Chapter 61 - JK Idol is worried by Free Person (part 4)
On Christmas day, it was snowing as Sakurazaki had wished.
Even though it was still evening, the station, the town, and even the usually unpopular streets were overflowing with couples.
In the midst of that, I was listening to Sakurazaki's singing voice on my smartphone, breathing through my nose in my scarf, to distract myself from the loneliness.
When I arrived at the station and passed through the ticket gate, I noticed a sign in front of me.
"Raspberry Whip ~Christmas LIVE~"
I saw the advertisement with Sakurazaki in it, and my heartbeat quickened.
No, this is not the time to be nervous.
I put a candy in my mouth and calmed myself down.
"......Alright"
Then, I went to the platform and got on the train that had just arrived.
There were a lot of people, as expected of Christmas.
I became part of that crowd, and was swayed by the train.
I had three missions for today.
In advance, I had called Sakurazaki's house, and in the course of the conversation, I agreed to help Mitsu-san with the cooking.
With this, the first mission was clear.
The second one was to escape from the sexual harassment of Kazunari-san and Mitsu-san.
And the last one was.....
To be alone with Sakurazaki, and from my side.....
Alright, I can do this.
How much do you think I've simulated for this day?
I have to succeed, or I won't be rewarded.
When I arrived at the destination station, I got out of the crowded train and left the station.
Then, I headed to Sakurazaki's house, which was a few minutes away.
At that moment.
"Oh, Himahara-san"
I heard Mitsu-san's voice from behind.
I turned around and saw Mitsu-san with a shopping bag in her hand.
"Oh, I'm sorry for today. I'm intruding on your family's time like this"
"No, no, Himahara-san is like family to us"
"Oh, I'll carry the shopping bag"
"Thank you very much"
I took the shopping bag that Mitsu-san was holding heavily, and walked side by side with her.
Mitsu-san was still wearing a kimono as usual.
"Nako was looking forward to spending Christmas with Himahara-san since this morning"
"Is that so...... Oh, me too, same here"
"......You two are very close, aren't you? As her mother, I'm very happy"
Mitsu-san showed me her beautiful smile, and suddenly poked my side with her finger.
"So, how far have you gone with Nako? Have you already done various things with her?"
Mitsu-san smirked.
"N-no, we haven't! I have a healthy relationship with Nako-san"
"Don't say that, you're actually doing ‘this', aren't you?"
Mitsu-san made a circle with her right hand's finger, and inserted her left index finger into it.....
"S-stop it! We're not doing that"
"You're high school students nowadays, you're doing this much, right?"
"D-don't say weird things!"
"Oh? But Nako sometimes screams your name in her room......."
"W-what does she scream⁈"
"......That's a matter of privacy, isn't it?"
"Hey! Tell me more"
"Oh, we're here already"
I'm curious...... No, forget it for now.
The place I'm about to enter is a battlefield that leads to happiness.
I was already subjected to sexual harassment-like behavior on the way, but let's pretend that didn't happen.
I stepped into the battlefield called Sakurazaki's house.
+×+×+×+
Mitsu-san in a kimono and I in an apron started cooking in the kitchen.
It was hard to make everything, so Kazunari was going to buy the cake and fried chicken on his way back from work, and we were going to make the salad, soup, and the main dish, turkey.
I was working next to her, and surprisingly, I was good at it, and the soup and salad were done.
"The turkey should be thawed by now, so let's make the stuffing"
So far, so good.
There's no way I could mess up the cooking.
"Let's see, the stuffing is...... carrots, celery, onions, frozen pilaf. And maybe some apples too"
The ingredients for the turkey are pretty rough, and they vary from household to household, so this should be fine.
Or so I thought, but I was wrong about the mess-up factor in the cooking.
"Then, protein, protein, protein, and protein"
"..........Huh?"
There were various types of protein in front of me.
There was the super expensive protein, and the slightly cheaper protein...... No, that's not it.
"......Um, what is this protein?"
"It's my secret ingredient that I always use"
"..........Huh"
I completely misunderstood the cause of the mess-up.
"Protein" is a basic for mess-ups.
"Um, then, did you put it in the potage soup you made earlier?"
"Yes, of course!"
..........There was something powdery stuck to the boiling pot.
"I use a protein that I mixed myself"
Is this person crazy?
"I used to be in the entertainment business, and I thought this was the best way to get the muscles and nutrients I needed...... Oh, I taught Nako well too"
..........I lost.
My future is also being dominated by this protein.
"Ah, the soup needs a little more protein, I think"
Mitsu-san poured the powder in and mixed it.
She was putting the protein in so that it wouldn't show up as much as possible.
At that moment, I was not happy, but my intuition was sharp.
"No way! This crouton!"
I picked up one of the croutons that was on the salad.
"Yes! This is my special ‘protein crouton'. Oh, the cheese on that dish is also mixed with protein"
You can't make this with protein.
Did you stick it together with edible seaweed or something?
......Ah, my head is going crazy.
Am I dreaming?
