I Thought This Was a Slice of Life

She is only six years old, she is only six years old, she is only six years old, she is only six...

She is still just a child, please don't let her off the hook.

A sentence suddenly popped into Shuya's mind.

Mai-chan's charm is too terrifying; he almost couldn't hold his ground.

Shuya listened in silence to Mai's comfortable humming, and after the coach left, Mai-chan suddenly said, "Shuya, is it a foot fetish?"

Shuya spat out his drink: "Holy crap, where did you learn those words!"

Mai laughed and scolded, "Pervert."

"What's wrong with a man being a pervert?"

Shuya's counterattack left Mai unable to react for a moment.

She had never seen someone so thick-skinned and shameless.

Mai pouted, feeling that she had never once gained the upper hand in front of Shuya, which really annoyed her.

"Alright, calm down." Fearing she might cause another scene, Shuya said, "Did your mom find you a tutor?"

"She did. I just finished class this morning."

Mai counted on her fingers: "Acting lessons in the morning, physical training at noon, and then various interest classes every afternoon. I guess that's the gist of it?"

"Hard work for you, future great actress."

"This level is pretty standard, right? What about you, Shuya?"

Mai sat up straight on the chair and swung her legs, her toes occasionally brushing against the floor.

Shuya took a few honest looks while saying, "It's about the same on my end. My parents are contacting teachers; I'm mainly studying acting and music."

"Music, huh? That's pretty nice. I'm learning piano too, but it's really hard."

Mai sighed gloomily, "Being a kid is truly difficult."

"No, no, no. Kids like us basically don't exist in large numbers."

Shuya retorted.

"Sigh, this must be the fate of geniuses."

Mai said, acting like a little adult.

"Pfft."

Shuya couldn't help but laugh out loud. Mai misunderstood that he was mocking her and became angry out of shame: "I know you're better than me! Damn it... take this!"

She pounced on him, pushed Shuya down, and started tickling him vigorously.

Shuya hadn't expected that Mai, who always acted so composed, had such a childish side.

In the spirit of playing along, he cooperated by laughing hysterically.

Yes, he was definitely not pretending to be unable to resist, nor was he doing it to enjoy the soft, fragrant touch of a little girl; he was just playing along, with the mindset of an old father.

Let it be known.

Inoue. Pure as can be. That is what Shuya declared.

After a bout of commotion, Mai climbed off Shuya and clenched her little fists: "I won."

Shuya: "...Yes, you won."

But I never lose.

Shuya stood up to straighten his clothes and helped tidy up Mai's hair as well.

"Shuya, why are you so practiced at this?"

"Nothing special, just practice makes perfect."

Shuya said calmly.

"Oh."

Mai knew he was talking about the Quintuplets.

After the fuss, there wasn't much time left before they were due to be picked up.

After sitting for a while, Shuya and Mai saw Mai's mother appear at the front desk. After saying goodbye to Shuya, Mai left the gym with her mother.

Just as they left, Maeda Saori came in to pick him up.

"Shu-chan, are you going home now? Or is there somewhere you want to go?"

Saori asked. Seeing that it was still early, she wanted to know what Shuya had planned.

She wouldn't admit that she wanted to spend more time with Shuya so she could fawn over his magnificent, youthful face.

"Ah, well..."

Shuya had originally intended to go home and play with the Quintuplets.

He figured there weren't many such leisurely days left; he might find a teacher to start lessons as early as tomorrow.

The time available to build affinity with the Quintuplets and Rena would decrease.

But there was no helping it; he couldn't just stop studying.

So... was there anything that could take his place to play with them?

One thing surfaced in Shuya's mind.

Game consoles.

The PS, Game Boy, DC, and others were currently selling like hotcakes.

Shuya had played even better ones in his past life and hadn't bought any in this one, but it was different for the Quintuplets.

Even though they were girls, they should still like Pac-Man, Mario, and the like, right?

