Chapter 115 – Aoi-chan Love Operation (1)Now that my dad has warned me, I"m going to consciously observe my neighbors" att.i.tudes toward me better.
“h.e.l.lo.”
I make an effort to greet them amiably.
I"m here at the water storage tank that"s beside the cooking area.
Women and children have priority for the shower room at the community center, so most of the men just wipe themselves down with warm water.
There"s no way there are enough gas water heaters for nearly 200 people.
I have a tank of lukewarm water in my lap.
The bucket of hot water is used by three groups of people to wipe themselves down.
“Ah… h.e.l.lo~”
“… hi.”
Oops.
This is even more blatant than I thought, huh?
The three middle-aged women in the kitchen returned the greeting, all chuckling and shrinking back a bit.
I guess I haven"t noticed this until now…
“Oh, can I have some hot water?”
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.”
“Ahhaha, thank you very much.”
It was a large woman of the Polar Bear tribe who answered back.
The edges of her mouth were raised as if pulled by an invisible thread.
If you notice, it"s obvious.
Obviously, she"s looking at me like I"m suspicious.
Well yeah.
One day at the mall. The clerk at the baby goods store also had this look in his eyes.
The worst looking high school student in the world, holding a young girl in a helpless position. Yeah, that"s a bad image.
There"s no way I"d trust someone like that right away.
The stories pa.s.sed on by people"s mouths are exceeding my actual speed of movement.
It"s too late for me to make a move…
“E-excuse me…”
She filled a bucket of hot water with a small pot in the tank and left the cooking area quickly.
I couldn"t stand to be in a place where there were curious stares and the atmosphere was filled with trepidation.
Oh no. The situation has progressed farther than I had imagined.
If I don"t take immediate action, not only me, but rumors about Aoi and the others might circulate as well.
“What should I do, what should I do?”
I mumbled to myself as I carried the bucket.
I wouldn"t have bothered with it before now.
I was the only one who would be harmed by it.
No matter what kind of notoriety I got, I was determined to ignore it.
I thought it was useless. I had given up on the idea that there was nothing I could do once the rumors started.
But this time I can"t leave it alone.
After all, they are people of the neighborhood.
As long as you live in this town, you will have to come into contact with them.
Moreover, it is long-term. Perhaps they might be neighbors for life.
We"ve bought a not-so-cheap house in this town, and we can"t just run away.
”Kazamachi? What"s wrong with you. You look pale.”
“Kunpei-kun?”
I unexpectedly came across a large golden furball in the hallway.
It was Gasaraio.
Kusaka Makio was next to him, the little blond boy who stopped wearing a pompadour and is receiving rave reviews.
“Help me, Gasaron! Makio-kun!”
“Oh, oh?”
“W-what?”
I"m being bullied!
I can"t just hit him and fix it because the bully has no ill intent at all!
I need a quick and easy solution with a magic tool, Gasaron!
I was at my wit"s end, and I put my trust in a cra.s.s, rough, tsundere beastman, Gasara, who is representative of someone who doesn"t seem to be suited to that kind of talk.
Explaining.
“Eh? You"re saying that to me?”
“Ah, that"s right…”
“Please, lend me your wisdom.”
Gasara was troubled as he looked away from me.
I understand.
If I were in the same position and got asked for advice, I would be troubled.
But I can"t think of anything because I am aware of my foolishness and lack the ability to socialize with others.
My dad tells me to think for myself, but I can"t! I can"t do it, father!
Makio, on the other hand, seemed to have gained some insight and nodded slightly.
”So in other words, you"re saying you want to somehow improve the impression that the people around have of you, right?
“Yeah.”
That"s what I"m talking about.
“That"s what I"m talking about. You"re quick.”
“Stop talking like that. I"ll blow you away.”
I"m sorry.
No, I"m sorry. I was so upset.
I could give you a shoulder ma.s.sage if you want.
Oh, yeah. I promised that I"d brush you.
Leave it to me, I"ll get it all fluffed up.
“I don"t know what it is, but just put the hand you"re sticking out away.”
“I"m sorry.”
I got carried away.
“So, you have a good idea?”
“Hmm. So it"s the same situation between me and everyone else at school?”
It"s like that.
I summarized and explained everything, but it was helpful to have Makio, who only had fragmentary information to understand it.
I was worried that my explanation might be a bit lacking since I had to exclude the stuff related to dragons.
”Come to think of it, what have you guys been up to?”
The treasure hunters should be staying in the convoy vehicles that is stopped on the grounds of the community center.
I heard that Seijitsu-san suggested not to fill the already narrow premises with a lot of unwieldy types of hunters.
