43: Just Daily Life
The next day.
Ryuugo visited Madoka’s house, relying on his memories.
There was just one concern left.
“Is this okay?”
Ryuugo asked, and Madoka nodded.
The two of them looked down at the woman sitting on the sofa in the living room.
She was Madoka’s mother.
Up until just now, she had just been staring blankly out the window, but the moment the hypnosis app was set to ‘serious,’
“Oh my, welcome. It’s been a while, Tanuki-kun.”
She transformed as if a different person had taken over, becoming a sociable person.
If you were to ask if this was her true personality, the answer would probably be no.
Even so, for Madoka, this must be better than losing her parent. She can’t bring her mother back to her senses now that she’s lost the app, so since she won knowing that, I should at least do this much for her.
Shown into Madoka’s room, I sit down on the bed.
It was a very ordinary room. It was simple, with a sense of style befitting a girl, but without any unnecessary furnishings.
Speaking of which, there was none of the hero merchandise she had talked about so passionately…or so I thought, but upon closer inspection, most of the knick-knacks in the room were that.
Even though there were fewer items that looked like merchandise, it was practically camouflage.
“You remembered what I said. That makes me happy.”
“No, I just remembered this morning, so I came in a hurry.”
“…………”
“Well…I didn’t forget it, so forgive me.”
“I’m not angry. Rather, I’m happy that you remembered it properly even though I didn’t say anything.”
From Noble mtl dot com
I see. So that’s why she didn’t say anything.
Up until yesterday, I had suspected that Madoka was lying to get sympathy.
Knowing the truth like this, I think I can understand her thinking.
At that time, she must have been at her mental limit. Everything was going wrong.
“Madoka, I’m going to go now.”
“Is that so? Thank you, Tanuki-kun.”
Smiling so carefree, she reminded me of the days before we started fighting.
◇
“Kyaaah!”
Misato shrieked,
“Whoa!”
A grand splash of water erupted.
Ryugo and Koki, who had been splashed by her sudden leap into the pool, shook the water off their heads and slicked back their hair.
“Wh-what the hell!? You scared the crap out of us!”
“It’s fine! Isn’t it? Ahahahahaha!”
Misato laughed cheerfully, her blue frilly swimsuit shimmering.
Ryugo and the others were at a popular leisure pool facility.
A giant water slider. A lazy river with an island in the middle. A jungle-gym-like structure.
Amidst the playground painted in childishly vibrant colors, they swam, basking in the summer sun.
“So, what should we do next!?”
Ryugo and the others sighed at Misato’s boundless energy.
“Man, we’re exhausted just following you around…”
“Then you can rest. I’ll play by myself,”
They watched her dash off with a gleeful cry and took a breather under the shade of a tree.
“What’s with her… her personality suddenly changed.”
“Not really,”
Koki said, holding a glass of orange juice. He had taken off his glasses since they were at the pool.
“She can be a bit of a downer, but when she’s playing, Misato is more cheerful than any of us.”
“For the first time… no, I guess it’s not the first time I’ve seen her like this.”
“Of course not. You’ve seen that side of her many times. You’ve just forgotten…”
“I wish I could remember.”
“But not yet. You need to level up.”
“But if that’s the case, shouldn’t we be training instead of playing around…?”
“Like I said before, this is a… present for Misato, to make up for all the times Enka has used her.”
“I want to be pampered too…”
“Once everything is over.”
“When will that be…? Huh?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Misato.
Two young men were talking to her as she got out of the beachside pool. At first, he thought they were just asking for directions, but they were standing a bit too close.
“…Let’s go.”
As Ryugo got up, Koki also stood up and said, “Yeah, let’s.”
As they approached, they could finally hear the conversation that had been drowned out by the noise until now.
“So, if you’re alone, why don’t you come with us…”
“No, um, we-well, I’m here with my…”
“Then why aren’t you with your friends?”
“–Aren’t they right here?”
Ryugo suddenly appeared from behind them, and the two men flinched.
“Isn’t that a little too forceful? You should stop right there.”
“W-what!?”
“Oh, me? I’m this girl’s friend.”
“II’m sorry. Then, I’ll go.”
I watched as the two of them walked away looking uncomfortable. I patted Misato on the shoulder, who was still blushing and dizzy.
“Are you okay?”
“III’ve… never been hit on before…”
“What? Were you happy?”
“No…I was scared, but…”
Misato looked up at me with teary eyes and smiled wryly with a face that looked like she was about to cry. Her hands were raised to her chest in frustration, and her cheeks were flushed.
“T-thank you… I’m… happy…”
Her slightly sobbing gratitude warmed my heart.
… I didn’t really see Misato’s true self.
I felt like I had brought back her real self.
“U-um… wait… I feel like I’m going to throw up from the shock.”
“No, you’re overreacting.”
“Bleh…”
“Don’t throw up! Don’t throw up!”
Ryugo hurriedly supported Misato’s shoulder, while Koki supported her on the other side, and they rushed to the toilet.
While waiting outside, I gazed at the people swimming and chatted idly with Koki.
“No, really…”
Then, he burst out laughing.
“It was only a few months ago that the three of us couldn’t hang out anymore, but it feels like a long time ago…”
“Nostalgia, huh? I don’t need to bring back memories like this puke.”
“Even the memory of seeing her panties?”
“That’s a good one. Ugh…”
Misato, who had just come back, strangled me from behind, making my speech sound strange.
“Listen, Koki. You…”
“hahahahaha. Just kidding. But it’s more motivating to look forward to what we’re going to remember from now on, right?”
“…I wonder if it’s okay to be more interested in panties than swimsuits.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Ryugo looked away as the two of them stared at him.
