Chapter 268 - Parent-Child Meeting
"So then."
I've eaten, and I've finished getting ready.
All that's left is to head to work... but I noticed something.
"Come to think of it, Chloe isn't here. What's up?"
I think that child is crying in the bedroom, Angelica said while sucking on my fingertip.
"She said she doesn't want to see her real father getting all touchy-feely with girls his daughter's age in the morning."
"...That's a pretty normal reaction for a teenage girl."
I've done something awful here.
I shook off Angelica and the others, then hurriedly ran to Chloe.
When I arrived in front of the bedroom, I stopped dead in my tracks and knocked on the door. It'd be awkward if she was in the middle of changing, after all.
"Hey, Chloe. It's me. Can I come in?"
"...I'm changing right now, so you can come in."
"Oh, is that so? Well then, I'll take you up on that... wait, you're changing?"
As I opened the door with a click, I met eyes with Chloe, who had her pajamas pulled down to around her knees, wearing only a sports bra.
Sorry, but why are you letting your father into the room when you're in the middle of undressing?
"W-Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean to peek!"
"I'm showing you. Don't worry about it."
Just come in, she urged in a cold voice.
There's no man alive who can defy a fifteen-year-old in her underwear (especially his own daughter), so I reluctantly stepped into the room.
"So... I heard you were sulking."
Chloe said nothing, just kept making the rustling sounds of clothes shifting.
I guess because we're actually blood-related, she doesn't think anything of me seeing her skin.
[Party Member Chloe's Sexual Arousal has reached 60%.]
"Hey! Right after you said that!"
"Lord Father, do you know why I'm mad?"
"Huh?"
"Answer me. About why I'm mad."
A quiz on what I'm currently angry about?
The one that any man with a difficult daughter like her has to answer on a daily basis?
I carefully searched for an answer so as not to upset Chloe any further.
"It's because I'm always fooling around with girls... that's why you're mad, right?"
"That's a fifty-point answer."
Chloe threw her sports bra onto the bed, then, while covering her breasts with her left arm, beckoned me over.
"What's up?"
"Help me out."
"Huh?"
"Help me change."
"But even I think that's..."
"You do it for the Holy Maiden, don't you?"
"..."
I had no reply.
I slowly moved around behind Chloe, slipped the replacement sports bra over her head, and gently, as if enveloping her, protected my own child's B-cup.
I hope this will earn me her forgiveness...
"You know what I'm really mad about,"
Chloe said, leaning against my chest.
"It's because you're holding back, Lord Father."
"Holding back?"
"You won't kiss me with tongue like you do with them, you hardly ever take baths with me anymore, and even when you do, you run away when I try to wash your face with my chest."
"But we're real father and daughter."
I stated the common sense: with you, it's no joke.
If I got into a steamy make-out session with her, I'd finally cross the final line of humanity. I want to avoid that at all costs.
"And the laundry too."
"Laundry? You mean that thing? 'Wash my clothes and Dad's clothes separately!' That one?"
"No, the opposite! Why won't you wash my underwear together with yours!? If I wear clothes that don't have my father's lingering scent on them, I'll get skin cancer eventually!"
"The human body doesn't have a defect like that, and Ayako-chan is the one on laundry duty, so tell her."
Knowing Ayako-chan, she probably makes sure to always wash her own clothes and mine together.
I guess that leaves Chloe's clothes out in the cold.
This is a ridiculously trivial problem.
"In short, you don't like that you can't get as close and cuddly with me as the other girls, right?"
"Exactly."
Chloe nodded vigorously.
Each time, her ponytail gently brushed against the tip of my nose, filling my brain with the scent of a young girl.
Even though we're supposed to be blood-related, I cursed myself for thinking, "She smells good, like a woman."
"Sorry. But I really can't treat you like a girlfriend."
When I patted her on the head, Chloe let out a small "Uuuuuu~~" groan.
It was like watching a small dog growl.
"It's not fair... Everyone else says it's because we're not blood-related... and they get to cuddle with you as much as they want..."
"I can't help it, this is just how it is."
"I want to have sex with you too, Lord Father...!"
"Well, I haven't done it with anyone yet."
"...Huh?"
Chloe turned her whole body around and stared at my face.
"That's what I said. I haven't actually gone all the way with anyone yet."
"...You're lying, right?"
"I'm serious. If you don't believe me, you can go check their hymens in the bath later."
"I'm not doing something that gross, but from the way you're talking, I guess it's true."
Chloe's face visibly relaxed with relief, and she said,
"Oh, I see. If you haven't had sex, then I guess it's fine."
She wrapped her arms around my neck and rubbed her cheek against mine. "Daddy's cheeks are all scratchy~" she said, seeming to be in a very good mood.
"...Are you not mad anymore?"
"I'm not mad at all!"
Seeming genuinely happy, she kept giving me innocent little pecks on the lips.
Well, stuff like this is just part of a greeting in the West. It doesn't count. It's not incest yet.
As I repeated these mysterious justifications in my head, Chloe whispered while running her tongue along my neck.
"Hey. Are you going to let that girl you brought home yesterday live with us?"
"For the time being."
"Hmm."
Chloe rubbed my inner thigh while pressing her modest chest against me.
It's still safe. It's like I'm bluffing, saying, "The opponent's leg is clearly bent at a weird angle, but I bribed the referee beforehand so I won't get a yellow card." In other words, by any objective standard it's a foul, but according to our house rules, it's safe.
In the Nakamoto household, this is just a greeting. It's an act on the same level as a Western kiss or hug—it's legal, it's legal—I continued the conversation while making these flimsy excuses.
"That girl is being chased, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Hm? Let's see."
I thought while stroking Chloe's head.
"I want you to help me find the otherworlder."
"Me? ...Wouldn't the Holy Maiden, who has detection abilities, be better for this?"
"Ange is decent as a radar, but she's unreliable as a combatant. I'd feel safer bringing you along too."
"...Is that so?"
"You're more agile and versatile."
I considered using Philia, but she's overkill.
Actually, Philia seems to think everyone besides me is a mite, so I'm scared she might start indiscriminately attacking people in the streets.
"So, after today's recording is done, pretend to be waiting for someone with Ange and meet up with me."
"You're not going to use Concealment?"
"I want them to make the first move. Being a little conspicuous is just right."
"Got it."
I patted the now-compliant Chloe on the head, then patted her butt for good measure, earned some Affection Level, and left the bedroom.
I'm still going to be incredibly busy after this.
After exchanging "see you later" kisses with all the women waiting at the entrance, and giving Mano-chan a thorough order to stay inside the house, I finally left the apartment.