OreShura: Volume 4 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The Game Love Mentality is Mayhem

After Masuzu and the rest went home, Saeko-san went to take a bath.

It seemed like she had to go to work again in the evening, so I decided to make her a bento. For the sake of keeping nutrition in mind, I wanted to focus on vegetables and limit the oil used….. so I decided to make a stew. I'll make a Chizuken Stew since my aunt tried it once before and said was ｢tasty tasty｣ as she ate.

When the ingredients in the pot started boiling, Saeko-san walked into the living room while wiping her wet hair. Although she was only wearing a tank top and hot pants, I didn't react against such rough dressing manner because I was accustomed to it.

…..but before I got used to it, to be honest I was always very restless. After all, Saeko-san has an amazing style.

Saeko-san twitched her nose and sniffed:

"How wonderful. A loving wife's bento."

"Why is it loving wife's bento?"

I used my chopsticks to poke the lotus root to see how it was, this still needs another three minutes.

Saeko-san took a beer from the refrigerator.

"You're such a good nephew, I can't believe that such a terribly awful pair of parents managed to give birth to a child like you, it's a real mystery."

"Haha, please stop. After all, you're taking care of me now, so if it's at least this much-"

"Eita is the one who should stop it. It's just natural that I'd take care of you, after all we are family."

"……That's true, I'm sorry."

I looked up as I tried to reflect on this sudden burst of happiness that was shoot at me.

Saeko-san drained the can of beer in an instant:

"Oh right, somehow when it comes to those four———— do you want your to turn your life into a mayhemshuraba? Or perhaps it is an harem?"

"To either of those, I refuse."

I took out another can of beer from the refrigerator.

"If you pick the mayhem, you should take some self-defense classes. Also, you should frequently put a copy of Shounen Jump under your shirt, so that when you're stabbed it'll lessen the penetration."

"I don't think that kind of thing can stop it….."

Futhermore, if I put it there, it seems like it would be difficult to move.

"If you pick the harem, if you don't carefully develop a plan and manage the flags, it will be difficult to conquer five people simultaneously. If you mess up one or two options, an irreparable chain reaction of bombs will explode, so don't be lazy and forget to save."

"If you happen to find a memory card for my life, please buy it quickly."

I casually answered as I turned off the stove.

"-erm? Five people? Why is there five people?"

"I'm also a capture target."

"I refuse."

Saeko-san shrugged lightly:

"If that's so, then you just pick one and you should date her."

"......That's why I am dating. With Masuzu."

However, Saeko-san shrugged once again, as if she still didn't believe it.

"That kid, isn't she the type that will never reveal what's on her heart, right? Although she tried to act dere just then due to the atmosphere; honestly it looks like her problems are much deeper than just that."

Yeah— as expected, she is really keen.

To be honest, even I didn't know what Masuzu was truly thinking.

"Well, anyhow; it's not like she is truly a bad guy or the like. In fact, she also has her good points."

"Eh—such as?"

"First of all, there's the face, and after that it's the face, and um, a, well, there is also the face."

Strange?

Besides the face, what more can I say about her that's good......?

No, of course there is something else. Like, her looks, her appearance, or how she seems to the eye.

Saeko smiled as if she saw through everything and said:

"A beautiful flower will always have poison and spines, this is something that the world dictates. Just be careful that you aren't pricked."

"Yes yes."

I picked up the pot, and the scent of soy sauce drifted through the kitchen.

And then I suddenly thought of something.

Just what did Masuzu usually eat anyways?

♦

Masuzu was using her lips.

After I bid farewell to Saeko-san, ate dinner with Chiwa, I was called to the cafe as usual by SMS message. I found Masuzu sucking on a silvery pre-packaged jelly drink . It was the kind of thing that office workers often ate when they didn't have any time to eat.

I sat in the seat opposite of her, and ordered a Coke from the waitress.

"Could it be that, that's actually your dinner?"

"Well, that's how it is, is there something wrong?"

I didn't know what she was targeting, but Masuzu inflated the drink bag with a ｢phu｣ while pouting.

"But when you have that, don't you feel like you haven't eaten anything? You should order a sandwich or pasta or something."

"I don't like kind of obsessing eating behavior. As long as it simply fill an empty stomach, anything is okay."

That being said, I don't think I've ever seen this girl properly eat anything before.

The morning when she prepared food in my house, she cooked instant curry, and when she's at our club she only drinks tea.

