by <unknown>
"Seriously, Mother, you worry too much. Oh, this is Enju here, let me make introductions. This is my mother."
Momoka introduced her family excitedly. Momoka's mother cautiously bowed.
"Thank you for looking after my Momoka. Just as you can see, this is Momoka's personality, so thank you for your care."
"Jeez, Mother, don't go saying these cliched pleasantries—"
Momoka elbowed her mother lightly and protested shyly.
"But back to the subject, what are those little brats thinking, infiltrating schools? So disgusting. I recently heard a neighbor say that unwanted children easily become red-eyes."
"Eh—but I heard from a friend at school that only 'promiscuity' is likely to give birth to red-eyes."
"Child, you are forbidden from using words like those."
"Lies."
"Hmm? Enju, did you say something?"
Momoka tilted her head slightly. Turning her lively large eyes, she smiled and said:
"Oh right, Enju, please come over to my house. We can watch the final episode of Tenchuu Girls' second season together, how about that?"
Looking up with a twisted face, Enju gritted her teeth and forced out a smile.
"I still have things to do."
After saying that, Enju turned around and ran to the station.
Part 3
The fragrance of soy sauce and sweet cooking wine and the sound of bubbling were coming from the boiling mixture.
Turning the frying pan with his wrist, Rentaro shut off the gas stove only after the cooking was done. At this moment, the doorbell happened to ring.
Checking the time, it was already 8pm. He took off his apron and answered the door, only to discover a courier who was especially sunburnt.
"Please stamp or sign." After receiving the pen handed over to him, Rentaro motioned for Enju to come over from watching television inside.
Eyes flashing from curiosity, Enju jogged over. Only then did Rentaro rest the receipt form on her forehead and sign it before returning it to the courier.
With an incredulous look on his face, the courier departed.
"I knew it, using your forehead as a rest to write on really feels different."
Happy for some unknown reason, Enju was grinning like a cat and laughed:
"That aside, what got delivered here?"
Pushing aside Enju's head while she was jumping around in curiosity, Rentaro opened the package and took out the two tickets inside.
Frowning, he read the words on top. These turned out to be courtesy tickets to the observation deck of the newly constructed skyscraper in Magata City. The date was set to coincide with the fireworks celebration to be held soon.
Looking at the letter enclosed, Rentaro found out it was a previous customer. He remembered that guy was the owner of a convenience store who had commissioned a job to get rid of delinquents who refused to leave.
The letter expressed gratitude and recounted what happened afterwards, ending on a final note hoping the two of them could go enjoy the fireworks and relax for a bit.
Rentaro had mixed feelings but Enju next to him was raising the tickets up over her head, yelling "WOWWWWWWWWWWWW!" with both eyes glimmering brightly.
"I must thank the mister customer next time. I am looking forward to the summer festival so much."
"About that, Enju..."
Rentaro turned to her again.
"The festival is probably going to be cancelled."
"Why?"
Seeing Enju cocking her head in puzzlement brought a heartache to Rentaro but he still replied with deliberate indifference:
"Right now, we are in a tense situation with the Sendai Area, with both sides sending patrol planes to threaten each other. Launching fireworks in this kind of powder keg situation will definitely provoke the other side."
The neighborhood association was not stupid enough to overlook this fact. Even the summer festival itself would most likely be cancelled after all, depending on the situation.
He originally thought Enju would be greatly disappointed but panting, she said boldly:
"Then I shall settle things before the summer festival. With that, the festival will go on as planned, right?"
"You're saying ridiculous things again..."
Rentaro was thinking there was no chance for him to enter the stage this time, but Enju's firm and unyielding spirit felt greatly refreshing.
"Okay, let's shelve this subject for now—"
"Shelve it?"
Arms akimbo, he drew near Enju's face.
"Let's eat first."
Brought to the low table were almost overflowing bowls of rice with chicken, onion and egg piled up on top. The partially cooked egg was wrapped gently around the other ingredients. This was Rentaro's prided masterpiece. The smell of the sweet and fragrant sauce was caressing Enju's face together with the wafting steam.
"~~~~~~~Mmm!"
Unable to resist, Enju supported herself with her hands on the table and starting bouncing up and down.
"So, Miss Aihara, do you know what this dish is called?"
"Oyako-don!"
Face filled with delight, Enju was waving her butt left and right, singing a weird song of "Rentaro and I together is a lovers-don~♪"
"There's no such '-don' like that."
"Then you must invent the 'lovers-don' for me to eat next time. It has to be just as passionate as between Rentaro and I!"
"Got it, then I'd better come up with the recipe for the 'freeloading-don' as well. The speed at which that dish gets cold must be frightening."
Urging her to sit then starting the meal with a simultaneous cry of "itadakimasu," Rentaro closed his eyes and carefully brought his chopsticks to his lips, then chewed.
The rich flavor of the egg and the perfectly fine-tuned sweetness and sourness of the sauce were spreading in his mouth.
Yes, excellent. As expected of my cooking. The poor little rich girl and the rabbit-model Initiator really need to upgrade themselves a bit from making explosive cooking.
