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Chapter 4.3

Netoge no Yome Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 3



 

Here’s the last part to the last chapter of this volume. I was actually planning to release this even earlier but I just bought NieR:Automata for Black Friday, and that ate into much more of my time than I expected so I couldn’t get anything done. I might be going off on a tangent here, but if you’re able to get a copy and play it, I would truly — TRULY — recommend this godly game. I honestly have no idea why I have put off playing this for so long.

But anyway, I don’t really have much to say at this point as I’m still eager to replay it after having finished the whole thing. The next post would be the epilogue and afterword and then I plan on taking a break for this year after that. I’ll resume with Volume 3 next year if all goes well at work.

 

Chapter 4

Part 3

Translation: Yamaking

“This is the place huh…”

Right in front of me was a nameplate with the word ‘Tamaki’ written out it in huge characters.

I’ve come to Ako’s house early in the morning to deliver a direct attack.

Is she going to act stubborn because I came uninvited? No, no, I’m different. I’m her husband, so this should be fine.

Her address? Of course I’ve already memorized it.

These past few days, every time we try out a new game, I was the one that typed out her address during registration.

Even I would be able to memorize it after that much repetition. Ako’s the one at fault here, not me.

The Tamaki residence was an extremely normal two storey residential house. From what I could see from the outside, it looks like the garden and front porch was properly maintained. This really says a lot about the family’s disposition.

“Now then, I wonder what fate has in store for me here?”

‘It would be nice if it was Ako’ was my thought as I cautiously rang the doorbell.

‘Pinpon’, the calm tone of the doorbell resounded. My heart was pounding as I waited— but, there was no response.

I wonder why. Is she out of the house? Or… is she pretending to be out?

“…That seems likely—”

“What is?”

“Ako pretending to be ou— oooouuu!?”

Someone was there! Someone approached me this close before I even knew it!

I looked at the person in question as I let out my panicked voice. For a moment there, I thought it was Ako that came out to see me.

But I was wrong. One look and you’ll see that various parts of her are way bigger, with her hair being completely straight. She looked like an outgoing version of Ako.

To put it in a way that’s easy to understand, this would be Ako when she becomes even more beautiful because she would have rid herself of her worries.

“Uhm, may I ask who you are?”

She completely looks like Ako. And, to this strangely beautiful person, I nervously answered in response.

“Err, my name is Nishimura ma’am. Today I’ve come to, err…”

“Ah, you’re that Nishimura-kun?”

She didn’t even wait for me to finish my sentence as she said that with a convinced look on her face.

‘That’? What do you mean by ‘that’? Just what has Ako said about me in her house?

“Well, there’s no reason for us to stand around here talking. Come in, come in.”

“Is that alright?”

“Of course. A friend of my daughter has come all this way to visit, so the least I could do is pour him a cup of tea.”

Daughter… daughter!?

This person is Ako’s mother!? It wasn’t her sister!?

They look alike. It’s true they look alike but!

“You’re Ako’s mother?”

“Ara, do I look like her sister—?”

“To be honest, yes.”

Ako’s mother honestly looked happy but it looked like there was also another meaning to that as she showed a smile on her face.

“Fufufufu. If you really think that, then getting Ako would be a good bargain you know? That girl takes after me after all.”

“Ah well… I guess that’s right.”

She really takes after her, in more ways than one.

 

The inside of their house was enveloped in the same aura that I usually feel from Ako. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to relax at another person’s house, but I feel strangely used to this. As I got further in, I was invited to sit on the sofa, which felt really good to sit on.

But this didn’t mean that I could relax myself. It didn’t change the fact that I was still nervous.

“Have some, it’s tea. I didn’t hear out what you wanted and just made black tea, but is that okay?”

“Ah, thanks. Anything is fine.”

“Is that so? I’m glad.”

She was smiling as she said that. Ako’s mother then proceeded to sit directly across me.

“Hmm, Hee—, Haa—.”

She sounded like she was having fun observing me.

Wh, what is this? Is she going to do something to me?

“Err, Ako… Tamaki-san is…”

“Auntie here is also Tamaki-san, you know?”

Kuh, what a tough opponent. I’ll just give up and call her that.

“A— Ako-san… Did you hear anything about me from Ako-san? ”

“Nope, not much. It’s just that when that girl was all fired up cooking up a lunchbox and I asked her who it was for, I remember quite well that she said it was for her future husband.”

“Bfbff!”

T, that girl! Just because it was someone from your family, you went ahead and said something so embarrassing…

To hide my face that was gradually turning red, I took the black tea and held it to my mouth. I couldn’t tell the taste at all.

“Well… then.”

Just then, the air around us changed.

Ako’s mother, who was laughing up until now, suddenly narrowed her eyes.

