Chapter 19: Being liked this much—what is Daikichi supposed to do?

Even when reasons were given, Sachiko couldn’t accept that her actions were exposed, and her expression could best be described as a dissatisfied “hmph.”

Of course, Daikichi—without a care for Sachiko’s attitude—leaned in to whisper so that Eleanor wouldn’t hear.

“…You really apologized, right, Sachiko-san? You didn’t get me involved in your lie, did you?”

“I apologized. Really. Mama was spacing out, so she didn’t notice anything.”

“Spacing out?”

“Yeah. It was just like watching a normal parent–child pair.”

“Normal?”

“Exactly. I was watching children holding hands with their papa and mama.”

Daikichi thought that maybe Eleanor was worried that Sachiko didn’t have a father.

That was also clear from Eleanor’s earlier remark about having to be a proper mama.

On the other hand, perhaps Eleanor secretly longed for someone to fill the role of Sachiko’s father—and she couldn’t help but envy the sight of a normal parent–child pair… That possibility exists.

But in any case, those are things only Eleanor herself understands, and one should not pry into someone’s heart.

This applies even to those who have been close for a long time—even true families. So, though Daikichi sensed it, he said nothing, and Sachiko, no doubt, refrained from any harsh words that might wound Eleanor’s sensitive side.

By the way, Daikichi recalled something rather troubling that Eleanor had said.

He knew the school festival was near and assumed that the school’s requests would increase accordingly, but aside from that…

No, it was about Sachiko’s school performance.

After helping to smooth over a parent–child quarrel earlier, Daikichi felt that Eleanor might hesitate to ask for his help under these circumstances, so he decided to bring it up first—considering her feelings.

Sachiko might act brave on her own, but he was sure she would still end up hurt.

In any household, one parent usually shows up; if Sachiko were the only one left, she would no doubt be tormented.

So, after noticing that Eleanor had embraced Sachiko and calmed down a bit, Daikichi said:

“Eleanor-san”

“Sniff… Wh-what’s the matter?”

“It’s about Sachiko’s performance—I’ll be going.”

“I–is that alright?”

“Yes, it’s perfectly fine. Just ask me like you always do—no need to worry about anything.”

At his gentle words, Eleanor wiped away her tears and smiled.

“Taking the initiative… thank you. Then, please do. …Sachiko, isn’t that great? Daikichi is your papa, after all.”

That settled the matter—except for the fact that Sachiko had been looking at Eleanor with worried eyes.

“Mama’s acting a little off… Daikichi is Daikichi—he’s not a papa…”

Daikichi figured that Eleanor’s words weren’t meant to carry any deep meaning; they were just the sort of things that slipped out when one is aware of playing the father-figure role. He simply replied, “I don’t think it’s anything unusual,” and returned to his room.

Time passed, and gradually the school festival began drawing near. As a result, though slowly, the school’s requests for Daikichi increased.

The consumables and props for the festival, along with the need to check on vendors and related tasks, piled up, leaving him suddenly very busy.

While Daikichi and the teachers were hectic, the students each showed a different level of enthusiasm for the festival.

This was because participation was optional.

There was, in theory, a rule encouraging every first-year class—both in the upper and lower schools—to participate as much as possible, both to avoid having no event at all due to low turnout and as a way to gauge public sentiment, but…

However, since it’s only about putting on the appearance of doing something, even some first-year students choose not to participate.

Of course, even in the second and third years there are classes where everyone is motivated and united.

By the way, Daikichi did not participate last year.

Regarding the pretense of “learning about normal society,” Daikichi figured that, given his surprisingly practical upbringing, he didn’t really need to learn that now—and besides, he was simply not good at cooperating with others.

He believed that his quiet nature and lack of close friends would only disrupt the harmony if he joined in.

In any case, the school festival was like that. Tsubaki and Sakurazaki, having plenty of friends and clearly on the participating side, were busy on their own, and they stopped showing up in front of Daikichi to stir things up as much.

However, both still sent him messages.

Sakurazaki began sending chats in the morning and at night with messages like “Good morning ♥” and “Good night, baby ♥.”

Tsubaki would say things like, “You’re not participating anyway, right? Then come help out with the middle school preparations~.”

Daikichi was unsure how to respond.

He could easily imagine that if he reacted too extremely, both of them would find it amusing.

Even though he now felt he could indulge in such banter a little, the truth was, he simply didn’t have the energy to act on it.

With the school festival, the school’s requests were increasing, and there was also Sachiko’s school performance to consider.

After some deliberation, Daikichi replied with a brief “I see,” explaining that he was too busy lately and would simply mark messages as read to avoid any trouble.

However, by leaving out details about his busyness, he inadvertently gave Sakurazaki and Tsubaki the wrong idea—they began teasing him with chats like “Are you feeling shy?” or “Shall we come see you?”

But once Daikichi consistently left his messages on read, they eventually understood he was truly busy, and their messages gradually decreased.

Feeling relieved that he might somehow get through it, Daikichi spent the rest of his lunch break handling minor tasks related to supporting the various class events.

“Some classes are bringing huge objects to display… and now they want a layout plan for moving them in… I don’t think regular schools would ever prepare something like that on a class-by-class basis… but I don’t really know about regular schools anyway…”

Every time an odd class appeared, Daikichi hesitated whether to scribble red corrections suggesting that the plan was off-topic and needed reconsideration.

However, since the homeroom teacher didn’t demand a redo of the plan, he assumed it would probably be fine and decided not to get involved.

As the saying goes, it’s best not to stir up a hornet’s nest—and Daikichi wasn’t in the business of investigating such matters.

So, without complaint, he formulated the moving-in layout, checked the site, completed the paperwork, and called it done.

After finishing his lunch break, Daikichi returned to the classroom with a yawn. Then, for some reason, a classmate was staring intently at him, and one of the boys suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, got a minute?”

When Daikichi turned with a puzzled look, the boy ran his index finger through Daikichi’s hair, smoothly brushing it to the side.

“Whoa… you’ve got quite a stylish look, huh?”

Surprised by the sudden approach from a classmate he didn’t know, Daikichi was confused.

“What the heck? Don’t touch me.”

“No, no—I’ve been thinking something was off for a while now.”

“Your hair?”

“No, I just think it looks really cool.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Daikichi did have a naturally stylish haircut, but it wasn’t his personal choice—it was Sachiko’s order.

Previously, Sachiko had taken a liking to an actor she saw in an exclusive online drama and insisted, “Daikichi, your next haircut should be just like this,” so that’s how it turned out.

Basically, Sachiko chooses Daikichi’s hairstyle and casual clothes.

Daikichi himself wasn’t particularly picky; since Sachiko seemed happy, he just went along with it.

“Well, anyway—aside from the hairstyle—what I really want to ask is… I’ve seen you getting tangled up with the middle school girls. That girl is from the Sazanka family, you know, the pharmaceutical company’s daughter, right?”

“Sazanka… you mean Tsubaki?”

“Tsubaki—does that mean you call her by her first name? Is she your fiancée or something?”

It seems the boy was interested in Tsubaki… but honestly, it’s not unusual for boys to be interested in her, so Daikichi wasn’t surprised.