The Villainous Uncle in the Adult Game Gets Unusually High Praise from the Heroines - Chapter 8: Interlude

“Here, Sakurako-chan. Take this.”

What Take-san handed over was a 1000-yen bill.

The sudden gesture left me completely puzzled about his intentions, so with wide eyes, I decided to ask, “What’s this for?”

“Ah. It’s for your lunch. Use it to buy whatever bento you’d like. Your school has a store, right?”

“Yes, it does, but… um, you want me to buy food with this?”

“Yeah. That’s what I meant. You probably don’t want to eat the kind of bento I’d make, right? Bentos made by men tend to lack color, and that’s not really suitable for a high school girl to bring to school.”

“N-no, that’s not…”

“Don’t hold back—ah, right. You can keep whatever’s left as your pocket money, okay?”

More than a week had passed since that conversation. With no other choice, I’d been spending about 400 yen on lunch and saving the rest. I intended to return it someday.

But Take-san would probably refuse to accept it. He was that kind of stubborn person.

“Haah…”

“What’s wrong?”

The one asking was my childhood friend, Sho Rindo.

We had a long, somewhat ambiguous relationship, and we still somewhat naturally ate lunch together during breaks.

It wasn’t that we were on bad terms, but we weren’t particularly close either—in other words, we had a complicated relationship.

“Well, you see. My uncle—he’s a good person, but because he’s such a good person, I’m not quite sure how to interact with him.”

“Sounds like a privileged problem.”

“That may be true, but… it’s quite troubling for me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is.”

Somehow, I felt like there was a distance between him and me, a distance that felt intentional on his part. I understood it was probably because he cared about me, which made it all the more frustrating.

“By the way, Sakurako.”

“What is it?”

“You seemed really gloomy at first, but recently you’ve brightened up a bit.”

“?”

“Ah, you know… about your parents.”

“…”

“S-sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was insensitive.”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

Sighing, I carefully folded the wrapper from my melon bread and stood up to throw it in the trash.

“Come to think of it, Shou. Don’t you attend the Literature Club?”

“Ah, yeah. Sorry, I should head there now.”

“Yes. Take care.”

I watched his back as he packed up his lunch and left. Good grief, I thought. Despite everything, he was still such a child. Thinking about him in such a parental way was probably because we’d spent too much time together.

I couldn’t see him as a man.

“…”

Then, who could I see as a man?

(Such a person…)

Didn’t exist. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone who intrigued me.

*****

After finishing my cram school studies in the evening, I returned home.

The lights were on, so Take-san was probably home. I called out “I’m home!” at the entrance, but unusually, there was no response today.

Finding this strange, I moved to the living room and found Take-san.

“Ah…”

He was sleeping on the sofa. Judging from the still-running TV, he must have dozed off at some point.

“…”

Had he been waiting for me?

If so, that made me happy.

Because—

(Because?)

What was it, I wondered. For now, I turned off the TV and moved to the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator to get some milk and—

“…Hm?”

I found it.

Pudding.

An ordinary pudding.

But the words written on its lid were, “Tomoe-chan’s♡”

“This is…”

Who was it?

I looked toward the still-sleeping Take-san. There was the trace of a woman in this house. If someone had invited her, it could only have been him.

If so, then—

“Today, with this girl—”

“Don’t be so nosy—”

“—we were chosen—”

“—what kind of mistake—”

“—you too are a chosen one—”

“—unlike that person—”

“My younger brother, Takeshi Tendo.”

“…Hah! Hah…!”

Before I knew it, I was crouching down, breathing heavily.

I stood up unsteadily, trying to regulate my breathing. Just now…

…No, I should stop trying to remember.

I’m fine.

I’m okay.

I’m alright.

Because I am…

“…”

I moved to the living room and looked down at Take-san’s face, close enough that our lips almost touched. If he were to awaken and suddenly sit up, surely…

“…”

Such a peaceful sleeping face.

Ah, that was…

Very enviable.

Such an ordinary expression.

“Haah…”

I sighed and left the spot. I was too tired today.

Time to sleep.

I’d ask him about the pudding another day.

I was undeniably annoyed at whoever had left something that seemed deliberately designed to make me suspicious.

However, strangely enough, I didn’t feel any distrust toward him.