Shuya felt the PS console might not be very suitable for girls, so he chose a handheld from Folk Master.

"Saori-chan, please take me home first. I need to go get some money to buy something."

"Buy something? What do you want to buy?"

Shuya told her about his plan.

"I see."

Saori revealed a mysterious smile: "Oh my, how wonderful, this kind of pure relationship from childhood, ufufufu."

After her strange laughter, she said: "Shu-chan, you don't need to go back first. I'll lend you the money; just pay me back after you've bought it."

Saori knew Shuya wasn't short on money, so she lent it to him with peace of mind.

"That works too."

Shuya wasn't one to be pretentious, so he readily agreed.

Thus, Saori took Shuya to a nearby game store, where they picked out five red Game Boy Colors and a pile of games.

For example, Pac-Man, Story of Seasons, Mario, Kirby, and the like.

In short, they bought a ton.

He even bought five copies of masterpieces like Pac-Man and Mario to prevent them from fighting over them.

Shuya was increasingly immersing himself in the role of an old father (self-proclaimed).

After buying the items, Shuya took the car home. Once he carried the pile of things upstairs, he counted out enough money from his little stash to pay Saori back.

Then, he carried the large pile of items over to the neighbors.

"Little ones! Come out and receive your gifts!"

Shuya called out kindly, and the five little huskies swarmed out.

"Shu-chan, what did you buy?"

"Let me see!"

"I want to see too!"

"I'll look first!"

"I want to be the first to see!"

The Quintuplets snatched everything off Shuya, and the five of them ran back to the living room to start tearing open the packaging.

Ichika asked in confusion: "What is this?"

Itsuki stared blankly at the handheld console:

"It's not food!"

Shuya said: "This is a game console from Folk Master, used for playing. Come, I'll teach you."

He had the Quintuplets each take a game console and began teaching them how to play.

A while later, the Quintuplets were playing and shouting, completely ignoring Shuya.

For the first time, Shuya was able to drink tea in peace while the Quintuplets were awake, and he couldn't help but feel moved.

No wonder this business was so popular; it was truly useful!

It could free adults from the entanglement of children and give them some quiet, free time.

Shuya crossed his arms and watched over the Quintuplets, wondering how Rena would praise him.

However.

"We can't accept these, Shu-chan. Please take them back."

Rena seemed... actually a bit angry?

"Hm?"

Shuya was stunned: "Big Sister Rena, are you part of the anti-gaming faction?"

He persuaded her: "Actually, games aren't that bad. As long as adults control it in moderation, letting children play to adjust their mood is quite good."

Rena felt a mix of amusement and helplessness: "That's not the issue. I mean that we cannot accept such expensive gifts."

Honestly, a single game console and a game wouldn't be much, but multiplied by five, it cost a significant amount of money.

Upon hearing Rena's words, the Quintuplets reluctantly set the game consoles down, watching their mother and Shuya with eager, expectant eyes.

"You mean these?"

Shuya shook his head and said: "It's nothing. I've earned some money recently, so it's not a problem at all."

"It's not a question of whether you can afford it, but that we cannot accept gifts without a reason. I believe you understand what I mean, Shu-chan."

Rena emphasized her tone.

"I understand."

Shuya sighed: "We've been spending so much time together, yet I'm still being treated like an outsider."

"It's not that I think of Shu-chan as an outsider, it's just..."

Rena said.

Is our relationship not close enough to accept expensive gifts... yet?

Shuya knew that Rena was a very stubborn person.

But who told him that he just happened to love her exactly like that.

"Actually, there is a reason why I bought these things," Shuya tried to explain, feeling as if he had been caught by his wife for spending money recklessly, yet strangely feeling a bit happy about it: "I'm going to be very busy for a while and won't be able to come over often, so I wanted to buy something to keep them company in my place."

Rena: "But..."

Before she could finish, the Quintuplets stood up in shock: