CH 63

We went to my room and were now sitting side by side on my bed.

I wanted to sit away from Alice-san, but she told me to sit beside her.

I had no choice but to do as I was told.

“For the time being― you did well.”

As we sat on the bed together, Alice-san thanked me for my efforts.

“Thank you very much.”

“Yeah… To be honest… I was surprised… this time around.”

When I expressed my gratitude, Alice-san smiled and told me so.

“What surprised you?”

I knew it was probably about me getting evidence of Aria’s insider trading, but I asked her just in case.

“I didn’t think you could… commit a criminal act like that… while retaining your rational mind.”

“I’m so sorry!”

The moment Alice-san told me about the criminal act, I immediately bowed my head.

I knew this person would be angry about it.

I think that’s why the words came out first.

“Why… are you apologizing…?”

However, when I apologized, Alice-san looked puzzled.

“Eh…? After all, what I did was an unforgivable act…”

“Well, it’s a crime… But… Alice compliments you for a job well done…”

I nodded my head at Alice-san’s words.

I didn’t expect her to affirm my actions.

When I was puzzled, Alice-san let out a big sigh, “Fuh―”, and then her mood changed.

“It’s true that in the eyes of the world, Kai has done something wrong. And that is something you can’t even complain about, even if you are accused of a crime.”

“Yes…”

“But― Kai did it to make sure that the blonde gal was saved. It’s not like he did anything illegal to humiliate anyone. In the first place, it was Aria who did something illegal first. In fact, the only way to be sure of winning at that time was to hack into the system and get behind it. If you want to help someone, Kai did the right thing. If you really want to help someone and you can see their hand, you shouldn’t retreat from the risk. So, what Kai did was admirable.”

Alice-san looked at me with serious eyes and said so.

But I couldn’t believe that what I had done was right anymore.

“Kai―”

“Eh―!?”

When Alice-san called my name, she suddenly pulled my head back.

As I was thinking, I couldn’t fully react to the action and fell down as Alice-san pulled me down.

*Pomf―

As my head fell down, I found Alice-san’s soft thighs.

In short, I was in a lap pillow position.

“W-what are you doing, Alice-san!?”

I couldn’t hide my confusion at the sudden turn of events and hurriedly tried to raise my head.

“No.”

However― Alice-san restrained my head and put it back on her thighs.

“Just be quiet.”

Alice-san said so, and began to stroke my head gently, as if she were caring for a child.

What is this situation!?

Why am I on her lap and she’s stroking my head!?

My mind was in a panic because of the sudden lap pillow treatment.

In addition, Alice-san’s thighs are very soft.

She had a slimmer body than most girls, and her thighs didn’t seem to have much meat on them, but they felt nice and puffy.

“Hey Kai― If you regretted what you did, would you rather have left the blonde gal to die?”

Alice-san, who was patting my head, asked me in a gentle voice.

I don’t feel any of the usual languid atmosphere from her now, which makes me feel very relaxed.

“That’s―”

“You can’t let that happen, can you?”

“Yes…”

“Then it can’t be helped. Kai is that kind of person who doesn’t care what happens to himself, as long as the people who he cares about are saved.”

Speaking of which… I remember talking about that with A-san a long time ago…

When I was just starting out in my otaku hobby, I used to talk to her about manga and novels and tell her my thoughts on them.

That’s a painful past for me, and I’d like to forget about it…

She always replied in a curt manner, so I assumed she was just letting it slide…

“But if you approve of criminal behavior, you’re no different from criminals who commit murder and other crimes, right…?”

“I’m sure Kai will say that it depends on what the goal is― but this time he’ll say it’s no different than terrorist groups. If that’s the case, then from now on, you need to become a person who can truly save the people you care about without committing crimes.”

Alice-san smiled gently and told me that.

“You’re making it sound so easy as always…”

I couldn’t help but smile even as I complained.

I don’t know why this person’s words come so easily to my mind.

It’s strange because I feel like I could really do it.

Yeah― I feel a little better now.

So I don’t need this lap pillow anymore…

It’s very cozy, but it’s also semi-embarrassing…

“Um, why did you give me a lap pillow…?”

Anyways, I decided to ask from there.

“This is―a reward for Kai.”

In response to my question, Alice-san said that with a gentle smile on her face.

“A reward, you say?”

