NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 14 - Holiday Party Game
After breakfast.
Usually, I’d retreat to my room right away, but today I lingered in the living room, dazed.
That’s because Karen had told me, “I have a little favor to ask you later.”
I had previously told her to consult or negotiate with me early on, so when she asked like this, I had no choice but to listen.
There’s probably no need to wait here specifically, but I thought I might take a rare opportunity to observe the usual movements of the Kamishiro sisters. After all, I am technically their employer.
Erika was doing the dishes, and Karen seemed to have brewed tea for me before going to do the laundry.
I took my time sipping the hot tea, and by the time my teacup was empty, both Erika and Karen seemed to have finished their chores and returned to the living room.
“Erika, what’s your plan for later?”
“Hmm. I’m not very familiar with the neighborhood, so I thought I’d explore a bit.”
“Like going for a walk? Be very careful, okay?”
“I’m not a child, I know!”
And with that, Erika left the house.
As for Karen, who remained—she cleaned the bathroom, hung the laundry when the washing machine stopped, swept the outside and entrance, hallway, etc., and when she returned to the living room, she was still bustling about, cleaning here and there.
“Um, excuse me, Karen-san?”
“Yes? Oh, did I keep you waiting for my favor? It’s completely fine if you wait in your room. And you don’t need to call me ‘san.'”
“It’s not that I’m waiting. Well, I am, but that’s not the point.”
I had been watching Karen to see what she was actually doing, since she had said things like, “I can’t do much.”
“You’re working too hard.”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to be so diligent about cleaning. If you’re doing it as a hobby, that’s fine, but otherwise…”
Recently, I had noticed that the house was becoming exceptionally clean.
It’s not an inn or a hotel, and it’s so shiny that it seems unnecessary.
“It’s not exactly a hobby, but I think it’s more comfortable when it’s clean.”
“That may be true, but it’s so shiny that it makes me tense. It feels like I’d feel guilty if I dirtied it.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll clean it up again if it happens.”
I do care. It would be going too far to dirty something and then have someone else clean it up as if it’s a matter of course.
I don’t want to do regular cleaning. I want Karen to do the cleaning to an appropriate extent as a compromise.
“Just do the cleaning moderately. Why don’t you spend more time on yourself? Like going out and playing like Erika?”
“Playing, you say?”
Karen put her fingers to her chin, as if thinking about something, and then…
“Yes, that’s right. I want to play.”
She answered with a straight face.
Wh-what? She really had that kind of desire?
That’s right, she’s a high school girl, so it’s the age to play, isn’t it?
I felt a little relieved. I thought I was the weird one, always playing games and watching videos at the same age.
“I want to play with Seiichiro-kun.”
“…What?”
Did my ears fail me?
“I want to play with Seiichiro-kun.”
“…Why?”
I don’t understand. Why me?
No matter how I think about it, our hobbies and tastes don’t match.
Super serious, super beautiful, and ridiculously popular Karen.
Super introverted, super ordinary, and ridiculously plain me.
Our worlds are different, so to speak.
In fact, I’ve felt like we’ve been living in separate worlds for the past few weeks.
That’s why I’ve been able to live with this perfect superhuman-like beautiful girl without being conscious of her.
“Because I need to make a presentation to add hope to Seiichiro-kun’s life, I thought I should get to know Seiichiro-kun himself first. I thought that would start with doing something together.”
“That’s your reason?”
Just a little bit, I had imagined the impossible thought of “Maybe she’s interested in me?”…
Even if she was interested, what would it matter? As a man’s sad nature, there are moments when the heart wavers when talking to a cute girl.
Of course, romance is out of the question.
The three major elements that ruin life are alcohol, women, and gambling. Incidentally, my father had all three. He’s a perfect example, in a negative way.
“It’s not just that, but… well, I also want to know more about Seiichiro-kun…”
Don’t be happy with yourself, my brain!
It’s not that! This is definitely not that kind of thing! It’s probably about the debt, or something like that.
And I’m confident that the more I’m known, the more I’ll be disliked.
Considering my current self and my parents’ crappy behavior, my future probably won’t be much good either. After all, they say that 90% of a person’s life is determined by genetics.
“There’s nothing good about knowing me.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You think I’m a good person because I took over the debt, right? That’s a misunderstanding. I did it for my own reasons.”
“That’s not what I mean. Ah, no, of course, that’s part of it, but living together… don’t you realize it?”
“Huh?”
Realize? What?
“Um, no, never mind. Anyway, I would like to play with Seiichiro-kun.”
“What will you do if I say no?”
“Then I’ll wait.”
Wait? Even so…
It’s not like I have a single reason to agree…
“I’ll work while I wait.”
“What?”
“This negotiation is about what to do outside of work, and I asked to play. Since you’ve refused, all I can do is continue to work.”
“What? Wait, what are you saying?”
“Then I’ll get back to work.”
With a composed expression, Karen bowed once and tried to leave the room.
Wait, is she really going to keep working until I agree? Is she sane? But she seems like she would.
Erika and Karen, after all, these sisters are definitely not normal.
“…Ah, what do you want to play?”
Reluctantly, with a feeling of full reluctance, I squeezed out my voice in response to which Karen stopped her feet immediately.
She turned around.
“I’m fine with anything, as long as it’s with Seiichiro-kun.”
She said so with a straight face. …It seemed a little bit happy, but it might be a misconception, or maybe it’s just my wish.
I almost suggested taking advantage of her words to propose something lewd and shattering her expression. But…
“If possible, something simple might be better. Something we can do while talking, something simple.”
With such a person who could say something like that, there was no way I had the guts to make an indecent proposal. In the end, I came up with an extremely safe choice.
“Ah, then how about board games? We can get to know each other while playing.”
“Board games? That sounds fun. I’ve never played them, but I’m sure it will be interesting.”
“Okay, I’ll prepare it then. Wait a bit.”
What the hell is this, all of a sudden? What’s happening?
Well, I guess it’s not bad.
I don’t know what Karen’s aiming for, but it’s probably not something bad.
I just hope that this doesn’t turn into something that makes me regret it.