Chapter 112: The Maiden’s Secret

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Translator: Soafp

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“Can I think about it for a little while?”

That was Kokoa’s response to my suggestion.

She seemed hesitant about meeting Yuna. I wondered if something had happened.

Or perhaps she was afraid of seeing how much Yuna had changed and getting hurt all over again.

With such severe lasting aftereffects, it might be impossible to find any trace of the girl she used to know.

(I guess I need to figure out how to arrange the meeting too.)

I might have to rely on the detective again.

Obviously, asking Nagasawa-senpai directly wasn’t an option.

Once we entered the supermarket, we immediately started shopping.

Yui and I began placing the ingredients Nodoka had asked for into the basket one after another.

“Kokoa-san, what are you having for dinner today?”

“Hmm… What are you all having tonight, Ren-sama?”

“Judging from these ingredients, probably nikujaga.”

“Ooh, nikujaga! That sounds delicious! And Nodoka-san is making it, right?”

“Yeah.”

Our kitchen was practically under Nodoka’s control.

“Then I’ll have nikujaga for dinner too!”

“Are you making it yourself? If so, I can ask Nodoka to send you the recipe.”

“What are you saying, Ren-sama? Of course I mean Nodoka-san’s nikujaga.”

“…”

So she’d planned on being treated from the very beginning.

I didn’t really mind.

More importantly, it was much better than leaving Kokoa alone when she’d been so emotionally drained lately.

For her as well, sitting around the table with everyone would probably help take her mind off things.

“I’ll ask Nodoka first.”

“Okay!”

I took out my phone and sent Nodoka a message.

As always, her reply came almost immediately.

After reading it, I told Kokoa,

“She said it’s fine—as long as you buy the ingredients for your own portion.”

“Ehh? Ren-sama isn’t paying for the ingredients too?”

“It specifically says here that I’m not allowed to.”

“If the wife says so, then I have no choice!”

“The wife,” huh?

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Though… it wasn’t exactly inaccurate.

We added Kokoa’s ingredients to the basket, paid, and left the supermarket.

There were a lot of us, and besides dinner ingredients, we’d bought plenty of other things too, so our shopping had grown into five full grocery bags.

“I’ll carry three bags. You two can each take one.”

Honestly, I couldn’t confidently say I was stronger than Yui.

Still, moments like this made me want to act like a man.

…Though someone like Burn-san would probably carry all five bags by himself without breaking a sweat.

“Won’t three bags be too heavy?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Kokoa giggled.

“So Ren-sama has moments where he acts tough too?”

“I’m not acting tough.”

“The way you said that makes it sound exactly like you’re acting tough!”

…The truth was, they were heavy.

My arms were almost trembling.

Yui suddenly seemed to think of something.

“Ah, then—”

She had only just begun to speak when Kokoa suddenly reached for one of the bags I was carrying and grabbed the handle.

“Then let’s share one together!”

“…All right. Thanks.”

“Hehe, doesn’t this kind of feel like we’re newlyweds?”

“If anything, it’s more like a father and daughter.”

“That hurts you more than it hurts me, Ren-sama! At least say we’re siblings!”

Thanks to Anna calling me “Oji-san” every chance she got, my sense of age had become completely numb.

With Kokoa sharing one of the bags, we started walking back toward the apartment.

…Come to think of it, if someone took a picture of us like this, wouldn’t that be a huge problem?

Cold sweat was just beginning to form when Yui grabbed the handle of the bag on my other side.

“U-um… I’d like to help carry one too… i-is that okay?”

“Hm? Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Th-thank you.”

Why was she thanking me?

Shouldn’t I be the one saying thank you?

Then it clicked.

Ah…

She’d gotten jealous after seeing Kokoa carrying a bag with me.

(I need to think about Yui too.)

We couldn’t keep living like this forever.

Of course, my top priority was making sure Yui never reached that worst possible decision again.

But eventually…

I’d have to decide for myself what kind of future I wanted with her.

Yui happily gripped the handle tighter.

Watching her, Kokoa giggled once more.

“Ren-sama, you’re always surrounded by girls.”

“Huh? Girls?”

“If you deny it that hard, even I’ll get hurt! I’ll seriously become a lovesick mess!”

“Just kidding.”

That aside, if Kokoa was right…

Didn’t I look like a pretty shallow playboy from other people’s perspective?

Since I wasn’t the type who liked flashy, womanizing guys, it left me with rather mixed feelings.

“Ren-sama.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve decided!”

Kokoa suddenly straightened her back.

“I want to meet Yu-chan!”

That came out of nowhere.

She’d said she wanted time to think about it, so I’d expected it would take at least a few days.

