by Takehaya
“Th-This is incredible, Kiriha-san!”
Koutarou was shocked to learn that the lump of metal in front of him was actually gold. Gold was worth a few thousand yen per gram, and this must have been at least ten kilos of it. In total, the hunk of metal before him was worth millions upon millions of yen. It was a staggering sum for just moving out of an apartment.
“That is just how serious we are. If this causes you any inconvenience, we can exchange it to Japanese yen. How about it? Will you surrender this room to us?”
“I’ve never seen such a big gold ingot... Wait, what am I doing? No way! Of course I won’t! This is my home after all! Koutarou, you say something too!”
“Hmmm...”
Sanae flat out refused, but Koutarou had his arms crossed and was in deep thought.
“Hey! What are you thinking for?!”
“Well, after hearing her circumstances, I was thinking that maybe I should cooperate with her.”
“Koutarou! Are you sure?!”
Kiriha’s expression lit up when she heard Koutarou’s response. She stood up, causing all the adornments attached to her clothes to jingle. Like the lump of metal, they were also made out of gold.
“So now you’ve lost sight of yourself—not just because of her boobs, but because of money too?!”
“You’re wrong! I can’t accept this kind of money! ...Well, if I move, I would need some cash. It would be pointless if I couldn’t afford living on my own after moving, after all.”
“And you deserve to be compensated accordingly,” assured Kiriha.
“When I told you to get out, you refused! Why are you listening to a woman with big boobs? Are big boobs that great?!”
“Don’t make it sound like I’m some terrible person! It’s perfectly reasonable for me to think about cooperating with a perfectly reasonable person!”
“What are you trying to say?!”
Koutarou was genuinely starting to feel like it would be all right to cooperate with Kiriha. She had been very polite and had clearly explained herself. What’s more, she’d even offered him extremely generous compensation for moving. But on top of everything else, her reasons for wanting the room were completely rational. Reconstructing an altar like that, after all, was something similar to a grave. Koutarou had no reason to refuse someone who wanted to honor their ancestors.
“Sanae, I know you want to stay in this room, but can’t you compromise somehow? An altar wouldn’t be an inconvenience even if you stayed here, right?”
“Th-That’s... Well, I guess it wouldn’t, but...”
Sanae peeked at Kiriha’s face. She had no reason to hate Kiriha apart from her large breasts. In fact, those were the only two reasons she was unhappy about Koutarou’s apparent persuasion.
“So be more considerate. It’s not like she’s going to hold a cosplay party like Yurika.”
“...Okay. I can deal with it.”
Finally, Sanae gave in as well.
“Oh?! So you’ll agree?! Koutarou, Sanae!”
Kiriha’s expression grew even brighter.
“Yes.”
“I don’t really like it, but I don’t have a choice. It is what it is.”
Sanae had decided that she could live with an altar.
“Thank you! Both of you! With this, we’ll be able to move on to the second phase right away!”
“Phase two?”
“What’s that?”
Koutarou and Sanae tilted their heads in confusion after hearing Kiriha’s words.
“The surface invasion plan. Once we activate the altar, we’ll be able to effectively gather spiritual energy! And with that, we’ll be able to mass produce spiritual weapons like Karama and Korama.”
“Wh-Whaaaaat?!”
“A... A surface invasion?!”
“Of course, you don’t have to worry. You two will be treated as guests, so there is nothing to fear.”
Kiriha had interpreted Koutarou’s and Sanae’s surprise as worry for what would happen to them. Of course, that wasn’t the case.
“Wait, what?! Hold on just a minute! You want to rebuild the altar where you ancestors have been enshrined so you can invade the surface?”
“That’s right. What’s wrong all of a sudden, Koutarou?”
Kiriha blinked repeatedly in confusion at Koutarou’s unexpected reaction.
“No way, no how! I take it all back! I’ll never hand the room over to you!”
“Well said, Koutarou!”
“Koutarou! Why?! You were being so cooperative just a moment ago!”
“I flat out refuse! I can’t shoulder the burden of cooperating with a surface invasion!”
Just looking at Karama and Korama was enough for someone—even as ignorant of science as Koutarou was—to understand what a civilization with such advanced technology could do on the surface. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen.
“I thought that we could reach an understanding, but to hear you just casually say something so ridiculous...”
“...I see. If you’re set in your ways, then I have another plan.”
“What? Are you going to resort to using force?!”
“Well, who knows?”
Kiriha didn’t so much as flinch at Koutarou’s angry glare. Instead, her lips formed a suspicious smile.
“Koutarou, the salt is in the red bottle on the shelf, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought so.”
Koutarou was cutting up cabbage for dinner. Next to him was Kiriha, wearing an apron and skillfully shaking a frying pan while adding in salt.
“Koutarou, do you prefer your food to be heavily salted or just lightly?”
“Heavily, I guess.”
“Heavily salted things are bad for your health. Let’s start gradually decreasing the amount starting today. You live on your own, so you have to take care of yourself.”
Kiriha smiled placidly while stirring the frying pan. She was in the middle stir-frying vegetables. The cabbage Koutarou was cutting up would soon be added into the mix as well. Kiriha had washed the rice a little while ago, so the rice cooker was going in the inner room too. Koutarou’s dinner for today was rice and stir-fried vegetables with some meat mixed in.
