Chapter 60: It’s Okay Even if You Have Some Strange Quirks

Looking back on her experience of going out with Kohara Yuko a few days ago, Ishikawa Yuka still felt a bit of lingering fear.

How should she put it… she couldn’t shake off the question, “Was Yuko really that kind of person?”

Actually, the outing itself wasn’t anything special.

Being invited to the Kohara family villa, having a barbecue together, and chatting afterward were all quite ordinary activities.

But…

No… she should just stop thinking about it.

There was no point in dwelling on other people’s affairs.

After all, did she hate Yuko?

Of course not.

She actually liked Yuko quite a bit, and it seemed Yuko liked her too.

Wasn’t that enough?

What else did she need?

More importantly, today was the day Matsuyama Shoko was coming to visit her house.

She had to prepare in advance… although, just what did she need to prepare?

Clean the room?

But the maids had already tidied everything until it was spotless.

Changes of clothes?

She had already prepared those.

Drinks?

She didn’t need to take care of that either.

Everyone in the family knew Shoko was coming today, so all the necessary items and arrangements were already in place.

Right now, there was nothing for her to do but wait idly.

As she was daydreaming away the time, she heard someone arrive.

The person arriving at this time was likely Shoko.

Although the maid Emi had gone to greet her, Yuka decided to go to the entrance herself.

Waiting for a moment in the entrance hall, she indeed saw Emi leading Shoko over.

Shoko had said before that she wanted to see her room, so Yuka led her toward her bedroom.

For some reason, Emi was also following closely behind, like a chaperone.

Going into the room together with the three of them was fine, but Shoko’s state was clearly off.

“Shoko? What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

She had been perfectly fine earlier, but now she was suddenly stiff, occasionally letting out soft gasps—it was truly strange.

Did she feel sick somewhere?

Or was she shocked by the sparseness of her room?

“Are you alright? Shoko? Do you want to rest for a bit? Come here… though it’s just my bed, it is rather bare, but please lie down first…”

She couldn’t just leave her like that.

Yuka supported Shoko by the shoulders, leading her to her bed.

Although letting a guest sleep on the bed she usually slept in might be rude, it was better to lie down and rest if she was feeling unwell.

“Waaa! It’s Big Sister Yuka’s bed! It’s Big Sister Yuka’s scent!”

“Sniff sniff! Mmm~!”

…Shoko…?

What are you doing?

Could I be dreaming?

That’s right; it must be so.

Shoko hadn’t arrived yet, and she was just spacing out in her own room.

So this must be her imagination; there was no way this would actually happen.

There was no way Shoko would bury her face in the pillow the moment she got on my bed, tightly hugging the quilt and rolling around.

The person who would do that was likely a boy crawling into a girl’s bedding, and that was just a scene in a fantasy.

She had never seen it in real life, nor had she heard of any boys actually doing that.

Those were all fictional.

So what was happening before her must be her imagination…

“Miss Yuka, since Matsuyama-san is feeling unwell, allow me to take care of her. I will take her out of here.”

“Ah~…”

Even Emi was saying this.

And upon hearing that, Shoko immediately stopped moving.

It seemed this was neither her fantasy nor an illusion.

“Big Sister Yuka! Please act like what just happened never occurred! Just pretend it didn’t!”

“Uh…”

Shoko, wrapped in the quilt, showed only half of her face, speaking timidly.

How should she put it… that movement and expression were really cute.

But what happened just now was a bit…

‘Whatever… Shoko is cute.’

‘And I like Shoko, and Shoko likes me. What’s the problem with that?’

‘It’s fine even if she has some strange quirks, right?’

“…………”

“Eh? Eh? Y-Yuka-sama?”

Not knowing what to do, Yuka decided to climb onto the bed as well.

Although the quilt was wrapped around Shoko, she wasn’t covered… but she would just lie down together with her for now.

‘Mmm, it doesn’t feel bad.’

She was sure that it wasn’t a dream, but was this alright…

As soon as the heroine touched her, the hidden Yandere traits of the rival lady would be awakened…… it couldn’t be, that kind of thing definitely wouldn’t happen.

“Just wait here until you calm down.”

“O-Okay! But that won’t calm me down; it will only make me more excited!”

Wasn’t Shoko being too honest?

Would a normal person directly say they were excited?

Well, if a boy said that, he would definitely get punched… but since it was a statement from the cute Shoko, there was no need to care.

Besides…

Shoko was currently wrapped in her quilt, which meant she could wrap herself in the quilt Shoko had wrapped herself in tonight.

‘Did you know? When you wrap yourself in someone else’s quilt, that other person is also wrapping themselves in the quilt you wrapped yourself in.’

Some lecherous German philosopher might have said something like that.

“How are you feeling? Have you calmed down a little?”

“Yes! I never expected to achieve one of my initial goals so quickly!”

…What were her initial goals?

Had she planned to climb onto my bed and into my bedding from the start?

This development was purely accidental.

There was no way it had been pre-planned…

“I’ll come disturb you on the bed later; get up for now!”

She was going to come disturb her on the bed later… why did she want to get on the bed so much?

Did she want to sleep together…?

