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Chapter 3 : She’s Starting to be a Mother – Part 2
As usual, this girl’s mind was like that of an elementary school student.
This time, he was teaching English, and just by looking at an English word, she got whirlpools in her eyes and smoke came out of her head.
“U-Um… ‘Buuri’…?”
“It’s ‘bury.’ You’re getting too caught up in the Roman alphabet.”
“Ah, hahaha. So it’s…very. I got it. So it’s like wow, or super!”
“That’s ‘very.’ It’s pronounced similarly, but spelled differently. Bury is ‘to fill, to entomb.'”
“Boo! English is too hard! People all over the world, please speak Japanese~!”
“…Linguistically, Japanese is more difficult.”
With a sigh of disappointment, he struggled with this and that, and succeeded in cramming her some words and grammar in about an hour.
“Okay, let’s take a break.”
“Yaay… I’ve been thinking a lot, and my brain is tired~”
Amiru plopped down on the desk and looked at Shoichi a little resentfully.
“I mean, you know… Sho-chan, don’t you give too many quiz questions? If you could just give me a word like this and that I could remember, I think that’d be good.”
“Is that the method you learned from your friends when you took your entrance exams?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not good enough. Listen, memorizing only makes you feel like you’ve learned something, but it’s far from understanding. The best way to understand is to solve problems and eliminate the ones you’re not good at from the ones you can’t solve.” After saying this, Shoichi showed the notebook in which he had made her write the answers to the questions. “In your case… Most of them are devastating… Still, if I have to say, the spelling mistakes stand out, and there are a lot of minor misunderstandings. On the other hand, you seem to have a relatively correct understanding of grammar, so you can be confident about that.”
“O-Okay.”
“Also, for some reason, you’ve got the words for fruits and vegetables. You got ‘turnip’ right even though it’s not familiar to Japanese people. Why do you remember all this?”
“I wonder… I just remembered it from a cooking show that was on TV.”
“A housewife’s point of view, huh? Well, that means that if it’s something you’re interested in, you’ll be able to remember it. Why don’t you try memorizing the sales at the supermarket instead of writing them down in your hand to train your memory? I’m sure you’ll remember.”
“Okay, I’ll try it next time.”
Then, the two of them went back to their studies.
After a while, the sun was setting and Shoichi felt a little hungry.
As if she could see through it, Amiru smiled and said, “Should I make dinner soon?”
“Ah, yeah, sure. Please do.”
Amiru winked at Shoichi, “Leave it to me,” and stood in the kitchen and began to cook skillfully.
On the way home from school, they bought more ingredients at the supermarket. This was because Amiru had decided that the amount of food bought yesterday was not enough. At that time, she had also bought some frozen food, and Shoichi wondered if that would be added to the menu today.
“Eh, you’re not going to make the frozen fries or something?”
“Ah, that’s for lunch. I didn’t have time to make it for you today. Tomorrow, I’ll make it using frozen food and leftovers from dinner.” (T/N: Obento.)
“Eh, really? You’d go that far for me?”
“Yeah, it’s more of a cut-and-dry thing. I’m busy in the morning, so bear with this.”
“No, if you’re so busy, you don’t have to make it for me… I can just buy some bread.”
“But Sho-chan, you were eating the bread from the store like it was bad. I could see it.”
“…So you saw that, huh?”
Remembering his state of mind at that moment, Shoichi felt somewhat embarrassed. He had been feeling a little hazy about Amiru’s skinship.
Fortunately, Amiru didn’t seem to notice, and just called out to him as she cut the cucumbers.
“By the way, whenever you eat lunch, you are always alone, aren’t you, Sho-chan? Don’t you have any friends?”
“There are guys in the class that I can talk to. But nobody that I can have lunch with.”
“Ehh? You’re all alone then, Sho-chan. Aren’t you lonely?”
“Not really. School is not a place to make friends… I’m happy as long as I can study.”
“But it’s the school you got into. If you have more fun with your friends, you’ll be like, ‘I’m glad I joined,’ and it’ll be worth it!”
Sure, that might be more rational. Shoichi was convinced. However, he couldn’t agree with Amiru’s statement.
“It’s not like I wanted to join this school…”
“Eh?”
“…No, it’s nothing. Forget it.” Shoichi said this, but he couldn’t erase the bitter feeling that had suddenly appeared in his heart.
Amiru must have sensed this, because she resumed cooking quietly without saying anything in particular.
In the meantime, Shoichi wiped down the table and laid out the dishes–all according to Amiru’s instructions–and the meal was ready.
“Today’s dish is white rice, miso soup and hamburger steak.”
It was served with chopped cucumbers and cabbage, giving it a beautiful color. Above all, hamburger steak was one of his favorite dishes. When Shoichi looked pleased, Amiru waved her index finger as she took off her apron.
“It’s not just a hamburger steak. It’s a healthy hamburger steak with tofu.”
“Ehh? It has tofu in it? My mom has made it a few times, but I think it’s getting a little bland… I don’t like it that much.”
“Well, it’s fine, it’s fine. Just try it.”
As Amiru smilingly suggested, Shoichi had no choice but to pick up his chopsticks and said, “Itadakimasu,” before digging into the hamburger steak.
The moment he put it in his mouth, his eyes fluttered.
“…Ehh? This is surprisingly good. It’s got a lot of flavor.”
“Of course. The gravy is mixed with wine, soy sauce, fried mushrooms and garlic to make a special sauce.”
Amiru’s chest was heaving with pride. She was boasting, but the food was so good that Shoichi couldn’t say anything. Instead, he proceeded with his chopsticks in silence.
He took in a bowl of white rice and miso soup, and when he had finished everything, his taste buds and stomach were completely satisfied.
“…Thank you for the meal.”
“Yes, apologies for the poor service.” (T/N: Osomatsusama. Japanese expression of humility said by the person who provided a meal after it is eaten.)
There was absolutely nothing poor about it. He was about to say this, but he stopped himself. It was somewhat frustrating to praise her that much, even if he meant it.
She’s one of those girls who usually talk about trivial things… It’s not like I’m going to admit it out loud.
However, it would be immature to not make any comment back. So Shoichi just said, “It was delicious,” as he stretched a little.
With just that, Amiru narrowed her eyes happily and smiled shyly.
It was a lovely sight, and rather than being a substitute for his own mother…–at this point, Shoichi shook his head violently.
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Sho-chan? Your face is red.”
“No, nothing…”
He could never tell Amiru, who was looking right into his face.
–Instead of being like a mother, this girl looked more like a newlywed wife in a drama.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○
After the meal, they worked on their studies again.
Amiru was still struggling, but she was still working hard and overcoming her weak points little by little. She also made fewer spelling mistakes compared to before. This was the result of Shoichi’s repeated tests and reviews whenever she made a mistake.
Then, after quite some time had passed, Shoichi announced the end of the study session.
“Phew, is this enough for today?”
“Yeah this is good. Good work.”
While watching over Amiru, Shoichi took out his notebook and wrote down the points discussed in the example earlier.
Amiru was doing rather well. He taught her to study for three hours today, so Shoichi’s points would be 15.
Amiru, on the other hand, had only cooked, so her points would be 5.
This meant that there was a difference of 10 points. The difference was huge. Perhaps the figures should be reexamined a little more.
Well, we’ve just started, so there’s no point in worrying about it. As long as the points are roughly equal in the end, it’s fine. It would be better to take another look in a month or so. Shoichi nodded to himself, but he felt a little guilty.
Amiru’s hard work was only rewarded with a third of the amount he put into her studies. But she could also be a little more proactive and ask to do the cleaning and laundry–
No, no, no, it’s the opposite, the opposite! I’m only teaching her 10P more for the amount of care she’s giving me. Why do I have to feel guilty!?
A strange sensation that was subtly unreasonable, but Shoichi thought he had to get used to it quickly.
More importantly–he looked at Amiru who was lying down on the desk. She seemed to be very tired from studying so intensively. Shoichi suddenly felt that he could reward her for her efforts, even if only a little.
To put it simply, he wanted to do something to make her happy. He thought it would be better to have a reward so that her motivation to study would not drop.
Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of the large TV in the living room.
“Amiru, you were wondering if there was a game before, right…?”
“You’re gonna let me play!?”
“Don’t be so bright-eyed and eager… But yeah. By the way, what kind of games do you want to play?”
“I’ll leave it to you, Sho-chan. I’m super excited~”
Well, a little relaxation would be nice, Shoichi thought as he pulled out a console game machine. It was recently purchased by his parents, who had the young temperament to like such things.
I mean, she’s a bit of a goofball, isn’t she? It’s like she hasn’t fully grown up yet. With these thoughts in mind, he turned on the console and selected a game from the menu screen.
Then, Amiru tilted her head at his skillful control. “By any chance, do you play a lot of games, Sho-chan?”
“I’m not on the hardcore side. I play games to relax.”
“Hee~, that’s surprising.”
“Besides, you’ll study more efficiently if you have a change of pace. Just doing it all the time is not rational at all.”
“…Hee~, that makes sense.”
As Amiru’s voice changed from surprise to a chuckle, Shoichi started up the game and explained the contents.
“You see, it’s basically an FPS-type RPG. You use this button to switch weapons, and this triggers to shoot. You can also use this button to auto-aim, so just hold it down when you’re facing an enemy.”
“Eh? Eh?”
“Look, here comes the enemy! Press that button.”
“Ueh? Like this? Like this!?”
“Nice, that’s the trigger…. Ah, not that way, don’t point it in the wrong direction, you’ll take damage!”
“Ueh? Hold on! Uii, st-stop it, oh-ho?”
“Pfft… Kukuku.”
“Hey, Sho-chan, I’m new at this, it’s rude to laugh!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but there’s something funny about you making all these strange noises.”
“Mou~, If you’re going to say so much, show me how you do it, Sho-chan.”
“Oh, okay. I’m a little confident in this game. Watch me.”
Then, Shoichi was as shrewd as his words.
He made his character jump and aimed at the enemy character in sight. He then fired a round from the rifle in his hand. After defeating the enemy, he quickly shifted his perspective and attacked another target. He took it down before he was even noticed.
With vivid movements, he ran around the abandoned factory setting, grabbing items and destroying enemies as he went. Seeing this, Amiru shouted with excitement.
“Wow, Sho-chan’s amazing! Go get ’em, go get ’em.”
“O-Oi, don’t pull me.”
The feel of her b*****s hugging his arms made Shoichi feel like his sights were about to shift a little. Though, he hurriedly covered it up with his skills and killed the enemies one by one.
The boss character was a large robot. Despite the ferocious attacks of lasers, missiles, and machine guns however, Shoichi easily defeated it in a matter of seconds.
“Well, there you have it.”
“That’s amazing!”
Amiru didn’t hold back anymore. Without any hesitation, Amiru clung to Shoichi’s neck. He smiled at the fact that she really didn’t understand the sense of distance, but Shoichi pushed her away and handed her the controller, saying, “Now it’s your turn.”
Then, she pushed it back.
“?”
“Sho-chan, you do it. I’ll be watching.”
“That’s fine, but… Is that okay? You were so eager for this.”
“Yeah, this is more fun for me.”
Her smiling face didn’t seem to lie, so Shoichi said, “Okay,” and grabbed the controller.
Amiru sat right next to him, as if she was leaning against him. They were so close that their shoulders were touching.
–Because it’s easier to see the screen this way, right? Shoichi said to himself somehow, and began to continue the game.