"Those lovestruck people will often say stuff like ｢Let's go eat dinner together next time?｣ ｢Oh, I know a really nice place to eat.｣ And as they mutter about vague topics and chat, they stuff themselves with animal carcasses, eggs, as well as plant seeds, roots, and grind leaves in their mouthes. Don't you think this behavior exhibits the revolting behavior of those in love?"

"……No, you really shouldn't say that much......"

Somehow, she seems to be in a really bad mood.

But this wasn't difficult to understand, since she was just discredited by Saeko-san.

It's about eight o'clock at night, and the store was filled almost entirely with student couples enjoying the summer nights together. In other people's eyes, were are the same, right? If you just looked, it was impossible to see that we are fakes——— but this was referring to the ordinary situation.

"So? What did you want to talk about?"

"There are some things I want to listen from you."

Masuzu took a sip of the iced coffee she ordered.

"The first thing is about Fuyuumi Ai. I never expected she would actually be your ｢childhood friend｣. I couldn't help but be surprised."

"Like I said at the club, I didn't deliberately try to hide it."

"I'll know that's true. But the thing I wanted to confirm wasn't about that—— but whether Fuyuumi-san actually likes you or not."

The Coke that I ordered was delivered.

I drank half of it in one gulp:

"Eh, how am I supposed to know? Maybe she just didn't like the taste of how she was robbed of her position as childhood friend by Chiwa"

Because I couldn't mention the thing about the fiancé, I could only answer like this.

Masuzu sighed deeply:

"You really aren't honest. You're even more of a tsundere than Fuyuumi-san is."

"S-s-shut it! Just leave me alone!"

"I'll change the question then."

Masuzu poked the glass that was covered in condensation, and spoke.

"Fuyuumi's boyfriend whom she calls, ｢Daigoro｣, is just a coverdummy, right?"

"......"

I said nothing, and Masuzu seemed to take it as my tacit approval.

"Well, it doesn't matter how one sees it, that's how it looks. In fact I wonder how come Harusaki-san and Akishino-san haven't noticed by now."

"Leaving Hime aside for now, I think Chiwa is starting to become suspicious."

Fuyuumi often forgets about her own setting frequently, so it won't be long before she can't even hide it from Hime. When that time comes, what will happen to her relationship as Master? I'm a little worried.

"I have a simple question. Can you listen to me and not get angry?"

"......What?"

Masuzu stared at me with serious eyes:

"Where does Harusaki-san, Akishino-san, and Fuyuumi-san find something good in a ｢Preaching Lecturing Bookworm｣ like yourself?"

"And I'm not supposed to get angry!?"

A Preaching Lecturing Bookworm……

A Preaching Lecturing Bookworm is it!?……

"What's with that?! Why did you have to give me that kind of nickname?!"

As a matter of fact, this is just badmouthing!

"Because Eita is always lecturing, isn't? You lecture me, you also lecture Mana, and still lecture Akishino-san. As a matter of fact, didn't you capture Fuyuumi-san by lecturing something?"

"You are just saying what pleases you! And don't speak of someone else's life as if he was the protagonist of a gal-game!"

Masuzu tilted her head, ｢Eh?｣:

"Although I don't know much about it, but are gal-games like that?"

"Huh? ……yeah, I guess so. Although I'm also not very sure, but there has to be some gal-games that are like that."

The male lead's only weapon to face the beautiful female protagonists, to be in the form of confronting and straighten out the personal problems of the girls and succeeding → which then gives place to them being captured. ｢Persuade｣ and ｢Capture｣ are the key points, Saeko-san said this once before.

"Personally I have never seen the point of gal-games, even though you end up inside a game, yet you still have to deal with love."

"No, rather, it's exactly because it's inside a game, right? After all, love in the real world can be very complicated, in games that stuff is all dealt through shortcuts."

"Heh……"

Masuzu opened her eyes wide:

"This has to be the first time I feel like I agree with Eita. It looks like you can occasionally say sensible things after all."

"Saying 'occasionally' is unnecessary."

"You are merely a lecturing thief."

"What happened to the preaching bookworm?"

When you talk with this girl, the barrage of nicknames just never stops.

"Ara, when you sweep away the hearts of girls, aren't you in a sense a ｢thief｣?"

"……You are really sugar-coating your words."

"'Gal-Game Male Protagonist = Lecturing Thief' Story".

Even I've never heard of that.

"Then let's go back to the question — what do those three girls like about you?"

"How should I know? Go ask them that yourself."

"I want to hear Eita's own thoughts."

"Even if you say so......"

Those girls were super weird. I had no clue what they were thinking.

"First of all, Hime likes me because I can share her delusions of her ｢past life｣? Kind of like having a common interest."