I don"t think there is a need for them to be so careful, but after the scandal of the West j.a.pan Treasure Hunters a.s.sociation came to light, they say it"s just as well to be overly considerate of the refugees.
I think it"s a tough job.
That"s why it"s rare for Gasara to be inside the facility.
He"s usually standing watch outside, guarding those cutting down trees and defeating monsters.
”Ah, Makio brought me some food.”
“I just happened to see him come back.”
Ah, I see.
That"s why you"re carrying a plate.
“Hinchan and the other kids wanted to meet you.”
“Ah, come to think of it, Rouge called for you. Thank you for taking care of my daughters from time to time.”
Makio"s younger sister, Hinchan, goes to the same elementary school as Shouhei.
Maybe it"s because of the vastness of the countryside, but Makio and his Kusaka family are our neighbors, even though it"s far from our house.
His parents had arrived at the shelter on the day of the incident, and they are now family friends.
“It"s fine, don"t thank me. She thinks Kunpei and Shouhei are heroes. She would be happy to see you.”
Ah, come to think of it.
Was it Hina who saved me from the incident that got me notoriety?
Not just me, but you also covered for Shouhei.
It"s not a natural thing to say, but I"m a little embarra.s.sed.
“Come to think of it, Kunpei-kun"s wife has a good impression, right?
“W-wife, you say.”
“Isn"t she?”
N-no.
Well, I can"t talk about it in detail, but it"s right, I guess.
Aoi"s often says herself, "I"m the Kazamachi family"s wife!" and I"ve heard that, but when I hear it from someone else, my back itches.
“She"s so enthusiastic and pure, so I"m sure she"s liked.”
”Hmm, then I think Kunepei-kun"s bad impression comes from his relationship with his wife, right?”
Makio told me with a serious expression.
“What do you mean?”
Good. I wasn"t the only one who didn"t understand.
Apparently, Gasara is on the same level as me.
I"m glad I"m not the only one who"s stupid.
“Kunepei-kun is also working one way or another. I"m learning from that too, and there"s a gap between them and the way they look, so I think they stand out enough to people that don"t know them.”
That"s right, a young man in his prime can"t be slacking off in these difficult times.
Aoi and Shouhei have stopped me from going out and working like they"re my parents, so I take the initiative to help out with the work inside the facility.
There"s also a lot of heavy work to be done.
“Ah, this guy will stick out with his evil face when he works so quickly.”
“What, are you trying to pick a fight, furball?”
You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, picking on people"s complexes.
“Stop, stop! Don"t fight!”
But this d.a.m.n golden furball!
“Calm down! In short, Kunpei-kun"s normal behavior itself is reasonably well regarded! I"ve even heard that you"re a surprisingly hard worker!”
Oh, really?
Now that you mention it, Watanabe-san and his wife, to who I gave the laundry to, were also talking about this.
“So what"s wrong with it?”
I haven"t been in a fight, and I haven"t done anything as bad as I look.
The only thing that could possibly make rumors circulate is my heinous expression.
If that"s the only thing then I"m screwed.
I"d be depressed.
“Maybe it"s your att.i.tude towards your wife…?”
“Huh?”
No, I"ve never treated Aoi cruelly even once, okay?
I show appreciation for her hard work every day, and I respect her honesty and dedication.
“…I"m going to say something a little embarra.s.sing. Do you guys communicate properly as a married couple?”
“Communication? No, we just talk normally.”
When it comes to conversation, there"s a lot more of it compared to other girls, and it"s even easier to talk.
“No, no. Um, look, I don"t have any experience so I can"t describe it in detail But like, k-kissing and hugging?”
“… Eh?”
Is that necessary?
Like public displays of affection?
I"m still a virgin, isn"t that too high a hurdle for me?
“Y-y-y-ya idiot!”
No wait, Kunpei!
It"s true that to others, Aoi was supposed to be pregnant and giving birth to Jaja and Nana.
If I deny that, it could probably make things more complicated than they are now.
Why are you living with someone else"s child and acting like a father figure?
So it"s common sense for us to do it in the eyes of those around us, and Makio feels the same way.
Oh, what a pain in the a.s.s!
I kind of get it now!
So now I"m a terrible man who has been rejecting all the ardent affection from Aoi!
Even I, an idiot and not knowing much about women"s mindset, could clearly see Aoi"s fondness for me and her att.i.tude.
So he"s a b.a.s.t.a.r.d who doesn"t even respond, but just makes his wife do her job!
“In other words, Makio-kun…”
“Yeah. I think you should flirt with your wife in a more obvious way.”
Seriously?
I feel like the difficulty level just jumped up, you know?
“Eh? What?”
I wonder.
I feel very grateful for this pure reaction from Gasara now.
I guess I"ll just have to try it.