Living Normally In An Abnormal World - Chapter 25.1: After the Interaction Event

Chapter 25.1: After the Interaction Event

In the venue where I was carried by Erina in a prince’s embrace, there were…

“Onii-tama is here!”

“Yuuto-sama, wait for me!”

“Yuuto-sama!”

…little girls waiting for me.

And as I approached, they rushed towards me with excitement. They were simply adorable.

Now I understand. Little girls truly are a source of healing. A friend from my past life once said something like this:

‘Little girls… they are untouched by the impurities of the world. Their gazes and actions are pure and bring healing. They are precious beings. You should try getting along with little girls. You’ll realize that humans are truly deep creatures…’

…Well, that friend of mine was a lolicon, so I’ll ignore what he said.

“Yuuto, I’ll stay here and watch, so go ahead.”

“Okay.”

I stepped into the circle of little girls.

“Play with us!”

What about the picture book?

“Pick me up, please!”

What about reading a book?

“Chu~!”

Well… I guess that’s fine. As long as these girls are happy.

But no kisses, okay? You have to take care of yourself, too.

“Alright! It’s a bit presumptuous of me, but I’ll do my best to entertain all of you~!”

“Yay!!!”

At that moment, I felt like one of those uncles on an NHK children’s show.

What do you mean, ‘Yes Lolita, No Touch’? I can’t help it if they keep touching me while I’m standing here.

In fact, what I’m doing now isn’t any different from what I did with those young ladies earlier.

Poke, poke

Someone was tugging at the back of my dress.

Poke, poke

They were tugging at it again.

I guess I should pay attention to them.

I turned around and saw a little girl with white hair and black eyes, holding a book close to her chest. Her eyes were brimming with tears, and she said in a sobbing voice,

“Re…read the book with me, please?”

…

“I’m sorry, I promised to read a book with you, didn’t I? Is it okay if we start now?”

It’s terrible of me to make such a young child cry.

I said to her while gently stroking her head.

“Yes, yes!”

She nodded vigorously.

“Thank you. Now, everyone, your big brother here is going to read a story for you!”

“Yay!!!”

I sat down on the spot, and the little girls formed a circle around me. Their eyes sparkled with excitement. The book I chose to read was the one the white-haired girl had been holding. She sat down next to me.

“Hehehe♪”

Her previous tearful face was gone, replaced by a bright and happy smile. I was glad to see that.

The room where we were sitting was carpeted and had a no-shoes policy, so it was fine for us to sit or even lie down. Of course, I wasn’t planning on lying down.

Now, which book should I read…? ‘Snow White Prince’. Yeah, don’t say anything, it’s basically the same as Snow White.

It’s about a prince who is awakened by a kiss from a princess, but instead of marrying the princess, he gets beaten up by seven female dwarves. What a violent twist! And in the end, peace returns to the lives of the dwarves and the prince, and they all live happily ever after.

Well, this story teaches us not to let other women take our man, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I guess I’ll read it.

“Once upon a time, there was a prince of a certain country…”

I began reading ‘Snow White Prince’.

—Yuuna’s Perspective—

“Nii-cha~! Where are you~?!”

I’ve been searching for my beloved brother for over an hour now, and I’m getting more and more anxious.

What if he’s not here and has been taken to some other place?

“This place is too big!”

It’s not just difficult to search; it’s a pain. Mom, Maria-san, Erina-san, and I split up to search in different directions, but I haven’t even covered half of the south area yet, which is my responsibility.

“It’s 10:30. Time for Yuuto-sama to move to the next location.”

Hearing this announcement means that my brother is still somewhere in this venue. That’s a relief.

I think the next event is a reading session with kindergarteners and preschoolers, but I don’t know where the venue is. Ugh, it was so troublesome that I just gave today’s schedule to my brother.

After wandering around for a while,

Pipipi!

I received a notification on my phone. It was from Erina-san, and she had found my brother.