“Koutarou, is the cabbage done?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“In that case, put it in here.”
Kiriha turned down the flame and beckoned Koutarou over. Carrying the bowl with the cabbage in it, he approached the gas stove.
“I didn’t think you could cook, Koutarou.”
“My old man couldn’t do anything on his own so...”
Koutarou tossed the cabbage into the frying pan. It sizzled with a loud hiss as the moisture from the cabbage hit the hot oil. The unique sound made Koutarou a little nostalgic.
How long has it been since I stood with someone in the kitchen like this?
Koutarou was remembering being in the kitchen with his mother. She always smiled gently, much like how Kiriha was now.
“Koutarou, next time you cut up the cabbage, you should make it thinner. It’ll be hard for you to eat it like this, right?”
“...Yeah.”
With the image of his mother still in his head, Kiriha’s smile had a profound impact on him. He obediently nodded his head.
“Okay, Koutarou, prepare the plates. It’ll be ready soon.”
“Okay.”
Koutarou nodded once more and reached for the shelf.
The sizzling of the frying pan and the clinking of tableware filled the room. The sound continued for a while longer before Kiriha turned off the gas stove. She then casually called out to Koutarou with a smile.
“Koutarou, are the plates ready?”
“They’re ready.”
“Is the rice cooked?”
“In another two minutes.”
“I see. Koutarou, would you surrender this room?”
“Su—”
Asking in such a casual way, Koutarou almost nodded and agreed
instinctively.
“Whoa, that was close! Of course I won’t!”
“I see. That’s a shame.”
She mentioned taking over the room so nonchalantly that it was like it was completely normal. Because she skillfully timed her questions, Koutarou had accidentally almost agreed several times already.
“I... I won’t fall for that kind of trick.”
“You’re quite a tough opponent, Koutarou.”
Although Kiriha had failed several times, she didn’t seem to mind.
“Heh, it looks like this may be a drawn-out war.”
It seemed that Kiriha was ready for a long battle.
“What are you trying to do?”
Koutarou was perplexed by her strange attacks. She wasn’t being unreasonable like Sanae, or repeating the same nonsense like Yurika. Her method of trying to get into Koutarou’s head and naturally push him to cooperate was more troublesome than both Sanae and Yurika.
“I told you. We have our pride and traditions. Using force goes against both of those.”
“Then why don’t you just give up on the surface invasion altogether?”
“We’re just taking back what is rightfully ours. Like I said, we have our pride and traditions. We want to regain our territory, but we don’t hold a grudge against the people here. We know how painful it is to have something taken from you, so we won’t outright attack the people here. Our enemy is something much bigger.”
“S-So what, do you think I’ll just agree to it?”
The most troublesome thing of all was that Kiriha’s actions were very justifiable. It would have been much easier to resist if she were just a villain who tried to use force.
“I’ll make you agree. We have plenty of time.”
Kiriha pushed her well-endowed chest up against Koutarou and looked up at him provocatively.
“Wh-Wha?!”
Koutarou instinctively jumped back from her alluring gaze and the feeling of her large, soft breasts. His heart was pounding.
“We have endured over a thousand years underground.”
“S-So what?”
“Heehee, it means that we have waited for a thousand years. But how long can you hold out? Half a year? Maybe a year? I will do whatever it takes to make you nod your head.”
Kiriha nonchalantly blew a kiss at Koutarou.
“Ugh...”
Kurano Kiriha, the mysterious girl who had appeared from underground...
She’s going to be tough...!
At the current moment, she was Koutarou’s most dangerous enemy.
“What’s with that? She’s just showing off her big boobs! And you, Koutarou! Why are you blushing at such an obvious ploy?”
Sanae, who had peeked into the hallway to observe the situation, was furious. She also wanted to chase out Koutarou, but she had a strong, jealous dislike for Kiriha’s methods.
“If you surrender the room over something like that, I will never forgive you!”
In fact, Sanae was so focused on getting Koutarou to resist Kiriha that she’d already lost sight of her own objective.
“U-Um, excuse me...” a voice suddenly called out to Sanae.
“What?!”
“Eeeeek! I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! It was my fault!” The meek voice belonged to Yurika, who had just woken up. She was frightened by Sanae’s aggressive attitude and began crying. “It was just on impulse! I just wanted to know what was happening!”
“...Oh yeah, you’re here too.”
“Noooooooo! My very existence has been forgotten!”
“We’re in the middle of something important, so just stop crying... Jeez...”
Sanae, who was floating in the air, landed in front of Yurika and did her frustrated best to explain the situation.
“That woman came out from under the floor, but she’s trying to take over this room while leaving me out of it. She said something about making it a base for the underground people’s surface invasion.”
“U-Underground people? Really?!”
“You don’t have to be so surprised about people living underground. She’s much more proper than a weirdo like you.”
“You’re wrong! That’s prejudice! Why won’t you guys believe me, even though you believe in underground people invading the surface?”
“Try putting a hand on your chest and asking yourself that again.”