"Yeah, Akishino-san is easy to understand….. Fuyuumi-san then?"

"I don't know. I have no clue."

In kindergarten, it seemed like she had to confess to me to find out about "the secret great place to watch fireworks", however that can't possible be the case right now. I actually don't understand what type of interest she has on me.

"Harusaki-san then?"

"Chiwa?"

I tilted my head and said:

"Chiwa's ｢love｣ isn't a romantic kind of ｢love｣. It's a familial kind of ｢love｣. I said this before, but she's basically like a little sister to me."

Although, from her statement I am the ｢little brother｣.

Chiwa definitely liked me, but that was the kind of love as a ｢family member｣.

"Is that really the case?"

Masuzu's eyes coldly peered over my face.

"Is that something you believe——— or rather, is it something that you hope is the case?"

"Something I hope? What do you mean?"

"Because you're afraid of losing Harusaki Chiwa— this ｢family member｣."

"......?"

I didn't understand what Masuzu was saying.

Shouldn't it be obvious that you'd be afraid of losing your family members? How did this have to do with what we were talking about?

"Whatever. Let's not talk about that for now."

When the waitress who came to refill water left, Masuzu took advantage of the moment and changed the subject.

"Your oba-sama, What kind of person is she?"

"A child inside an adult's body...... think of it like that. Her view points and everything she experiences, she relates it all to ｢game｣."

There are more people who is like Saeko-san like that, in fact most of them are probably considered geniuses. Among people who create games, this kind of personality seems to be common standard, though.

"How bothersome. If she were simply a ｢Lovestruck Mentality｣, there would be a lot of approaches to deal with it. But with people poisoned by love in games, what we could call a ｢Game Love Mentality｣, I don't have the foggiest on how to deal with that."

"That's exactly how it is."

Even though Masuzu was very well versed on the topic of shounen manga, she probably wasn't very familiar with gal-games, ero-games, and stuff in that category.

"Having said that, even though she was relying on intuition, I must have be loosing my edge if she was actually able to see through our fake act." Masuzu stirred her coffee with her straw because the melted ice made it watery.

"What's wrong? It's rare for you admit your weaknesses."

"Even if I look like this, I'm very confident in my ｢camouflage｣. As long as I put on the act of a good girl, adults are sure to be tricked. To have that miss-fire, I'm shocked."

"……I see."

I was also hit by that shock, after all I thought my own act was pretty good.

At this moment, Masuzu showed an unfathomable expression:

"Why does even Eita look depressed?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Even if our fake relationship gets revealed, you don't lose anything at all. As a matter of fact, shouldn't you feel happy?"

"How could that be possible?!"

My voice raised.

"Since you and I are officially recognized as a couple in school, if everything was exposed as a lie now, wouldn't things become really awkward after that? Since we have come this far, I'm on this ship till it sinks"

"......"

"Of course, if you're willing to return my notebook, that would be a completely different matter. In that case, I'd break up with you right away."

When I said that, the corners of Masuzu's mouth gradually rose into a smile.

"You've come to say some really conceited things. When you're obviously a just a preaching lecturing thieving bookworm."

"Hahaha, what kind of thief is that?"

This admitting and well-behaved Masuzu wasn't like her at all.

A poisonous tongue and arrogance suits her better.

"What type of thief? A very foul thief."

"You really don't have to explain."

"After breaking into a a lone college girl's home to look for underwear, and covering the room with loads of underwear, you started to sniff and sniff the odors as you rolled back and forth. When the student came back and started screaming, you started to lecture in a poor Kansai accent: ｢Panties must be white! There shouldn't be black or red ones!｣ When she called the police, you started shouting, ｢I carried the crime just as I said! I carried the crime just as I said!｣, wore panties on your head and fled."

"You really didn't have to explain!"

Or rather, just let it go! The guests around us are looking at us!

"After being arrested, you became a bookworm in prison."

"Don't insist on finishing!"

The two college girls who sat in the the neighboring space hurriedly left, and their faces looked twisted as if them so something really disgusting.

……G-good grief......

"In any case, just as the filthy thing said, I can't be depressed anymore. Since that's the case, I'll follow your aunt's condition and win the crown at the this miss contest."

"......"

Was that filthy thing referring to me?

Wasn't ｢boyfriend｣?

"Of course, the filthy thing has to lend assistance as well. This is so we can make Harusaki-san and the others recognize that I'm the girlfriend while we are in the boarding house trip."

"Before that, could you recognize that I'm a human being……?"

As expected, it would be better if my ｢girlfriend｣ was just a little bit more well-behaved after all.

---

Notes

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