I Thought This Was a Slice of Life

"A son-in-law, huh..."

Inoue Shuya muttered to himself, reaching out his small hand to grab at the air, as if trying to catch something.

Yet, he caught nothing at all.

Shuya returned to his front door, opened it, and said listlessly, "I'm home..."

"Welcome back, Shu-chan."

"Finally decided to come home, son?"

His spendthrift parents had already returned; Inoue Hikoo was currently cuddling Hanazawa Sakura while watching TV, flaunting their affection.

Under normal circumstances, Shuya would have retorted, but right now, he simply couldn't muster the energy.

"I'm going to take a bath."

Shuya shuffled dejectedly into the bathroom.

"..."

Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura exchanged glances.

After a long silence, Inoue Hikoo sighed, "Sakura-chan, what do you think our son's success rate is?"

"Around 0.1%, I suppose."

Hanazawa Sakura said, looking troubled as well.

Both of them felt quite conflicted.

They knew what Shuya was thinking, but they didn't say anything in front of him.

They simply watched over him in silence.

"Sigh."

After his bath, Shuya sat in the tub, feeling utterly dejected.

"A son-in-law, huh..."

He leaned his head back, staring blankly at the steam-filled ceiling.

He said slowly, "Sorry, Quintuplets, but your senior Shu-chan doesn't want to be your husband, rather..."

---I want to be your father.

Section 9: A New Endorsement

It wasn't strange for Inoue Shuya to like Rena.

She wasn't old, only twenty-three.

When Shuya died in his previous life, he was only a few years older than her.

As a woman, Rena had a stunning appearance and a perfect figure; she was elegant, generous, and had a great personality, with her profession as a teacher adding even more points.

Furthermore, after her husband passed away, she had single-handedly held the family together, providing a warm home for her five daughters without seeking another man, and she never even interacted with strangers.

She didn't smoke, didn't drink, and didn't go out at night.

Beautiful, sweet-voiced, and shapely, she was hardworking and responsible, loving toward her daughters, dedicated to her students, and never complained about her hardships, choosing instead to silently raise her children and never give up in the face of a crappy life.

From a man's perspective.

---What an incredible woman.

Shuya didn't hide it; he was initially captivated by Rena's looks.

To put it simply, it was out of desire.

Her appearance hit his preferences right in the bullseye.

But as they spent more time together, Shuya truly fell deeply for this wonderful woman.

In fact, it would be abnormal if he fell for the Quintuplets instead.

As a normal young man, to not like a beautiful older woman but instead be obsessed with five-year-old girls—such a person could only be called a pervert.

Good heavens, they were only five; they didn't even count as lolis.

Shuya had no designs on them; of course, he thought they were cute, but only to the extent that one likes kittens or puppies.

Not a single bold thought existed.

He just wanted to be the one to step in and take care of them.

Honestly speaking, for a woman like Rena, he was even willing to take on the responsibility of her family.

Besides, the Quintuplets were adorable, so Shuya felt it wouldn't be a loss.

However, Shuya's age was definitely a major issue; the hope of stepping in was nearly zero.

But... who could know what the future holds?

As long as the probability wasn't zero, Shuya had the motivation to work hard!

This was his dream, and he would strive for it; persisting in coaxing the Quintuplets every day was his roundabout strategy to win them over.

Although Rena seemed to have misunderstood that he had designs on her daughters, and her impression of him was completely skewed... however, that didn't matter! Impressions could be overturned!

Shuya knew that as long as the Quintuplets didn't nod in agreement, Rena would never accept a new man, so he had to get on good terms with them.

Everything was aimed at the ultimate goal of winning over Rena; everything else was secondary!

Isn't it just sucking up!

Bring it on, you bastards!

Shuya regained his spirit.

He thought to himself that he couldn't keep being so laid-back; he had to work hard, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to afford to support his wife and daughters!

Shuya thought of Itsuki's extraordinary appetite and felt a wave of trepidation in his heart.

The five-year-old senior Shu-chan clenched his small fists, ready to rush about for a living with all his might starting tomorrow.

He stood up abruptly from the water, creating a splashing sound.

"No, I have to find a new job."

Shuya said, his little stash of money had all been snatched by his mom and dad, so he had to get some new income to save the day.

He thought for a moment and soon had an idea.

