Ch.125Summer, and the Sea (5)

*Chop-chop-chop!*

Eri skillfully began cooking, cutting vegetables with practiced ease. Eri… she’s surprisingly good at housework. A woman who’s good at housework… is the best.

I was also making rolled eggs, having cracked some eggs into a frying pan.

“Ugh… I wanted to make stir-fried meat…”

You can’t get energy from eating things like eggs. Vegetables should be limited to the cabbage in meat stir-fries… truly a lamentable situation.

“No way! It’s breakfast! If you don’t eat vegetables properly, you’ll get constipated!”

Eri immediately delivered her sound argument.

“Fine… I got it.”

When she put it that way, I had nothing to counter with.

The key was to make an egg mixture with roughly chopped onions and carrots, then cook it well. Making rolled eggs was actually quite a profound dish that required effort.

After I finished making the rolled eggs, Eri prepared salmon steaks. Though “salmon steak” sounds fancy, it was actually quite simple since all you had to do was grill it.

“The miso soup is… okay.”

Eri said as she lightly scooped some soup with a ladle and tasted it.

The meal was mostly ready… but Eri and I turned our heads toward the television. While the TV was making noise, we couldn’t hear the children chattering.

“………..”

The children were huddled together on the sofa, fast asleep.

Well, when children are quiet, it’s one of two things. Either they’re eating something or they’re sleeping.

“The little ones got up super early when they heard you were coming.”

Eri said with a smirk.

“8 AM… that’s dawn.”

I nodded.

“Since when is 8 AM dawn?”

Eri chuckled and lightly hit my shoulder.

“Hey, it’s vacation. Even 10 AM is early to wake up.”

That was… my vacation philosophy.

“Should we… let them sleep a bit longer?”

Eri said with a giggle.

“Yeah. It’s fine if the food cools down a bit.”

Letting them sleep for about 30 minutes wouldn’t be bad.

No. Actually, that’s just an excuse. We’re a young man and woman in our prime. Just making eye contact made us hot and bothered.

“Um… is there anything else to cook?”

Eri smiled and started looking around the kitchen. The way she subtly emphasized her charming backside was a bonus.

Really… what a tempting girl. I immediately back-hugged Eri and slipped off her dolphin pants.

Beneath the dolphin pants, Eri’s daring underwear began to show.

“Eri… aren’t you trying too hard?”

It was leopard-print panties with lace.

But… leopard print really suits her. It matched perfectly with her healthy brown skin.

“I wanted to look pretty for Shota…”

Eri slightly wiggled her hips, stimulating my lower body.

“We… can’t make noise, right?”

I glanced back as I spoke. If the children happened to open their eyes, it would be a disaster. They would be exposed to sexuality too early!!

“You’re the one who shouldn’t make noise, Shota.”

Eri smiled and turned her head to kiss me.

And so, Eri and I enjoyed a brief happy time.

“Hyaaang?!”

“Hnngh…!”

Both Eri and I made embarrassingly loud noises. That’s what happens when you’re so sexually compatible. Fortunately, the children didn’t wake up.

———

Anyway, we started having breakfast.

“Thank you for the food!!!”

“Cereal and milk would be better for breakfast…”

“I want to eat cereal for all three meals.”

The children muttered.

Well… I can sympathize with that. I thought the same when I was young. Snacks that can substitute for meals? There was something inexplicably sinful about that idea.

“Hey! No complaining at the table!”

Eri sternly scolded the children.

“Okay.”

With that, the children immediately started eating. Well… they might be loud, but they were obedient kids.

In the middle of the meal, the children stared intently at Eri’s and my faces. What? Is there something on our faces?

“Why are both your faces so red?”

“What?”

“Um… red?”

Eri and I were flustered. We couldn’t possibly tell them it was because we’d just had passionate sex.

“It’s summer. It got hot while cooking.”

Eri fanned herself, trying to maintain a casual tone.

“Hmm… so you’re subtly hinting that housework is hard.”

