The Villainous Uncle in the Adult Game Gets Unusually High Praise from the Heroines - Chapter 6

The gears had begun to turn, slowly but surely. The change had likely started from the moment “he” awakened within Takeshi Tendo. Though following the story’s surface outline, something about his actions felt different.

Originally, Tomoe Hinomoto wasn’t supposed to come to his house until much later. After all, the original Tendo had understood the dangers involved. 

Yet this “Takeshi Tendo” had invited her in despite knowing those risks, believing it was the best way to capture her heart. His prediction wasn’t wrong—she now undoubtedly trusted Takeshi Tendo, though not to the point of devotion, seeing him as the most reliable man in her life.

Still, this difference was significant, and the changes it brought would drastically alter the story’s course.

*****

“Hey, Take-san. Are you bringing your friends into this house?”

This question came a week after Tomoe-chan had started visiting to work on her illustrations. During this time, she had been coming after school, spending an hour or two drawing before heading home—or rather, before being sent home.

She had her own house to return to, and more importantly, Sakurako-chan lived here.

Sakurako-chan was currently attending cram school for her entrance exam preparation, not returning until after 7 PM each day. In the meantime, it felt exactly like the saying “making hay while the cat’s away”, as I let a girl into the house and had her draw illustrations. She must have sensed that something was up.

“…”

This was a critical moment. One wrong answer would instantly destroy her trust in me. The worst possible response would be to dismiss her with “It’s none of your business.” 

Though the house was mine, she undoubtedly wouldn’t appreciate it being used however I pleased. The correct approach was to answer honestly and sincerely, while keeping certain details vague.

“Ah, yes, a bit. I’ve been having a friend over while you’re away.”

“Are you just hanging out?”

“No, I’m letting them use the computer. They don’t have one at home due to certain circumstances.”

“‘They’?”

Now, I expected her next question to be something like “Is this person younger than you?”

“By ‘they’, do you mean someone younger than you… perhaps a student?”

There it was. Her intuition was remarkably sharp to guess even the “student” part. I now needed to decide what to tell her about the circumstances of how I met Tomoe-chan. I couldn’t possibly tell her the truth about our meeting, though I had already worked out our story.

“Actually, about Twitter… Do you know what Twitter is, Sakurako-chan?”

“Yes, I do know that much.”

“Well, I recently became friends with someone there and we decided to meet up. That’s how I met them.”

“I see. I’m not very familiar with that kind of thing, but I guess those kinds of connections exist.”

“Yes. During our meeting, they told me about their troubles. They wanted to do something that required a computer like the one in my room. So I thought I’d let them try using it, and it turns out they have quite a talent.”

“So this person wants to be an artist? Though I’ve never peeked into your room, when it comes to what students might want to do with a high-performance computer, digital art is the only thing that comes to mind.”

“You’re quick to understand, Sakurako-chan. It really helps.”

Truly, her ability to reach conclusions on her own meant I had to tell fewer lies.

“…I understand the situation.”

“Good.”

“But there’s something that concerns me.”

“Oh?”

Something about this felt ominous…

“What’s this?”

And then Sakurako-chan pulled out something. It was…

“…A pudding cup?”

But the problem was what was written on the lid.

“There’s something written in marker here that says ‘Tomoe-chan’s♡’. Is this person perhaps a girl?”

Oops?

What was that girl doing?

Well, I had planned to tell Sakurako-chan about this eventually, but wasn’t this a bit too soon?

Sakurako-chan’s expression had clearly turned sour. Without a doubt, she was angry about me bringing a girl into the house without permission. And understandably so — anyone would be upset about their home being used as a convenient meeting place for trysts.

I’d planned to either casually introduce Tomoe-chan after becoming closer with Sakurako-chan, or show her Tomoe-chan’s artwork and extensively praise her talent before making introductions. 

But I wasn’t that close with Sakurako-chan yet, and I didn’t have any of Tomoe-chan’s illustrations on hand right now.

Ah, wait. There were files on the computer — maybe I could show those? But before I could voice this thought, Sakurako-chan beat me to it.

“I want to meet her.”

“…Eh?”

“This Tomoe person. As a resident of this house, I believe I have the right to know about her.”

This was…

…Something I couldn’t really refuse.