Chapter 157: Playing Games
"This is Little Brother's house?"
So small.
"Cat-onee-san" glanced around. Compared to the Shinomiya residence, there was no doubt—this place was much smaller. But it felt very cozy.
Full of signs of everyday life.
His living habits—"Cat-onee-san" took them all in.
Shoes at the entrance were neatly arranged. As soon as he got home, he would hang his coat on the rack in the room. There was the smell of smoke in the kitchen—he probably cooked for himself every day. On the dining table was bread, which meant he likely ate bread for breakfast instead of a Japanese-style meal.
Sakurai Saki stepped out of the room and glanced at her: "You're sober now?"
"Nyan~?" "Cat-onee-san" tilted her head a little.
ദ/ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\?
She was playing dumb.
Or maybe… she was always like that, which made Sakurai Saki think she still wasn't sober.
Either way… she was still meowing nyan~.
That speech quirk was honestly kind of cute. It would totally fit in a 2D anime, but in the real world, it had an odd feeling to it.
Like that "Ka Ka" speech quirk that Shinobu often used—it was cute, but the sense of disconnect was obvious.
But… cute was good enough.
"Ending every sentence with nyan, cat, there's something I'm really curious about." Sakurai spoke while grabbing a bottle of fruit juice from the fridge, then poured two glasses.
Even if the other person was still a bit drunk, it didn't seem too serious anymore, so no need for a hangover cure.
"What is it, nyan~?" the cat asked.
"A tongue twister."
Sakurai carried the glass and sat on the sofa. The lights in the living room were bright, allowing him to clearly see the whole figure of the person in front of him—
White hair that looked like it glowed, ethereal to the point of not seeming human, though her fashion was quite modern. Only her face couldn't be clearly seen—it was hidden behind a mask.
"Alright, cat, read along with me—Naname nanajyuunana-do no narabi de nakunaku inanaku nanahan nanadai nannaku narabete naganagame."
This was a Japanese tongue twister, filled with "na" sounds. The word "seven" in Japanese is "nana." A cat goes "nyan."
White-haired Cat-onee-san wobbled on the sofa, trying to imitate—
"Nyanyame nyanyajyuunyanya-do no nyarabi de nyakunyaku inyanyaku nyanyahan nyanyadai nyanynaku nyarabete nyaganyagame!"
Sakurai paused the recording button on his phone.
'So damn cute.'
If he uploaded this online, it'd get at least a million views.
(Note: Youtube: Neko Hanekawa Tongue Twister)
"Nyan~?" Cat-onee-san looked at Sakurai with a suspicious face, thinking he was kinda perverted.
Grinning while someone reads a tongue twister—what kind of normal person does that?
But then again… this was her boyfriend!
"Tonight I'll sleep on the sofa. You can sleep in my room, but don't go rummaging through my stuff." Sakurai Saki said, but noticed that she… didn't seem to understand.
There were no spare clothes for women in the house, so she definitely wouldn't be able to take a bath.
Even though Cat-onee-san currently reeked of alcohol.
"Sleep with me, nyan~"
"Men and women should keep their distance, young lady, please have some self-respect. Girls going out should learn to protect themselves, otherwise bad men—not like me—will take advantage of you..." He didn't even finish speaking.
"Nyan?" The cat tilted her head and meowed.
"You really don't understand, huh?" Sakurai realized she was drunk to the point of stupid.
So just one cocktail could get her like this?
Picking up a dumb girl in the middle of the night—who also seemed like the kind who liked fighting—Sakurai was speechless.
In just over an hour, he had discovered quite a few contradictions in this girl.
At first, when she was blocked by delinquents, he thought she was the victim—turned out she was the troublemaker. According to the delinquents, she'd been harassing them often lately.
Then, she arrogantly dragged him into a bar, looking like a seasoned player—but one drink and she was out cold.
And now, she couldn't even understand human speech anymore. Was this girl a cat or a human?
"Nyan?"