This has the same unpleasant feeling as when Ako gets mad.

“Just what business does the future husband have with that troublesome daughter of mine? Are you planning to drag her out of her room and take her with you to school?”

Only her words sounded cheerful as she kept that serious gaze, staring at me.

I, I guess from a parent’s standpoint, that would be what she’s hoping for huh. If that’s the case, then I’m sorry, but I have terrible news for her.

From the backpack the I brought along with me, I took out the laptop that I borrowed from Master.

“Sorry, but I simply came here to play with Ako. I’m taking a day off from school too.”

“…You came here to play?”

“Ye, yes.”

“Even though that girl says she won’t go to school?”

“Sorry… Is this no good after all?”

A normal parent would get mad here. That’s a given.

But, this is just my thought on this, so hear me out for a bit here. It would be enough if you just understand.

“Hmm—… Hmm—fufufufu!”

‘Hmmfu’? What the heck is that ‘hmmfu’?

“Hmm, fufufufufufufu!”

“Eh, what? What’s the matter?”

Ako’s mother gave out a strange laugh. And just when I thought she about to stand and leave, she instead went around the table and sat down beside me. Just like that, she then proceeded to nudge at my side with her elbows. Uhm, it hurts. That hurts you know.

“Um, uhm? Err, Ako’s mother?”

“That’s a bit too long to say. Just mom is fine. Hey, what was your name again?”

“It’s Nishimura Hideki, but why?”

“I see. Okay, okay. Then, Hideki.”

Calling me like that as if I were her son, she then nonchalantly placed a key on the top of my palm.

“I’ll give you this.”

“Huh.”

What the heck is this. The key to their house? …There’s no way right. The design looks too plain.

“This. It’s the key to Ako’s room.”

“Haa!?”

“You see, that girl, she locks herself in her room thinking she has the only copy of her key. There’s no way her mother wouldn’t have one too right?”

“No, no, no. What I’m wondering about is why are you entrusting that key to a total stranger?”

“I have to go to work soon, so I’m leaving that girl to you.”

“Eeeeeeh!?”

Are you sure it’s okay to leave her to me? I came here to play you know? I’m surely not one you could confidently call a positive influence on your daughter you know?

“I, is this really okay?”

“‘Course!”

It seems Ako’s mother was full of confidence as she said this.

“You see, when that girl’s out of my hands, you’ll be the one to look after her after all.”

“That’s… I’m not sure I can take that kind of responsibility just yet.”

“You’re honest. I like that. Well then Hideki, please take care of Ako. The key to the front gate is over there in that key case, so use that when you’re about to leave. If you want, you could take one home with you as well.”

“I’ll have to decline that offer.”

“Ara, that’s a shame.”

It seemed Ako’s mother was taking this lightly, as she grabbed her bag and walked away from me.

Work. Work, huh? Oh yeah, I remember Ako telling me about that once. That even when she went back home, no one was there— or something like that.

I saw her off as she left the living room. I could hear her saying ‘I’m off to work—’ to the second floor as she went out the front gate. In response to that, a voice saying ‘Okaaay’ could be heard. It was a conversation between mother and child. In other words, Ako was definitely in the house.

I then gulped down the black tea and left the living room.

I heard Ako’s voice earlier coming from the second floor. But I had no idea just what room it was from— as I was thinking that, a nameplate with the words ‘Ako’s Room’ came into my sight.

I calmly took a deep breath.

I raised my arm and began knocking on the door.

“Hiiii!?”

From inside the room, you could hear the voice of someone that just swallowed their own breath.

Ah, that’s right. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone else in the house, so hearing someone suddenly knock on your room would definitely surprise you.

“Ako, it’s me.”

“Eh… Ru, Rusian!?”

Hearing Ako’s voice, I could tell she was surprised with a hint of being relieved. At the very least, it seems I wasn’t an unwanted guest.

“Yo, good morning. It’s a bit sudden, but I came to visit. Let me in.”

“Yes!? T, that aside, why are you you here? What about mom!?”

“I went and received permission from your mother.”

“Mom, you dummyyyyyyy!”

The lament of Ako’s soul resounded all throughout.

“By the way, she also went ahead and entrusted you to me.”

“Mom, good joooooooob!”

Oh, so that one is fine then?

Ah well, I didn’t come here to have a conversation with her through the door.

“There you have it. I’ve secured permission from the guardian, so I’m not going to take no for an answer and let myself in.”

“Eh, wa, please wait. Right now is a bit—”

“I told you I’m not taking no for an answer!”

As I tried to turn the knob, I figured out it was really locked. But this isn’t a problem. The matter regarding acquiring the all important key has already been resolved.

“No way. The sound of the lock is? Did mom give you the key? Ahh no, this is bad—”

The lock properly opened. I decided to ignore whatever Ako was saying and continued to open the door.

