I became the boyfriend of the school's madonna, who had turned down numerous confessions, but somehow, without realizing it, I wasn't just playing a role anymore - Chapter 18

Episode 18: Little Girl’s Play

“―Neene, play with us!?”

The night before the date with Misaki, when I told Kokoa about it, her excitement skyrocketed.

Every time she remembered Misaki, she would ask, “Won’t neene come and play?” So, she must have been looking forward to it.

Her excitement got so high that she tried to jump out of bed. I gently held Kokoa down while smiling.

“She’s coming to our house, so don’t cause any trouble, okay?”

Originally, we were planning to go out to town to make our schoolmates believe that we’re dating. However, after thinking it over, I decided to avoid going out for now. We spent quite a bit of money during the festival, so I wanted to save for a while.

Instead, I deliberately invited Misaki to my house, making it sound loud enough in the classroom for everyone to hear.

The classroom became quite noisy, and most people probably believed it. Of course, I had coordinated with Misaki beforehand, so she didn’t dig herself into a hole.

“Is Neene, coming yet?”

Maybe she didn’t hear well, but Kokoa tilted her head expectantly.

“No, she’s coming tomorrow.”

“Mm…!”

And when my answer didn’t please her, she puffed up her cheeks and appealed to me.

Seems like she really wants to play right now. But there’s nothing I can do about it.

“We can play tomorrow, so let’s go to bed early tonight.”

I covered Kokoa with the blanket and gently stroked her head. Kokoa always sleeps deeply, so if I put her to bed at night, she won’t wake up until morning. So, putting her to sleep early should be fine.

Or so I thought—

“Yaa…!”

It seems that hearing about Misaki woke her up completely, and she doesn’t seem to have any intention of sleeping.

I messed up… I should have waited until tomorrow to talk about Misaki.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Mm…!”

Kokoa sat up and nodded with determination.

When she’s like this, being stubborn, trying to reason with her is useless.

If left alone, she’ll get sleepy on her own, so sometimes it’s okay.

“Come here, Kokoa.”

“Mm…!”

Opening my arms, Kokoa brightened her expression and clung to me.

I lifted Kokoa like that, returned to the living room, sat on the sofa, and let Kokoa sit on my lap.

“Wanna watch anime?”

In my mom’s generation, they recorded and watched their favorite anime, but now it’s easy with anime streaming sites. As long as you have a computer or smartphone, you can watch it conveniently. So, when I want Kokoa to behave quietly, I show her some anime.

However—

“Nn~, no.”

After some hesitation, Kokoa shook her head. It seems she’s not in the mood for anime right now.

When Kokoa is like this—

“……”

She starts playing by herself, using my hands. She puts both of my palms together, presses them against her face, and starts playing without much thought.

So, I relax and let Kokoa do as she pleases.

While doing so—

“……”

She looked up at my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ehehe.”

When I spoke, Kokoa smiled happily.

Then, she started playing with my hands again.

It seems like this is enough for today.

I continue to relax, waiting for Kokoa to doze off, and once she falls asleep, I carry her to bed.