Sakurai helplessly picked her up, preparing to toss her into bed.
No matter how attractive she was right now, Sakurai Saki wouldn't lay a finger on her.
This girl was way too carefree. Her private life must be pretty messed up—probably even had some kind of nasty disease.
Who would want that?
Sakurai Saki threw her onto the bed.
Cat-onee-san with white hair took off the tricolor jacket—blue, yellow, and pink—that she was wearing, and a moment later—
Sakurai Saki saw the long slender legs that had previously been hidden by her jeans. Under the moonlight streaming in from the window, the sight was breathtaking.
"Wanna play a game? It's still early, I'm not sleepy yet." Cat-onee-san saw him staring blankly and, imitating a cat, gently licked her own paw.
"…Are we seriously playing a game?"
"What else~?"
...
Half an hour later, Sakurai Saki discovered yet another contrast in Cat-onee-san.
Her gaming skills were terrible.
————
The next morning, 6:00 AM, Sakurai Saki woke up right on time.
He didn't rush to check his superpower for the day, but instead turned to look beside him.
'No one.'
There was no one around either.
He stared at the nightstand with a puzzled expression. On it sat a small stack of cash, around a dozen bills.
'What the hell is this? A "thanks for playing" fee?'
Moreover, it was at least over 100,000 yen?
Current market rates to hire someone to play games with you weren't that high! Online you could book someone for just 30,000 yen.
"Haizz." Sakurai Saki buried his face in his hands.
Honestly, he really didn't want to play games last night—he was already super sleepy. Staying up late playing games is bad for your health.
But last night, he really couldn't resist.
Mainly because he'd been under a lot of temptation lately—last time with Fujiwara Chika in the infirmary, and the time before that in the love hotel with Hayasaka Ai. In both situations, Sakurai had to temporarily "hold the gun back." To be honest, the frustration was building up unbearably.
'Damn it, she didn't even leave a contact number.' Sakurai looked again at the nightstand, only to find there really was nothing else.
No—there was still a note.
[Last night's game was really fun, I'll come again next time. ദ്ദി/ᐠ˵- ⩊ -˵マ]
Sakurai Saki breathed a sigh of relief.
The first person to ever play games with him at his home—no matter what, she was someone special. Even if there was no emotional foundation between them, she still felt special.
What is this? Maybe he was just too pure.
...
Changing the bedsheets, Sakurai Saki took the old ones to wash.
It was still early, but since he hadn't made any bento yesterday, he needed to cook this morning.
Honestly, he could just eat at the cafeteria for lunch, but it never tasted as good as his own cooking. Plus, if he ate at the cafeteria, he wouldn't be able to have lunch with Hayasaka Ai.
He got on his bike and leisurely pedaled toward the school.
Lately, he'd been thinking about switching to a motorbike, but apparently the school didn't allow students to ride them.
After all, one's a motor vehicle and the other isn't, and riding a motorbike requires a license—which Sakurai still hadn't gotten.
He arrived at the school gate.
Within Sakurai Saki's field of vision——
[All eaten up!]
[The more I look at this, the weirder it gets. Life was going on normally, but suddenly the tone is spiraling out of control.]
[Can we get more interactions with Chika-chan and Ai-chan? Those Nakano quintuplets are seriously annoying.]
All meaningless messages.
Sakurai Saki stopped his bike.
[Today's Superpower: Visitor from Another World]
Effect: You can see information originating from another world.
Side Effect: Cannot be turned off, and the information may be misleading.
This power was somewhat useful, but not highly effective. It had some value, but not much.
In essence, it was still a precognition ability—just presented in a different form.
...
...
...
Note: game they play: ( • )( • ) ूाीू / ( ˶˘ ³˘)♡Ɑ͞ ̶͞ ̶͞ ̶͞ لں͞ / εつ▄█▀█● / {(ᶅ͒)} Ɑ͞ ̶͞ ̶͞ ̶͞ لں͞