It looks unexpectedly clean, but the curtains were closed on this very room. The things that stood out were the large PC and a considerably large refrigerator for personal use that was in her room. In the corner of the room, occupying her bed were deformed versions of monsters from LA. From this, I understood that the owner of the room, was considerably devoted to LA.

And, in the center of the room, was a single white figure. It was Ako.

I’ve finally come face to face with Ako’s white figure— wait, white? Why is it white?

“Ah… Ah…”

Her body was positioned diagonally against where I was, as she turned only her head towards me.

It seems as if she was in a huge panic, as the only thing covering her body was her half-stripped underwear.

She was covering only the important bits of her upper body with her hands, so it made sense that her complete figure would look white. And just like most indoor types, the color of Ako’s skin was, in an abnormal sense, pure white.

But, the longer I stared at it, the more the color of her skin was dyed in scarlet hue.

And then, the utterances coming from her mouth started changing from ‘Ah’ to ‘Ki’— though, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE LOOKING AT THAT!

“S, sorry!”

As I realized that I was probably staring at a classmate’s half-naked— technically naked, body as if I were licking it all over, I finally decided to leave the room then and there.

I flew straight out of the room, and closed the door shut with a bang. When I say it like this, it sounds like I was in a hurry to get out of there, but I stared at that view so much that the scenery of it is now embedded into my brain. I just saw something wonderful. That was amazing.

I could still hear my heart pounding right about now. This is bad, Ako, is amazing. I won’t go into details but, she’s twice more amazing than I’m even able to think of right now. Really.

“Ah, uhm, Rusian? I’d just like to check, but how did you open the lock?”

That was clearly the voice of Ako being restless. Though I had a hard time getting my voice out, I answered.

“I received the key, from your mother.”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaa!”

I could the sound of something falling and breaking from inside the room.

“Why! Why did you do that mom—!”

“‘Why’ you ask? I’d like to ask you the same thing! Why weren’t you wearing anything other than your underwear?”

“Rather than that, I usually don’t even wear underwear! It’s like uhm, you know, I’m the type that feels uninhibited when I’m in my room! I wasn’t planning on going out of my room today after all!”

That’s why I’m asking you, why are you stark naked!? That sort of behavior is just not acceptable for a girl of your age!

However, it seems she’s still confused so she’s not really mad yet, but this is going to be real bad later. She should at least let me off if I genuflect, but it’s all going to be useless if she doesn’t hear me out.

“Anyway, please wait a bit. I’ll get myself ready.”

“Ah, yeah. I’m really sorry.”

“No, that goes for me too… Fuuu—, Haaa—”

It seems she’s calming herself down, as I could hear the sound of her taking deep breaths.

She repeated this for quite a bit, and it seems Ako’s collected herself a bit, as she spoke up.

“Okay, come in.”

That was quick. Did she already put some clothes on?

With the resolution to genuflect the moment I enter the room, I opened the door.

In the room this time, was Ako, who was not covering her body anymore, but rather, was waiting for me in a seiza while being completely naked.

With her blushing cheeks, she was looking at me with upturned eyes— BANG!

“Why are you leaving the room!?”

“You too! What’s wrong with you!? More like, why did you take everything off!? You said you were getting ready right!?”

“I was preparing myself mentally, you know!”

“That’s not the kind of ‘ready’ I was after! Get dressed! Put some clothes on!”

After all that chaos, I was finally able to face Ako across her small table.

“I don’t think I’ve been this embarrassed other than the first time I met Rusian, but now, I’ve gone past that…”

“I really apologize, but that latter half was all your doing Ako.”

“Rusian should’ve just prepared himself and had his way with me. That way, we can put that embarrassment to shame with something even better.”

She said that, looking unsatisfied.

Right now, she was wearing a one-piece that seemed to be her house dress, but even now, my brain can’t shake off the image of bare skin that hid underneath it.

“Sorry, please don’t say anything more than that. I’m at my utmost limit here, mentally speaking.”

“Even though you have a girl right in front of you who’s fine with her being pushed down… If you keep being calm at this rate, you’re going to lose face you know?”

“It’s embarrassing so stop describing current situation into words!”

I’m still fighting off my instincts right now after all!

“We’re husband and wife, so with that in mind, Rusian preparing himself shouldn’t be that much…”

“Reality and the game are different. Seriously, please put the jokes aside for now. Please, just do that one thing for me.”

“Okaaay.”

Why do you look so disappointed? Even I’m at the limits of my reasoning here you know.

“By the way, the reason why you didn’t lay your hand on me, was it because my charm status was not high enough after all?”

“Nope. It’s because I can’t run away from the fact that I’m an online hookup predator if I do lay a hand on you.”