Opening one eye slightly, he saw Enju's cheeks bulging. Looks like she looked the food, at least.
"Right, Enju, how was school today?"
Enju smiled brightly with rice sticking on her face.
"I made a friend."
"Did anything trouble you?"
Enju looked like she wanted to say something for an instant, but in the end, shook her head with a wry smile.
"......"
Although it was enough even though she did not say anything immediately, since Enju wanted to hide it, Rentaro decided it would be weird to pry.
"Enju, if I'm guessing like an idiot, feel free to just laugh it off, but you don't need to mind what happened at the Aihara family, it's fine."
Enju's awkward reaction greatly exceeded his expectation.
"W-Why are you bringing that up?"
"If you encounter something you can't solve on your own, feel free to ask me, don't be shy. No matter what happens, I will always stand on your side."
Enju spent some time thinking over and over in her heart.
Finally, she smiled demurely, said "Mmm-hmm, got it" and nodded.
Just as Rentaro noticed that the subject needed to end and said "okay, finish up before the food gets cold," the doorbell rang again.
Who the heck is it? Impatiently, he stood up to answer the door.
Without warning, a white object pounced on his chest, greatly startling Rentaro.
He frantically caught it in his arms and felt something filled with elasticity and softness.
Looking down at his bosom in trepidation, he met the gaze of a pair of watery eyes. Rentaro was shocked.
"Please allow me to hide inside, Mr. Satomi!"
"Y-Your Highness Seitenshi?"
There could not possibly be mistake. This was precisely the head of state who was so beautiful that looking at her from such a close distance was a hazard to one's heart.
"Rentaro! Boobs forbidden!"
"What do you mean, allow you to hide? Also, what the heck are you doing here—"
Rentaro asked awkwardly while this Tokyo Area's head of state straightened her back and stared straight at him.
"May I explain inside the house?"
The Satomi home was a singles dwelling the size of eight tatami mats without any merits apart from low rent and easy friendship with cockroaches, what would be publicly recognized as a cheap apartment. The leaking in the pipes was so bad that fixing one leak would soon lead to a leak in another, soundproofing was outrageously poor and completely failed to block the sound of the neighboring couple having disputes and throwing pots and pans.
With a princess capable of emitting holy light while sitting upright in this kind of rundown place, it was certainly an unusual scene. The rose fragrance coming from her was stunning Rentaro. Once again, he was reminded what a great beauty Seitenshi really was.
After listening to Seitenshi's explanation once with arms crossed, Rentaro finally looked up.
"In other words, you are being chased by the people of the Sacred Residence and you'd like to hire me to evade them?"
"Indeed."
"Also, you can't tell me the real reason."
"Indeed."
"Hey, stop messing around, okay?"
Rentaro tried to intimidate her but the girl stared back at him with dignified sternness. Her indomitable will could be seen in her firm eyes extremely clearly.
This is really quite problematic—Thinking that, Rentaro scratched his head.
"Do you know the Tokyo Area's current situation?"
"Extremely clear."
"In spite of that, you won't return to the Sacred Residence?"
"Indeed."
"By the way, how did you sneak out of the Sacred Residence?"
"I pulled down a curtain to make a rope to descend from a window, then I sneaked into the back of a truck that was delivering food to the Sacred Residence."
Rentaro and Enju exchanged gazes in surprise. In a rare moment, even Enju's face was showing a worried look which read "Is the security system at the Sacred Residence really okay?"
"...Also, are you able to pay for the job?"
"I shall pay through this."
Seitenshi nonchalantly took out a card from her white handbag. Presumably because she did not have a habit of going out with her purse, the card was kept directly in the bag and gave off silver-white light. It was most likely an unlimited credit card that could be used in various places.
"How did you get here?"
Perhaps not understanding the real intent behind this question, Seitenshi look at him with a surprised expression.
"By taking public transport. Why?"
"In other words, you got off the train at Magata Station, right?"
"Indeed that is so...?"
What a pain—Rentaro pressed his palm against his forehead.
It looked like this princess had no idea that even using her credit card would leave records.
Once her pursuers found out the fact that she had gotten off at Magata Station, it was not difficult to think of Rentaro's residence.
Instincts were warning Rentaro to reject this job immediately.
Completely unaware of Rentaro's thoughts at this moment, examining the Satomi home with eyes of curiosity, Seitenshi's gaze suddenly stopped at the bathroom.
"Excuse me, Mr. Satomi, may I borrow your bathroom?"
"Bathroom?"
Just as Rentaro was about to ask why, he looked down at her dress whose hem was all soiled. Her legs were also swollen.
Before arriving here, where exactly had she wandered while lost?
On further thought, she had escaped the Sacred Residence yesterday, which meant one day and one night had passed before she appeared here.
She could not have been lost for that long, right? She could probably imagine easily the consequences of intruding on the Satomi home and involving Rentaro.
Rentaro guessing she must have struggled internally before pressing the doorbell but would this sort of notion be too benevolent?
This dignified and upstanding maiden did not mention those experiences at all. Rentaro could not help but shake uncomfortably, feeling pity for her.