The venue is in the north area, Room 201…

“It’s on the opposite side! Ugh, I hate this!”

I grumbled as I ran towards the venue.

Once we reunite, I’ll have him pat me on the head and comfort me with words like, “You’ve worked hard, haven’t you?” Then I’ll bury my face in his chest.

“Fufufu… Nii-cha~, I love you… Ugyah!”

I bumped my face into a wall.

I guess I’ll have to ask my brother to perform his pain-relieving magic on me.

“Wait for me, Nii-cha! I, Yuuna, am coming to you now!”

—Yuuto’s Perspective—

“It’s time for lunch, so we’ll be taking a break from the interaction session for now.”

Oh, it’s lunchtime already. However, Erina probably already told Mom and the others about my location. Should I move to the next venue?

Besides…

“Are you leaving already…?”

“Don’t go~!”

“Read more~!”

The little girls were tugging at the skirt of my wedding dress with teary eyes, making it impossible for me to move.

“Stay with me a little longer, please…”

Ugh, I’m being cornered by these adorable girls!

“Erina… help me!”

“Of course, I—

“I won’t let go of my dear brother!” 

–Eh?”

Several little girls stood in front of Erina with their arms outstretched, blocking her path.

“Well, it’s not very mature of me to be scared of little kids, so I guess I’ll have to be the bad guy here.”

“Let’s eat lunch here!”

I immediately agreed.

“Yay!!!”

There was no way I could play tag with these little girls.

“Yuu-kun!”

“Yuuto-sama!”

Mom and Maria arrived just in time. Good timing, but…

“Where’s Yuuna?”

“We split up to search, so I’m not sure, but she should be on her way here.”

“I see.”

Mom must have noticed my situation because she said,

“You’re surrounded by a field of flowers, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. For now, we’ve decided to have lunch here.”

“In that case, we’ll join you for lunch.”

“Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s fine. In return, please grant me a request later.”

“Ugh… I can’t refuse, can I?”

“Fufufu♪”

As we were talking,

“Nii…chaa…”

Yuuna finally arrived.

Her hair was disheveled, covering her face, and she was sweating profusely. Moreover, she seemed to be emitting a negative aura.

If these little girls saw her like this, they would…

“Ahh, it’s a ghost!”

“Run, Onii-chama!”

“Let’s get away from here!”

…just as I thought, they were scared of her.

The little girls grabbed my hand and tried to escape, and I couldn’t just shake them off, so I ran along with them.

“Niiiiii…chaaaaaaa!!!”

They chased after us relentlessly, like something out of a horror movie.

“Kyaaah!”

One of the little girls tripped and fell. I had to go and help her…

“Don’t worry about me, just run!”

…How cool.

“Yuuto-sama, this way!”

“Don’t waste her efforts!”

“We have to defeat that ghost!”

…She’s my adorable little sister, though.

“Niiiiii…chaaaaaaa!!!”

Yuuna chased after us, her voice echoing through the venue.

“Everyone, get back. She’s targeting me. You guys are fine.”

I slowed down and eventually stopped running.

“Onii-tama!”

“Yuuto-sama!”

“Don’t go!”

I appreciated their concern, but this was a futile pursuit. I had to put a stop to it.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

I tried to reassure the little girls.

Then, I stood in front of Yuuna.

“Yuuna, are you okay?”

In response to my question, Yuuna said,

“I searched everywhere. I ran so much. I even bumped my head along the way. So… pat me, please!”

She stuck out her head, expecting me to pat her.

“First, let’s wipe your sweat.”

“Okay!”

Problem solved!

By the way, Mom, Maria, and Manatsu were watching this whole scene with…

(Such a heartwarming sight!)

…warm smiles on their faces.

After that, we had lunch, and the afternoon interaction session passed without any major incidents.

The only notable event was that the elementary school group, the kindergarten and preschool group, and the adult group that joined later all competed for my attention.

“Thank you so much for today.”

