I Thought This Was a Slice of Life

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and on the third Monday of May, the seventh episode aired right on schedule.

The viewership ratings for the seventh episode climbed even higher.

Because in the sixth episode last week, the anime had deviously cut to black right at the moment Yuzuki Sasaki discovered the identity of Hikari-chan.

Therefore, the seventh episode was highly anticipated.

In the seventh episode, Yuichi Uesugi finally revealed the secret he had been protecting for so long; Yuzuki Sasaki found it hard to believe, but since Hikari-chan's superpowers were indeed real, she had no choice but to accept reality.

Taking advantage of this, Yuzuki Sasaki used the excuse of helping to look after Hikari-chan to even secure a key to Yuichi Uesugi's dilapidated house.

Yuzuki Sasaki began visiting Yuichi Uesugi's home frequently, and while looking after Hikari-chan, she also started taking care of Yuichi Uesugi's daily life.

At the end of Part B.

While cleaning, Yuzuki Sasaki giggled shyly: "Ehehe, it kind of feels like we're a newlywed couple!"

However, the response she got was a look of utter confusion from Yuichi Uesugi:

"Huh? How is that possible? I would never have a relationship with a student."

Yuzuki Sasaki: "...R-right! Just kidding!"

Forcing a smile.

Yuichi Uesugi was startled: "Hey, hey, that's not funny. If an outsider heard that, I'd be heading to the police station for a pork cutlet bowl!"

Yuzuki Sasaki pouted.

Then, Yuzuki Sasaki spoke up.

Her voice carried the unique greenness of youth mixed with a hint of willfulness as she said with dissatisfaction: "Is that so? If it's that much of a bother for you, then for the sake of the teacher, I won't come to your house anymore!"

Yuzuki Sasaki turned her back to Yuichi Uesugi and made a move to stand up; she looked decisive, but in reality, she was panicking inside.

---Hurry and stop me!

Her back expressed nothing but that single sentence.

Yuichi Uesugi panicked as well.

He didn't want to go back to the chaotic days of taking care of Hikari-chan by himself.

He glanced at the tidy room and thought of the fragrant meal he'd had yesterday.

Without thinking, Yuichi Uesugi blurted out a plea for her to stay; he took a forceful step forward and grabbed Yuzuki Sasaki's hand:

"Sasaki, don't go! I can't live without you!" (Referring to taking care of Hikari-chan)

"Ah..."

Yuzuki Sasaki's face turned bright red.

She lowered her head so Yuichi Uesugi wouldn't notice and said in a tiny voice: "O-okay..."

Episode seven ends.

"Ugh---"

In front of the television, Shuya couldn't help but feel all itchy from this interaction, hugging himself and squirming around.

This romantic tension was just too much!

He had been very busy lately and this was his first time watching the finished episode, so he hadn't expected the impact to be this high.

Rena and the Quintuplets were sitting right next to him watching as well.

After the Quintuplets finished watching, they picked up their handheld consoles to play, while Rena said to Shuya: "This anime by Mr. Inoue is truly excellent. Today's plot was also wonderful."

Shuya looked at Rena, and suddenly thinking of her profession, he asked: "By the way, what kind of reaction are the students having to this anime? Do they like it?"

Rena was a high school teacher, so she should know something about the situation, right?

"I hear they like it quite a bit; quite a few female students have even gone to learn how to draw."

Rena shook her head and smiled, clearly not optimistic about their three-minute-long enthusiasm.

Not every art teacher was a handsome middle-aged man like Yuichi Uesugi; most were middle-aged men or old geezers.

Perhaps even bald ones.

And drawing wasn't exactly an easy line of work.

However, students learning to draw was still better than them running around causing trouble, so the teachers wouldn't say anything about it.

Hearing that the feedback was good, Shuya felt much more at ease.

"Hey, hey, Shu-chan, will you play the guitar today?"

Miku nudged up to Shuya's side and asked expectantly; she seemed to have recently awakened an interest in music, though she was the type who only listened and didn't learn.

"Does Miku want to hear it? Then I'll go back and get my guitar."

Shuya didn't refuse; showing off his talent in front of Rena was a good thing, too.

Itsuki looked up and said: "Shu-chan is going to play the guitar?"

"Oh, that's great!"

Yotsuba tossed the game console onto the sofa and waved her hands high in the air.

Seeing how excited they were, Shuya went back home to grab his guitar, played a few songs, and then planned to head back to sleep.

Just as he was about to leave, Rena said, "Shu-chan, your parents aren't home today, right? Why don't you stay the night?"

Shuya was overjoyed: "Sure!"

It wasn't his first time sleeping at Rena's place. In the past, whenever Inoue Hikoo stayed at the company overnight to grind out animation work, Hanazawa Sakura would go to keep him company. Knowing Shuya would be fine on his own, his spendthrift parents would decisively leave him home alone.