“Yes, because Kai has listened to Alice’s selfishness. We give rewards to children who work hard. Isn’t that how it’s always been?”

It was true that A-san often praised me when I completed the program, and colored in the rewards and such.

Still though, what about this kind of a reward…?

It is indeed a great pleasure.

It’s almost incomparable to money.

But wouldn’t the people around me be left bewildered by the fact that a girl around my age would be happy to do this for me…?

If Sakura-chan sees me like this, we’ll never be able to see each other again…

But there is a part of me that still wants to keep going…

“Kai is a very interesting person to Alice.”

“Eh?”

Alice-san suddenly said something like that to me when I was not able to resist this lap pillow situation.

“Do you remember the first time Alice sent Kai an email as A-san?”

“Of course I do. At that time, I was having trouble getting a job from any company. I still remember how happy I was when I received an e-mail from A-san saying she would give me a job.”

The incident with A-san was an important memory for me, so there was no way I could have forgotten it.

“At that time, there were quite a few rumors about Kai. There were a lot of rumors about Kai at that time, saying that he’s some kid in middle school trying to get a job as a programmer. Everyone made fun of him, but Alice thought that if a middle school student was trying to get a job as a programmer, it was worth a try. So I contacted the middle school student and forced him to do what I thought was impossible.”

“I knew that was crazy… I was wondering what kind of high performance anti-virus software was for my first job…”

I laughed at Alice-san’s words, but answered her.

Well, if you think about it normally it’s impossible…

I used to make them back then, really…

“I figured it didn’t matter how long it took, as long as I didn’t give up. I wanted to see if he had the guts. And even if he could make it, I thought it would take a few years at the earliest. And yet, Kai had created the anti-virus software in an unbelievable six months. I still remember how excited I was that Alice’s prediction was wrong for the first time in my life.”

Alice-san looked at me with nostalgic eyes and gently relaxed her mouth.

Alice-san, I didn’t know you felt that way about me…

She complimented me on my work, but it was very casual, so I thought she took it for granted.

“Even after that, Kai’s growth was remarkable. At the time, Alice thought that she would continue to give Kai work and raise him, and that one day he would be admitted to Byodoin Systems. But―”

Alice-san’s expression turned gloomy when she said that much.

I’m sure she’s thinking back to the incident that tore us apart.

The event is still deeply rooted in our hearts.

“Alice hates today’s society. Because it always takes away her precious things…”

“Alice-san…”

The look on Alice-san’s face gave me an indescribable feeling.

I also hate this society.

There are many people who look at people as prey and think only of dragging them down.

I’ve seen a lot of people like that in my life as a KAI.

I’m sure that Alice-san has seen the same kind of despicable people in her life.

“Didn’t Kai question number seven of the contract that Alice made with KAI?”

Alice-san asked me as her dark expression returned to a smile.

“I was wondering… what number seven means, if you break anything other than number six, “no solicitation for KAI”‘ you will be charged 200 million in compensation. I’m wondering why they didn’t prohibit the solicitation of KAI. If it were true, I would want to prohibit that most of all… Could it have been some kind of message from A-san?”

I asked, and Alice-san nodded with a smile.

“Yes, that’s how I interpreted it. When I gave you the details of that contract, Alice sent you a message saying, ‘If KAI keeps going, we will eventually meet again,’ right? In other words, she didn’t forbid Kai to continue working on the program, because Alice would go to recruit him when the time came.”

I don’t know what to say anymore.

My heart is filled with so many emotions.

I felt very happy that A-san was trying to ask me out, but I also felt that such a hard-to-understand message was unreasonable.

But the happiness was overwhelming.

“At that time, it had already been decided that Aria would take over the Byodoin Systems, and Alice would be supporting her behind the scenes. That’s why I was planning to come and get her when I could protect her from any company. And the other day, thanks to Kai, Byodoin Systems had become the top company in the Byodoin Conglomerate group. That means we’ve become one of the top companies in Japan.”

“That means―”

Alice-san’s words made my expectations rise.

The fact that Byodoin Systems mentioned that they had risen to the top in the course of this conversation suggests that this is what they meant.

I’ve been having some trouble with Aria, but I feel like I can handle that.

Besides, I think Alice-san will be able to handle it too.

“Yeah― So Kai, do you want to work with Alice?”

“Yes―!”

I replied to Alice-san, who patted my head with a smile and invited me to work with her―.