Had she been thinking it over while we were shopping?

Though… she’d been chatting with us the whole time.

“I understand. Then I’ll think of a way for you to meet Yuna-san.”

“Okay! Ever since I met you, Ren-sama, it feels like everything’s been going really well.”

“Huh? Like what?”

“Who knows?”

Kokoa smiled brightly.

“It’s a maiden’s secret!”

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I asked the detective to find a way for Kokoa to meet Yuna without going through Nagasawa-senpai.

…At this rate, I was really going to become one of the detective’s regular clients.

Several days passed after that.

Life wasn’t exactly ordinary, but we managed to get through our school days well enough.

“Here you go, Ren-kun. Say ah.”

At lunch that day, I was sitting on the emergency staircase as usual, eating my bento.

Airi and Nodoka kept picking up side dishes and holding them out for me to eat.

Beside us, Yui watched enviously.

“By the way, the school festival’s coming up soon, right? What’s your class doing, Airi?”

“My class? Nothing unusual. Human chess.”

“Whoa, whoa, that’s not normal at all.”

How were they planning to pull that off inside a classroom?

Curiosity alone made me want to stop by and see it.

“Your class is doing a butler café, right, Ren-kun?”

“Yeah. Did I tell you that?”

Or had she heard it from Nodoka or Yui?

I looked at the two of them, but they both shook their heads.

Airi chuckled.

“There are ways to know everything, Ren-kun.”

“…You didn’t plant something like a bug in my uniform, did you?”

Ever since we moved into the apartment, Airi had been in charge of the laundry.

“I wouldn’t do something that obvious.”

“So you did something less obvious?”

“Who knows? It’s a maiden’s secret.”

At this point, I wanted to question what exactly qualified as a “maiden.”

Still, it was Airi.

She wouldn’t misuse whatever she’d done.

I decided not to think about it any further.

Nodoka pouted.

“Aww… I wanted to see you dressed as a butler, Ren.”

“Guys better-looking than me should be the ones doing that.”

“Ehh? I don’t get it. You’re plenty handsome.”

I appreciated that she liked my face, but objectively speaking…

Besides, I’d honestly rather work behind the scenes than serve customers, so I was secretly relieved.

That was when—

“Fukagawa!!”

The door burst open, and someone rushed inside.

We all turned toward the sound.

“Takagi?”

“Please!”

“…For what?”

I had a really bad feeling about this.

“Remember the guy who hurt his leg during the open school event?”

“The one I filled in for?”

“Exactly! This time he injured his arm!”

“I see. Tell him I hope he gets better.”

“That’s not what I mean!!”

Takagi immediately clung to my legs.

More importantly, how did this guy whose name I didn’t even know keep getting injured so often?

“I’m in the light music club, remember?”

“First time I’ve ever heard that.”

“Didn’t I tell you before?”

“I’m serious. This is literally the first I’ve heard of it. What do you do there? Manager?”

“No! I actually play an instrument!”

I’d never once seen him carrying an instrument case.

Honestly, I was surprised he could play anything at all.

“I play drums.”

“…That actually suits you.”

“Why!? Anyway, the guy who hurt his arm is our vocalist.”

“I see.”

If he wasn’t playing guitar too, couldn’t he still sing with an injured arm?

Sensing my question, Takagi clenched his fist.

“But that idiot says it’d look lame to sing with his arm injured!”

“You really never catch a break.”

“Right!? So please, Fukagawa! Be our replacement vocalist!”

“…Why me?”

Replacing someone for the open school event was one thing.

But being a band’s vocalist meant tons of preparation.

Besides, I wasn’t even an especially good singer.

As I stood there speechless, Takagi suddenly held out his phone to Airi.

“Boss, these are the stage outfits we’re planning to wear.”

“Hmm… Rock style.”

“Right? Don’t you want to see Rock Fukagawa?”

“I do.”

“Then please help convince him!”

…That idiot had just shifted the target of his persuasion.

Takagi then showed the phone to Nodoka and Yui as well.

“I-I want to see it too… Ren usually only wears neat clothes.”

“I-I want to take lots of pictures of Rock Ren.”

I realized it then.

I’d fallen completely into Takagi’s trap.

Sure enough, all three girls looked at me and spoke almost simultaneously.

“Please, Ren!”

“Ren-kun, we want to see a different side of you too.”

“I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures so we’ll always have the memories…”

At that point, I no longer had the right to refuse.

Takagi really was frighteningly cunning.

He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a thumbs-up.

“A band’s vocalist has to be someone popular with girls like you.”

“What exactly do you think a band’s vocalist is?”

In the end, Takagi managed to wear me down again, and I found myself accepting the role of substitute vocalist.