Volume 1 Chapter 11

Volume 1 + Chapter 11: The Game’s Plot Continues

[Is Yuna coming back to school?]

Not good at dealing with this kind of situation, I changed the subject and asked without moving from where I stood.

[…No… The teacher arranged leave for us.]

Yuna kept her head down and answered listlessly.

[I see. Then I’m going home.]

[…Okay.]

[Goodbye.]

[…Goodbye.]

Yuna never once lifted her head the entire time. She seemed quite downcast.

Had she been deeply hurt inside her sister’s spiritual world?

It seemed the relationship between the two sisters wasn’t as close as it appeared on the surface. I felt a twinge of melancholy, but I had no intention of getting involved or asking questions.

Just as I thought a text box might appear, I reached the bottom of the stairs, yet the text box remained absent, as if it had vanished entirely.

I stepped into the empty elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. On the way down, the elevator stopped.

The doors opened to reveal the little girl named【Inoue Hatsuka】whom I had met just yesterday, along with the man who seemed to be her father, the same one I had seen before.

[I can go back by myself, Dad. Besides, I ran into a friend.]

The moment Inoue Hatsuka saw me, her eyes lit up, a gleam that made me want to take a step back.

[…Alright… I’m sorry… Hatsuka.]

When I had seen him before, he was dressed in a white shirt and looked young, not like someone who had a child.

Now, wearing a suit, he actually looked somewhat like an adult.

Aside from his lack of caution regarding his daughter’s safety, it wasn’t hard to see that he was a man who loved his child dearly.

[It’s fine, Dad. Go on back. Mom will get lonely.]

Saying something remarkably mature, Inoue Hatsuka stepped into the elevator with a smile, then turned and waved goodbye to the man standing silently outside, a faint air of sorrow clinging to him.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, the man looked up and met my eyes. The corners of his eyes were slightly red, and there was an apologetic look in his clear, dark pupils.

He gave me a small nod, and the doors closed.

[…]

Tug.

Someone tugged at my clothes again.

Seriously. Don’t you all know this will wrinkle the fabric and that it’ll need to be ironed?

I’m the one who has to iron it myself every single time, and it’s such a pain, alright?????

This is why I hate children!

Oblivious to my complaints, Inoue Hatsuka tugged again.

[…What is it?]

If I didn’t say something soon, I wouldn’t have any clothes left. I looked at Inoue Hatsuka and asked.

[…Name… I don’t know…]

Inoue Hatsuka said this, even though her demeanor seemed shy.

Yet she looked at me quite openly, standing perfectly straight without a hint of wavering in her eyes.

[…Watanabe… Watanabe Yuu.]

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Sighing no longer seemed enough to express my helplessness.

I had long since graduated from my role as the neighborhood kid leader, yet here I was, still surrounded by a bunch of brats.

Honestly, can you all just grow up already? You little runts.

When they grow up, they’ll learn what it means to keep a proper distance and what it means to be a nuisance.

At this age, kids just charge headfirst at whatever interests them.

They’re straightforward. Simple. And very difficult to handle.

[Watanabe Yuu… Yuu… Yuu-kun… Can I call you Yuu-kun?]

Inoue Hatsuka was rather impolite, repeating my name over and over as if confirming something with each utterance.

She stared at me without blinking, a strange emotion in her eyes.

From our first meeting to her asking if she could call me Yuu-kun, less than a week had passed.

This was the difference between adults and children.

A bluntness that adults couldn’t even begin to imagine. Faced with such an attempt to close the distance, I could only look at Inoue Hatsuka and sigh inwardly.

Trouble.

This was serious trouble.

I decided that if the text boxes didn’t demand it, I would definitely keep my distance from her.

Annoyed to a certain point, I put on my mask and forced a smile.

[Alright. Then I’ll call you Hatsuka too.]

When she heard me say her name, Inoue Hatsuka’s eyes shone even brighter, and she broke into a truly beautiful smile.

If a lolicon had seen that smile, they would probably have gone berserk on the spot. It was that devastating.

Let me emphasize again, I am not a lolicon. It’s simply human nature to appreciate beautiful things.

Just like the time I had met her in the rain, I reached out and touched Inoue Hatsuka’s face.

I felt that this childish, slightly bratty demeanor suited her far better than that painfully mature side of hers.

My irritation inexplicably vanished. This time, I went a little too far and pinched her cheek.

She might have been a troublesome little brat, but she was also a bit of an endearing one.

Feeling a little better, I smiled at Inoue Hatsuka, whose cheek was now pinched into a funny shape.

[You’re like a little fool.]

, , , , , , , , 

After leaving the hospital, there were no further demands. Inoue Hatsuka said goodbye and seemed genuinely intent on walking home alone.

She was being quite sensible, I had to admit.

But was it really okay for her to go back by herself?

Unlike me, a fake child with the soul of an adult trapped inside, Inoue Hatsuka was the real deal, just a seven- or eight-year-old kid.

Thinking about Inoue Hatsuka’s appearance and the sparsely populated area where she lived, I frowned.

[Hatsuka!]

[…?]