“Th-Then… what should we do next? Chat?”

After slowly climbing down from the bed, Yuka asked tentatively.

It was good that Shoko had come to visit, but she was completely at a loss for what to do next.

“Can I look at your desk, Big Sister Yuka?”

“Eh? Of course, you can?”

Why did she want to see the desk…?

She hadn’t put any erotic books in there in this life; it should be fine to be seen… probably.

…It was fine, right? She hadn’t put anything strange in there, had she?

“As expected, there’s nothing here…”

“Eh?”

Nothing?

Weren’t there stationery and memos on it…?

“Ah re? But this is…”

Saying this, Shoko picked up a small glass ornament that was on the desk and began to play with it.

It was the matching one she had bought with Anmiya Marina.

It was a souvenir from that time they had slipped away to the shopping center.

“That’s a matching one I bought with Marina when we went shopping. It’s nothing valuable, but it’s the same as Marina’s.”

“I see…”

“Shoko?”

Without listening to Yuka, Shoko began to mutter to herself.

“Anmiya Marina… So that’s why she’s been so smug lately; it turns out it’s because of this…”

“But now that I know the reason, it will be easy to deal with…”

“Um…?”

Shoko was lost in thought for quite a while, not responding.

Just as Yuka was wondering what to do—

“Big Sister Yuka! Let’s go buy matching things too!”

“Eh!? Right now?”

Yuka glanced at Emi, who was tidying up the bed, and was immediately met with a fierce glare.

Because there had been quite a few incidents lately, Emi would definitely nag if she went out now.

Although she felt that it wasn’t her fault that time with Yuko… even so, Emi had become very sensitive now, so it was basically impossible to go out.

“I’m very sorry, Miss Yuka is prohibited from going out at night without prior arrangement.”

“Emi…”

“……”

It seemed Emi was still angry after all.

Her mother had never actually said that.

But since Emi had said it, she was now bound by that restriction.

She wasn’t sure if Emi had made it up on the spot or had discussed it with her mother beforehand… in any case, she seemingly couldn’t go out casually at night anymore.

“Is that so, I understand. Then Big Sister Yuka, let’s go buy matching things together next time? When will you be free? Tomorrow? The day after?”

“No, that…”

If she said tomorrow or the day after, it would be better to go right now.

The thought of having to rearrange everything again just to go shopping tomorrow made it easier to try to get permission from her mother and go out now.

“Miss Yuka has been playing around too much lately. She probably won’t be able to find the time in the short term in order to make up for the lost progress.”

“To leak the master’s private information so easily, is that not a disqualification as a maid?”

“Big Sister Yuka, shouldn’t we replace her as an attendant maid?”

Waaa… Shoko and Emi were sparking off each other today… spare me…

Although she didn’t know why there were fires erupting everywhere, she really didn’t know how to handle quarrels between girls.

Letting them go unchecked seemed like it would be troublesome, but she couldn’t step in to mediate either.

Just what should she do…

“Then Big Sister Yuka, let’s take a whole day during summer vacation and go shopping from morning till night together? Is that alright?”

“O-Okay…”

Having been brought this far, she couldn’t exactly refuse.

There wasn’t actually any reason to refuse either.

The only problem was whether she could find a suitable time.

“If Miss Yuka is available, I naturally have no objections.”

“But whether the mistress will allow her to continue playing around is not something I can decide; I regret that I cannot answer.”

I see… how skillfully she answered.

Not directly opposing, only saying it was up to the mistress to decide…

Shoko might still be able to be forceful with Emi, but she couldn’t do that with her mother.

“Ugh!”

Being cornered by her mother again, Shoko showed fear for a moment, but soon recovered.

Shoko’s spirit and judgment were truly something, completely unlike what a first-grade elementary student should have.

“I understand. I will personally speak with the mistress.”

“Ah! Shoko…”

After saying that, Shoko took Emi and headed for Mother’s room.

Leaving Yuka all alone in the room.

Just what was going on?

Moreover, afterward, Shoko actually persuaded her mother, making a promise to go shopping with her during the summer vacation.

Her itinerary had been decided in her absence.

Although Emi should have checked her schedule before selecting the date, with her not even being consulted…

In the end, Shoko left satisfied.

And at the dinner table that day…

“That Matsuyama Shoko is a promising child. To be able to express her opinions so clearly in front of me… because of what happened before, I didn’t have a good impression of the Matsuyama family, but now I understand why Yuka insists on associating with Shoko.”

“Is that so…”

It seemed her mother was quite fond of Shoko.

Before Shoko came today, her mother had been quite critical of the Matsuyama family because of the last party, but tonight the conversation at the dinner table revolved entirely around Shoko.

To be recognized by this mother, Shoko was indeed something else.

“Going shopping is fine, but don’t buy random things, okay?”

“Alright.”

She was told the same thing again by her mother.

Just hearing those words reminded her of similar experiences in her past life, feeling no different from a mother in an ordinary family.

In short, the summer vacation trip had been settled, and she was to go shopping with Shoko.

The Noyama family party had been successfully declined; she had the family trip, and now she had also made plans with Shoko.

Without realizing it, she had begun to look forward to summer vacation.