Once Rena found out, she would have Shuya come over to her place for the night.

Today, both Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura were at the company, so Rena invited Shuya over to sleep, just like in the past.

After agreeing, Shuya went home, took a quick shower, put on his pajamas, and headed back to Rena's place.

When he returned, the Quintuplets were in the middle of bathing. Ignoring their noisy chatter, Shuya sat down next to Rena.

She was busy grading assignments; it seemed her schoolwork wasn't finished yet.

Focused on her work, Rena radiated a unique charm that those little brats couldn't hope to compete with.

That included Mai, though it excluded Senior Sister Seisen.

Senior Sister Seisen's temperament was too ethereal; she was in a league of her own.

Shuya didn't disturb Rena's work, simply sitting beside her and watching.

To him, just watching her like this, sharing the same space and enjoying this moment of peace, was enough to satisfy him.

Besides, at his age, what else could he do if he weren't satisfied?

Well, that last sentence didn't have any special meaning, nor was it particularly profound.

Shuya picked up his guitar and provided a soft background melody.

Love doesn't always have to be intense; it should be more like a refreshing breeze, nourishing things silently and unobtrusively.

Living a quiet, peaceful life.

And then, looking back at a certain moment.

Only to realize, The entire world is already filled with you.

Hmm, Shuya felt his summary was absolutely perfect.

Unfortunately, this moment of tranquility ended as soon as the five huskies finished their baths and were let out of their cage.

"Shu-chan, Shu-chan, help me dry my hair!"

"Help me first!"

"Me first!"

"Me, me, me!"

"I was clearly here first!"

Shuya: "..."

Drowning in huskies, he didn't know what to do.

Shuya miserably helped the long-haired Quintuplets dry their hair.

After finally getting that done, he had to play with them, which was truly exhausting.

He struggled until bedtime, when Rena, dressed in pajamas, made the beds and told everyone to go to sleep.

Rena's pajamas were just standard long sleeves and pants, conservative to a fault.

There was absolutely no fan service.

Having slept with them so many times, Shuya had long since stopped expecting any.

His sleeping spot was also quite far from Rena's, with the Quintuplets in between them.

Shuya closed his eyes in frustration, enduring the harassment of Itsuki biting his arm in her sleep, her drool soaking through his clothes.

Shuya slowly drifted off to sleep. He dreamed that he and Rena had gotten married and were living a happy, blissful life, but suddenly, he was kicked out of his dream.

Shuya opened his eyes helplessly. With a blank expression, he swapped places with Itsuki and flipped Yotsuba back over—she had been sleeping with her feet where her head should be—before holding her down tightly to keep her from kicking or hitting him again.

What a difficult life; he couldn't even have a peaceful sleep...

Section 31: Searching for Hikari... No, searching for Yuzuki

When it came to dealing with the Quintuplets, Shuya was well-trained.

But the problem was that he couldn't handle them while sleeping; he always woke up in the morning being hugged so tightly he couldn't breathe.

Shuya woke up early in the morning due to oxygen deprivation. With great disdain, he shoved Nino, Miku, and Itsuki away and escaped from this loli hell.

His pajamas would need to be washed too, as they were covered in wet patches.

Honestly, Shuya felt completely uncomfortable.

He didn't care about anything else, sprinting home to strip off his pajamas in the bathroom and taking a shower before he finally felt like himself again.

If it weren't for wanting to sleep in the same room as Rena, he wouldn't have slept with those five huskies even if it killed him.

He was either getting slobbered on, kicked, or slapped in the face by a steel plate; it was simply annoying.

After washing up, Shuya ran back to the room next door, where Rena was already up and preparing breakfast.

Naturally, Shuya went to help, intending to use this to boost his favorability.

Breakfast was very simple—bread, fried eggs, ham, sausages, and the like—but because of the magic of love, Shuya ate it with great relish.

After breakfast, the Quintuplets would play for a while before going back to catch up on sleep.

Rena headed out to work, and Shuya was also picked up by Saori to go to the company.

Today was the day to record the scenes for episode ten of Alien Baby Hikari-chan.

Shuya didn't have many scenes in this episode, but he was looking forward to it immensely.

The plot of Alien Baby Hikari-chan had reached a climax.

The previous eighth and ninth episodes had been heartwarming and funny daily life segments.

However, the end of the ninth episode took a twist: Yuzuki Sasaki's parents, noticing their daughter's strange behavior lately, assumed she had made a boyfriend at art class.

The two old-fashioned parents spoke up during dinner, forbidding Yuzuki Sasaki from going to art class anymore.

Yuzuki Sasaki was plunged into a major crisis.

"Good morning!"

Shuya walked into the company, greeting everyone energetically along the way.

Social pleasantries are also very important; sometimes, that is exactly where many people get tripped up.