Hayashi-san bowed to express her gratitude.

“It’s fine. I had fun, too.”

“May I ask for your help again if there’s another opportunity?”

I knew what she meant. She would ask for my help even if there wasn’t another opportunity.

“Well, if there’s another opportunity… sure.”

“Yes, thank you. Then, goodbye for now.”

“Goodbye.”

Hayashi-san left to clean up the venue, I assumed.

“Yuuto-sama.”

“Maria, are you leaving?”

“Yes, but before that!”

“What is it?”

“You didn’t pay any attention to me today!”

“Eh…”

“So, please hug me.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Yes!”

I hugged Maria. She hugged me back tightly. It’s true that we didn’t get to talk much today. I’ll let her cling to me for now.

After hugging for a while,

“Well, I’ll be going now. Mom had to work tomorrow, so she left earlier. She asked me to say goodbye to you.”

“I see. Take care.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

I watched Maria leave. I was about to head towards the car, which Erina had gone to fetch, when…

Poke, poke

Someone was tugging at the hem of my dress.

I turned around and saw the little girl with white hair and black eyes. I lowered myself to her eye level.

“What is it?”

I asked her if there was something she needed.

“I didn’t tell you my name. Mom said that if you remembered my name, we could meet again. I want to see you again, Yuuto-sama. So… please remember my name.”

“…I’m not as good of a man as you think I am. I’m actually a bad person. Do you still want to see me?”

“Yes, I want to. I’m Yaya. Can you remember my name?”

She immediately answered.

“Yaya-chan, huh. Yaya… Yaya… Yaya. I just memorized it. Is that okay?”

“Yes!”

I had memorized it, but… I didn’t know when we would meet again.

……Well, I guess I’ll make an exception this time.

I wrote my name on the ground with my finger.

“Look at this and remember. Don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

“Is this a number?”

“It’s my phone number. I don’t know when we’ll be able to meet again, so I’ll give it to you. You can call me anytime, but I might not always be able to answer.”

“I memorized it! I promise to keep it a secret.”

I erased the phone number I had written on the ground with my foot.

“Yuu-kun~!”

I heard Mana’s voice. While I was talking to Hayashi-san, she had gone to get the car.

“Okay! Yaya-chan, see you next time.”

“Yes, bye-bye.”

Yaya-chan waved goodbye as I headed towards the car.

Yuuna was asleep. She must have been exhausted from all the searching.

I thought to myself as I got into the passenger seat.

The interaction session, filled with various events, had finally come to an end.

—In the Car—

“Mana…”

“What is it, Yuu-kun?”

“Do you think it’s okay for me to continue living like this? I can’t do anything for them, but I’m making so many girls fall for me. Is this really okay?”

“……”

“I don’t know what to do. When I think about it by myself, my mind gets clouded. What should I do?”

“…… I think it’s fine the way it is.”

“Huh?”

“There are many girls who are happy to have met you, Yuu-kun. They appreciate your sincerity and kindness. You tend to think negatively about everything. The problem is your way of thinking.”

“…”

“No matter how you choose to live your life from now on, I’ll always be watching over you from behind. If you make a mistake, I’ll point it out and correct you. If you’re unsure, I’ll worry and struggle with you. I’ll push you forward. So, don’t look back, just keep moving forward. Your way of life is not wrong, okay?”

“I see. So, it’s fine for me to continue like this.”

“Yuu-kun, I love you. And I will always love you, so… just live the way you believe in, okay?”

“…Okay, I understand. …I’m fine now, thanks to you.”

“You’re welcome~♪ Feel free to consult me anytime.”

“Also… I love you, Mana. I love you, too…”

“Eh? What did you say?”

“Eh? I love you.”

“Eh? What?”

“I love you.”

“Fufufu♪ What did you say?”

“…I don’t know anymore!”

“Hey, you always listen when I say ‘Open, Famicom’!”

“I can’t heeeear youuuu!”