CH 23

Chapter 23 – The limit of patience

—Currently, cold sweat was flowing down my body…

Because–

『Haa……Haa……Fe…..Feels good…..ood…..』

『Stop…..but…..the library…..in this room…..somewhere like this…..』

—The voice flowing out of my monitor, was of a heroine doing something to herself alone in the library.

However if I was watching this alone, it wouldn’t be a problem.

That’s right, if I was watching it alone…

Although I was feeling awkward, I glance at Momoi who is looking at the same screen as me from a very close distance.

「….」(Kaito)

….The light has gone from her eyes….

But Momoi was still looking at the screen.

I thought it was amazing…

Because even I can’t directly look at the screen anymore…

Seriously, it’s so awkward…

Ah—why did I choose this game!?

It was after a strange thing had happened–

２

「Fuu….it’s over」(Kaito)

When I finish cleaning my room, I call out to Momoi who is facing the computer screen.

….Why is Momoi, the person who spilled the juice not cleaning it?

That’s not to say that Momoi wouldn’t clean it up–but I sent her, who tried to take the initiative to clean, to my computer instead.

It’s a stupid reason why I didn’t want her to help with the cleaning, I didn’t want her beautiful hands to get dirty.

I also wanted her to finish her work quickly and go back.

My heart has already reached it’s limit.

I’m not confident that I can bear the burden anymore.

That’s why I wanted her to finish her work quickly and return to her room.

…..mou, please don’t let anything happen today, Kami-sama….

「Hey?」(Momoi)

「Eh? What is it?」(Kaito)

—-As I was sincerely praying to Kami-sama, Momoi called out to me.

「Can you come over here….?」(Momoi)

「A, ah….」(Kaito)

…..it’s strange….

Until now, she was angry whenever I tried to approach, now she was asking me to come closer….

Perhaps my evaluation had gone up because I helped her with that computer issue yesterday?

I approached Momoi with those expectations.

Momoi then opened her mouth, pointing towards the screen.

「What is….this?」(Momoi)

「Eh? That is……? Haa….!?」(Kaito)

Eh, what’s going on!?

Why is this on the screen!?

Momoi was pointing to the eroge icon I had hidden.

Am I an idiot!?

Wasn’t this a hidden file!?

I had hidden it within a few folders in order to make it hidden!

At least if Momoi was working normally, she would never have found it.

I check the URL in the file explorer (which shows the location of the folder, file, etc…) and saw it…

Ah–!

This girl was looking for it!

She was searching for the folder where I hid the eroge and managed to find it!

「Y, you, did you look for it…?」(Kaito)

「Yes. I thought if it was you, an Otaku, you would definitely have something like this…..really, despite being a high school student, you have a gross personality….」(Momoi)

…..I don’t know what you mean!

Did she come all the way to another person’s room to look for eroge, rather than working!?

Ah, so that’s why she was asking if I was playing eroge at that time!?

But why would she do this!?

Is she taking a note from Saijo’s book!?

「Hey, isn’t this game gross? how perverted are you?」(Momoi)

With that said, Momoi turned to me with a proud smile on her face.

—I had already reached my limit, and seeing her expression like that exceeded the limit of my patience.

「You….are the worst….」(Kaito)

「Eh….?」(Momoi)

「I’ll tell you this clearly—I hate you」(Kaito)

I say so and stand up, preparing to leave the room.

Then–

「Wa, wait!」(Momoi)

—Momoi grabbed my arm with an expression like she was about to cry.

「….What is it?」(Kaito)

I stare at Momoi.

Momoi was looking at me as if she was holding back her tears.

「Please wait….」(Momoi)

「Would someone usually stay after being called gross?」(Kaito)

I say so and try to remove Momoi’s arm.

However, Momoi stubbornly refused to let go.

「I, it can’t be helped! There was no other way but to do it this way!」(Momoi)

「….What?」(Kaito)

I asked Momoi, but I didn’t intend to forgive here regardless of what she said.

To trample on a man’s dignity….honestly I didn’t think Momoi was like that.

