The Honmaru Dating Game: Restarted a Hundred Times

Several years after its public release, the ancient fossil that is Touken Ranbu has finally gone fully immersive.

Faced with this unexpected news, Makari Hina immediately chose to call in sick, transferred her game data from her P-P account, and started playing.

With everything ready, she happily pressed [Enter the Honmaru].

And wisely saved her game right at the start.

"Welcome home, Master!"

As soon as she entered the Honmaru, Kunihiro, her starter sword, came eagerly over with sparkling eyes, as well-behaved as a golden retriever.

So cute, it makes me...

Want to slap him.

And so she ended up with a poor little Yasusada whose face had been slapped to one side. He covered his burning cheeks with both hands, his eyes hidden behind his hair, his expression impossible to read.

Oh no. I actually did it. I couldn't hold back.

"Mas..."

Haha, sorry. My tastes got the better of me.

Having indulged her wicked little whim, she felt deeply guilty about the whole thing.

Makari Hina quickly loaded her opening save, returning to the moment she'd first met Kunihiro, and tried to act as if nothing had happened.

"Nice to meet you, Kunihiro! This is my first time actually seeing the Honmaru."

"Were you looking forward to today? To meeting me, I mean?"

With a hopeful gleam in her eyes, she leaned toward him and threw herself straight into the arms of the still-bewildered Kunihiro.

Kunihiro, whose memory still held the moment his Saniwa had slapped him: ...

W-was that just my imagination?

As it turned out, it wasn't.

Over the following days, Makari Hina accomplished the following:

She summoned Hasebe, then kissed him without the slightest warning.

Then she reloaded, acting as though nothing had happened.

She grabbed Tsurumaru by the necklace and pulled him over, pretending she was about to kiss him, only to slap him instead.

Then she reloaded, acting as though nothing had happened.

She yanked up Candle Cutter's shirt, pressed her face against him, and spent a while biting and nibbling him, saying, "You don't mind indulging me a little more, do you?"

Then she reloaded yet again, acting as though nothing had happened.

And through all of it, she never offered a single explanation.

Well, of course. From the Master's perspective, they should have forgotten all those memories by now, right?

So which one would she pick next?

The sword warriors' answer was, naturally: "Me."

"...So you all knew the whole time, and not one of you told me the truth?"

After learning what had really happened, Makari Hina slowly formed a question mark.

When I put a question mark, it's not because I'm confused. It's because I think you all have a problem.

"That's right, but I don't think that's the real issue here." Tsurumaru approached with a quiet laugh, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and breathed gently against her ear.

Hasebe did not come closer. He merely lowered his eyes and added in a restrained voice, "I will wait patiently for your instructions."

"...Wait for your final choice."

Makari Hina: Huh?

What choice? Aren't all of them my sword warriors?

Theme: Never underestimate the weight of anyone's love.