My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 92

As soon as I spoke, Kawanami and Minami's lips twitched slightly, and they secretly glanced at each other.

"……Good morning."

Good morning.

Who is greeting whom?

Jie Nu added insult to injury. A smile of barely concealed curiosity appeared on her lips.

Both Kawanami and Minami wore expressions of unspoken suffering—but after a few seconds, they seemed to transform, revealing friendly smiles and speaking in a cheerful tone:

Good morning, Xiaoxiao!

"—Good morning, Little♪"

"Pfft—!"

Dongtou burst out laughing, his hunched back trembling.

Jie also covered her mouth with both hands to stop herself from laughing.

The childhood sweethearts maintained their affectionate smiles for a while, but then Nan's face began to twitch and twitch—and then she suddenly slumped onto the table.

"Please, have mercy on me! I'm begging you! What's going on?! Are you getting revenge?! Are you getting revenge for me meddling in your business last time?!"

Jie Nu and Dong Tou laughed so hard they were bent over.

Of course, we are not seeking revenge—it's out of pure goodwill. It's just that some people's goodwill often turns into malice in others.

I recalled how the whole thing started.

It was at the very beginning of summer vacation—and, extremely unusually, Yui came to me to discuss something.

"What do you think of Xiaoyue and Kawanami...?"

"...Huh?"

Hearing Jie Nu speak like that in the living room at midday, I frowned deeply.

If you ask me what I think, I can only say they're a man and a woman with their brains all messed up, but that's probably not the answer the woman wanted.

After thinking about it, I answered as follows:

"A man and a woman who are mentally ill."

"No, they're not sick at all!"

I thought about it and still only wanted this answer, which isn't my fault—what exactly did she want from me?

"I mean...they're childhood sweethearts, right?"

"It seems so."

"You could say their relationship appears terrible on the surface, but they seem quite close... So, what I'm asking is... what is their actual relationship like?"

"...In short, you mean they could potentially become a couple, right?"

"Right, right, right!"

Sometimes, knowing less is a blessing. While I don't know much either, those two are probably just like us, right? If she knew, she wouldn't be so naively discussing their relationship.

...No, that's not right. There was also a guy who clearly knew the whole story, but still used it to provoke me.

"I never expected you to come to me to talk about this kind of gossip, like relationships. Do you have no friends?"

"You're the only one in the world who has the right to talk about me... Besides, I didn't want to talk about relationships. It's just... Don't let Xiaoyue's appearance fool you, she's actually very afraid of being alone, so I just hope that she can reconcile with her childhood sweetheart..."

She's afraid of being lonely, right... But from what I know, her mindset isn't that cute.

Those two have their own problems, and we shouldn't interfere—from a moral and ethical standpoint, that's the correct response, but…

Is this a good opportunity?

Kawanami Kogure claims to be a romance ROM specialist and likes to touch and talk to me all the time. Maybe I can take this opportunity to let that guy, who probably just sees us as video game characters, experience what it's like to be a ROM?

...That's true. Kawanami should occasionally try to see things from the perspective of the person being observed.

I want you to know that if you look long enough into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.

Before taking any action, I decisively conducted prior research.

I found a suitable excuse to go to Kawanami's house and ask him to tell me about his past with Minami.

The questions turned out to be full of chilling criminal experiences, but putting that aside for now, it seems that the two of them were indeed very close in the past—like brothers and sisters.

Therefore, I set my goal as "making those two people recall their past relationship".

They will be tormented to death by their dark history, so it can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

But the question is, what methods should be used? What should those two do to make them remember the past?

In this situation, the normal course of action is to consult an expert.

"That's the situation. Can you help me, East?"

"I'm not researching childhood sweethearts specifically..."

Higashito Isana lay on my bed, her head resting on my thighs as I sat cross-legged, and turned a page of her book.

"Huh? So they were childhood friends? Nan-kun and that thug?"

"That's actually the case. It's just that they both insist they weren't childhood sweethearts."

"Wow... So childhood friends really do exist."

"You talk about every relationship you hear about as if it were a legendary tale."

"Well, just considering that we've only heard about them and never seen them ourselves, each one is undoubtedly a legend."

"So, when it comes to childhood sweethearts, what do you think are the characteristics of this relationship?"

"Hmm—you're asking like it's about animal ecology, but this is about real, living people. Like, for example, promising to get married when we grow up?"

"You probably wouldn't remember what you said when you were so young, right?"

"Don't talk like that, it's so unrealistic!"

Dongtou's two legs started kicking wildly, and I gently patted her head to comfort her.