Shuya hurriedly dried his body, put on his little pajamas, and pushed the door open.

"Ahem!"

"Ah!"

Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura hurriedly separated.

Shuya didn't delve into what the lipstick mark on his dad's face was about.

He said to his spendthrift mother, "Mom, didn't you ask me the day before yesterday if I wanted to take on an advertisement?"

"Yes, that's right... A famous children's clothing brand wants to hire you as their spokesperson... Why, are you interested?"

"That's right, go ahead and arrange it."

"No problem, leave it to Mommy!"

"Yay! My son is taking another ad! The anime can have a second season, long live the second season!"

Hanazawa Sakura was incredibly excited!

Inoue Hikoo was incredibly excited!

Inoue Shuya looked at them, also incredibly excited, and really wanted to disown his spendthrift parents who were plotting against his marriage fund!

"If you embezzle my little stash of money this time, I'm calling the police! I'll say you're abusing animals... pfft, abusing a child!"

"Hiss, so ruthless!"

"Unbelievable!"

Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura gasped in shock.

This child is truly terrifying!

"I'm going to sleep!"

Shuya shot them a glare and hurried off to sleep to recharge his energy, preparing for work tomorrow.

Tomorrow, besides meeting with the company representative for the endorsement, he also had to continue voice acting.

He had to sleep well to have the energy to work.

Shuya couldn't afford to fall ill and let his wife and daughters suffer.

The night passed without incident.

Shuya and his parents arrived at the company to record.

Inoue Hikoo's animation studio was a bit old, but the equipment was genuinely good, and it had its own recording studio.

Today, of course, they were recording the second episode of Alien Baby Hikari-chan, and Hanazawa Sakura had also arranged for the children's clothing company to come in the afternoon to sign the endorsement contract.

Signing the contract was a matter for later; Shuya still had to prepare for the recording first.

This time, his parents were also there, so everyone was present, and there was no need to record separately.

The second episode of Alien Baby Hikari-chan followed immediately after the end of the first episode, where Uesugi Yuichi discovered that the baby who had fallen from the sky actually possessed superpowers, and he was stunned for a moment.

He stared silently at the baby in the room, and the atmosphere was heavy for a moment.

Then Uesugi Yuichi discovered a terrifying fact: the light on the baby's body was fading...

"Ah?!"

Inoue Hikoo let out a funny, marmot-like scream, completely ruining Uesugi Yuichi's cool uncle image and adding a heavy dose of silliness.

The wardrobe fell down, knocking Uesugi Yuichi completely unconscious.

The baby slowly descended, and Shuya clapped his hands along with the screen, letting out a crisp, sweet laugh.

The highlight of the second episode was the warm (silly) interaction between Uesugi Yuichi and the baby.

After discovering the baby had superpowers, Uesugi Yuichi briefly considered calling the police, but being a man who valued gratitude, he felt the infant had just saved his life and ultimately abandoned the idea.

He decided that until someone (aliens?) came to retrieve the baby, he would raise the child himself for the time being.

Furthermore, because the baby could emit light, he gave him the nickname "Hikari."

Inoue Hikoo had another reason for setting the name "Hikari."

It implied that Hikari-chan would become the light in Uesugi Yuichi's life.

For a rough man with no childcare experience, taking care of a child was undoubtedly extremely difficult.

In this era, the internet was not advanced enough to search for much information.

Therefore, the second episode featured a series of hilarious disaster scenes of a rough man raising a child.

The funniest scene occurred in Part B.

Uesugi Yuichi was truly desperate, so he had no choice but to run to a bookstore to buy relevant books.

Unexpectedly, while grabbing a few books, he bumped into his student, Yuzuki Sasaki.

Cold sweat broke out on Uesugi Yuichi instantly; he absolutely could not let Hikari-chan be discovered.

Thus, Uesugi Yuichi began to awkwardly change the subject, the process being incredibly silly.

Yuzuki Sasaki had long since noticed something was wrong, but she was considerate enough not to point it out, merely smiling and playing along with Uesugi Yuichi's clumsy performance.

Yuzuki Sasaki had misunderstood that Uesugi Yuichi was buying adult magazines.

She made an excuse to leave first, but in reality, she went to observe him from the shadows, watching as Uesugi Yuichi took the books to the checkout counter with a look of relief.