"Protein~, protein~"
Mitsu-san cut the ingredients for the turkey and stuffed them into a bowl with protein, and started mixing.
Where did I go wrong?
The time I cooked here felt like a gentle time with my mother.
But now......
"Can I ask you to put it in the thawed turkey?"
"Y-yes"
I did as I was told, and stuffed the ominous ingredients into the turkey, and carried it to the oven.
I couldn't imagine what would come out of baking this.
"I'm looking forward to the finish, Himahara-san"
The devil's smile.
I...... lost, I was going to practice Christmas cooking for this day, and point out Mitsu-san's mistakes.
What was wrong was not the cooking process, nor the seasoning balance.
......Protein.
"Um...... Himahara-san, when I ran into you in the bath the other day, I saw your thing......"
"Y-yeah...... I'm sorry about that"
"No, no, it made my imagination run wild. Oh, that thing in Kazunari-san's...... Aah!"
Whenever there was a chance, sexual harassment......
It's over, my life is zero.
"I'm home"
I heard Kazunari-san's voice, and I shivered even more.
He took off his suit jacket, and put the cake and fried chicken he bought on the big table in the living room, and came into the kitchen.
"Welcome back, Kazunari-san"
"O-oh, sorry for intruding......"
"Oh, Himahara-kun! You helped Mitsu with the cooking, did you?"
"Y-yes"
Kazunari-san smiled with relief, and patted my shoulder.
He looked happy.
He probably thought I stopped that protein.
But hell was waiting.
"How about it, Himahara-kun. I'm in a very good mood right now. I'll massage your shoulders over there"
"Kyaa"
Mitsu-san suddenly rejoiced.
And she whispered, "Ichikou and me, that's too good for me".
She completely broke her character.
"Um, I"
"Never mind, never mind"
I was made to sit on a chair in the living room, and watched Sakurazaki's Christmas live on TV, while Kazunari-san massaged my shoulders.
I felt a lewd gaze from the kitchen, and I shivered all the time.
As I watched Sakurazaki sing and dance, I cried in my heart.
Help me, Sakurazaki.
+×+×+×+
"Let's eat"
There were dishes lined up on the big dining table.
Kazunari-san looked over the food with a smile.
He had such a complicated expression at the sports festival.
But now, I couldn't see any of that emotion from him.
He thought he was safe because I was there.
"Well, let's dig in......"
The moment Kazunari-san put the soup in his mouth, his eyes widened.
"Nako is doing great, isn't she?"
Kazunari-san looked at me, who was sitting diagonally in front of him, next to Mitsu-san, who was engrossed in Sakurazaki's live, and made a face that was the opposite of before.
"......Himahara-kun. You're kidding, right?"
With those words, the light in Kazunari-san's eyes was gone.
And then, he started eating the food mindlessly, like a robot.
"Oh, Kazunari-san, you can't eat so much, it's bad for you"
".........."
"K-Kazunari-san......"
I was astonished.
Was I like this too?
Was that why I lost my memory?
Once you eat this food, it's over, you lose your memory until you come to your senses.
"Come on, Himahara-san, eat too"
I swallowed hard.
D-do I have to eat this?
"Come on, come on"
I scooped up the potage soup with a spoon and put it in my mouth.
And at that moment......
The scenery in front of me disappeared like when the power of a CRT TV was turned off.
+×+×+×+
"Himahara-kun, Himahara-kun"
When I came to, I was still sitting in the dim living room, in the same place as before.
I heard a voice calling me from in front of me, and when I looked that way, I saw the face of the girl who had been on TV earlier...... Sakurazaki?
Sakurazaki was sitting in front of me, where Mitsu-san had been sitting until a while ago.
"Moo! I came back, but dad and Himahara-kun are sleeping because you eat too much"
Kazunari-san was lying on the table in front of me diagonally.
"You ate my share too, that's mean!"
"......W-what time is it?"
"Huh? 11 o'clock, I guess. It's late, so why don't you stay over tonight?"
"......O-okay"
I took out my smartphone and told Michiko-san that I was going to stay at a friend's house for a Christmas party.
"You watched my live, right?"
"Yeah"
Just a little bit, though.
"Oh, I borrowed the Santa costume I wore at the live"
"Santa costume?"
"You wore it at the end of the live, right?"
The end, or rather, I didn't see much of it, but I nodded anyway.
Sakurazaki went to the next room and came back a few minutes later wearing the Santa costume.
It was a common Santa costume, but when Sakurazaki wore it, it added a mascot-like flavor, or rather, it was just cute.
"How is it? Merry Christmas, just kidding"
"......C-cute"
"Ehehe, I become embarrassed, meow~, geez"
Sakurazaki rubbed her head against me, looking smitten.
I stroked her hair and remembered the last mission.
"Sakurazaki, do you want to go outside and see the snow?"
"Huh? Yeah. Then I'll change into something warm and you go ahead"
"Okay"
What I had to do last......
I checked the thing in my pocket and went outside first.
Translator: Janaka