“…Schew-chan wouldn’t let you hear the end of it right?”

“You see?”

Forcing your way into the home of your net game wife who has turned hikikomori and ravaging her in the process is the workings of a savage fiend.

It wouldn’t even be on the same level as betraying the trust that Schew placed on me just yesterday.

And by the way, your charm is plenty high already. It’s so high that it’s dangerous.

“Oh and one more thing. It felt like my future would be settled then and there if I did that.”

It was like the last question in a job change quest: ‘Are you truly — TRULY — sure about this? Yes / No’. It felt like that heavy of a choice.

“Not having your way with me because you don’t want to take responsibility… Is that a manly or a not manly thing?”

I don’t know. Don’t ask me.

“Also, hiding your own embarrassment and teasing me like that is not going to work you know? I’m going to find out after all.”

“Oh, you knew about it?”

Of course I did. I mean, I’m also extremely embarrassed after all.

“Ehem.”

Ako intentionally cleared out her throat as she turn her gaze to me once again.

“So, going back to the topic, what did Rusian come here for?”

Right, right. The real problem lies just ahead.

There were just way too many events that just happened, that I was about almost about to forget why I even came here.



“First of all, I came here to tell you that there was nothing between me and Akiyama-san. I came all the way here just to tell you that so you won’t even doubt that that’s a lie.”

“I suppose, since Rusian has come this far, I can believe you.”

Alright, alright. The way that she’s honest like that is the good thing about Ako.

“Besides, you basically don’t even have to worry about that. The only girl weird enough that I can raise flags with could only be someone like Ako.”

“I suddenly find myself doubting Rusian again.”

Why would it come to be like that? Was there anything I said that sounded like a lie to you?

“There’s seriously no one else. Who else could be there?”

“It just seemed like my maiden sensor went off a bit there. It’s still within the acceptable range though.”

I don’t understand a single thing you just said. To begin with, you don’t even possess the characteristics of a maiden, do you?

“Okay then, since it seems I’ve convinced you on that point, let’s move on to the next.”

“Uuu, don’t tell me you plan for me to go to school or something…”

Ako sounds frightened as she pulled herself back while saying that.

“I’m not that much of a saint, so I won’t tell you to do something like that.”

“You won’t?”

I’m not living my life properly enough that I’m allowed to say that to others.

“I’m not. And so, the reason why I came here…”

I deliberately took out the laptop from my backpack.

Ako’s round eyes stared in wonder as I gave a small laugh.

“I’m going to spend the whole day playing with you today.”

 

“Are we really going to play? What about school?”

“I already let the school know, so it’s fine.”

“I don’t think it’s fine to skip school just because you already let them know in advance.”

“I could say those very words right back at you.”

“I know right—”

That’s not the reaction I was looking for. Usually, you supposed to get mad at that part. This girl, really.

But I’m going to let that one slide today, with my forgiving heart.

“I was pretty happy, you know? When you said that you would properly play LA.”

“Eh?”

“Playing for fun like a casual up until now was great, but Ako’s going to be a hardcore player now. If that’s the case, then I’m not going to hold back either! I’ll even go spartan on you!”

“E, eeh? Uhm, Rusian? Your expression looks a bit scary you know…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Ako sat at her PC’s desk and faced the monitor.

Once LA boots up, it’s the start of our Rigorous Healer Training Regimen.

“Up until now, I’ve just been letting you play as you pleased. But a healer, after all, has to watch when they use a skill to be able to combo, and they must also place importance on restraining the enemy’s movements. We’re going to be going through those things thoroughly today, so you can at least expect that much.”

“Please wait a bit! So the reason you went to visit a girl’s house was to teach her in playing a net game!?”

“I mean, what else is there to do?”

“Th, that’s… Uhm… Uuu…”

Ako fumbled for her words as she dejectedly hung her head.

“We can go out somewhere when you’re done shutting yourself in though.”

“Uu!”

Ako reacted in surprise but, I pretended not to hear that as I continued on.

“There you have it, we’re going to do this. We’re going to start with the basic controls. For the enemy… Those werewolves over there should be fine.”

I extended my hand toward Ako, who was sitting in her chair, and grabbed the mouse from her back as I place my hand on top of hers.

Ako’s small body was bent forward a little, so I could easily wrap myself around it.

“Listen up okay, this is how you do it.”

“Like this?”

“Like this, see.”

‘Tontonton’, like that, I operated the mouse and keyboard at a specific tempo.

“Like this, here…”

“And then you do this, and this, and this. Here.”


“Do this, and this, like this…”

“Ah no, no. You’re not doing it.”

Only her mouth was moving but her hand wasn’t.

You’re not going to be able to master the ‘heal’ in healer like that.

