Ch.210Storm Observation Class (4)

“But who are you?”

I asked while stroking the child’s head. Wow. This kid used a ton of pomade in his hair.

“You rejected me without even knowing who I am?!!!”

The boy immediately swatted my hand away.

“You said you didn’t like it.”

That’s what I told him.

“Really… how utterly low-class…”

The boy angrily fixed his hair again.

“Um… hasn’t Miss Madoka mentioned me to you?”

The boy spoke to me with a strange expectation in his voice.

“Oh. You know Madoka?”

I asked.

“Yes!! I’m Mori Kujo! I’m from the Kujo family!”

The boy said.

Oh. So he’s related to Madoka?

“Miss Madoka talks about you so much… I arranged this whole thing just to meet you.”

Mori said.

“Arranged?”

Eri tilted her head in confusion.

“Ah… yes. Arranged.”

Suddenly, Mori’s face turned red.

Ah, I know that feeling. When a sexy, pretty older woman suddenly talks to you, it makes you feel embarrassed.

“I was the one who suggested this observation class. Our family sponsors the affiliated kindergarten, so I proposed a joint observation class when I found out you’d be attending the Nishikawa family’s observation day.”

Mori explained.

“You… are the smartest kindergartener I’ve ever met!!!”

I exclaimed in admiration.

Wow!! When I was that age, all I thought about was snacks and cartoons!!!

“Hey, isn’t he smarter than Shota? Hehehe.”

Eri chuckled.

I suddenly kissed Eri to shut her up. Her face turned red, and she immediately fell silent.

“How dare you perform such an indecent act in public…!! Anyway!! Miss Madoka hasn’t mentioned me at all, has she…”

Mori seemed a bit dejected.

“You’ve ruined Miss Madoka! You’ve broken my idol!!”

Mori shouted loudly.

“Ruined?”

“Yes!! Ever since meeting you, Miss Madoka has become an idiot!!”

Mori yelled.

“Madoka has always been a bit of an idiot.”

That’s what I said.

“No, she wasn’t!! Miss Madoka was noble and… more capable than anyone!! I decided to worship her for her proud coldness!!”

Mori shouted.

“Hearing her look at me like I was a bug and say ‘Get lost. Don’t bother me’ was the joy of my life!”

Mori suddenly came out with his suspicious hobby.

“…So you’ve awakened to that preference.”

That’s unfortunate. Sexual preferences formed in kindergarten usually last a lifetime. Once you’ve awakened to masochism this early, it’s basically over.

“But… after meeting you, Miss Madoka became too kind!! She doesn’t boss people around like she used to!! She’s always walking around with a silly smile!!! She even started being nice to me!!!!”

Mori cried out with tears streaming down his face.

Okay. I get it now. This kid is crazy too.

“Isn’t… being treated kindly a good thing? Shota, I think my head is going to explode…”

Eri, being a normal person, couldn’t understand.

“Eri. You don’t need to strain yourself thinking about it.”

I immediately hugged Eri and patted her reassuringly.

“You… rehabilitated Miss Madoka!!!! You’ve taken away the joy of my life!!!”

Mori exclaimed in an aggrieved tone.

“Uh… yeah. Sorry about that.”

I decided to just go along with the crazy kid.

“Still, I decided to support her if she’s happy! But… I can’t accept you!!! Cheating with this woman!!”

Mori shouted, looking back and forth between me and Eri.

“Cheating?! I’m the legal wife!!”

Eri immediately got angry.

“That’s what’s wrong!! Casually being with multiple women…..!!”

Mori seemed unable to understand my love.

“Since then, I’ve been thinking about how to get back at you.”

Mori said, and then gave a twisted smile.

“Then I came up with a brilliant plan. I decided to ruin your family’s observation day with my power.”

Mori declared.

“Ruin it?”

My expression immediately hardened.

“Yes. I’ll make sure they understand the reality of social inequality.”

Mori said with a smirk.

I got the gist of it. He seemed to be planning to emphasize the difference between rich and poor children here. That kind of reality… tends to make people depressed when they learn about it. It subtly crushes their spirit. Mori appeared to be using that to ruin the observation day for our Nishikawa family sisters.

“Then I’ll have to stop you with all my might.”

I said, looking at Mori.

“Ha. Stop me?”

Mori smirked.

“Listen, kid. Children have the right to live without worrying about anything. That’s the peace children should enjoy. I’ll protect that peace with everything I’ve got.”

That’s what I said.

“Ha!! Just try it!”

Mori laughed loudly and boldly turned his back.

And as if he’d said everything he needed to say, Mori returned to his designated seat.

But… Mori’s seat was right in front of where we were standing.

His dramatic exit lost all impact. It was quite awkward.

“………..”

Mori’s ears turned bright red. Yeah, I understand. That’s embarrassing.

“He’s an interesting kid.”

Eri whispered to me.

“Yeah. It’s hard to be that funny at his age.”

It was the same feeling as when I first saw Sasith. He’s a real comedian.

——–

“Alright, everyone!! Now that moms and dads are here, let’s all show them our best!”

The kindergarten teacher stepped forward and clapped her hands.

“Yeeees!!!”

The children shouted loudly.

There were about 10 students from Mori’s Goldbringer Kindergarten and about 15 from Star Rising Kindergarten.

“Now!! Let’s have the quiz competition we prepared!”

