#41: Little Sister, Childhood Friend, Senior, and Sukiyaki

After my confrontation with Fujiko, I got caught by Kyouko, who tried to hug and coddle me right there at school despite it being, well, school. I barely managed to hold her off before heading outside.

Since Megucchi and Sakura were out shopping together, I headed home alone.

I stopped by the supermarket on the way to think about what to make for dinner. As I wandered the aisles, Megucchi texted me.

“Bringing Sakura by your place later!”

“Want to eat dinner here too?”

“Definitely!”

“Cool.”

Since they were coming, I decided on sukiyaki for tonight.

When I got home, Kurumi was already back, so I gave her a heads-up.

“Megucchi texted—she’s bringing Sakura over, so should we wait and eat dinner after they arrive?”

“Huh? That annoying hottie’s coming again? Seriously, I’d rather not.”

“Come on, we’re having sukiyaki tonight, so just bear with it.”

“Sukiyaki!? Fine! I’ll allow it!”

My little sister loves sukiyaki. Especially the thread konjac—so much so that one time when we forgot to buy it, she made me go out shopping in the middle of dinner without any argument.

As I was prepping the sukiyaki alone in the kitchen, Megucchi and Sakura arrived.

Sakura was wearing light makeup.

“Well, well. Sakura’s wearing makeup? The former student council officer and model student—what’s prompted this change of heart?”

“I-I’m interested in makeup too! Megucchi offered to teach me, so…”

“Sakura’s got such a perfect face and clear skin already. Even just a little makeup makes her look totally different.”

“True. Your usual vibe’s completely different. Your beauty level went up.”

“Really? Do you… like it, Norio?”

“Of course. I could just eat you up right now. You’re one cute kitten, honestly.”

“Ufufu, so Norio thinks I’m beautiful!”

“Yes, that’s what I just said.”

“Gehehe.”

Sakura, apparently thrilled at the compliment, let out an old man’s crude laugh. So much for her first time with makeup—she’d just ruined the effect.

Anyway, I left the now-pleased Sakura and kept preparing sukiyaki.

I called Kurumi over, and the four of us sat down to eat. Sure enough, Kurumi immediately started eating only the thread konjac.

“Hey, Kurumi, eat some meat and vegetables too.”

“Huh? Why are you being annoying, old man?”

“Just because you like it doesn’t mean you can eat only konjac.”

“Yeah, Kurumi. Besides, if you don’t eat meat and stuff, your boobs will never get bigger!”

“What!? Megucchi, you’re seriously annoying!”

“Wait, hold on. Is it true that eating meat makes your chest bigger?”

Kurumi started arguing with Megucchi, and Sakura started piling meat onto her plate.

As for me, my favorite part of sukiyaki is the bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots fully soaked in broth—they’re the main heroine of the sukiyaki world.

After finishing with udon noodles and eating the pudding that Megucchi and Sakura brought as dessert, I walked Sakura home before it got too late.

Walking hand in hand, Sakura spoke softly.

“Back in middle school, I heard that drinking lots of milk every day would make your chest bigger, so I drank it every day… but my height grew instead.”

Apparently Sakura had a complex about her chest being smaller than Megucchi’s or Kyouko’s. So I spoke to her gently and tenderly.

“Sakura… the appeal of breasts isn’t just about size. Yes, big breasts are attractive. When Megucchi’s bounce with every movement, you can’t help but stare. But it’s not just size. Shape, color, and… taste. Those matter too. Your breasts are the perfect size for your build, and from what I saw in your school swimsuit, the shape is really nice. What’s left is color and taste. You don’t need to obsess over size alone.”

“Norio…”

Sakura’s eyes grew moist as she looked at me.

We stopped and gazed at each other.

“I think the size of the areola is important too.”

“Hmm, you’re right. We should check that next time.”

“Yeah, next time.”

“It’s a promise.”

“Don’t worry, I remember.”

We laughed together and started walking again.

The next day, when Kyouko heard from Sakura that we’d had sukiyaki at my place, she pouted terribly. “Why didn’t you call me!? I would’ve come running if you’d just texted! You’re all so cold!” It was a real hassle.

#42: First Karaoke—Showtime

From the day after my confrontation with Fujiko in the literature club, her attitude began to change.

I still greet her without fail, but Fujiko now has a pained expression—all her previous composure is gone.

Maybe I went too hard on her. I do feel a bit guilty, but my priority is my kittens, not the literature club, so there’s nothing I can do about it.

“N-N-Norio-kun! About club activities today!”

“Huh? Today’s Tuesday, so there’s no club.”

“R-right…”

“…”

“S-so! What about that after-school date you mentioned before?”

“Sorry, I have other plans on Tuesdays and Thursdays when club doesn’t meet.”

“I-I see…”

What’s going on? Did she just go into overdrive mode?

Even though she’s been throwing herself at me this whole time and I kept brushing her off, the moment I took a firm stance, she suddenly changed her tune and started trying to woo me herself?

What’s Fujiko’s real goal anyway? Is she still stuck on that Romantic Comedy Syndrome thing?

That’s what bothers me. But if I soften my approach now, she’ll see right through me after I worked so hard to establish dominance.

So my plan stays the same—maintain distance.

And for today after school, I’m going to karaoke with Sakura and Megucchi.

Sakura had wanted to go to karaoke for a while, and I’d never been either, so it kept getting pushed back. Megucchi, being the extrovert she is, enthusiastically proposed it with some suggestive comments—”Let me take you guys! Once you hear Meg sing, you’ll be totally blown away!”—and Sakura agreed immediately.

When homeroom ended, Megucchi called out, “Norio, Sakura’s waiting, so let’s go!” I hurried to pack up.

Then Fujiko, from the seat next to mine, asked:

“Um, is your prior engagement with Tsuchida and the others?”

I was hesitating on how to answer after turning down her date proposal when—

“Yeah! The three of us are going to karaoke!”

Megucchi blurted it out without hesitation.

“May I come along as well?”

Hmm, Fujiko’s pretty persistent, huh.

But no way. If she tags along, I won’t be able to flirt with Megucchi and Sakura properly.

“Sure, come on! Let’s all have fun together!”

Seriously, Megucchi…

Megucchi didn’t have the delicacy for sensitive situations. I glared at her with resentment, and she just stuck her tongue out and winked like Peko-chan, as if to say, “Leave it to me!”

As we headed toward Sakura waiting at the school gate, Megucchi linked her arm with mine and went full girlfriend mode right in front of Fujiko—completely ignoring her.

When we met up with Sakura at the gate, she linked her arm with mine and went into girlfriend mode too.

Megucchi acted like her previous girlfriend routine never happened and casually talked to Fujiko as if nothing was going on, completely unbothered by how lovey-dovey Sakura was being with me right in front of her.

Fujiko, meanwhile, looked confused and kept stammering.

Well, I couldn’t blame her. Even I was having trouble keeping up.

The four of us walked to the karaoke place that Megucchi frequented.

“Norio, you excited for karaoke? What kind of songs do you sing?”

“I’m just here to listen. I came along to hear you and Sakura sing.”

“Aw, that’s lonely. Come on, sing something for us.”

“If you hear me sing, you won’t be able to sleep tonight, Sakura.”

“Eeeek! I want to hear! Please! I won’t sleep at all tonight!”

She clung to me excitedly, all hyped up.

Dammit, my attempt to dodge backfired.

Looks like my protagonist powers can strangle themselves sometimes.

When we arrived at the karaoke place, true to the countryside’s lack of entertainment, there were tons of high school students despite it being a weekday. Other students from our school and other schools were everywhere.

Megucchi, familiar with the place, took care of the reservation, and we moved into a room and took our seats.

Megucchi and Sakura sat on either side of me on the L-shaped couch, while Fujiko sat alone on the left.

Megucchi quickly punched in her selections on the remote, grabbed the phone receiver to order potato snacks, and while holding the receiver to her ear, asked everyone what they wanted to drink before telling the person on the other end, “That’s all, thanks!” and hanging up.

The whole thing took about a minute. Then, flowing seamlessly, she grabbed a mic and started singing. It was a sweet ballad love song I’d heard before on TV or something.

Classic Megucchi. She didn’t look at the screen once—just stared at me the whole time, as if singing only for me.

With graceful movements that showed no awkwardness, she sat on my lap, wrapped her free arm around my neck, and kept singing, eyes locked on me with full emotion.

When the song ended, her arm around my neck tightened as she pulled me close, and she kissed me.

How do I even describe this? The sheer polish of it.

She was like an enka singer working the crowd at a Christmas dinner show.

Is this what extroverts’ karaoke is always like?

Seeing Megucchi, Sakura went wild. “Hyaaaaaaaa!” Her excitement wasn’t charming gap moe—it was more like a post-apocalyptic mob character.

Hey, what happened to our school’s model student? Your character’s cracking under the hype. Honestly…

As for Fujiko, she seemed desperately taking notes. Her expression bore no trace of the former main heroine candidate—her eyes were bloodshot and kind of scary, so I pretended not to notice.

After that, Sakura, thinking Megucchi’s performance was normal after seeing it first, also sat on my lap every time she sang. And for some reason, Megucchi and the others forced Fujiko to sit on my lap when she sang too.

By the way, when they really insisted, I sang one song.

When Megucchi and Sakura heard my ballad, they kept cheering excitedly despite it being a slow song. When I finished, they yelled at maximum volume, “I can’t take it anymore! Take me now! Yeeeeeah!” while hugging and kissing me. And Fujiko… she was just crying. Did my song bring back sad memories for her?

I mean, I was imagining everyone getting moved to tears and their eyes turning into hearts. But the reaction was different.

In the end, Sakura left her first karaoke experience totally satisfied, while Fujiko’s purpose for coming remained unclear.

When we left the karaoke place, we parted ways with Fujiko. Then Megucchi and I walked Sakura home before heading back.

On the way, Megucchi said:

“Fujiko’s probably into you now. But she’s all wishy-washy about it, so I figured I’d shake things up by letting her come along.”

“Seriously? Just a while ago, even when I was sweet-talking her, she didn’t seem interested at all.”

“Well, didn’t you say some pretty harsh stuff to her and reject her yesterday?”

“Yeah, yesterday.”

“Maybe realizing her real feelings came from that?”

“That happens?”

“You know that saying—if pushing doesn’t work, try pulling. That’s exactly what you did, so maybe Fujiko had some kind of emotional shift because of it?”

“I see. You really do understand girls’ feelings, Megucchi.”

“Well, guess we’ll see how Fujiko’s attitude changes starting tomorrow, huh?”

We talked like that while walking home hand in hand.

When I got home, Kurumi, starving, complained and scolded me relentlessly. So I tried to soothe her feelings by singing the ballad I performed at karaoke, acapella. She got even more furious.