“Listen up okay? A healer has to manage the cooldowns for each of their specific recovery abilities while using the right skills at the right time to connect a combo. Moreover, you should be using your buff and debuff skills to mitigate or cancel the enemy’s huge damage dealing attacks. If you fail that, having your largest healing combo on standby should be a given. You’ll be at your peak once you master those basics. If you say you want to hit the max level and aim for reincarnation, then this much is a must.”

 

TL note: All healer mechanics so far seem to be based on FFXI’s more extensive healer setup rather than RO. The term also used for hitting max level here was レベルカンスト which is short for ‘Counter Stop’, indicating that you’ve hit the max for that thing (it can be level, item count, high score, etc.).

 

“Uuu, Rusian is really being spartan about this.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll hang out with today as much as I can.”

“I already know that—! You’re not going to leave me alone until I get it! It’s like even though the break has just started, you’re not going to wait for me to finish all of my food and get me back to doing that again!”

“It’s fine. I’m going to properly wait until you finish all of your food. Come on, do it one more time. The werewolf is preparing something, it’s going to use a skill—”

“Aaaah, like this, this, and this, like this, and this…”

“Your tempo is too fast. Watch your skill’s cooldown so that your combo won’t get interrupted. If you properly pull off your combos in sync, their timings should barely match that they would be in cooldown the next time you use them.”

“L, like this, and this, and this…”

“You’re using the wrong skill there—”

“This is impossible—!”

 

“It’s over. I’m all burned out.”

“Well, at least you pulled it off once.”

“Just… once…”

Ako exhaustedly plopped herself on the bed.

She then rolled around to face herself up which caused the hair covering her face to be parted left and right. I can see her expression more clearly than usual. Her cheeks were a bit relaxed as it seems she was unexpectedly in a good mood.

“Hey, Rusian, how about we take a little break? I’ll serve you some tea.”

“Ah, sorry about that.”

As I was thinking that she was about to go out of her way to serve me some tea, Ako opened the refrigerator that was in her room and,

“Here you go.”

‘Don’, she placed a plastic bottle containing tea right in front of me.

Th, that really lacked any sort of charm.

“I thought you were going to pour me some from your kitchen…”

“If we’re talking about the skills for that, I have it. But right now, I’m in hikikomori mode.”

So that’s why she went and offered me tea straight from her refrigerator. You could spend a few days just living off the calories on this thing.

“I’ve already prepared myself for times where I wouldn’t have to go out of my room for a week. Just like a mirror image of a model hikikomori right?”

“Rather, look at yourself in the mirror and start looking exactly at the things you have to reflect on. In the first place, if you’re going to be locking yourself in your room for one week, what are you going to do about other things? Like the toilet for example?“

I held the bottle of tea to my mouth as I said that. Ako then calmly replied.

“Why, of course, I use plastic bottles for those.”

“Ngagofu!?”

I choked with all my might. I think some of it even got into my windpipes. But more than that, my attention was placing a lot more attention on what Ako just said. You use plastic bottles you say? Don’t tell me, Ako was one of those legendary gaming warriors called the ‘bottlers’!?

“Y, yo, you, don’t tell me… The contents of this bottle is…!?”

“No, no, no, the thing I just served to Rusian was plain tea you know!? You could tell from the taste right!?”

I haven’t tasted ‘that’ so I wouldn’t know!

At least, it didn’t have a weird smell so I think it was fine. Don’t say something so scary!

“Though I should say, I don’t think I would have the courage to love an Ako who was a bottler.”

“N, no way! Please still love me even if I’m a bottler or a diaper user!”

“No way, no way, no way!”

Diaper users and bottlers are both equally impossible for me. Give me a break.

 

TL note: The words used here were ボトラー and オムツァー which both refer to ways on how to dispose waste while gaming (literally means bottler and diaper faction respectively). There was a particular linkshell in FFXI dedicated to hunting High Level Notorious Monsters that had all kinds of people with their own ways to go about this (the linkshell was referred to as HNMLS) which was probably where the author sourced it. As an added fact, the mainstream option was of course, the bottler.

 

“That’s just a joke of course. I actually use the toilet properly you know.”

“Please stop with those jokes. They’re bad for my heart.”

I feel relieved from the bottom of my heart. I was thinking that it might’ve been a joke, but, having Ako say it just kind of makes me think twice if she would actually do that.



“Ah that’s right, what are you going to do about lunch? Are you just going to have your fill snacking on some sweets?”

“Ah, yep. I’ll just kind of snack on them and get it over with that way. If I wasn’t in hikikomori mode, I would be making you a meal instead though…”

“I would like to try eating your freshly cooked meal once, but there’s no real reason to hurry and ask for that right now.”

“Are you sure?”

