose no one?" Rina asks, her voice dangerously low. "You choose… her?" Her gaze flicks towards the door, implying Izumi, the mysterious blonde variable.

"No! I did not say that!" My head is spinning.

"This is highly inefficient," Miki sighs from the corner, where she and Hana are attempting to discreetly revive Kenji with smelling salts Hana apparently carries for just such emergencies. "Perhaps a multi-stage evaluation process is required?"

"He just needs to man up and pick!" Rina declares.

Just as the argument is about to escalate into another cycle of accusations and potential fainting spells, the door to the club room slides open.

Standing there, looking effortlessly cool in her usual stylish-but-casual attire, holding a take-out coffee cup and peering into the room with an expression of mild curiosity, is Izumi Sato.

"Knock knock?" she says cheerfully, her husky voice cutting through the tense silence. "Am I interrupting something dramatic? It sounded like a hostage negotiation combined with a very poorly scripted soap opera from out here."

Silence. Absolute, stunned silence. Everyone freezes. Rina, Haruka, and Aiwa whip their heads around to stare at the newcomer with identical expressions of shock and immediate, visceral suspicion. Kenji, halfway conscious, just groans weakly. Miki pushes her glasses up her nose, her expression unreadable but likely involving complex threat assessment calculations. Hana just looks like she is about to faint again.

Izumi takes a casual sip of her coffee, her eyes scanning the scene – me looking like a condemned man, the three girls looking like a firing squad, Kenji looking like a floor decoration. "Wow," she says, her lips twitching with amusement. "Intense study session? Looks like you guys are dissecting Rui's soul instead of cosplay patterns today. Rough critique?"

Her nonchalance, her perfect timing, her sheer audacity – it completely shatters the dramatic tension, replacing it with pure, bewildered chaos. How did she find us? Why is she here? And why does she look so damn amused by my life falling apart?