Chapter 121: Not Being There For You Is A Bad Idea

Subplot: A Call with the King of Mirisha.
[TL/N : King of Militia.]


(The conversation shall be conducted in Portuguese.)

King of Mirisha "Hey, long time no see. I didn't expect you to call me from Edileza. What's the matter? Did you miss Brazil?"

Suo "I miss Brazil, but I don't want to hear that from you. There are things I want to hear and things I need to tell you. How do you know my secret? And why did you tell it to Hagiri?"

King of Mirisha "I told your secret to Dr. Hagiri's grandson as an insurance policy in case you deviated from Hagiri Chuso's control. It actually helped, didn't it? The favor I received from Dr. Hagiri is important to me. I don't like his grandson, but I have to respect them in their own way. Of course, I must tell him, I have not divulged it to anyone but Hagiri, and I will not do so in the future. I swear it on my debt to your father."

Suo "In the first place, I don't understand the nerve to leak something to my disadvantage?"

King of Mirisha "That is a very girly misunderstanding. You are only the daughter of a benefactor. I will support you, of course, but I have no intention of taking care of you in any way. Please don't get carried away."

Suo "Hmph. Then how do you know? My secret!"

King of Mirisha "If you observe me properly, I will know the secret of your sin in no time. I do not call myself the King of Mirisha for nothing. You cannot hide your sins from my eyes."

Suo ".........Well, fine. If you don't intend to divulge otherwise, I will not kill you. I called you today to declare my hand off. I'm stepping away from the Brazilian underworld for good and have no intention of getting involved. It's a declaration of insulation."

King of Mirisha "Hmm. Well, now that you're in a solid job, the darkness of the past is just a stain you'd like to get rid of. Fine. Do as you please. From me ... I won't mess with you, and I'll make sure my men do the same."

Suo "That's a pretty straightforward acceptance, isn't it?"

King of Mirisha "I won't force you to stay. I'm not a serious enough king to let an unwilling person do my job. You can do as you please."

Suo "...Are you up to something?"

King of Mirisha "I always have a plan. I never run out of ambition. But I told you. I am not serious enough to pull in something I am not willing to do."

Suo "All right. I'm serious now. I hope we never have to deal with each other again. Bye."

(A call end here)















King of Mirisha "Kukuku. Yes. I will not allow the unwilling to go on stage. Edileza. You come here again of your own volition. To snow the king for the sins of the past."






--- and all for the sake of progress and order...















[Short horror stories]


Kanata "Are you okay with horror?"

Tomoe "That's nothing! I am normal with that! Very normal! Well, I'll watch it once in a while!"

Kanata "Yes, you do! That's reaction! You're freaked out by the horror, but you hide it because you're embarrassed! That's the kind of normal girl reaction I wanted! It's cute, Mashiba, cute!"

Tomoe "Eh? Oh, yeah? Thanks. Ehehe."

Kanata (What a normal cute girl. No punchline, but oh well)






[Short Horror Stories]


Mumumi "I'm not good with horror. I can't watch them when I'm alone."

Kanata (can't watch horror alone -> can watch it with someone else -> can watch it with me -> you definitely like me!) "Then, with me---...!"

Mumumi "Yes. Whenever I watch a horror movie alone, I always get a tsukkomi. I mean, a ghost has no physical definition of its very existence, right? I mean, it's as if they don't exist, right?"

Kanata "(。´・ω・)Hmm? Well, I don't think there are any ghosts."

Mumumi "But on the contrary, it's difficult to prove that they don't exist. I tend to think of fiction as if it really exists. That's why I think about the possibilities of ghosts. For example, I assume the existence of ghosts is some phenomenon caused by undiscovered subatomic particles. It should be obvious that symmetry breaking in space leads to a partial breakdown of locality. Then χ=Ψβrad(abc) is satisfied, and the assumption constructs a circularly self-referential proposition that is both a singularity and an origin..."

Kanata "What are you talking about?"

Mumumi "In other words, it leads to a new function that is a kind of ironic antithesis to the rigid macro-determinism of the observer problem! In other words, I think this way, even if there are ghosts, they will fit into this world!"

Kanata "Please! Give me a punchline! Give me a punchline!!!!!!!"













Now let's get to the main story!








What would you do if you were taking a girl to a hot spring and she told you? Of course, the answer is obvious.

"It's nice of you to take me, but why are you taking Mashiba with you?"

Igarashi and I alone at a hot spring. Just imagining it makes my cheeks curl up in a smile, but I don't understand why Mashiba would come along with us.

|| "Well, you know. Tomoe has been kind of down lately. So I wanted to take her there for a change."

I see. But Mashiba is Hagiri's woman. I want to harass Hagiri, but I don't think it's right to take his woman on an outing. Well, in my previous life, my wife was cuckolded by Hagiri! So there is a part of me that doesn't want to do the same thing.