“I heard you have to make it obvious or people won’t appreciate it.”

With that, the children started chatting among themselves.

Well… they’re nice kids, but honestly, they’re too precocious. Maybe they should watch less TV. I couldn’t help wanting to meddle in someone else’s family affairs.

——-

After the meal, Eri herded the children like sheep to brush their teeth.

“I don’t want to brush…”

“My tongue feels tingly.”

“Can’t big sis do it for me?”

“No! You need to brush your teeth by yourselves now!”

Eri said sternly.

However, the children just dawdled in front of the bathroom.

“This… won’t do. I, the professional childcare expert, will step in.”

I smiled and patted Eri’s shoulder.

“No, Shota. You’ve never raised kids before.”

Eri looked at me with an expression that said “you’ve got to be kidding.”

“Heh. I’ve raised plenty in games. I’ve mastered the theory.”

I pretended to push up non-existent glasses as I spoke.

“Wow… otaku, gross.”

Eri uttered a line that a real gyaru would say. When she says things like that… it’s kind of hot, you know?

For a weeb, a kind gyaru is nice, but a gyaru who scorns you also has its aesthetic appeal. Do you understand this philosophy behind gyaru preferences?

Anyway.

I immediately examined the children’s teeth carefully.

“What are you doing, big bro?”

The children closed their mouths shyly. These adorable little ones.

“Ah… I can see it. Cavities are eating away at your mouths in real-time.”

I spoke with an exaggerated tone.

“That’s what dentists always say! We’re not falling for it!”

The super-smart kid trio stuck out their tongues as they spoke.

“The average width of a baby tooth is about 3 centimeters. Cavities cause about 0.01 centimeters of erosion every second. It’s eroding even now.”

Yeah, of course I made up those numbers.

“If 1 centimeter erodes every 100 seconds, then in about 300 seconds, half of your tooth will be gone! How scary!!”

Obviously, I was lying. If that were true, not a single person in the world would have intact teeth.

No matter how precocious these children were, they were easy to fool. Children tend to get scared as soon as you mention precise numbers.

“3, 300 seconds…”

“Even as I’m speaking, your teeth are being eroded. Crunch… crunch… cru-u-unch!”

I even made sound effects of what I imagined teeth erosion would sound like to scare the children.

“Crunch… crunch… cru-u-unch… crunch!”

Finally, the children’s expressions froze in terror.

“We need to stop our teeth from rotting quickly!!!”

“I don’t want gold teeth like Dad!!”

“Eeeeek!!!!! My teeth… my teeth are rotting!!!”

The children rushed into the bathroom as if their feet were on fire.

And they began brushing with fury.

“Hehehe. That’s how it’s done.”

I grinned as I spoke.

“Shota… you’re really good at talking nonsense.”

Eri spoke with an expression that now showed admiration.

“Hey. It’s not nonsense.”

I cleared my throat and looked at the dishes that needed washing.

“Then shall we do the dishes together?”

I said while massaging Eri’s butt.

“Do you… want to do it again?”

That seemed to flip Eri’s switch again.

“No… it’s impossible while the kids are brushing their teeth.”

Though I was tempted for a moment, I immediately stopped Eri.

“R-right?”

Eri seemed to come to her senses.

“Eri… you’re quite passionate, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t help but voice that observation.

“N-not particularly! I’m not!”

Eri’s face turned bright red as she shouted.

Anyway, after doing the dishes together, we dressed the children and went outside.

The kids seemed quite excited.

They were fully equipped with their summer vacation gear. Insect nets and collection boxes, the full package.

“I’m going to catch a rhinoceros beetle on the way!”

Hana, the oldest, shouted loudly.

“I want a stag beetle!”

Mizu, the second child, exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

“Me! I want! A dung beetle!”

Konoha, the youngest, also timidly expressed her opinion. A dung beetle… that’s unusual, isn’t it? Isn’t it dirty?

