Chapter 121

Today is White Day.

I forgot which side is supposed to give and receive candy, but I stocked up a bunch of candy at home anyway.

Since Pretty Heart is probably super excited, not preparing isn’t an option.

“Hehe~.”

“……”

And for some reason, school ended early today, so Pretty Heart came over early and is clinging to me.

Of course, Pretty Heart is forcing herself to hug me.

There’s no way I’d hug her on my own.

“Just the two of us, unnie…”

“Calm down.”

“Uhehe…”

Since Pretty Heart’s desires were spilling out everywhere, I pinched her cheek and stretched it.

This usually calms her down, but then she starts acting up again, which is troublesome.

“By the way, unnie. Did you prepare only candy for White Day?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“White Day doesn’t have to be just candy!”

“…Really?”

“White chocolate or marshmallows are fine too!”

“I see.”

So… White Day is literally a sweet, white-colored day.

But isn’t this just a commercial holiday? Do we really need to overthink it?

Well, I’m not one to talk since I stocked up on candy.

“Judging by what you’re saying, you’d rather have chocolate than candy, huh?”

“He, hehe… But candy is candy, right?”

“That’s true.”

Well, I guess I’ll have to put away some candy and bring out more chocolate.

Let’s see… Oh, there’s a bunch of chocolate piled up here.

Among them, white chocolate… white chocolate… Oh, there’s a lot here.

“Here, Nari. Some white chocolate.”

“Thank you~.”

I guess eating only candy would get boring.

Well, even I’d get tired of eating just lumps of sugar.

“By the way, can you taste the difference between white chocolate and regular chocolate?”

“Yes! The flavor of the milk fat is more pronounced…”

“I see. Definitely, when you pay attention, the taste is a bit different.”

Eating while thinking about the flavor, it does have that milk-like feeling.

I can kind of understand what the milk fat tastes like.

But to eat it so intensely and still distinguish the flavors…

She’s surprisingly sensitive to taste.

It’s the first time I’ve seen someone with low standards but a sharp sense of taste.

Wait, if she clearly says something is bad, maybe her standards aren’t that low?

“…Ah, unnie!”

“What?”

“Let’s eat this chocolate stick by holding it in our mouths together!”

“That’s just because you want to kiss, isn’t it?”

“Do it~!”

“No. Aren’t you satisfied just hugging me like this?”

“No!”

“Bold, aren’t you…”

Hmm… Diamond Dust isn’t here, and Yura isn’t either… Maybe I can do it once or twice.

If no one’s watching… I can do this much.

Surely Diamond Dust wouldn’t finish early and come over already, right?

“…Here.”

“…!!”

Me doing something like this with her… It’s funny even to me.

If I weren’t in this situation, it would’ve been a disaster.

Yeah, I’d definitely be cursed out.

How did I end up like this with her…

“…Mmm.”

“Ah…! Why did you stop there~!”

“Because I’m not planning to kiss you so easily.”

“Uuu…! Meanie!”

But I can’t just kiss her so easily.

You’d go on a rampage if I did.

And in a situation where it’s just the two of us?

Ugh… That’s a bit much…

I can’t just force her to sleep with magic again.

That time it was bedtime, so it was fine, but if I did it now… She’d probably wake up around dinner time.

Then I’d feel really bad for Pretty Heart.

She came all this way just to see me.

“Ah! Again?!”

“When did I say I’d kiss you?”

By the way, cutting it off right in front of her like this is kind of fun.

Every time she gets super excited and then it’s cut off right in front of her, she stomps her feet…

It’s really cute.

“One more time… one more time!”

“Okay, okay.”

She kept trying until the chocolate sticks ran out, but Pretty Heart ultimately failed every time.

Since I was the one cutting it off, of course she wouldn’t succeed.

…As a result, I’m now being hugged tightly by Pretty Heart like she’s about to explode.

Was the joke too much…

“…Can you let go?”

“Kiss me and I will!”

“……”

And the condition for letting go is a kiss.

Seeing her trying so hard to kiss me once is just absurd.

…Alright, I’ll tickle her to escape.

“…Eek?! Kya…?!”

“How’s that?”

“W-wait a second…! Ugh…!!”

Luckily, Pretty Heart is very ticklish, so I managed to escape without a kiss by tickling her.

While I was at it, I replenished the white chocolate.

This time, instead of regular chocolate, I switched to a more premium one.

Of course, the texture and mouthfeel are different.

And I added a whiskey for myself.

“Unnie? What’s that?”

“Whiskey.”

“Is it alcohol?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I can’t drink it…”

“Right.”

Pretty Heart is a good kid, so it’s fine to sip some alcohol in front of her.

Well, judging by her recent behavior, calling her a good kid feels a bit ambiguous.

But compared to others, she’s a good kid… right?

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“It’s White Day, but is it okay to just spend it like this? We’re just eating chocolate together.”

“That’s how it was on Valentine’s Day too, right?”

