Chapter 87

The days when Chubby’s baking enthusiasm keeps growing.

Our house is piling up with bread made from Chubby’s ingredient waste.

Thanks to that, Yura and Diamond Dust always eat a ton of bread as snacks when they come back.

Of course, Diamond Dust has no problem, but the issue is…

“Ugh… I-I gained weight…”

“I told you to eat in moderation.”

Yura, being a pure human, gains weight because the calories just stick to her.

Because of that, Yura’s weight went from 57kg to a whopping 63kg…!

Gaining 6kg means she really packed on the pounds.

To what extent? She used to have no belly fat, but now it’s easy to grab… You can literally see the weight gain just by looking.

“My pants don’t fit… Even the swimsuit I bought last year doesn’t fit…”

“Then lose weight.”

“But how can I resist all that delicious food?!”

“…True. Chubby.”

“It’s not my fault!”

But anyway, that’s not the main topic today.

Today is the day Pretty Heart is coming over to our house.

It’s also Saturday, and after hearing that Chubby has been baking a ton of bread lately, she insisted on coming…

“Well, just lose weight on your own. Oh, but here, take this.”

“Huh? What’s this?”

“It’s a fat-burning supplement from the Magical Girl Store. Normally, when you exercise, you don’t just lose fat, but if you take this and work out, it prioritizes burning fat calories. But still, make sure to do proper strength training too. Don’t just do cardio.”

“Uh… okay…”

“And go exercise right now. Should I sign you up for a gym? Or do you want to run around the neighborhood every evening?”

“…Sign me up for the gym for a few months.”

“You do it. Don’t make me do it.”

“You said you’d sign me up?!”

“Too lazy.”

…Well, I kinda expected that.

That’s why I bought the fat-burning supplement in advance.

Tsk tsk… I’ve done all I can to help, so work hard.

And stop eating so much bread.

You’re eating full meals plus 1-2 servings of bread on top of that… How do you expect to maintain your weight?

“Ah, but the doctor said not to do intense exercise…”

“Then just go for a walk every day. And cut back on eating.”

“But… how can I resist…”

“Then you’ll have to do intense exercise.”

“But that’ll make my hemorrhoids worse!”

“Sigh~…”

Then what do you want me to do?

…Ah, are you asking me to fix your hemorrhoids?

Ugh, I can’t even hit you…

“…Hey, Chubby.”

“Yes!”

“Fix her hemorrhoids.”

“Got it! …Fixed!”

“Huh? What? Really?”

“She said it’s fixed. She’s good at recovery magic, so it was instant.”

“Really?! Let me check and I’ll be right back!”

In the end, her hemorrhoids got fixed.

But I can’t just sit back and watch my sister get fat.

She needs to exercise intensely to lose weight quickly, but she can’t use hemorrhoids as an excuse to gain weight.

“…Meow.”

“…? Chubby. Why is she wearing a shark costume?”

“That? Yura put it on her!”

“Really? ……Cute.”

“Meow.”

Usually, wouldn’t most people hate wearing stuff like that…?

But she seems so laid-back and carefree, so maybe she doesn’t mind.

She’s super active when playing with toys though…

At least she’s not turning into a pig-cat.

―Ding dong.

…Looks like Pretty Heart is here.

Then I’ll send Yura off to the gym and feed Pretty Heart some bread.

“You here?”

“Unnie~!”

“Ugh.”

She hugs me as soon as she opens the door… Seems like she’s gotten even more clingy since that time.

I really shouldn’t have given her that kiss as a reward back then.

…But why did I even do that?

Thinking about it, that’s not something you should do to a kid…

“Huh? Ah~ Unnie’s junior, right?”

“Hello~.”

“Yeah. Anyway, you should head to the gym.”

Alright, let’s get the bread out.

Pretty Heart’s primary reason for coming here is the bread, so it’s only right to give her that first.

Her secondary reason is probably to stick close to me… but let’s not think too much about that.

She’ll probably cling to me and get all touchy anyway.

“Meow.”

“Ah! A cat~!”

“…Meow.”

“The shark costume is so cute too!”

Well, Max is really cute.

But what kind of bread do we have?

We’ve got regular bread, sausage bread, garlic baguettes as basics, plus castella, muffins, and pound cake?

And there’s even a roll cake… When did we make that? Yesterday?

“By the way, Chubby. What are you baking now?”

“Scones! They say you can’t have a British tea time without them!”

“Ah~ that? The ones you eat with jam and cream?”

“Yes, exactly!”

Is she seriously trying to recreate a British tea time…?

…Huh? Oh, this is… a chocolate swirl bread, right?

It’s packed with ganache and looks super tasty.

Plus, it’s freshly baked today.

“Wow…”

“You wanted bread, right?”

“Yes!”

“Here you go.”

“Thank you~.”

She’s enjoying it so much, Pretty Heart…

Alright, I’ll have some bread too.

Might as well start with today’s batch… Let’s try the muffin first.

“…Oh? The muffin is surprisingly moist?”

“It’s freshly baked!”

“Oh…”

“Ah, then I’ll have a muffin too… Mmm~! It’s delicious!”

…By the way, why are you sitting so close?

And you’re subtly trying to link arms with me?

Wait, don’t try to hold my hand while eating bread.

“…Why do you keep trying to hold my hand?”

“Eh, ehehe~… Well, I just… feel like holding hands with Unnie…”

“Sigh… Do it after you finish eating, okay?”

