Chapter 148 - Negotiation
She had shown me something like that.I was in no condition to have a discussion.A feverish heat covered my entire body, and bestial desires surged up within me.
(Cool your head. She's a high school girl, you know.)
I've heard that in times like this, it's good to picture your mother naked.Because that makes any man wilt.In order to suppress my agitation and excitement, I immediately began the work of stripping my mother's clothes off in my mind.
Mom's naked body...Mama's naked body...Angelica-mama's naked body...
Partway through, it was overwritten by a scene of Angelica in an apron, sensually undressing, instead of my actual mother.I knew I was done for.
(That just made me even more turned on, what the hell am I doing...!?)
An old man who, after illegally entering a seventeen-year-old girl's room, mopes around on the balcony fantasizing about another girl's naked body.I feel like this is the moment I've broken through the qualifying league of the Pervert World Cup.The opposing team's JK-loving yakuza scoring an own goal by starting a healthy relationship with a woman his own age also helped (Gondo sent me an email like that the other day), and as a result, the Japanese national team led by Keisuke Nakamoto achieved a giant killing, advancing to the round of 16...
I hate this...I didn't want to win like this, and more than anything, I didn't want to participate in this kind of tournament.What even is the Pervert World Cup?Is a yellow card an arrest warrant, and a red card a death penalty petition?
But well, I guess you could call it a blessing in disguise.Thanks to imagining perverts from all over the world competing on the pitch, that sickly sweet excitement had completely blown away.Guilt and shame occupied the majority of my brain, and not a single fragment of desire for Ayako-chan existed.
"Alright."
Whatever the process, if the result matches the objective, then it's fine.I stood up vigorously and turned back toward the room.It was unmistakably peeping, but she was in love with me.If I act confidently, she won't get angry.
I am the Hero. What have I to fear?
As I stood with my arms folded, the very person in question, Ayako-chan, returned. She seemed to have just washed her hands, and was diligently wiping her fingertips with a handkerchief.
"Hm."
I nodded quietly and released the Concealment Magic.A man needs courage. Only a charge remains.Go, me—!
"Ah, sorry for the sudden visit, Ayako-chan, but could you please not shout..."
Wearing an obsequious smile, I gave a knock-knock on the window frame.I presented a humble smile to the girl whose shoulders jumped in surprise.
...It can't be helped.
If my opponent were a monster, a demon, or someone trying to kill me, I could act tough.But when it's a girl who has romantic feelings for me, I can't help but be reserved.I unconsciously become humble.When I think, "This girl likes me, doesn't she..." I can't do anything cruel, right?
"...Huh, Nakamoto-san!?"
Me, bowing my head just like a salesman, and Ayako-chan, frozen with her hand covering her mouth.It was the beginning of a truly pathetic negotiation.
"..."
"...Could you open up, if you don't mind?"
"............"
With a furrowed brow, Ayako-chan opened the window.It's only natural, but her face was full of wariness.
"...Why are you in a place like this?"
"I couldn't think of a way to call you out. Your mother's been really strict lately, right?"
After all, just a few months ago, this girl was split right in two by Kana's hand.From the perspective of her parents, who don't know the circumstances, she is "a daughter who was attacked by a random slasher and had her uniform cut to shreds."
Since that incident, it seems Ayako-chan hasn't been allowed to stand out front of the shop much.Her parents are probably wary of exposing her to public view.
In that situation, for a single man like me to casually show up and say, "Hello, shopkeeper. Could you call your daughter on the second floor for me?" would be absolutely outrageous.
Thinking about it that way, I'm surprised she was able to wander around alone last night.Did she sneak out?
"...My mother is overreacting..."
"Isn't that normal for a parent with a teenage daughter? In fact, a strange bug like me has come buzzing around, see."
"...Did you come to do something strange? If so, please come in."
"'If so, please come in' is weird. Though I'm not one to talk."
I ducked down and invaded the room once more.
"...So, Nakamoto-san, you couldn't hold back anymore and came for a night visit while it's still light out, right?"
"Wrong. Completely wrong."
I shook my head vigorously in denial.
"Well, you see, I came today because I have a favor to ask of you, Ayako-chan."
"...A proposal, is it?"
"It's not that kind of thing."
"...Getting pregnant before marriage is a bit..."
"I told you, it's not that kind of thing."
I'm weird for sneaking into a girl's room, but Ayako-chan is also quite far gone.Could it be that I've wandered into an outrageous place?I feel like a winged insect that's flown into a carnivorous plant.
"...Then, what did you come for?"
"I have two requests."
"Two... Could it be, about the other me?"
She asked with an upward glance.She's quite sharp.
"That's part of it. The other one is completely unrelated to that."
"..."
"Ayako-chan?"
"Is the other me doing well?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah, she's weirdly high-spirited. For some reason, she's been making meat dishes since this morning."
"...She probably plans to build up your stamina, Nakamoto-san, and then get pregnant... Please be careful..."
Since it's coming from her, it's probably true. A terrifying story.
"I have a status as a student that I have to protect... so I have a brake. But that other me has no social brakes... I don't know what she'll do... If you get sleepy after eating her cooking, that's a danger signal... Please throw it up immediately... She'll create a fait accompli while you're asleep..."
"R-Right. I'll take it to heart."
Her voice was already quiet, but she rattled on so fast it was unbearably hard to catch. On top of that, she wouldn't even meet my eyes.
The Ayako-chan who lives with me has started speaking louder than before, and she meets my eyes now too.Even though they're the same person, their inner selves have already begun to differentiate due to the change in environment.It was a truly strange feeling.
