What If You Spoil a High School Girl Who Looks Like a Landmine? - Volume 1 Chapter 4.6

Fight a monster with a monster 6

“By the way, it seems you’ve become quite close with Raihara-san.”

“What? Oh, yes, at least I intend to. Just yesterday, she came over and prepared a lot of meals and stocked up food for me.”

“Oh, she really is caring.”

“But as initially intended, she has started to be able to voice out her selfishness to me…Really, it’s all thanks to the manager being so accommodating.”

“It’s ‘uncle’ now. And drop the formal language.”

“Haha, sorry Uncle.”

Inside the shop after closing time, the relationship becomes that of an uncle and nephew rather than that of a store manager and an employee.

That was my uncle’s rule, and this held true even if we were inside the store, doing post-closing tasks and preparations for the next day’s opening.

“Speaking of formality, weren’t you two speaking in a very formal manner?”

“Well, yeah… I guess the initial feeling just didn’t wear off.”

“I guess the beginning of your meeting was a bit unique. Although I don’t personally see it that way, objectively speaking, it might seem like a relationship between a perpetrator and a victim.”

“Maybe I should try suggesting that we drop the formalities.”

“You don’t have to, but if you want to get closer to Raihara-san, you probably should.”

“If I want to get even closer huh…”

“To be honest, do you see her as a woman?”

After being asked, I ponder… and then I answer.

“… It’s not really about how I see Raihara-san.”

“…..”

“For me, love is… I guess it’s just scary. Facing all the emotions of a woman… it’s a bit much. It’s completely fine if it’s just as friends.”

I talk with female friends at school, and there’s that friendly junior at this shop, and on holidays, I even hang out with Raihara-san.

That kind of relationship, up to the level of friendship, is fine. But anything more…

Because having stronger emotions directed at me is…

“…I see.”

“Yeah. Moreover, it’s not like Raihara-san likes me in that way. Even at first, I was just a suitable partner for her simulations.”

“But after that, you two became quite close, right? To the point where she comes over to your house to take care of you and cook for you.”

“She’s just a person who likes taking care of others. And, haha, if you’re talking about her coming to my house, she has also seen my pathetic side. So there’s no way she’d like someone like me romantically.”

“Pathetic side?”

To my uncle’s inquiry, I respond with a wry smile.

“I don’t remember it very well because of the fever, but when Raihara-san was taking care of me, I have this memory of crying… I don’t think I was feeling sad or hurt, but for some reason, the tears just wouldn’t stop.”

“…..”

“What was that about, I wonder? I still don’t get it. But anyway, she wouldn’t be into such a pitiful guy, right… Uncle?”

“You… Well, I see.”

“…?”

My uncle remained silent for a few seconds, looking down.

Eventually, he lifted his face and spoke in his usual light-hearted manner.

“Well, relationships in general are important. Even if you don’t become a couple, having friends of the opposite sex is valuable. Leaving aside the matter of becoming lovers, isn’t it okay to try and close the gap just a bit more?”

“You think so?”

“Absolutely. Knowing you, haven’t you refrained from sharing much about yourself with her?”

“Ah, now that you mention it…”

Upon reflection… I might not have actually shared much about myself with her.

“Ahaha, hit the mark, didn’t I? Indeed, the conventional approach when talking to women is ‘just listen to them,’ and with that, you can please 99.9% of them. But don’t forget, there’s that remaining 0.1%.”

“Is Raihara-san the 0.1%?”

“I have more confidence in understanding women than in my coffee brewing skills. You can see something like her true nature once you talk about yourself to a certain extent.”

I don’t think this is something a barista who has won prizes in the world barista competition would say, but that’s why it’s so convincing.

“Try telling her something you’d think she wouldn’t necessarily want to know. Starting with that is good, even before discussing dropping formalities.”

“Is that how it is?”

“Yes, you could talk about some recent unusual event or your favorite movies. Oh, have you gone to see movies? Surely you’ve talked about that.”

“We have, in a way.”

“Then, tell her about my favorite movie instead.”

“Why would that be the case?”

It’s a mysterious line of logic.

“The movies you frequently watch, Uncle, they’re non-fiction war movies, right?”

