Evening.
When Kiyoharu returned to Chihaya Estate, Airi was not home yet. The company had been busy lately, so she always came back later than usual.
That suited Kiyoharu just fine. He took the chance to shower first.
He also tossed his shirt into the washing machine.
By the time Kiyoharu changed into casual clothes, Ayano's lingering fragrance had completely vanished from him.
"This shouldn't make Airi suspicious, right...?"
Muttering to himself in the mirror, Kiyoharu suddenly found himself amused.
Ayano had been the one making moves on him, yet it looked as though he were the fiancé secretly cultivating another relationship.
Still, it never hurt to be careful. Airi's status and temper were both nothing to trifle with!
Kiyoharu went to the kitchen and began preparing dinner.
Tonight's main course was assorted vegetables mixed with marinated beef and baked in the oven.
The dish had no particularly specific name. Airi, lacking any talent for naming things, could not be bothered to think of one, so Kiyoharu called it "Yu's Old Recipe."
The vegetable combinations and oven settings were mechanical details. The key lay in the marinade, which Kiyoharu had indeed developed himself. Calling it Yu's Old Recipe was not inappropriate.
Speaking of recipes...
Kiyoharu could not help thinking of the Kampo medicine Ayano had mentioned today.
To mold her into their ideal "perfect wife," Ayano's family had planned everything from her childhood and used all kinds of extreme methods. It truly opened Kiyoharu's eyes.
Even after seeing all manner of twisted practices among Tokyo's upper class over the years, Ayano's experiences still left Kiyoharu feeling stifled.
"Host, do you feel a little sorry for her? Shouldn't you hurry up and advance Kitahara Ayano's side quest?"
"I'd love to get something out of her, so why don't you give me a mission already?" Kiyoharu could barely hold it together.
"Soon, soon. According to my observations, a heavyweight mission will soon be generated from Kitahara Ayano..."
"How heavyweight? Compared to the Young Lady's toes?"
"Of course it's more important!"
"Damn, then I'll look forward to it for now. But let me make this clear first: if the mission brings us too close together, I absolutely won't do it. Don't you complain about that."
Complain?
What could she possibly complain about? Wasn't this damn host always doing whatever he pleased?
The system complained silently.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot something." Kiyoharu suddenly remembered something and eagerly asked, "Since massaging Airi's feet falls under the system mission category, can that process be skipped?"
"Huh?" The system failed to react for a moment. "Skip what?"
"Make me complete the whole process unconsciously, without having to put in any effort. Like a one-click raid in a game."
"Uh, Host, may I ask something? You clearly enjoy it, so why skip it?"
"Bullshit. When have I ever enjoyed it? The whole time, I was walking on eggshells, okay? How can you slander me out of nowhere?"
"But, Host, I monitored your physiological indicators while you were massaging her feet. The data showed that your happiness index rose to quite an impressive level, slightly higher than when you used the level-one Worthless Person to beat Valkyrie without taking damage..."
Huh??
"How is that possible?!" Kiyoharu got a little worked up. "How could the Red-Eyed Devil compare to Lianlian? Your crappy system must be malfunctioning. You're so useless that a data error would be perfectly normal."
"..."
"Quit talking nonsense. Just tell me whether it can be skipped."
"Waaah, sorry, that feature is still in development..."
"Damn it! Even independently developed open-world anime mobile games have a skip function, yet you... Fine, fine, get lost already. I need to cook!"
Kiyoharu had not enjoyed his peaceful cooking time for long before the sound of the front door opening came from afar. A moment later, Airi appeared in the kitchen.
That was fairly uncommon. Airi rarely entered the kitchen. Kiyoharu had looked into it out of curiosity and learned that Gen'ichiro had apparently instilled in her from childhood the notion that only people with no prospects wasted time on housework.
Fine, Kiyoharu admitted that he did not have much ambition. He liked simple, leisurely work and tinkering with food at home in his spare time, but that was also a way of living. He saw nothing wrong with it. As for what Gen'ichiro thought, that was the old bastard's problem.
"I think something is fishy," Airi said without any preamble.
"It might be fine. Maybe she found enlightenment abroad and came back a changed person."
"...You know what I'm talking about?"
"Takagi Akane, obviously. She only just came back, so you must be paying close attention to her situation. I bet you've heard it too. This girl has overcorrected so drastically that I suspect some Brazilian witch performed a luck-changing ritual on her..."
Kiyoharu worked with the ingredients in his hands, his mouth chattering nonstop.
One thing Airi had always admired was that the problems she pondered on her way home would sometimes slip from her mouth the moment she arrived, without any context whatsoever, yet Kiyoharu could instantly pick up the thread. It was hard to say whether he simply had high emotional intelligence or whether the two of them had genuine chemistry.
Kiyoharu did not think much of it. To cling to the Chihaya Family's thigh, he had long since cultivated his Airi-speak to level ten. Sometimes, he could accurately grasp her meaning from a single gesture.
If a boss paid you a huge pile of money every month, valued cooking alone at two million yen, gave you all sorts of additional allowances, and could even solve your personal safety problems... wouldn't you study your boss's style properly?
"We can find an opportunity to test her."
"Go on."
"Your class is organizing a school trip next month, right? I'll cover the costs. We'll arrange a place complicated enough and completely under our control. You cooperate with me in putting on an act to test whether Takagi Akane is truly unaffected by you."
Airi had clearly given this plan considerable thought. Kiyoharu felt she was merely informing him rather than discussing it, so he nodded without hesitation.
"Understood!"
There they were again, those two irritating words.
Airi could not help lifting her leg and kicking him. Her black-stockinged instep struck Kiyoharu's thigh without much force; it was more like coquettishness than anger.
But Kiyoharu would not assume Airi was actually acting cute. He remembered that when they had first begun living together, Airi had never held back. Only after Kiyoharu protested several times had she learned to control her strength.
"Go wait at the dining table. Dinner will be ready soon."
"Hmph."
Cooking was Kiyoharu's time to enjoy life. The Red-Eyed Devil had better not keep wandering around in front of him.
But that trip... would it really be okay?
When the food was ready and they began eating, Kiyoharu voiced his question. "You're coming along on the school trip?"
"Of course."
"There isn't really a legitimate reason for that, is there? It was fine when faculty went out before—you could be considered family..."
"I'm paying. Why shouldn't I be qualified to go?"
"It's not that you're unqualified. It's just that you won't have anyone with you, so it'll be pretty awkward."
"I'll hang out with Hitomi. She's also a teacher for your class, so attending the school trip won't be a problem."
"Oh, then it's fine."
As long as someone kept the Red-Eyed Devil company. Otherwise, if she got bored, she might drag Kiyoharu over to play with her.
A school trip was a rare period when he could escape the Red-Eyed Devil's control. Kiyoharu needed to enjoy it properly.
Now it had become a scenario for testing Takagi Akane, which was truly a little sad. Fortunately, Shimaura Hitomi was going too, greatly easing Kiyoharu's burden. Not only could she take some pressure off him from Airi, but she could also help supervise the students.
Before you continue