“Ah, that’s true…”

Is this how these days are supposed to be…?

I’ve never really paid attention to these things, so I don’t know.

Well, if Pretty Heart says so, then it must be.

“But it’s a bit boring just sitting here.”

“Boring? I’m having a great time!”

“…Well, still, we’re just sitting here eating.”

“That’s true.”

Still… It’s nice to slowly enjoy chocolate like this.

But there’s no interesting TV program on right now, and just sitting here feels like a waste of time.

She came all this way, so we can’t just sit around doing nothing, right?

…I guess the only option is to play a game.

“Alright, let’s play a game. Multiplayer.”

“Okay!”

Hmm~ What game should we play?

I won’t play the RPGs I like, so maybe a kart game or a party game?

Not the kind where you level up, but the kind where you keep playing against each other for fun.

“Then let’s connect it to the TV!”

“Huh? Oh~ Now that I think about it, I put another one next to the TV for this.”

“Unnie, you’re really living luxuriously, huh?”

“…Is this considered luxury?”

“…I guess not?”

Pretty Heart… You’re from a wealthy family too, but your standards for luxury are a bit off, aren’t they?

Wait, no, it’s more like your perception of my wealth level is still stuck in the past.

I was living in a one-room apartment just last year.

That’s probably why…

“Ah, and these days, people who can afford it have 2-3 monitors or use dual PCs.”

“Really?”

“Well, that’s for people living alone.”

“Heh~…”

I also have a personal computer set up like that, not just the one for gaming with friends.

Of course, I find one screen the most comfortable, so I didn’t connect them, but it’s really convenient to move the game to another monitor while browsing communities or watching videos.

Anyway, that’s how I ended up playing multiplayer console games with Pretty Heart.

How much time passed…? I heard the sound of Diamond Dust opening the door.

Yura presses the buttons at a steady pace, but Diamond Dust presses them in a rhythm like beep beep beep… so it’s easy to tell.

“I’m home. Huh? When did she get here?”

“Hello, Ayun unnie.”

“You’re back? She finished school early and has been here since noon.”

“…Judging by how she came straight here, unnie must be the target.”

“Exactly.”

“Hehe…”

But she doesn’t really scold Pretty Heart for coming over.

Well, she comes over a lot…

“By the way, didn’t you do anything… special this time?”

“…? What do you mean?”

“…?!”

“…No, judging by your reaction, you must’ve had a wholesome time.”

“Wait, what?! Do I look like I’d do something like that with a kid?!”

“No… But Nari is so…”

“Ah…”

“He, hehe…”

That girl, as soon as she comes in, she says something like that…

No matter what, there’s no way I’d go along with that.

…I’ll just make Diamond Dust train even harder today.

And Pretty Heart, stop burying your face in my chest.

“…Unnie.”

“What?”

“Maybe…”

“No.”

“Ah?! You didn’t even hear me out?!”

“Of course, in this atmosphere, it’s obvious you’re going to make a weird request.”

“H-how can you be so sure?!”

“Because it’s you.”

“Ugh…”

Anyway, let go already…

Do I really have to use force to pry your arms open and escape?

“By the way, do you want more chocolate?”

“Yes! I want more!”

“Here.”

Once I escaped, I had to calm her down with chocolate first.

If I left her alone, she’d cling to me again.

And since Diamond Dust is back, dinner time is approaching.

I’ll just feed her dinner and send her home.

“We’ll have dinner soon, so eat in moderation, okay?”

“Okay~.”

Then I’ll… finish the whiskey since there’s not much left.

Just a few more sips… Huh?

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m curious about the taste.”

“No. You’re still a middle schooler. And this is pretty strong?”

“Hmph…”

“Don’t make that face. No alcohol.”

Now even Pretty Heart is interested.

Diamond Dust doesn’t get drunk and is a high schooler, so I allowed it, but there’s no way I can let Pretty Heart, who’s neither, drink.

Besides, whiskey is pretty strong.

And she’s about to eat dinner and go home. A middle schooler going home tipsy?

Even I’d want to catch and kill the culprit.

“You can drink this when you’re an adult.”

“Being an adult again?”

“Yeah. If you go home drunk like this, what would your parents think?”

“Ah…”

Actually, the whiskey is really good, and I’d like to let her try it, but it’s just not possible.

It’s absolutely not okay to give alcohol to a minor, especially one without a magical girl body.

So, sorry Pretty Heart, but absolutely not.

“…Here, a chocolate stick.”

“Huh? …Ah!”

“One last time, want to do it again?”

“…Yes!”

I can’t send her home disappointed.

So, I’ll compromise on what you’ve been wanting so badly.

“…!!”

“…Satisfied?”

“He, he~…”

“Stop grinning and snap out of it, kid.”

…How many times have I compromised, how many times have I reluctantly given in…?

Well, whatever.

It’s White Day, so I’ll let it slide as a celebration.