"Oh man, I get it, you just want to take a bath. Feel free to use it as you like."
He pointed to the bathroom in self-abandonment. "Then excuse me," Seitenshi said, then stood up and went in.
The rustling of clothing could be heard from the tightly shut changing area. As that formal dress slid down her feet, Rentaro could see a silhouette with an astonishingly slender figure appear behind the frosted glass.
While his heart was pounding hard, that silhouette's brassiere slid down to the floor then lowered her panties along her legs—At this moment, Rentaro's view instantly went dark.
Rentaro turned his head back in fright, only to see Enju clenching her hands, which she had just used to block his view, into fists, her face pouting greatly from anger.
"You never watched so seriously when I was undressing!"
There was nothing worth seeing from Enju's figure whose three sizes were identical. But if Rentaro said it out truthfully, she would probably bite him viciously, so all Rentaro could do was face away from the bathroom and cover up his ears.
Trying hard not to be too conscious of that water splashing sound, Rentaro tried to reconnect his interrupted thoughts.
Once he accepted this job, he would need to take emergency action accordingly.
His own home was not a suitable hiding place. Even if there were other places to hide, it would be very difficult to keep the Sacred Residence's experts in the dark for long.
At this moment, the doorbell rang for the third time, startling Rentaro. Thinking crap, could her pursuers be here? Fortunately, that was not it. The sound of a key inserted into the lock could be heard while the handle turned while the door was unlocked.
Standing straight with feet apart outside was the Tendo Civil Security Company's CEO with her head of dignified, awe-inspiring black hair.
However, her eyes were turbid from suspicion. Walking impatiently, her footsteps were exceptionally fast.
"Why is the smell of perfume here?"
"Huh?"
"There is a girl in the house apart from Enju and Tina. So, it must be Miori?"
Barging into the apartment openly, Kisara looked around then came to the low table with her arms crossed.
"Satomi, sit properly please."
"O-Okay."
Intimidated by Kisara's astounding killing intent, Rentaro complied obediently to see her rolling her eyes up slightly, glaring down at him.
"Listen here, Satomi. If I had to talk about what I hate about Miori, it's the fact that despite knowing clearly that Satomi belongs to me, she puts her overnight gear in your home without permission, leaving behind changes of underwear without permission, even throwing away my hairdryer—Oh right, she even planted her red toothbrush as a marker next to your blue toothbrush in your cup, etc. I super—super hate all of this! Hey, are you listening?"
Confronted with Kisara scolding angrily with her face all red, Rentaro lost the opportunity to mention Seitenshi's visit.
At this time, the sounds of the shower could be heard during this pause in the conversation, prompting Kisara to glare viciously in the bathroom's direction.
"Over there, I see."
"Oh, hold on—"
Kisara intruded into the bathroom without another word. Rentaro's outstretched arm just barely missed grabbing her—
"Kyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"E-Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
Hearing two screams coming simultaneously from the bathroom, Rentaro clutched his head in distress for being a step too slow.
At this moment, he was suddenly struck by inspiration.
This thought made him clap his hands once.
H
e had found the place to hide Seitenshi.
Thirty minutes later...
The doorbell rang for the fourth time today. Finally, they're here, thought Rentaro. He tried to answer the door with as much feigned impatience as possible.
"You are Rentaro Satomi, right?"
A well-built man with a white beard suddenly appeared, stepping rudely into through the entrance by force.
His gaze was slightly downturned. His leather shoe was forcing the door open while his muscular chest brought indescribable pressure.
"What do you want with me?"
"I am from the Sacred Residence. The reason cannot be disclosed, but we wish to search your home."
"Why must I let you guys search? Get out of here quickly."
"That won't do."
The man yelled behind him and a group of men in white suits with the Sacred Residence's emblem appeared out of nowhere, filing into the eight-tatami single apartment.
Ignoring the flustered Rentaro, the white-bearded man ordered "check the ceiling and under the tatami as well!" In the middle of eating her oyako-don, Enju also showed a face of shock at the sudden appearance of the men.
"Mr. Hashiba."
The white-bearded man called Hashiba whispered with a white-suited subordinate for a while then nodded.
Together with his subordinate, he went over to the door of the bathroom from where water sounds could be heard.
"You can't go in!"
"That is for us to judge."
Ignoring Rentaro's efforts to stop them, Hashiba pushed open the separating door between the bathroom and the living room.
The instant the other door in the changing area was pulled open, amidst hazy steam, a figure screamed briefly and hugged herself in the depths of the bathroom.
"E-Excuse me!"
Rushing out of the bathroom, Hashiba frantically took out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead and tried to smooth things over.
"Since it is Miss Tendo inside, why didn't you explain clearly beforehand?"
"It's you guys who refused to listen and forced your way in to have a look."
"Mr. Hashiba, search is negative!"
Rentaro looked at the voice's direction to see Hashiba's subordinate, who had moved a ladder to open the ceiling boards and check inside, looking at Hashiba with a troubled expression together with another guy who had lifted up the tatami.