"I understand that, but isn't your childhood friend Hagiri going to encourage Mashiba?"

|| "That's the thing. Chusho went on a trip to a foreign country. He wants to travel around the world while he's still a student. I wonder what he's going to bring back as a souvenir. I'm looking forward to it. Fufufu."

"Huh? A trip? Seriously? When is he coming back?"

|| "It looks like he's going to be in a foreign country for the whole summer vacation. That's why it's impossible for Chusho to encourage Tomoe. Please. Come with me and accompany Tomoe for a change of scenery!"

So that's the situation. Personally, that guy is not in Japan for the whole summer vacation...




I'm very happy! (*´Ð”｀)




My feelings were seriously vibes up.

"Okay! H-O-T S-P-R-I-N-G! When are we going?"

|| "Yeah? Was a hot spring a yooey place? But thanks. Let's go to the hot springs! Right now!"

"Eh? Right now?"

|| "Yes! Now!"

Wow. That's a lot of recklessness. But this Igarashi doesn't listen to anyone. I immediately started up my computer and searched for a hot spring hotel where we could stay. Since it was summer vacation, all the reservation sites were full. However, I happened to find a nice place to stay. It was in a place called Shima Onsen. The town and the buildings were remote. And I was attracted by the cobalt blue lake. The room I could get had an open-air bath.

"Oh, this is no good! This room is not in good taste! .........Pochi."

I took the room. It was a large tatami room with a very Showa-era retro feel. It looks like it has good food, esthetics, massage. There are also ping-pong table tennis and so on. And above all, it has a private hot spring bath. Well, if there was such a thing, I'm sure we would both take a bath in the hot spring! I don't have a choice! Ahaha, ahahahaha!

"I got a room!"

I tell Igarashi on the other end of the phone.

|| "Wow! How much was it? I'll give you half too."

Come to think of it, this girl was the kind of girl who wanted to split everything. I had made a quick decision to buy a room without looking at the price, so I looked at the price again.

200,000 yen per night!

I saw the price again. No way! I can't tell them this! This is not a room for a college student! I can't let them split the bill. I desperately tried to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"No. Actually, Mashiba helped me out a lot the other day! I want to thank her for that, so this time it's on me!"

|| "Heh? But that's..."

I'm going to bite back a little. I want her to be mature.

"No, seriously, I feel like I'm really indebted to Mashiba! Besides, this isn't a date, is it? So I don't want to split the bill! Okay?"

|| "Really? Fufufu. If you're going to go that far, I'll be indebted to you. But if money is tight, let me know. I'll pay for it too!"

I'm glad she's following up, but the fact that I'm treat Igarashi something is a little overwhelming to my man's heart. After all, men like to pay tribute to women, right? Thus, we decided to go to a hot spring resort.








I drove up to Igarashi's house. I put on my sunglasses and got out of the driver's seat.

"W-Who are you? T-That time---!"

Papa Igarashi, who was probably working in the yard in the field, noticed my presence.

"Oh, hello. Is Igarashi at home?"

"Have you come to see my daughter? Go home now! Riri belong to Chusho!"

Seriously, the Igarashi family are sympathizers of Hagiri. But the reason I came here today is because I was called by your daughter!

"Ah, Tokiwa, yeay!"

Igarashi looks out of the second floor window and waves at us. Beside her was Mashiba, looking somewhat a little gloomy. The two then quickly pulled on their trunks and walked out the front door.

"Can I put my luggage in the back?"

"Oh. Go ahead."

"You don't think you're traveling, huh? Riri! You're going on a trip with that guy right now?!"

Papa Igarashi presses Riri. But Igarashi is smiling unconcernedly.

"That's right - I'm going to a hot spring with Tomoe and Tokiwa!"

"Oh, no? A hot spring?!!!!"

With a look of despair at everything in the world, Papa Igarashi turned his attention to me. I smiled and said this to reassure Papa Igarashi.

"I will take full responsibility for your daughter. Please rest assured."

"How can I be reassured by a man with an anti-corporate face! I won't accept it! Riri will not travel with such a shady man! I won't allow it!

Papa Igarashi complains, his face turning red. But she's already decided to go. Igarashi also looks at her father with an evil look of disgust, as if she were a daughter of her age. I was going to say something to smoke her out for the time being, but Mashiba opened her mouth.

"It's all right. I will keep an eye on this man and will not let him do anything untoward. Please rest assured."

"But...!"

"Hagiri isn't doing anything good right now. It's summer and he is not in Japan. He leave his important people alone."

Papa Igarashi groaned at Mashiba's somewhat dismissive tone. It was true that the summer for college students should be a chance to deepen their relationship, and it should be an important time to accumulate memories together. And yet, Hagiri is not in Japan. How is that? As a man, I despise that. That kind of thing. Papa Igarashi became quiet after that. Meanwhile we got into the car and left for our trip.





***Author's musings***


I thought the words "leave his loved ones alone" were very painful.

By the way, the words "progress and order" are written on the Brazilian flag.

Next time, I'm going to the hot springs!