“Ah, while I do like them, that’s not my favorite. No, no. Listen and make sure to convey this to Raihara-san. My favorite title is——”

After the detailed introduction, the name my uncle mentioned was a bit unexpected.

Uncle, I didn’t know you liked that kind of movie…

***

Clank-

A clattering sound came from the front door.

It seems Mom is back. The time is 10 PM. I, who had been doing my assignments in my room, went to greet her at the entrance.

“Mom, welcome back.”

“…..”

Mom, looking down as she took off her shoes, eventually raised her head and shouted——

“Why did you lock the door?!”

She threw the key case she was holding in her hand towards me.

It whizzed by and narrowly missed my face.

“Why did you lock the door?! You knew I was coming back! Why didn’t you leave it open for me? Misa feels so sad!”

Misa is my mother’s name.

When she’s emotional, she refers to herself by her first name.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know when you’d be back…”

Normally, mom stays over at her boyfriend’s place.

Her returns are irregular.

“I thought I had texted you on the phone…”

“…..”

Then Mom silently checked her smartphone.

There should probably be a message from me asking for her return.

“…You could have just left it open!”

“…Um, last time when I did as you said and left it open, you scolded me.”

‘Why can’t you just lock the door?!’ It was fairly recent when she hurled a shoe at me for that.

“Why…”

“Mom?”

“Why do you get angry so quickly…? That’s not what Misa’s talking about… Misa just didn’t like coming home tired and finding the door locked… Why do you talk to Misa like that?”

“I’m not angry, I’m sorry, the way I said that was wrong…”

“Don’t use that tone! You’re obviously angry!”

Mom scolded me and headed for the living room.

She took a seat with a thud, and without looking back at me who followed, she said,

“I just want to be asked, ‘What do you want to eat?’ when I come home tired.” (TN: Not using Misa.)

“I’m sorry… what do you want to eat?”

“It’s too late!”

The TV remote control on the table was thrown at me.

It missed over my head, hitting the wall and bouncing onto the floor.

“…Pick it up!”

“I’m sorry.”

If I had picked it up before she said anything, she would’ve gotten angry, saying, ‘Stop doing that so deliberately in front of me! It’s sarcastic!’

It’s a difficult situation.

“Pasta! The Neapolitan one!”

As instructed, I started cooking.

…Fortunately, during this time, Mom only quietly fiddles with her phone, which is a relief.

Ever since I was young, whenever I hear my mother—or now any woman—shouting, I instantly break out into an uncomfortable sweat and find it hard to move.

Therefore, I can’t make the dish properly if she does that while I’m cooking.

Luckily, Mom kept looking at her smartphone, and since I had the ingredients in the fridge, the dish she ordered was ready after a short while.

When I placed it on the table, she picked up her fork and hesitantly took a bite.

Then, she began to cry softly.

“Why… why are you like this?”

“…..”

“It’s just a small thing, just please do it right… Why can’t you do it properly?”

“I’m sorry…”

“If it was Takkun, it wouldn’t be like this… Why? This isn’t made properly like Takkun would… Why can’t you make anything right?”

It seems my effort wasn’t satisfactory.

…Takkun refers to my father.

He passed away when I was young, so I don’t remember the taste of his cooking.

Would it have been better if I remembered?

…I don’t think so.

“Why don’t you have any talent in anything? Why can’t you do it like Takkun? Stop it, why are you like this…?”

“…I’m sorry…”

“Do it properly… just do it properly…”

‘You’re not talented at anything you do. At least do it properly. Why can’t you do that?’

All throughout the meal, Mom kept saying that, and I had no words to respond.

Eventually, Mom left the kitchen.

I was grateful that today, at least, she didn’t throw any plates.

There had been times when they hit me in the wrong places, causing various troubles.

Then I began doing the dishes.

“…mm.”

The smartphone I placed on the table vibrated.

A quick glance at the screen showed it was from my uncle.

It’s probably about work shifts.

Come to think of it, I remembered a conversation I had with my uncle.

He said I could get closer to Raihara-san as a friend and should try telling her more about myself.

For instance, any recent unusual events.

“…Unusual events.”

There aren’t any.

It’s mostly just my usual routine, and nothing particularly out of the ordinary has happened——