Ako unexpectedly said that but, I smiled as I replied to her.

“There’s always another chance for such a thing. There’s really no need for you to do that right now. Let’s just play for today.”

“Rusian…”

Ako was teary-eyed as she looking at me while saying that.

“And so, I hate to say this while you’re being so emotional, but let’s continue.”

“I—don’t—wannaaaaaa—”

Tears then started overflowing from those eyes.

 

A ‘Pikon ♪’ sound could be heard as the notification about a guild member going online was displayed on the corner of the screen.

“Oh, it looks like Schew and Master have logged in.”

“Like this… And this… This…”

“Get a hold of yourself—”

Ako, who was swaying back and forth as she moved her hands like a machine, trembled for a bit.

“Ah… is it time for club activities already? I think I lost track of what I was doing along the way…”

“Why do you keep forgetting these things even though I’m trying my hardest to teach you?”

Wasn’t all your effort for this one day wasted then? This girl, really.

But well, that was just one of the sub-objectives so it’s fine. Today’s main objective is going to be tackled right now.

“Ako, I’m going to borrow a cable okay?”

“Okay, that’s fine.”

“Thanks. Then, I’m going to connect this here…”

I connected the cable to the laptop I borrowed from Master. It was one used especially by Master, so its spec is pretty high enough for gaming. LA runs fine on this as well. I typed in my ID and password and could now see the familiar face of ‘Rusian’ being displayed.

“Oh yeah Ako, stop blocking everyone in chat and return your settings to normal.”

“Ah, okay, okay.”

I took Ako with me and went to the usual cafe. Over there were the figures of everyone waiting.

Schwein: Hey both of you! What the heck are you doing skipping school!

Rusian: We were playing together.

Ako: I was flirting around with Rusian.

Schwein: I’m seriously going to kill you.

Schwein just said that with an amazingly huge smile on her face. For some reason, that smile seemed to overlap with Segawa’s face, that it gave me the chills.

Rusian: Seriously though, I’m sorry.

Apricot: Just what were the two of you doing?

Master was just showing us a bitter smile.

And then, the last person, just shrugged her shoulders as she said.

Nekohime: That’s right. Doing something like skipping school to play games… If meow get found out, meow’ll be in trouble.

Ako: …Sensei.

Nekohime: It’s nyaat Sensei, it’s Nekohime-san. I’m borrowing Ako-chan’s PC purr now.

“That means it’s Sensei right?”

“It’s probably a matter of her pride, so don’t go intentionally taking a jab at that.”

It must be hard acting out the part of Nekohime-san for Sensei given her position. The thing a considerate person would do here is to just look that over.

Nekohime: But I have to say, I didn’t think meow would make this PC’s password something like that.

“Eeh? What’s so bad about it?”

“There’s nothing good about it.”

It’s because your password was ‘Rusian, Ako, Love, Eternity’! I was only the one who told Sensei that but I felt like I was going to vomit up blood when I did!

Rusian: But well, this is perfect. I have something to talk to you about, would you hear me out?

Nekohime: What’s the meowter, Rusian?

Rusian: I’m going to quit school.

It seems those words hit everyone hard as everything stopped moving.

Schwein: Ha?

Apricot: Ru, Rusian?

“Whaaat!? Rusian, have you gone crazy!?”

I ignored Ako saying that, and proceeded to type away at the keyboard.

Rusian: Ako said she wanted to quit school, and I kind of had it with everyone call me otaku this and that, so now, I’d rather slack off and just keep playing the game.

The words that came out may have been a bit harsh, but it was not necessarily all a lie. This in itself somewhat mirrors how I truly feel.

And then, upon seeing my chat, Nekohime-san’s ears wiggled.

Nekohime: Ah— is nyaat so?

She kept nodding her as if she were convinced and then continued.

Nekohime: In other words, a lot of stress—

For some reason, she stopped her words there.

And then, she started up again.

Nekohime: It’s built up… right?

“Uhm, Rusian……”

It seems that me and Ako were getting dragged along by this strange atmosphere. And I think Schew and the others who were in the clubroom also understood where this was going. However, with my iron will, I ignored that and patiently waited for her words to come out.

And it seems that after careful consideration, Nekohime-san said.

Nekohime: I guess it can’t be helped— Meowkay.

 

Ako: You caaaaaaaaaaaan’t!

 

“Why not? You said you were going to quit school right?”

“I did say that, but that’s not it! What I said just now wasn’t about that! I’m telling Nekohime-san that she can’t! Saying careless statements like ‘I guess it can’t be helped, meowkay’ just because you asked her, she’ll probably regret it later in the future!”

What the heck is this girl saying? I don’t get it at all.

