Chapter 36: The Four-Person Secret Base (Part 1)
“A, a child…?”
“Yes… If you don’t… dislike me…”
The beautiful black-haired woman pressed a forefinger to her lips and looked up at me.
“Eh, eh…?”
“What do you say…? I… want to be with you, Kouichi-san… Is it… absolutely impossible…?”
My brain couldn’t keep up.
Who was this person? What on earth was she talking about? Was she some new kind of con artist?
Ignoring my confusion, the woman stared intently at me.
Her large, captivating eyes were fixed directly on mine.
Unable to bear it, I averted my gaze, only for a large chest, like two rubber balls stuffed in there, to jump into my vision.
Honestly, I didn’t know where to look.
As I hesitated, the beautiful black-haired woman’s eyes welled up with tears.
“I knew it… You hate me, don’t you…? My personality is gloomy, and I have no worth to be cherished by anyone… You think so too, Kouichi-san, don’t you…?”
Tears streamed down her face.
“Ah, no, well…”
“I’m sorry, for someone like me to have approached you, Kouichi-san… I’ll go home… Thanks to you, Kouichi-san, I’ve been reminded once again that someone like me has no charm… From now on, I’ll live alone so as not to bother anyone…”
She smiled weakly, tears still flowing.
“Eh, um…”
“Starting tomorrow, I have to try my best to live alone again… I wonder if I can do it… No, I have to, don’t I…? Because it’s my fault I have no charm…”
Unable to hold back, I ended up speaking.
“Well, it’s not like you have no charm or anything…”
“Really!?”
She leaned in sharply, enveloping my right hand with both of hers.
She then peered into my eyes from point-blank range, close enough for me to feel her breath.
“Kouichi-san, do you think… I’m even a little bit cute…?”
“Ah, yeah…”
…This is bad.
I’m gradually getting drawn in by this person.
“Then, please think of it as helping someone in need, and give me a tight hug… I just can’t believe it with words alone… And then… come inside the house and…”
“I-Inside the house?”
“Sign this document…”
“Ah! Ko-chan, who’s that person!?”
“Otama-chan!?”
Just then, Otama-chan got out of the Explorer Association car.
“…Tch.”
Hmm…? Did this beautiful woman just click her tongue…?
“We’re about to go to the Association, and you’re at the doorstep… Huh?”
Otama-chan stared at the beautiful black-haired woman.
The beautiful woman turned her head away, avoiding Otama-chan’s gaze.
Otama-chan peered at her face from the side.
“No way…”
“No way?”
Otama-chan’s face suddenly lit up.
“Manamin! It’s Manamin, right?!”
She grabbed the beautiful black-haired woman’s hands.
“Whoa, it’s been so long!!”
“Manamin? It’s Manamin!?”
My brain still couldn’t catch up.
One of the members we used to play with at the Secret Base.
Timid, not very good at talking, but occasionally she’d mutter a sharp, cutting remark.
She loved the anime Pritia and always carried its merchandise.
Manamin, Miyanohara Manami, was that kind of girl.
This assertive demeanor was completely different from back then…
“Eh, um, who might you be…? You’re kind of scary…”
“Ahaha, you can’t fool me. Your makeup is perfect, but I can tell it’s you~”
“…Tch, can’t be helped.”
Then, the beautiful black-haired woman roughly tousled her hair.
“If I’m found out, then I’m found out… Long time no see, Ko-chin, Tamama.”
She grinned like she was plotting something mischievous.
“Manamin!”
Otama-chan hugged Manamin.
“W-whoa, stop it… My chest pads are gonna get messed up…”
“It’s been so long! How have you been!? You’ve gotten so pretty! What business do you have with Ko-chan!?”
“H-hey, let go. This important paper is gonna get creased.”
“Important paper? What’s this?”
“Don’t just look at it. I’ll have Tamama sign it later too, but you have something else you need to do first, right?”
“Something I need to do first?”
“That’s right. First, marry Ko-chin.”
“W-wha!?”
“Next, have kids.”
“W-whaaa!?”
“I’ll teach you how.”
“W-whaaaaaaat!?? Manamin, what are you saying this early in the morning…?”
“Adoption Paperwork? What’s this document?”
I peeked at the document Manamin had been hiding.
Everything except the signature lines was mostly filled in.
“Tch… If you saw it, can’t be helped.”
“Manamin, are you adopting someone?”
“No way, use your common sense.”
“Eh, eh?”
My brain was short-circuiting again.
Common sense? About what?
“Ko-chin and Tamama, you guys are going to be the parents, right?”
“U-us?”
“Of whom…?”
“I’ve been telling you all along.”
Then, Manamin swayed her body coquettishly and looked up at me with upturned eyes.
“…Please make me your child. Da-ddy.”
“Ugh…”
Even though I was on guard, my consciousness was snatched away in an instant.
What is this destructive power…?
“Whaaaat!? B-but, we’re classmates, you know? What are you saying? And what’s with that way of talking!?”
If it weren’t for Otama-chan’s calm retort, it might have been dangerous.
Manamin laughed like a child whose prank had been exposed.
“It’s an imitation of a cutesy, airheaded girl. It’s a strong skill that can deceive good-natured men. I picked it up working as a shill for dating sites. Well, for Tamama, maybe this approach would work better.”
Manamin’s expression suddenly turned sharp.
“Article 793 of the Civil Code states: ‘An ascendant or a person older than oneself cannot be adopted.’ This, in other words, if reversed, means that Omogawa-sama, born in May, and Natsume-sama, born in August, have an obligation to support me, who was born in February of the following year. Are we clear so far?”
“Y-yes! So that’s how it was…”
“As an upstanding member of society, Omogawa-sama, you should understand. Now, please sign this document…”
“Yes!”
“…Hold on a second.”
“Tch…”
I took the ballpoint pen from Otama-chan.
“Huh…! What was I…?”
“Looks like you got confused by the difficult words… Anyway, Manamin, why are you so multi-talented? Is it because of your friends’ influence?”
“…Hey, hey, you just said something you shouldn’t have.”
Manamin said spitefully.
“Like hell I have any friends other than you guys. It’s an ability to superficially get along with the stupid women and crappy men of the world. It’s mimicry, mimicry.”
“Manamin, you’re this interesting and you don’t have friends? I love you!”
“Tamama… As expected, my only mama is Tamama.”
“I-I’m not gonna be your parent!”
“Well, I’ll ask you again later. It was fun to be myself for the first time in a while. Oh, right. I was watching your stream the other day. Glad you made it back safe. My comments were worth it.”
“So you were watching too, Manamin.”
“Yeah. Ko-chin, you should hurry up and accept that offer for tens of millions of yen a year. When money’s overflowing from your wallet, I’ll be there.”
“…You sound like some unpleasant yokai.”
Just then, Otama-chan suddenly clapped her hands together.
“Ah! Right, right! I forgot to tell you! For today’s Ota Dungeon debriefing, a government Explorer wants to sit in too!”
“The government?”
The scale of things was getting bigger again.
“So the government is paying attention to us too, huh…”
The pressure was on.
“So, guess who that Explorer is?”
“Even if you ask me who…”
I didn’t know anyone in the government.
“That would be…”
Otama-chan raised her index finger and said triumphantly.
Just then, an orange SUV slowly drove past my house.
On top of the car was an Explorer-spec roof rack.
“…Hm?”
The person in the driver’s seat was…
“Huh…? Everyone, why are you…?”
“Shi-chan!”
It was our childhood friend, Sasabayashi Shiho.