“It seems like it works hard, so I like it!”

Konoha said with a bright smile. That’s an interesting perspective.

“Rhinoceros beetles, stag beetles… it’ll be tough, but they are dream catches.”

They were the top two in the insect world in terms of coolness.

Mantises are cool too, but somehow I can’t get attached to them. They look really scary when you zoom in on their faces.

“Yeah!! If we catch them, we can sell them for 50,000 or 60,000 yen!”

Hana shouted loudly.

So that’s the motive, not dreams at all. Really… kids these days are too precocious.

“Let’s go!!!”

The rhinoceros beetle expedition team, aiming for 50,000 yen, started running toward the park.

Eri and I sat on a nearby bench.

“Don’t go too far!”

Eri, in mom mode, shouted loudly before pressing her body against mine.

*Squeeze!*

After that, Eri interlaced her fingers with mine. I also tightened my grip to reciprocate Eri’s gesture.

“Let’s… kiss. Okay?”

Soon, Eri said with a blushing face.

Eri and I leisurely mixed our lips on the bench, confirming our love.

After a while, as the appointed time approached, Eri called the children together.

Well… as expected, they hadn’t caught any rhinoceros or stag beetles. Did they think it would be that easy?

———–

Noon. Eri and I headed to the café where we were meeting Shotaro. As for the kids… we gave them some snacks to keep them quiet.

“Oh. It’s been a while.”

Shotaro still looked at me with tired eyes. His dark circles were no joke. He could be called a human panda.

“I’ve been really busy. By the way, congratulations, Shota. Looks like you’re consistently maintaining your ranking in the top 100.”

Shotaro said with a smile.

“Ah… yes.”

I nodded. Well, I was somehow making a stable living by earning decent money. I wouldn’t mind a bigger hit… I had such expectations, but I was satisfied with the current situation. At least I was gaining proper writing experience.

“About the trip to our company’s private beach… I have something to tell you about that.”

Shotaro said.

“Don’t tell me… you want me to pay…”

An uneasy thought crept up.

“Hahaha! What are you saying? No matter how desperate I am, I wouldn’t extort money from a kid.”

Shotaro joked.

“Well… among the authors we manage, there’s a rather peculiar one.”

Shotaro began.

“They’ve lost their motivation to write and have been on an unauthorized hiatus for months.”

Shotaro sighed as he spoke.

“Aren’t there plenty of authors who go on hiatus?”

Half the series being on hiatus was the reality of this industry.

“But… this is our platform’s number one author. Beyond manga adaptation, there’s even talk of an anime adaptation. Honestly… if this continues, the platform’s survival is at risk.”

Shotaro said.

“Ah…”

“To somehow get them to resume serialization, we arranged for them to write at our company villa… but they set an annoying condition.”

Shotaro scratched his head as he spoke.

“Condition?”

“They said they need a professional web novel author friend who’s the same age and earning money. They need an ideal friend to form a connection with. Anyway, they said they’d start writing diligently again if we just find them a friend… so we’ve been looking for candidates.”

Shotaro explained.

Damn… they even accept such conditions? Is this the privilege of being at the top? I guess when you’re responsible for sales, you gain some bargaining power. I’m just envious!

“And I fit those conditions.”

I roughly got the picture.

“Yeah… you’ll get a colleague friend. Not bad, right?”

Shotaro looked at me with desperate eyes.

In exchange… my girlfriend and I get to enjoy a summer vacation. That’s what he’s saying.

“Sure, why not.”

But… honestly, I was anxious.

Would someone who sets such conditions… be normal? That thought crossed my mind.

“Thank goodness!! Really, thank you…”

Shotaro spoke with a genuinely relieved expression.

At that moment, Eri abruptly interjected.

“Is that person… a woman?”

Eri stared at Shotaro with cold eyes.

“Uh… huh?”

Shotaro’s expression suddenly stiffened.

In an instant, the atmosphere turned chilly. Eri… what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.