 

TL note: The reason why Nekohime typed as she did was because she was hinting at a joke that was a reference to a log in RO (見抜き) where a guy was asking a female character if it was okay to fap to their character. This is also the reason why Ako rejected that conversation. The original conversation also had the female character appending -nya at the end. The conversation went as follows:

:Excuse me I have a request

:What is it?

:Can I please cum and look…?

:Cum and look?

:Yes.

:Ah—

:I understand, it’s that thing right…

:Is it fine?

:Well.

:It’s built up, right?

:Yes.

:I guess it can’t be helped…

:Meowkay.

 

“Well there you have it. We’ve already secured permission, so we can continue on being a NEET couple.”

“You can’t! What are you going to do about your parents?”

“Me, the student in question, and my homeroom teacher have already come to an agreement so it’s fine. In the worst case scenario, I’ll just hole up in your room too.”

“T, that’s okay but, that’s not fine at all!”

“Even your mother has already given me her blessings and said that it’s fine.”

“You can’t, you can’t, you can’t! Anyhow… you just can’t!”

No matter how much I tell her that, she would just stubbornly refuse. Even though Ako is usually weak against pressure, she’s unusually vehemently opposing this.

“Getting Rusian involved in this… I just can’t do that.”

“…I see.”

Even though you have the courage— no, the understanding, to bring such a thing unto yourself like that, you just don’t have the resolve to involve others in it. That’s just the kind of creatures humans are.

“Hey, Ako. Segawa… Schew told me something.”

“…Told you what?”

“That she knew Ako wasn’t really serious about the whole thing with Akiyama-san. But you just unconsciously overreacted, and stubbornly went on to sulk. Afterwards, you just couldn’t find the right timing to take back what you had just said, so you just helplessly went along with it that it’s now come to this.”

“Hauuu…”

Ako clenched at her chest as she was taken aback by what I just said.

Oh, that was a wonderful critical hit. Way to go Schew. As expected of a greatsword user.

“H, how did she know all that?”

“She said it’s because she’s been hanging out with you for quite a long time.”

‘But you know’, I said that, continuing on.

“I undoubtedly thought that was the case as well. And that’s not all.”

Hey, Ako. You know, you…

“You really don’t want to go to school right?”

“……”

“You have trouble making friends, feel uncomfortable in class. and you don’t really understand the lessons either. You know that the situation you’re in is a tough one, but you don’t know just what to do to get out of it. You don’t have any fun outside of the club activities, so you don’t want to go. That’s what you’re really thinking right?”

“Uu, uuu.”

“Then that thing with Akiyama-san happens, things come to a head, and you popped. That’s the feeling that I got.”

“……Uhm.”

Ako then turned to me with upturned eyes as she still kept her head down.

“Why does Rusian know even more about it than Schew-chan?”

“It’s because despite all this, I’m still your husband you know.”

“…Ehehehehe.”

“Hahahahaha.”

It seems we’ve both gone crazy as we laughed.

“Did you have fun today, Ako?”

“Yep! Tons of it!”

“I’m glad to hear that. So did I.”

Skipping school and spending an unproductive day with just us two, gave me such a feeling of immorality. I just couldn’t get enough of it. Is this the pleasure of being a truant?

“Then are you going to stop saying that you’ve given up on life and going on to the next?”

“E, even I only meant that as a joke.”

Then I’m glad. Having Ako disappear would make my real life deplorable.

“Then, do you want quit school and just spend everyday like this?”

“…Yes.”

Ako did not show any signs of rejection, and just went along with that.

“Then let’s do just that.”

“Y, you can’t…”

“I can’t?”

“…Uuu, what should I say?”

Ako was contradicting herself as she grabbed her head. I understand, I understand you. You just don’t know what the heck it is you want to do. Everyone gets like that sometimes.

“Schew also told me, that she wanted to stay with us forever. You, Master, and me too. That it would be nice if we were able to do that. It was so out of her character that she said that all the while blushing.”

“…Me too. I’d like to do that too, as much as I can.”

Just having those feelings is enough. You don’t need to do anything else.

“You know, I once thought too that I didn’t need anything else if I just had the game. It’s like I was thinking, ‘my real self is the one that was in the game’. But because of everyone— because of you, I found that my real life has unexpectedly become even more fun. That’s what I’m thinking right now.”

I was only doing whatever in the real world, and took only the game world seriously. I thought that that was how I was going to spend the rest of my life from then on.

But now, the reason why I am acting for the sake of the real world, even though I used to think all of those things before, was all because of Ako.

“We could keep doing club activities at school again and again. And when summer comes, let’s have the followup to our offline meeting from before. During the cultural festival, we could set up a net game demo booth too. We could go on that field trip together and stay holed up in our rooms playing net games all day… There’s just so many things worth looking forward to that I can’t help but think that it’s going to be fun.”