"...Next, something that might happen in real life... is probably a nickname."

"Nick name?"

"Those two classmates seem to be addressing each other by their surnames now, but if their whole families know each other, don't you think that's unreasonable? It might confuse them with each other's parents."

That really exposes a blind spot. For example, my girlfriend and I actually call each other by our first names at home.

"And if they've known each other since childhood, I feel like they'd call each other by cute nicknames, right? At least that's how the male and female protagonists in the light novel I'm currently reading are."

"Hmm... so the solution is to find a way to get them to use that form of address again?"

To be honest, I was just asking casually, but I didn't expect to get such useful insights.

I see, so it's about how to address someone—maybe there's a way to do that.

"Thanks, Dongtou. I might need to ask you for a favor later..."

"Sure. As long as that thug and Minami get together, Mizuto will be completely mine!"

"My taxes are very high."

"We also have to pay taxes!"

So I came up with a plan to force the two of them to call each other by nicknames under the pretext of a punishment game.

I asked Dongtou to casually mention the game area to Kawanami to entice him to agree, and then secretly met with Yui before carrying out the plan to rehearse the strategy.

"But, that requires Xiaoyue to lose to Kawanami, right? How do we do that?"

"I have a solution, leave it to me."

"Okay, got it..."

And so, everything proceeded according to my plan.

Kawanami Kogure and Minami Akatsuki will revert to being childhood sweethearts during this limited training period.

"I didn't expect things to go so smoothly."

While secretly chuckling to herself, Jie Nu said this.

After breakfast, there was still a short time before class started. Kawanami and Minami, who had been thoroughly messed with by us, ended up running away. The two usually so adept at social skills had to resort to physical means like that; it seems my plan was more effective than I imagined.

In a corner of the hotel's grand lobby, we planned to continue discussing our next steps.

"...But speaking of which, what are you doing?"

That was the original plan, but Jie suddenly changed the subject.

Which one are you referring to?

"That's the one..."

Jie gently grasped her own shoulders.

Actually, I understood what she meant without even asking—she was probably referring to the time I put my arm around her shoulder to get Kawanami and Minami to accept the punishment game.

"The result is as you see."

I said calmly.

"That was the best solution I arrived at after considering both the available benefits and its feasibility. I only chose it because it was the simplest and most effective method."

"...Could you please stop putting your arm around someone's shoulder with such a calculating look?"

"It's my fault."

Hearing my unusually honest apology, Jie Nu seemed displeased and turned her head away from me. "I admit it was wrong of me to put my arm around your shoulder, but what did I do that upset you? Tell me."

"In short, your request has been fulfilled. What's next?"

I pushed aside my minor unease and returned to the main topic. Jie Nu also put away her dissatisfied expression.

"Well... let's observe the situation for now. This is the first time I've seen Xiaoyue react like that."

Yui couldn't help but chuckle again. And Dongtou too—why did everyone suddenly seem to be like Kawanami?

"Then... let's see if there's any way to leave them alone. They probably won't talk if they're alone right now, so I want to try to create opportunities for them to talk first, and then... once the atmosphere eases up a bit..."

Jie Nu slightly clenched her fist and pressed it against her lips, muttering to herself as she began to think.

I could actually stay out of this, but this woman has no idea how dangerous Nan is—I have to keep an eye on them.

Wow... I didn't expect a romance ROM to be so challenging.

What is it about us that makes you go to such lengths, Kawabata?

◆ Nan Xiaoyue ◆

Am I being punished by heaven?

It's all my fault for trying to marry Irito and trying to set Higashito up with him, taking advantage of other people's feelings, that's why I'm getting my comeuppance.

"...Little one, what's the next lesson?"

"I think it should be world history... Xiao, Xiaoxiao."

I should be used to this kind of thing by now. At this point, I shouldn't be nervous about it anymore.

Yes, that's what I used to call him—there's nothing to be ashamed of.

but……

"Nanmei, did you just call Kawanami 'Xiaoxiao'?"

"Hoo-hoo!"

After class, Nasu Hana, who had just finished giving a lesson, suddenly dropped a bombshell, making me accidentally make a sound like someone had stepped on my stomach.

Maki, who has short hair, happened to be nearby. Her eyes lit up and she approached.

"Me too! I heard it too! I didn't mishear! Huh? What's going on? Are you two dating?"

"We're not dating! We were just playing a punishment game..."

"A punishment game where you call someone by their nickname? Did you go to a social gathering?"

"Oh, I was wondering where you went last night—"