Startled by being suddenly called out, Inoue Hatsuka looked back at me with a hint of confusion.

[I’ll walk with you.]

[…Okay!]

Not expecting such a pleasant surprise, Inoue Hatsuka broke into another huge smile.

We walked in silence. Along the way, Inoue Hatsuka spent her time either looking at me… or looking at me.

And when she finally stopped looking, she would sneak a laugh to herself.

If she weren’t so good-looking, this would have been downright creepy.

As sad as it was, humans were ultimately visual creatures.

I walked Inoue Hatsuka all the way to her front door, waved goodbye cleanly and decisively, and left.

It was just about noon.

As I was wondering where to eat, I unexpectedly spotted the ramen shop I used to visit as a child.

Ah, I’d ended up here, huh?

Inoue Hatsuka’s house wasn’t far from this place. I hadn’t walked this road in a long time, and I wouldn’t have come across this ramen shop otherwise.

Because the street where this ramen shop was located was in the complete opposite direction from the route home.

Perhaps it was my past memories playing tricks on me, making me unconsciously wander to this familiar place.

Even though I hadn’t been here in over two years, the ramen shop looked largely unchanged.

Would that very kind older shop assistant still be there?

On a whim, I walked into the shop.

The person who greeted me was an unfamiliar young woman. I didn’t feel disappointed about this.

For a child, just a few years is a short time, but for a young adult, those same years are long enough to make many decisions.

People don’t stay the same. Neither do things.

I ordered my ramen and looked around at the newly renovated interior. The shop looked the same on the outside, but inside, it had changed completely.

The ramen shop was still bustling. A few familiar old faces were there, and seeing them gave me a small sense of the past.

I hadn’t been waiting long before a bowl, identical to everyone else’s, was placed in front of me. I took a bite. It tasted just as I remembered.

I chewed slowly and drank the last of the soup. As I was leaving the ramen shop, I turned back and looked at its still-unchanged exterior.

[Thank you.]

A murmur that dissolved into the air. I left that nostalgic street behind.

, , , , 

When I got home, I found my parents had come back early, a rare occurrence.

I tilted my head at the sight of them sitting at the dining table, silent, both resting their chins on their crossed hands, their faces serious.

[…Yuu…]

Prompted by my mother’s meaningful glance, my father, who was utterly devoted to his wife, opened his mouth slightly.

[Yeah???]

It must be about getting fired. I’d thought my parents’ yakuza roles had lasted quite a while.

I sat down calmly on the sofa, creating a completely different picture from my serious-faced parents.

[Yuu… your mother and I…]

My father paused for dramatic effect, clearly trying to build suspense.

[Uh-huh.]

Could you hurry it up?

If I’d known he was going to take this long, I would have gone to the kitchen to get some water first.

[Your mother and I……]

Still not going to say it?

I fixed my father with a rather sharp stare, watching him try to draw out the suspense.

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

[Your mother and I got promoted together!!!!!!!]

As he said this, my father and my mother, who had abruptly stood up, formed an inverted triangle pose with their hands. They were beaming with joy, clearly wanting to share their happiness with me.

But was the fact that my parents had been promoted within a yakuza organization really something to celebrate?

Not wanting to pour cold water on them, I put on a fake smile and stood up to applaud.

[Wow~ That’s really wonderful (monotone).]

[Heheh~ Your father and mother worked hard for this, you know.]

As if moved by their own efforts, or perhaps because their hard work had finally paid off, my parents patted each other on the back, tears glistening at the corners of their eyes.

[Ah, that’s wonderful. Truly wonderful.]

I nodded repeatedly as I said this, quietly moving around.

I planned to slip away unnoticed while my parents were busy being moved by themselves.

But then…

[The group leader heard that we’re like him, only having a daughter at home. He asked about it, and when he found out they’re the same age, he was really pleased.]

They brought me up.

I stopped in my tracks and turned my body toward my parents.

[And then?]

[And then the group leader very kindly told us to bring our daughter over to play with his lonely daughter!]

[…………]

[Let me ask, just to be sure… Did your promotion happen after the group leader found out… that you have a daughter my age… the same age as his daughter?]

Even though I broke the key parts into separate phrases, my words didn’t seem to register with my parents.

[Yes, that’s right.]

[I see.]

My parents, looking confused and not seeing any connection, had probably been promoted precisely because the group leader recognized how simple-minded and easy to control they were.

I went back to my room, closed the door, and opened the window. A gentle breeze drifted in, ruffling my hair, which had grown down to my shoulders.

Remembering the key point in my parents’ words, I looked up at the clear sky.

[A daughter the same age?]

What a nuisance.

The plot development had already exceeded anything I could have imagined. Not a single thing had gone the way I had initially anticipated.

For the first time, I, who still stubbornly refused to believe that this world was a game world, decided to try viewing the events happening around me through the lens of one.

That way, I could at least remain vigilant about daily life. But based on my usual understanding of games, that perspective didn’t seem to apply here.

[A Yuri supporting character… what a busy supporting role indeed.]

With a slightly sarcastic tone, I walked over to my bookshelf and took down a book about the Piano Healer.

[https://ko-fi.com/golden_dragon]