In terms of style, Misato is quite something. In fact, she’s so good that she gets hit on whenever she takes her eyes off her for a second.
“Well, don’t worry about me. Today is the day to hang out with Misato.”
“Even though you’re only taking care of me. You guys have done a lot for me too. Honestly, when I betrayed you guys and joined Enka, I thought I would never be able to go back to the days when we were close .”
“Anyone can understand that there are circumstances.”
“Even so, people don’t usually believe you until they see it. Don’t they usually become half-suspicious?”
“I’m not normal.”
“What a convincing argument…”
To begin with, we were also at fault for postponing finding out why Misato had joined Enka’s side.
If we had known, we could have taken countermeasures.
It’s too late to think about it now, but the past cannot be changed…
“Shall we have lunch soon?”
Ryugo and the others nodded at Koki’s suggestion.
Anyway, let’s forget what happened so far and have fun.
The three of them looked at the shops from left to right. The colorful shops lined up long and the scents drifting from them aroused their hunger.
They sat down at a table seat nearby. The large parasol was blocking the sunlight.
“By the way…”
Ryugo raised his face while breaking apart chopsticks.
“Why are you here?”
“Yo.”
Enka narrowed her eyes and stood right behind them.
She was wearing a pale pink swimsuit with lace and a rash guard. Ryugo flinched as her ample breasts appeared right before his eyes.
“Tanuki-kun, why didn’t you invite me?”
“…Because you were the least likely person to be invited.”
“I see.”
I wonder how she feels about being here, but judging from her carefree face, she doesn’t seem to mind at all.
“By the way, I forgot to ask.”
“Hm? Any questions?”
“Ah… Why did you set me up to be hated by Misato?”
“Ugh…”
Enka groaned and stopped moving. It seemed that she had pulled out something dangerous along with her right to remain silent.
However, Misato intervened there.
“It’s too much to erase only my memories and make me a bad person. Is it jealousy? You bully an unpleasant girl who is close to the boy you like. Is there any other way to think about it? Besides, the moment you beat up Aira to the point where she was no longer needed, you could tell that this person was a jealous piece of trash.”
She’s being too frank.
Enka, who had both her shame and darkness exposed, turned bright red up to her ears and trembled.
“I-it’s not like that…”
“Is it too late to be embarrassed now?”
Enka, who was at a loss for an answer, suddenly raised her face as if she had thought of something.
“But Tanuki-kun is exactly the person I thought you were! You’re doing this to comfort Misato-chan. You’re a hero!”
It seems that she decided to change the subject.
“You’re cheapening the word ‘hero’.”
“I just want to praise Tanuki-kun. Right?”
Enka clung tightly to Ryugo. The softness of her large breasts was directly transmitted to his back.
I wanted to stay like this for a while, but I had no choice but to give up as Misato glared at me.
“Okay, that’s it. I’ll listen to you as much as you want later, so go home.”
“Eh…”
Enka pouted while playing with her hair.
“But… I want to play with Tanuki-kun…”
“Sigh… I’ll play with you as much as you want when you go home.”
“Really!?”
“That’s a lie, you idiot!!”
“uuu!”
Her panicked reaction was adorable, like a little kid’s, but if I indulged her too much, she might start demanding ridiculous things.
“Uhhh… uuu…”
“Enka…”
Ryugo placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke gently.
“If you’re sorry, then I won’t say anything else. Can you go back to being the Enka I respected?”
“Unn… I’ll go back…”
“Can you be friends with Misato too?”
“I’ll do it…”
“That’s great. So for today, ‘go home.'”
Enka abruptly turned around and started walking away after the unexpected ‘order.’
“Ah, ah, hey? Wait! Raccoon-kun!”
“See ya. Brush your teeth. Have a good dream.”
“No, it’s still daytime, aaahhhhh!!!!!!!!”
Enka stumbled away, bewildered by her body moving against her will.
“I see. Since she’s no longer the app holder, the hypnosis works.”
Ryugo smiled at Koki’s words.
“Yeah. I was genuinely scared when she suddenly appeared… Misato, are you okay?”
“I was surprised too, but…”
“She’s been a bully and caused you trouble. Don’t you ever want to see her again?”
“…Well, yeah. But it doesn’t make sense to keep worrying about something that’s been resolved. My classmates will still think of her as a model student, right? If I resist her, they’ll still think of me the same way.”
“You wanted to change that?”
“I don’t have any reason to listen to Enka or Aira anymore. No matter what they do.”
Misato said, blushing and looking up at him.
“Raccoon will protect me, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll protect you like a VIP. You’ve been through a lot, so it wouldn’t be fair if you didn’t get some payback.”
“Thank you, Raccoon.”
◇
The following is additional information about what Enka was doing behind the scenes, since I didn’t have a chance to write about it before:
1. Enka, convinced that Ryugo had the app, spoke to Double Suit but learned that it wasn’t a violation. She was told that the app had probably been transferred as a penalty.
2. She learned from the students who were watching Ryugo that he was often on the phone with someone. She was sure that the only person he would talk to in this situation was Koki.
3. From Ryugo’s conversation, she realized that he didn’t know she was still the holder.
4. She decided to keep an eye on them, assuming they would meet somewhere.
5. She came up with a plan to make herself the villain and Ryugo the hero by having Double kill herself and involving Koki in the fight.
6. Koki’s unexpected appearance as a panda slightly disrupted her plan, but she managed to lead Ryugo to the body.
7. She tried to involve Koki and Misato in the fight as planned, but Aira’s arrival ruined her plan and she ended up getting run over by Double Suit. (Unexpected)
8. She was happy to collect Misato and make Ryugo act like he hated her, but Ryugo didn’t hate her at all.
9. She cried because nothing was going right.