She blushed as the character with Ikki’s face whispered into her ear through the headphones. Of course, she knew this was just a game, and that the guy on the other side of the screen who looked and sounded like Ikki was just a character. But it was precisely because this wasn’t real that she felt it would be okay for her to be honest with herself.
She was getting fed up with how slowly her and Ikki’s relationship was progressing. They hadn’t even held hands yet. And they were dating, for crying out loud. She wanted to go a lot further with him than just holding hands. She wanted to get intimate the way other couples did; she just didn’t have the courage to tell him that. She’d never recover if he told her she was too forward or that he didn’t like overly lewd girls, hence she was playing it safe.
In truth, though, she knew that even if Ikki were the one to initiate and ask to hold hands—or do anything else, for that matter—she wouldn’t be able to honestly say yes to him. She was well aware of just how twisted her personality was. Without a doubt, she’d come up with some kind of excuse and run away if Ikki so much as touched her fingers. Most likely, she’d say that a princess couldn’t be doing such indecent things or something.
Yeah, that’s definitely something I’d say. Man, I’m not cute at all, am I? I can’t believe Ikki fell in love with a girl like me. But maybe I can use this game to try and fix my messed-up personality bit by bit...
Through the game, she could learn how to be cuter, find ways to be more receptive to Ikki’s advances, and most importantly, become someone Ikki could love even more. After a few seconds of hesitation, she pushed the “confirm” button and started reading the protagonist’s lines aloud—with one small alteration.
“I love you too, Ikki! Marry me and stay with me for the rest of my life!”
Suddenly, there was a loud thud. One that Stella was able to hear even through her headphones.
“Wha—”
She turned around and saw Ikki sitting in the doorway, looking like he’d just fallen down from shock.
“...”
“M-My bad! I didn’t mean to peek or anything. It’s just, I heard noises from in here, but you didn’t respond when I knocked, so... Um, th-that’s one of those dating sims made for girls, right? A-Aha ha ha, I was really shocked when you suddenly asked me to marry you out of the blue. I guess you were just reading the game’s lines aloud, right? I can’t believe there’s a character with the same name as me, though. What a coincidence!”
“......”
“I didn’t know you were the type to read the protagonist’s lines out loud, Stella. You must really get invested in these stories. I feel like I’ve seen a new side of you. Uh, don’t mind me. I’ll get out of your hair and let you keep playing. Sorry for interrupting!”
“.........”
A few seconds after Ikki left, Stella finally unfroze.
“Nooooooooo!”
Her scream resounded throughout the entire dorm.
Remember, kids, always make sure you regularly check your surroundings when playing VNs, eroge, otomege, or anything that could potentially be embarrassing. Especially if you have headphones on and can’t hear what’s happening in the outside world.