"...So, Nakamoto-san, you want to break up with the other me, so you want my help with that, right?"
"That's also wrong, or rather, let's stop jumping to conclusions before I even speak."
"...Then, what is your business..."
Saying that, Ayako-chan sat on a chair. It was a movement like that of a capable female secretary.But immediately after, she glanced at the monitor and let out a strange cry of "Aaaah!" which ruined everything.After all, the screen was filled with an enlarged image of my chest.And on top of that, the owner of that chest had barged into her room—this was practically suicidal.
"Ah, um, Nakamoto-san, this is—"
"Are you a fan of mine? Thanks for your continued support."
"...Uu, uuu..."
I smiled gently at her face, which had turned as red as a boiled octopus.I deliberately spoke up before she could close the image to seize the initiative in our discussion.Once you're past thirty, you start using this kind of cunning.
"...Um... did you see?"
"See what?"
"...Nakamoto-san, how long were you on the balcony?"
"I just got here a moment ago. But when I arrived, the curtains were already drawn, so I couldn't see what was going on inside."
That said, everything has its limits, so playing dumb is also important.
"...Then, you really didn't see anything..."
"Of course not. ...Were you doing something you'd be troubled if I saw?"
"...I wasn't, doing anything..."
Ayako-chan's lips trembled as she frantically closed the image folder.Judging by the way she was rubbing her knees together, was she recalling her own indecent behavior?
"Hey, Ayako-chan, is it impossible for you to get along with the other you? It would be really helpful if you could share things like an insurance card. You might get a serious illness someday."
"...It's impossible."
The girl answered, her face still red.
"In a way, aren't you like twin sisters? Why do you dislike her so much?"
"...We're not twins. ...That is my, waste product... Since it split off from my body, it's like a fallen hair..."
"Isn't that going too far?"
"It's not going too far. ...I know that I'm a bad girl... All the dirty parts, all of them... For there to be two of this kind of person, it's the end of the world..."
Perhaps her head had cooled as we talked, because the redness faded from Ayako-chan's cheeks.
"But to me, the other Ayako-chan is practically family. We've been living together for nearly three months now. For her sake, I want to do what I can."
"...Three months..."
"Are you surprised?"
Ayako-chan spoke, her hands tucked between her thighs. With a fidgety motion, as if embarrassed.
"...Have you already, had a relationship with the other me?"
"Relationship?"
"...A physical relationship..."
"No."
I'm her guardian, I replied.
"I'm a father figure. There's no way I'd lay a hand on a girl I think of as a daughter."
"...That makes it even more dangerous... That's exactly my strike zone..."
Ayako-chan placed the hands she had pulled from between her thighs onto her knees.
"Um, Nakamoto-san."
"What is it?"
"I'm absolutely sure you'll be put off."
"I won't be put off, so tell me."
"..."
"Ayako-chan?"
The truth is you use Nakamoto-san eight times a day? You drugged your father when you were in elementary school? You've killed about two people in the past?Whatever confession comes, if it's Ayako-chan, I won't be surprised.
"...I... until last year, well, I was in love with my father... I-I'm a father-con...!"
"Oh, is that all. I knew."
"You're put off, right... This is weird, isn't it... So that's why the other me would definitely target someone who's a father figure even more... Huh?"
As for me, my brain is starting to mistake a sixteen-year-old girl for my mama.I really want to say, don't worry about it.
"With the people around me, it's a common story, so it feels like nothing special. There are plenty of people way worse."
"...I see... You heard from the other me, didn't you..."
Ayako-chan folded her hands in front of her chest and let out a breath. Her hands were moving busily.
"...You don't think it's, disgusting?"
"I think it's a peculiar hobby, but if you haven't acted on it, isn't it fine? At most, you just took baths together or something, right?"
"...That's true, but..."
"Then it's nothing to worry about."
If she hasn't engaged in sexual acts, physically she's just a daddy's girl.From the perspective of someone living surrounded by extreme peculiar fetishes, it's like, who cares about that at this point?More than that, I'm much more eager to get on with the discussion.
"...Nakamoto-san, would you still like me, even though I'm such a perverted girl...?"
"Hm?"
[Affection Level of Ayako Otsuki has increased by 99999999]
The moment I tilted my head, thinking the conversation was heading in a weird direction, and the moment Ayako-chan stood up, were almost simultaneous.
"Ayako-chan?"
What's gotten into her so suddenly, I wondered, as the father-con girl floated over toward the bed.Is she planning to show off a two-shot photo with her father? I watched, feeling a bit exasperated.I can see right through these people's behavioral patterns.Father, father, no matter what, it's father.
If I just give appropriate nods to her father-con talk, she'll be in a good mood, I thought, relaxing my posture, when Ayako-chan took something out from behind her pillow....Something hidden in a place like that, and a small rectangle at that... I have nothing but a bad feeling about this.
"...I... it's true that I was fixated on my father... but I didn't do anything weird... I've never even kissed my father... it's true... I'm still in a pure body..."
"Wh-What about it?"
"...Please, confirm it with your own hands, Nakamoto-san..."
Ayako-chan timidly held it out with a gesture like a new employee presenting a business card.A contraceptive device, pinched between the fingers of both hands.
"...Why do you have something like this?"
"...Girls, are given them in health class."
"Seriously... I always wondered why those guys sometimes had solemn faces after having class in a different room..."
"...I don't mind, listening to your request, Nakamoto-san."
"Huh?"
"...It's a condition for exchange. ...In return, please hold me."
The bookish girl spoke with a trembling voice.
"...I can't, hold back, anymore..."