“Okay~.”

How did she end up like this…?

But well, she’s cute, so it’s fine, right?

It’s okay to indulge her a little.

…Come to think of it, I’ve never really acted spoiled myself.

Well, it’s not that I didn’t want to, but more like I couldn’t.

That’s why I’m so~ envious of my juniors.

They can act spoiled with their parents and feel loved.

Diamond Dust is an exception, though.

I have to be the one to indulge her.

That way, she won’t feel unnecessary envy like I did.

Though, she seems too shy to do that with me.

“Thank you for the meal~.”

“Sure.”

“…Can I hold your hand now?”

“…Fine.”

“Meow?”

“Hehe~.”

As soon as she finishes eating, she grabs my hand and starts fidgeting.

At this rate, I might really get jumped by her.

I trust Pretty Heart to at least keep some boundaries…

Well, I could overpower her if needed, but it’s a different story if she actually tries something.

…She won’t really cross the line, right?

Sigh~… I used to cut things like this off immediately, but ever since I became a girl, I’ve strangely become more lenient about this kind of thing.

Getting used to skin-ship with girls… but also, I’ve started to enjoy it more since becoming a girl.

I guess that’s part of why I’ve become more tolerant.

Still, seeing guys as romantic partners is completely out of the question.

No matter what, that’s just not happening.

It’s a relief that I haven’t fallen that far.

“…Unnie.”

“What?”

“Um, about that kiss you gave me before… can you do it again?”

“…What? Why all of a sudden?”

“Ki, kiss… please do it again!”

“No.”

“Ugh…”

What’s with the kiss, this kid…

I only did it out of frustration back then, but if I keep doing it, your limits might break before you even become an adult.

No matter what, I can’t date a kid.

It’s hard to see a middle schooler as a romantic partner.

If you really want to do that kind of thing with me, wait until you’re an adult and have a proper, full figure.

Though I wonder if you’ll still love me by then.

“That was just out of frustration back then. If you want more, ask me when you’re an adult.”

“Ah, so… when I become an adult… can we do all sorts of things?!”

“…No. Becoming an adult means I might date you, not that you can cross the line right away.”

“Ugh…”

“If you don’t understand that, I won’t accept you even when you’re an adult?”

“Ah! That can’t happen!”

“So, since you’re only in middle school now, keep your boundaries.”

“Okay…”

Putting it this way should keep the brakes on until she grows up.

As she becomes an adult, her feelings might change, and her love interests might shift too.

She’s a good kid, and her future figure is something to look forward to, but part of me hopes she’ll leave my side.

The age gap is pretty big, and more importantly, she’s still just a middle schooler…

Honestly, I’m not even sure about my own feelings right now.

But… Pretty Heart is the first person to like me this much.

My senior only liked me as a junior.

So I can’t easily dismiss this kind of affection…

Sigh~… A 24-year-old guy like me having these kinds of worries is just disgusting…

“…Ah, can I have more bread?”

“Sure, have more. There’s still plenty left. In a few days, we’ll have to refrigerate or throw it away, but Chubby’s gone crazy with baking, so it’s hard to manage.”

“Ah~…”

“I’ll pack some for you to take home.”

“Okay~.”

Seeing her like this, she really is just a cute kid who loves food.

If only she didn’t cling to me and act all pervy, it’d be perfect.

Especially when we go clothes shopping and she checks out my fashion… I wish she’d stop that.

“…Why are you staring like that?”

“Ah, no, it’s just… Unnie drinking milk is so cute…”

“…Is that so.”

“Ah, milk mustache… Pfft.”

“Hey, don’t tease me like that.”

“But you’re just too cute…”

…Hearing that I’m cute so often is making me get used to it.

At first, being called cute made me cringe inside, but now it feels kinda nice.

When I first became a girl, I thought the idea of your mind adapting to your body was all nonsense, but clearly… it has some effect.

Plus, there was that recent study about the effects of VR body-swapping, right?

That was seriously creepy…

“By the way, Unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“When are we having the next gathering?”

“Magical Girl gathering?”

“Yes!”

“…I’m thinking of having one on Christmas.”

“Ah! Then… can we take a bath together then?”

“Denied.”

“Eh~…”

“No matter how I think about it, you’re just planning to grope me the whole time.”

“Ah.”

It’s obvious to anyone what your intentions are.

There’s no way I wouldn’t notice.

And if I bathed with the kids, my remaining male mindset would take a huge hit, so there’s no way I’d do that.

If I were born a girl, maybe.

But Nari… bathing together is something that only happens in Japanese manga…

You can’t seriously expect to do that in real life, right?

It’s not like we’re going to a sauna or something.

“You caught me…”

“You’re such a pervert.”

“Ah, no I’m not!”

“But why do you keep trying to do pervy stuff?”

“Because I love Unnie!”

“Not even denying it, just straight-up admitting it…”

“It’s Unnie’s fault for being so lovable!”

Ugh, her face is on my chest again… I wish she’d think about her height when hugging.

At this point, is she doing it on purpose?

Considering how she acts like a pervert around me, it’s plausible.

“I’m definitely going to marry Unnie!”

“That sounds like something a kindergarten kid would say to their dad, ‘I’m going to marry Daddy~.'”

“Th, that’s not it! I mean it!”

Really… what a troublesome kid.

Well, I’ve put the brakes on until she becomes an adult, so I’ll just quietly watch over her.

…Ah, quietly might be asking too much.