Tokyo Exorcism Diary - Chapter 14

Although her request had been denied, leaving her feeling a little unhappy, Hoshino Rin had to admit her brother had a point. She decided to interpret his words as a form of concern. After all, her ultimate goal was to stay near Hoshino Gen, and suggesting a floor bed was merely a tactic to achieve that.

She indeed was exhausted and afraid of sleeping alone, but above all, her curiosity about this brother she had never truly understood before was driving her.

As she had mentioned earlier, everything that had happened since she entered Hoshino Gen’s room and picked up that eerie black blade was vividly etched in her memory. Yet, the events were so bizarre that only a supernatural explanation seemed plausible. Even so, growing up in a society steeped in science made her doubt the reality of it all. Perhaps, as her brother suggested, it was just an extraordinarily vivid and surreal dream caused by exhaustion.

But she wanted to know more about Hoshino Gen.

In the dimly lit living room, Hoshino Gen leaned back on the couch, idly scrolling through his phone to pass the time. Not far away, Hoshino Rin lay curled up on another sofa, wrapped in a light pink blanket.

“Brother?” Hoshino Rin’s soft voice broke the silence.

Without looking up, Hoshino Gen answered indifferently, “What is it?”

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking… we’re twins, but being around you doesn’t feel that way at all.”

“Mm, probably because we’re not close,” Hoshino Gen replied casually, his attention glued to a thread about urban legends.

Hoshino Rin blinked, momentarily at a loss for words. Not close? Was that really something you should say to your own sister?

“Brother…” Hoshino Rin sat up, hugging her knees as she leaned against the sofa’s backrest, her expression tinged with grievance. She gazed at Hoshino Gen, who hadn’t even glanced at her. “Do you not see me as your sister at all? Am I just some stranger with a blood relation to you?”

【Friends, has anyone played the game Red Skirt? It’s so creepy! If you build over 60 affection level with the heroine, does she also turn into a ghost and jump-scare you by pressing her face to the screen? It’s terrifying!】

【I couldn’t even close the game. I had to pull the plug and restart my PC to get out of it. But when I relaunched the game, the affection level was reset to 59! I’m wondering if this is a bug. I tried several times, and it always happens!】

Hoshino Gen stumbled upon an intriguing post. Without thinking, he replied to Hoshino Rin’s question absentmindedly.

“Something like that, yeah…”

“…What?” Hoshino Rin stared at him, dumbfounded. “That’s way too hurtful!”

Hoshino Gen ignored her, switching to a search engine and typing “Red Skirt” into the search bar. All that appeared were ads for red dresses. Raising an eyebrow, he returned to the post to read the comments.

“Try uninstalling and reinstalling the game.”

“Verify the game files.”

“Does this game even exist? I couldn’t find it.”

“Sounds made up. How could such a weird game exist?”

“Can you share the game file or tell us where to download it?”

“What kind of game is this? affection level and hard-to-find? Is it… an adult game?”

Hoshino Gen scanned through the comments but didn’t find anyone else who had played the game. Thinking momentarily, he clicked into the poster’s profile and sent them a private message.

“Hello, I’m very interested in the game you described in your post last night at 8 PM. I’m willing to pay 10,000 yen for the game file. If interested, please reply.”

As soon as he hit send, Hoshino Gen suddenly became aware of someone standing beside him—so close he could feel their presence. His body instinctively tensed, ready to counter with an elbow strike, but he stopped himself just in time, realizing it was only his sister.

He calmly turned off his phone screen and looked at Hoshino Rin, who stood barefoot with her hands clasped behind her back, staring at him curiously.

“You’re not sleeping?” 

“I can’t sleep. I wanted to chat, but you kept ignoring me, so I got curious about what you were doing.” She paused, her expression growing oddly suspicious. “Brother… are you looking for H- games?”

“…”

“When your sister sleeps right next to you… you spent ten thousand yen on an H-game.” Hoshino Rin clicked her tongue and took a step back. “And just now, when I asked if you did not see me as your sister, you even admitted it…”

“……” Hoshino Gen remained silent for two seconds before suddenly standing up. His abrupt movement startled Hoshino Rin so much that she took two and a half steps backward.

But to her slight surprise, Hoshino Gen didn’t do anything dramatic. Instead, he calmly said, “Sleeping next to someone you don’t trust will only add to your psychological stress. I suggest you go back to your own room, lock the door, and get some proper rest.”

With that, he turned and walked toward his bedroom.

Huh? Even if you’re not about to pounce on me, shouldn’t you at least explain or come up with an excuse for the whole h-game thing? Do you not care about how your adorable sister sees you!?

“Wait!” Hoshino Rin quickly grabbed the hem of his shirt. “I don’t distrust you!”

Her cheeks flushed red, and her gaze darted to the floor. “I mean, I understand… it’s totally normal for guys your age to be interested in… that kind of thing. And, honestly… I really can’t stay in my room alone.”

Hoshino Gen let out a long sigh. He didn’t feel like explaining and didn’t even know how to. He turned back and said helplessly, “Then just sleep quietly and stop snooping into other people’s business.”

“Ah? Oh… okay…” Rin muttered, retreating to her sofa and wrapping herself tightly in her blanket—much more snugly this time.

Hoshino Gen returned to his seat as well, picking up his phone to check his messages. The private message he’d sent earlier hadn’t received a reply yet, so he started browsing other posts about paranormal incidents.

What he didn’t notice was that on the other sofa, Hoshino Rin had also taken out her phone and logged onto the same forum.

Hoshino Rin tried to recall what she had glimpsed on Hoshino Gen’s phone screen earlier. Piecing together the title and a few comments, she entered some keywords into the search bar. Sure enough, she found the exact post Hoshino Gen had been looking at about the so-called h-game.

She hadn’t fully seen what was written in the post before, catching only a glimpse of the title and a few replies, plus that absurd private message offering ten thousand yen for the game file. But now that she read through the post carefully herself, her back suddenly felt chilly. This game sounded utterly creepy.

Was it really an h-game?Hoshino Rin shuddered as she recalled the “dream” she had experienced. If her brother wasn’t interested in the “h” part, then he had to be chasing the creepy part, right?

Hoshino Rin quietly glanced in Hoshino Gen’s direction.

That chiseled face, which could easily charm any girl, looked faintly melancholic under the glow of his phone screen. He was dressed in a loose white shirt, clean and refreshing. When moonlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows and spilled over him, it almost gave him an ethereal, dreamlike quality.

“Honestly… with looks like that, is there even any need to play an h-game…”