“Chest...? Do you mean her breasts are the reason?”
After looking down at herself, Yurika looked over at Kiriha and Sanae, then smiled in relief. She was happy she wasn’t in last place.
“...Bring up boobs again and you won’t be around to see the sun rise tomorrow.” Sanae growled.
“Kyaaaaah! I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault!”
Hearing Sanae’s threat, the frightened Yurika dove into the wardrobe and slammed the sliding door shut.
“Jeez, everything’s becoming such a mess...”
At first, Sanae thought all she had to do was chase out Koutarou. But the situation had gradually developed in unexpected directions.
“Anyways, Koutarou, if you fall for that woman’s tricks, you’ll regret it!”
Unexpected feelings began budding in her petite bosom. Still unaware of them herself, Sanae grit her teeth as she glared at Koutarou and Kiriha.
Having finished laying out the dishes, Koutarou’s stomach growled.
“Dinner at last...”
It was only natural for his stomach to growl, considering it was now after 10 PM.
“I’m sorry, Koutarou. It’s all because of me.”
One of the reasons the dinner was late, Kiriha, sat down to the right of Koutarou.
“If that’s what you think, get out.”
“I can’t do that... By the way, Koutarou, why share the meal with me?”
In front of Kiriha was a setting of stir-fried vegetables, meat, rice, and miso soup—just like in front of Koutarou.
“I don’t like owing favors. I especially can’t afford to be careless around you.”
“My, my, how harsh. It looks like I’ll have to start breaking you down from there.”
Koutarou shared dinner with Kiriha because she had helped make it.
“That woman only helped you so she could take the room from you, y’know? You don’t owe her anything for that. If anything, it’s the opposite.”
Sanae sat across from Koutarou with a frown on her face. She didn’t like the sight of Koutarou and Kiriha getting along.
“That’s not true. I only wish to deepen our friendshi—”
“Hmph, we’ll see about that!” Sanae barked, cutting her off.
Being a ghost, Sanae sat at the table without anything to eat.
“Anyways, I think it’s better than instant noodles,” Yurika said as she poured hot water from the kettle into her instant noodles. With the high cost of living, even bargain sales on instant noodles still cost 98 yen. The pitiful sight of Yurika huddled over her dinner was enough to move one to tears.
“...Do you want some too?”
“Huh?!”
It was even enough to make Koutarou feel a little more merciful.
“A-Are you sure?!”
“Y-Yurika! The water! The water is spilling!”
“Kyaaaaah! I’m sorry! I’m so sorryyyyy!”
Distracted by Koutarou’s offer, Yurika had let hot water overflow from her noodle cup. She put the kettle down on the tea table and hurriedly began wiping up the hot water with a dishcloth.
“...You sure are hopeless...”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m sorry for being clumsy and stupid!”
“That doesn’t matter... But what are you going to do about dinner? Will you eat too?”
“You’ll still share with me even after what I just did?!”
The half-crying Yurika’s expression brightened and her hands moved at top speed to finish wiping up the water.
“Yeah, you can have some.”
“Thank you very much!”
<
br /> “Don’t thank me. Just leave after you’ve eaten.”
Hearing that, Yurika’s smile vanished and her hands froze.
“I-I can’t leave, so I’ll just have my noodles...”
With a heavy sigh, Yurika’s shoulders drooped in disappointment. However, she continued staring at the meal in front of Koutarou like a hungry child.
“...Looks like she’s regretting her decision.”
“You don’t have to hold out. Go ahead and eat your fill, and then get out.”
“Ah, aaaaahhh!” Yurika gulped hard. “Y-You can’t, Yurika! You can’t lose to this temptation! Yurika, fight!”
Yurika desperately tried to persuade herself, but the smell of the delicious looking food continued to tempt her. Having only known the taste of the artificial seasoning of instant noodles recently, the temptation was unbearable. And so she continued staring at Koutarou’s food, almost to the point of drooling.
“Just make it easy on yourself, Yurika. You only have to leave this apartment.”
“Ah, aaaahhh! The rice and the miso soup are calling me! H-How cruel! This torture is just too much!”
Yurika’s stomach growled loudly. Her body seemed to have already given in to the temptation.
“Dinner, huh...?” Sanae, who had been watching the back and forth between Koutarou and Yurika, now looked at the food. “I haven’t eaten in years...”
“What’s wrong, Sanae?”
Koutarou noticed that something was off with Sanae, but she didn’t answer him right away. She only opened her mouth several seconds later.
“Hey, Koutarou, Yurika... Either one of you is fine, but...”
“What?”
“Y-Yes? What is it?”
Koutarou answered nonchalantly while Yurika answered nervously.
“Would you let me possess you?”
Sanae’s next words were unexpected.
“Possess?”
But the most unexpected part to Koutarou was how serious she seemed. That’s why he asked Sanae to explain herself.
“N-Noooooooo!” However, Yurika didn’t share Koutarou’s feelings in the slightest. “I don’t want to be possessed by a ghost! If you’re going to possess someone, please possess Satomi-san!”
Leaving her instant noodles behind, Yurika dove into the wardrobe and slammed the sliding door shut.