I Can See Comments When I Lie. Is This Science?

In his first month after arriving in Beika Town, Hayakawa Akira put on the wrong omamori during the New Year shrine visit and became bound to the [Word Spirit Contract].

The shrine maiden told him that every time he told a lie, he would be able to see the other person's most turbulent inner thoughts as on-screen comments.

[Ding-dong~ Welcome to the Underworld CP Shipping Broadcast Station~ Your resentful-spirit customer service agent is now online!]

[Current mission: Make that blond Public Security officer fall head over heels and lose his composure]

[Reward: Unlock his late-night inner thoughts.avi]

He thought it was some absurd game, until he met a certain blond Public Security officer and his inner-thought comments began scrolling like crazy:

[Keep staring and I'll pull you over here for a soak together.]

[Are you sure you want to know just how "good" I am?]

[You little liar, how long are you going to keep pretending?]

Then came the day when one comment stream got out of control. At the Police Agency's morning meeting, the blond young man's head was covered in full-screen text, broadcast for everyone to see:

[He snuck ice cream again... I want to kiss him.]

[If we kiss in the interrogation room... does that count as coercive interrogation?]

Hayakawa Akira: ...Is this omamori broken? Why does it keep broadcasting things that shouldn't be broadcast?! And your inner thoughts are exposed, so shut your brain up!

-

On a snowy night three years ago, Furuya Rei had seen someone's retreating figure.

A cowlick stuck up from the person's hair as he threatened fiercely, "Keep moving around and I'll curse you to be a stray cat in your next life!"

Yet his hands were gentle as he treated the wound.

Furuya searched for three years. Then, one morning in December, a familiar cowlick bobbed past the glass window of a Beika convenience store.

He began his "chance encounter" plan:

Every day, he "happened" to pass by the convenience store Hayakawa Akira frequented, secretly replaced the expired discounted rice balls, and waited late at night beneath Akira's apartment building, leaving only after the lights in his window went out.

Then, on the day of the year's first shrine visit, the young man had a familiar, faded omamori on his wrist, but his eyes held a completely unfamiliar gaze.

"Have we met before?"

The blond young man watched his cowlick bob around and chuckled. "Saying something like that when we're meeting for the first time... That's sexual harassment, you know."

In truth, he had been waiting three years for this "first meeting."

[Reader's Guide]

1. CP: Zero.

2. Lots of OOC and personal settings, pure romantic fluff, a two-person relationship-focused story. Daily life resumes three years after the organization is destroyed. The Police Academy group survives, with no real logic behind it; it's just a parallel universe.

A little promo for my new novel

The Merman Reaches the Pinnacle of Fish Life in Beika Town

Otonashi Chisaki, a three-hundred-year-old baby merman who was so hungry after his home was polluted that he gnawed through a submarine, decided to come ashore and latch onto someone for long-term financial support.

He succeeded. Blond, dark-skinned, good-looking, able to cook, and even gives him pocket money.

The only problem: the guy seems to be a member of a villainous organization.

Chisaki: No problem. This prince can turn him to our side. First, I'll act obedient, then mooch food and drink, and while I'm at it, spend all his organization's funds.

Today, he uses the guy's card to buy milk tea. Tomorrow, he lies on the kitchen counter waiting to be fed. The day after, he dives into the sea to rescue a drowning cat-eyed man (Hiromitsu: This fish is better at hiding than I am).

On the way, he saves a curly-haired former human on a Ferris wheel (Matsuda: ? Who asked you to come up here?).

Then he sneaks out in the middle of the night to have fun with a handsome man with shoulder-length hair (Hagiwara: Shh... Don't let your boyfriend find out).

Chisaki: This prince works so hard, rushing around rescuing people and keeping them company, all to build up enough favors to get Toru-chan out of the organization... Sob. (ᗜ◞ᗜ

Life goes on happily enough, except Toru-chan is always leaving early and coming home late, and he often has injuries.

Chisaki feels for him. Going to work is so hard, Toru-chan is so tired. This prince doesn't want him to work anymore.

But Toru-chan doesn't seem able to quit.

So what should he do?

A sudden flash of inspiration.JPG

If Toru-chan can't quit, then this prince will become his boss.

-

One day, Amuro receives an urgent notice: the organization has a new boss. Everyone is to assemble.

He enters the conference room on guard and sees the person seated in the high-backed chair.

Silver-white hair, blue eyes, tiny fangs.

The sweet little fish he had raised, who begged for cuddles every day, is now sitting with one leg crossed over the other, smiling to show his pointed little teeth.

"Toru-chan~ From now on, make sure you hand your salary over to me, your new boss, on time too~"

"Oh, and you'll get a pay cut for being late, for leaving early, and for getting injured too~"

Amuro: …

Wait. Who exactly did he turn to his side?

[Reader's Guide]

1. This is a silly, sweet romance, essentially a daily fish-raising story. The timeline is four years before the first year of the Detective Conan timeline; the organization is just background.

2. The merfolk is a growing type. He's not fragile, just prone to tears and fond of putting on an act, but he really can fight.

3. Any OOC is the author's fault. Orz

Theme: Use sincerity to break through lies; love lets every disguise grow toward the sun.