“…But, it feels like I’m eventually going to get fed up with it midway during the cultural festival and the field trip though.”

Ah—, that’s seems likely. Her burning herself out in the first few hours, and then blurting out to everyone that she’d like to go home already and play net games is something that I can imagine.

But what exactly is wrong with that? It’s fine to get fed up with things. It’s not that big of a deal.

“That’s fine. That’s just how you happen to feel right now. You got tired of dealing with real life so you went to play net games. You can go ahead and play to your heart’s content. And then, when you feel like you can go at it again— that time, let’s go to school together again, okay? And if you tell me that skipping school with you is not allowed, then I’ll just be waiting you at school instead.”

“Rusian…”

Ako looked over me with teary eyes.

W, what’s with you? Why are you making that face? You look like a lost child who wants to cling on to the parent that she’s finally found.

Though, I do feel a bit guilty for telling her to ‘go to school’ in such a roundabout way.

I was getting a bit embarrassed, so I took my eyes off of Ako.

I then tried to hide that fact by just saying something.

“And you know, you said that your dream is to be a housewife right? But if we don’t both graduate from school together and live independently, that’s just not going to happen you know? Your future plans would be in danger.”

“Eh?”

“…What with that ‘eh’?”

Ako’s reaction was different from what I had expected.

I thought that she would be grumbling as a reaction to what I just said, but it seems her reaction was composed of mainly a look of surprise and expectation.

Did I say anything weird? Having a blissful wedding, and creating a warm family— those things that seem like the peak of a normie’s life is only obtainable because you lived your life properly right? That’s why it’s hard, isn’t it?

As I sat there with a huge question mark on my face, Ako firmly clasped both of her hands in front of me.

“I got it… I got it! I finally got Rusian’s words of promise! Rusian is going to take responsibility for my future!”

“When did I say something like that—!?”

How in the world did you arrive at that conclusion!? I’m sorry to say, but I’m not dependable enough to shoulder the burden of someone else’s future you know!?

“But you said that we’ll get married if we graduate from school together!”

“Isn’t that a pretty extreme jump in logic right there!? All I said was that if you wanted to be able to marry someone, you should at least be able to properly go to school!”

“Then if you take that the other way around—!”

“Don’t take it like that!”

If you take it the other way around, it’s just going to sound really convenient for your case!

“Rusian, let’s have our wedding ceremony and the reception ingame okay?”

“You’re a pretty economical wife aren’t you!”

That’s not going to cost any real money at all. Financially speaking, it would be the best option.

As I was thinking about what Ako meant by that, I fiddled around with the key in my hand.

It was the key I received from Ako’s mother.

I guess Ako is thinking the same thing as her mom after all. If that’s the case, should I just go ahead and take her for myself? It’s not like I’m dissatisfied with the current Ako— though, as I was thinking that, the image of Ako’s naked body flashed in my mind.

Aah, err, uhh… so I can’t even run away to my thoughts anymore.

Meeting someone in a net game and then marrying them in real life is the path an online hookup troll would take.

But— I don’t feel the idea itself is necessarily all that bad.

“Well, it’s not like we have to think about that right now. Let’s take this slowly, okay?”

“So you’re just putting it on hold! This is a big improvement right!”

“If you’re going to say that, how about you improve yourself a little as well?”

“I guess that’s right.”

Ako was giggling and laughing as she lightly tapped on the keyboard.

The PC’s fan suddenly turned up a little, and the hard disk made whirring noises.

And then, the windows displayed on the monitor begin disappearing one by one.

“Okay then. How about we go to school right now?”

“Even if you say that now, we won’t be able to do anything but club activities.”

“Then let’s go do our club activities!”

“Now look here, Nekohime-san already told you that going to school just for club activities is not allowed.”

“…Oh that’s right.”

A lot of hardships await us before we get to the fun things. If you don’t tend to these bothersome chores in real life, you won’t be able to come back to the net game world.

And well, since I’m not Ako, I can at least say this: My real life has gotten a lot more fun thanks to the game. It’s been so much fun, that I feel like doing my best in playing and clearing it.

“How about it Ako? Do you think you can keep at it now?”

“If I do my best and get tired, Rusian is going to come and take a break with me right?”

“If it’s for the sake of my wife, then I’d do anything.”

“Then— I think I can keep at it.”

In that short moment, all sound just stopped.

The PC had its power turned off, and the monitor that was lighted up a moment ago, is now being dyed black. As the light fled from the screen, it began to reflect Ako’s face like a mirror.

“……”

Ako’s facial expression being reflected in the screen showed a slightly distorted look— but then she suddenly smiled, as if she gave in.

I don’t exactly know what she’s thinking.

But, I’m sure it wasn’t anything bad.



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