The spoon fell out of Fujisakiâs hand and hit the edge of the bowl. She was clearly flustered by the directness of the question.\n
âWh, wha, what do you mean by what I think?â\n
âCa, calm down, Fujisaki.â\n\n
The panic was spreading to me. I hated my father for looking at Fujisaki with a smiling face. What do you mean, leave it to me? Thatâs a bit too blunt.\n\n
âWhat?ăI meant what I said.â\n
âThatâs sexual harassment, you know.â\n\n
I wonder if this father has a good relationship with female colleagues at work enough to ask âDo you have a boyfriend?âăor âDo you like that guy?â or something like that. Otherwise, he wouldnât have asked such questions in this situation.\n\n
âNo, I didnâtâŠâ\n
âShut up. Keep your mouth shut, you shitty Dad.â\n\n
Sayaka also glared at her father. It seems to have been an annoying comment even from Sayakaâs perspective.\n
âButââ\n
âNo buts. You really need to shut up. If you donât shut up here, Iâll never speak to you again.â\n
As expected, there was nothing he could do when she said that much. My father closed his mouth.\n\n
âSorry, Fujisaki.â\n\n
Fujisaki picked up the spoon again.\n
âMm, I donât mind. I was just surprised when he suddenly asked that. âŠâŠâ\n
âIâll bury the old man later, so eat your curry slowly.â\n
âYeah.â\n
He has quieted down, but he doesnât seem to understand why she was getting angry. He was tossing his head and chomping away.\n
âHow are your studies going, Sayaka?â\n
âItâs better than yesterday.â\n
It seems to be going well. Fujisaki also nodded.\n
âI think she has a good head on her shoulders. Itâs easy for me to teach her.\n
âIâm glad to hear that.â\n\n
However, my father suddenly returned.\n
âFujisaki-san is getting along well with Sayaka, isnât she? Youâve come this far, youâre like a member of our family.â\n\n
No, I canât leave my dad alone, heâll get me into trouble.\n
With that thought in mind, I picked up a small bottle that was sitting nearby. It was about ten centimeters long. Inside, there was a red liquid.\n\n
âDad, you forgot to pour it in.â\n
He took off the cap and poured the contents into the bottle without waiting for any response. The red liquid fell on the curry roux and turned it a dark color.\n
âHey, what are you doing?â\n
âItâs ketchup. No problem.â\n\n
The label was removed from the bottle, so it should be hard to tell what was in it at a glance.\n\n
âBut itâs Tabasââ (TN: Tabasco pepper â A spice)\n
âItâs delicious, you should try it.â\n
I took his spoon and scooped up the blackened part and brought it to his mouth.\n\n
âOh, hey, Naoya. Hey.â\n
âYou gotta trust me.â\n\n
His eyes were swimming, but he finally snapped out of it. His small mouth opened, and I shoved it in there.\n\n
âHey, itâs just ketchup, right?â\n
âHuh?ăSure, itâs not spicy.â\n\n
He chewed for a while, but soon his face turned bright red.\n\n
âAs I thought It is Tabascooooooooooooooâ\n
âOops, I think I made a mistake.â\n\n
My father, who is a picky eater, is not a fan of spicy food. It seemed to be too spicy for him, so he drank a lot of tea from the cup with tears in his eyes.\n\n
âOh, Dad, are you okay?â\n
âHa~a, Ha~a. âŠâŠâ\n\n
He was so out of breath that he couldnât even respond to Fujisakiâs words. He usually asks for his curry to be sweet, so the spiciness of Tabasco was enough to knock him out.\n\n
âNaoya, can you give me more, more water, please? âŠâŠâ\n
âCanât help itâ\n\n
I left my seat and went into the kitchen with my fatherâs cup. In the refrigerator, there was a cup of chilled barley tea.\n
It was then that I heard my fatherâs voice again.\n\n
âFujisaki-san, âŠâŠ.â\n
The way he was calling out to her was like that of a pervert.\n
âDidnât you just say, âOh, dadâ âŠâŠ?â\n\n
I took out another drink from the refrigerator, poured it into a glass, and brought it to my father.\n
âCome on, drink up.â\n
âYeah, thanks âŠâŠ.â\n
He was so thirsty for a drink that he drank it down in one gulp until the bottom fell out.\n\n
âFinally, I can relax with thisââ\n
âOh, Iâm sorry. I put the beer in by mistake.â\n
ââMy throat hurtssssssssssssssss!â\n\n
He screamed in agony, clutching his neck.\n
The carbonation of the beer seemed to have soaked into his throat. It had gone according to plan.\n\n
âShitty brotherâŠâŠâ\n
âOokusu-kun: âŠâŠâ\n\n
I could feel the eyes on me, wondering if I was overdoing it, but I wanted them to understand how I felt. It was a necessary sacrifice for the sake of a peaceful meal.\n
âNaoya, Naoya, isnât that too much? I was thinking for your sakeâŠâ\n\n
And that wasnât the only step in the plan. My father has other weaknesses.\n
ââI was thinking⊠Eh?ăAh, the world is spinning, Naoya.â\n
He has a weakness in alcohol. Not only does he hate spicy food, but he was also easily drunk, which made his face even redder. He canât seem to keep his equilibrium, and he has been turning my head in circles for a while now.\n
âNaoya. Hey~, what am I doing? I canât find any curry anywhere. I have a spoon, but thereâs nothing to eat. Where did it go?â\n
Of course, the curry has been in front of my father for a while now, but heâs too dazed to know that.\n
âIâm sorry, I made you drink the wrong beer, youâre drunk. You should take it easy. Iâll cover the curry with plastic wrap, so you can eat it after you sober up.â\n
âI didnât quite understand it, but I will do that.â\n\n
I took my father by the shoulders and carried him to the Japanese-style room where the futon was already laid out. He would not be able to recover for at least three hours.\n
âForgive me. But itâs dadâs fault.â\n
I mumbled to myself after laying him down on the futon.\n
I quickly walked back to the dining table. Then Sayaka sighed loudly.\n