That weak little morning greeting from Maki tickles my sadistic side.
“It’s morning.”
“Y-yes…”
“We should get up.”
“Y-yes we should…?”
“I want to stay like this though. What about you, Maki?”
“Fueh!?”
Maki is usually assertive, but now it’s the opposite.
Maybe she’s not a morning person, or maybe she can’t take it when someone pushes her like this. Or… Could it be that she remembers everything that happened last night?
“Hey, Maki.”
“H-hyai.”
“So, about how many kids…”
“!!!!!”
Maki snaps as she sits up, brushes my arms away, and takes distance like she’s running.
Then she crouches on the foot of the bed and trembles.
“U-uuuuu!”
I guess I was right, but I think I went a little… Quite a bit too far.
“It’s so embarrassing…”
“Ah, hum, sorry Maki.”
“Good morning!!”
…And Aki enters the room at the worst possible time.
Luck isn’t doing its job. Wait, this is no time for jokes!
“…Eh? Why is Shouta here!?”
And apparently she’s the type that doesn’t remember anything.
“What are you doing, breaking into a lady’s room…”
“No, this, hum…”
“Sniff.”
“And… And…! You made my Maki cry!?”
“S-sorry!!!”
“You think sorry’s gonna cut it!!!?”
Aki’s angry like a demon, Maki’s trembling, and I keep apologizing.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
It’s been dozens of minutes, and Maki prepared breakfast after she calmed down.
The fact that she made some for me too probably means she forgave me.
Yes, I had no right to say those things when I haven’t even confessed properly.
As for Aki, as Maki and I explain what happened last night to her, she finally, faintly, remembers why I’m here. She’s still a bit mad about me making Maki cry though.
I’m really sorry…
“I’m glad you remember it, at least some of it.”
“Hahaha, sorry. Wait, did I…”
“Yes, you told me to treat you like I do with Maki.”
“…I did, uh? Or did I? Well, I like it better that way anyway, so if you don’t mind either, keep it that way.”
Looking at Aki’s smiling face loosens mine.
Apparently drinking that hard really erases her memory. She says it tends to come back with time, but she didn’t remember a single thing when she woke up.
Maki on the other hand, seems to remember everything. Getting drunk is a rare thing for her anyway, so these two sisters really are opposites.
Anyway, for the sake of Aki’s honor, let’s forget about that whole three kids thing.
“So, what are you doing today?”
“Today?”
“You’ve been working non-stop lately, haven’t you? And you’ve been beating a rare monster every day too.”
“Well, I guess so.”
But I’ve been doing that since I was in Unlucky Hall. The rare slime were the same, just with different colors, but I was still fighting rare monsters every day. In a way, what I’m doing is just business as usual.
“I think you know this too Aki, but I never took a day off in these three years.”
“Yes, but you got to rest sometime, because that’s not good for the body.”
“Hm, but I’ve never felt sick or anything because of it… Ah, are you inviting me on a date?”
“Oh, so you do get it Shouta. At least I’d like to say that, but I didn’t schedule a day off.”
Says Aki, and Maki, who’s been silent all this time, picks up her phone and makes a call.
“…Hello, branch manager? Yes, it’s Maki. Good morning. Today Shouta is taking a day off, so Aki and I, his exclusives, will also be taking one to help him recover. Yes, I see. Because we are exclusives. It’s our job to make sure his body is in good condition. Eh? Yesterday? Nothing really happened. Yes. Yes. Excuse me.”
Maki puts down the phone, and smiles at us, while we look dumbfounded.
“It’s fine now!”
“…Hum, is it?”
“Well, the receptionist job is pretty flexible. We can trade days off without much issue. And since Maki and I are hard workers, we don’t take a lot of days off. So if we use the exclusivity privileges, even this sort of thing can be forgiven. I thought Maki was too serious to do that though.”
I’m more uneasy about how the branch manager seemed interested in what happened last night.
Well, if they aren’t worried, I shouldn’t torture myself either.
“Also Aki, I have a message from the branch manager. She says you don’t have to go back to the 777 branch for the time being. Your junior you left behind has been assigned to it, so you can work in the 525 branch for now.”
“Really? Then we can stay together!”
“Yes! Let’s go on our date then! The zoo, the aquarium… A dungeon date sounds interesting too!”
W-what’s a dungeon date!?”
“Hold on, a dungeon date on a day off? Actually, Shouta looks interested. It’s practically written on his face!!”
“Fufu, if he wants to go, I will gladly accompany him. But protect us from monsters, okay?”
“I wouldn’t let them touch a hair on your head, Maki.”
“Shouta…!”
“Sorry to cut in, but what do you know about dungeon dates, Shouta?”
“Not a single thing.”
“That’s not something to be proud of. Well, basically, it’s about going to a beginner dungeon, where monsters are so weak that you can take it easy, and enjoying the scenery.
It’s popular even among level one couples that aren’t registered as adventurers. Well, you do need to pay to hire adventurers though.”
Eh, so that’s what that is…
A dungeon where I can walk around with two complete amateurs? A place that’s wide like the second floor, but with few monsters? Or maybe monsters that don’t really attack?
But if it has monsters, does it also have rare monsters!?
“That sounds great, I want to go!”
“Fufu, all right. I’ll prepare packed lunches.”
“Sorry to cut in again when your eyes are shining, but there have been no rare monsters sighted in that date spot.”
“Eh?”
Is that really possible?
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