The kindergarten teacher smiled and held up a panel.

It seemed to be a general knowledge quiz. Ah, I remember doing those in kindergarten.

That’s when a man in a suit approached the teacher and whispered something to her. It seemed… Mori had pulled some strings.

“W-well then… first, a biology quiz!!! When ants find enemies, they spray a liquid that makes the enemies go ‘ouch!’ What is that liquid called?”

The kindergarten teacher asked with a smile.

“………”

Wait. Isn’t this too specialized?

“Shota, what is it?”

Eri whispered.

“It’s formic acid.”

I said. But this wasn’t biology knowledge that kindergarteners would typically know.

Naturally, all the Star Rising Kindergarten kids were completely stumped.

Then, the Goldbringer kids raised their hands.

“Formic acid. Also known as methanoic acid or ant acid.”

One child answered fluently.

“Y-yes, that’s correct…”

The kindergarten teacher seemed deflated.

“Now… here’s a famous story about Alexander the Great when he was young. There was a knot that no one could untie…”

“The Gordian Knot.”

The Goldbringer kids immediately answered.

These were clearly not questions that kindergarteners could be expected to answer.

The atmosphere was obviously becoming strained. The curriculum at wealthy kindergartens was different from the start. That was what they were trying to demonstrate.

And so, the morning classes passed.

“W-well then… it’s lunchtime, right? Let’s all enjoy our meal!”

The kindergarten teacher forced a smile, but she clearly felt bad for the children. Well… Mori’s side must have put pressure on her. The Kujo family’s influence was strong. She seemed genuinely sorry about it.

The teacher’s strategy seemed to be that having lunch with parents might somehow ease the tense atmosphere.

However, it was a weak move.

Mori seemed determined to get back at me and my sisters-in-law.

Vrrrrrm-!!!

A mobile buffet truck arrived at the Goldbringer Kindergarten side. An obviously luxurious buffet was set up on the spot.

Our kindergarten had… just curry. Curry is good. Low risk of food poisoning, easy to make in large quantities… but compared to the mobile buffet next door, it looked quite poor.

“Curry… tastes bad.”

One child immediately made an unfortunate comment.

The atmosphere grew even more strained.

The Nishikawa sisters also wore slightly gloomy expressions.

Then, the sisters’ gazes fixed on me. Those gazes contained a strange expectation. I didn’t want to betray that expectation.

“Eri, want to cook something with me?”

I asked Eri.

“C-cook?”

Eri looked slightly surprised.

After a moment, Eri smiled brightly.

“Shota… you’re planning something, aren’t you?”

Eri said, leaning into me.

“As always… Shota steps up in dangerous moments. Just like… a hero.”

Eri looked at me with honey-dripping eyes.

“Hero? Did you catch that from Tina?”

I chuckled.

“Yeah, I must have. In my eyes, you look like a splendid hero.”

Eri said with a smile.

Anyway, I had made up my mind. I immediately walked over to the kindergarten teacher.

“Hana, Mizu, Konoha! You come too!”

I patted the three girls’ heads.

“Okay!!!”

The three followed me as if they’d been waiting for this.

“Teacher!! I’d like to make a talent donation.”

I said with a smile.

“Talent… donation?”

The kindergarten teacher asked.

“Yes!! I happen to be incredibly good at cooking!! I was thinking of making yakisoba and fried rice.”

I said with a smile. I wanted to make takoyaki too, but takoyaki required special equipment. If that wasn’t available, I could just make okonomiyaki instead. Festival food was best for raising spirits.

“Wait! What are you doing on your own…”

Sensing something was amiss, Mori immediately tried to stop me.

“SCRAM!!!!!!”

I barked at Mori.

“Eek…!!”

Mori backed away.

“I’m offering my talent as a donation, got a problem with that?!! Huh?!! Can’t even make donations freely?!!”

Mindlessly pushing through—that’s another specialty of mine.

“Cooking… w-well, let’s go to the kitchen then?”

Surprisingly, the kindergarten teacher readily accepted my proposal. She probably didn’t like this atmosphere either. In the end, she was my ally.

The kindergarten surprisingly had impressive equipment.

A griddle, high-powered gas range, and even a takoyaki machine. This was enough.

Ingredients like cabbage and meat were also well-stocked.

“Alright!!!! Welcome!!!”

I shouted as I poured oil onto the griddle.

Whoooosh-!!!!

As the griddle heated up, I started stir-frying meat and vegetables. The key was to add sauce when they were half-cooked.

The aroma of the sauce’s char and the fragrant smell of grilling meat and vegetables spread throughout the observation class venue.

“Eri!! You make the takoyaki!! This is a husband-wife collaboration!”

I directed Eri.

“Okay!!!”

Eri immediately started making takoyaki.

“………!!”

The Goldbringer Kindergarten kids who had been enjoying their buffet turned their attention toward us. They were instantly attracted by the delicious smell.

“Now!! Hana!! Mizu! Konoha!!! You three handle the customers!! You’re our shop’s poster girls! Gather customers!”

I told the three.

“Okay!!!”

“Everyone line up!!”

“One at a time!”

The three immediately started attending to customers.

Before long, our Star Rising Kindergarten kids were lined up in a long queue.

Suddenly, lunchtime transformed into a festival atmosphere.

This was the beginning of our counterattack.