「B, because….」(Momoi)

I stare at Momoi who begins explaining.

She sank to the floor and opened her mouth weakly.

「Because I had to do this…..I don’t know how to get along with you…」(Momoi)

「….eh?」(Kaito)

…..What did she mean?

How to get along?

If she does it this way, it would look like harassment no matter what you think right?

「That boy….when the girl asked to play eroge together….it was written that he was happy about it…..so I tried to make fun of it….so you would recommend it to me like before….」(Momoi)

Ah…..I’m sure that was written in the light novel I lent her…

But so what?

When a H-scene appears, it will definitely be awkward right…?

However eroge has a lot of different scenarios, there are also some quite moving moments that are interesting. Quite a few of them are even animated or made into movies.

A lot of them have had an anime made for them….

So she thought it would be fun to do them together.

Besides, I’d prefer a girl who understands eroge too….is that what she was trying to do for me?

Eh, does that mean she really wants to get along with me like a family?

I recall Momoi’s recent actions—

….Really, I didn’t see anything pointing to that at all….?

Is she lying so I won’t get angry?

I think so and look towards Momoi.

Momoi had a crying expression on her face–or rather, she was crying.

Eh…..

Something like that made her cry…?

…Ah, no, is it because I said that..

『I hate you』

But is she crying because of that?

Maa, it seems that she’s not faking it….?

In other words, it must be her true feelings….

There are various problems with the way she went about it but….

Sometimes Momoi really acts like Sakura-chan.

I had tried to wipe it from my memory because it didn’t fit Momoi’s image at all…

I mean…..uwaa….she’s crying, but right now she’s so cute…..

At the same time, my feelings of guilt rise.

I wanted to make her cry someday, but when she cries like this, my heart hurts,

Because now it’s like I’m shaking off the girl who walked up to me trying to become my family, causing her to cry….?

….No, Momoi’s approach was wrong in the first place, that’s why this happened….

But, I can’t leave her like this….?

「Then….shall we play it together….?」(Kaito)

I bent my knees so that I was at the height of Momoi’s face and called out to her.

「Is, is that alright?」(Momoi)　　

「Y, yeah….」(Kaito)

「Thanks」(Momoi)

When I nodded to Momoi’s question, her expression brightened up.

…..Stop….if you show me such an expression….don’t you think I’d misunderstand you….?

I started preparing the eroge as my heart was pounding from Momoi’s smile.

When I sat down in front of my computer, Momoi walked to me and sat next to me.

However our distance was quite close.

That’s right, it feels like Sakura-chan is sitting next to me….　

……Maa, Momoi said that she wanted to do it.

This eroge is a moving masterpiece.

If that’s the case, Momoi will surely like it too—

３

—That’s what I was thinking at that time.

No, to be fair the first part was good.

Momoi also watched the opening and said『I want to see the anime!』which surprised me, she then went on『Waa, the facial expressions of the characters change and the pictures are so cute! The voice of the VA is also cute!』

…..who even is this girl

I was thinking a lot about that….

I’m sure this is Momoi’s true nature…

Otherwise the story of Momoi who was crying earlier wouldn’t make sense.

As such, it’s clearly my fault that Momoi has the eyes of a dead fish….

The eroge plot is that a witch girl contracts a person who becomes her familiar. They go around collecting heart fragments so that their wishes can come true.

In order to collect people’s heart pieces, they have to get rid of that person’s troubles, it’s a very good story in every route.

Especially the route of the main heroine which was particularly tear-wrenching.

That’s why I recommended it to Momoi.

I was sure Momoi would enjoy it too.

But–there was a pitfall within such a masterpiece.

The price of being the best girl, was that her libido was unusually high.

She will eventually become involved with the protagonist, but right now she was doing the act to herself alone….

In other words, 20 minutes after this scene starts, “that” scene comes…

In normal eroge, such a scene would come after entering a route. So depending on the route, you would have to play for about four hours–the tagline of this game is 『Love begins with the act of doing it alone!』what….

Ah….I’m sorry, I failed….

This will probably decrease my favourability….

「Mo, Momoi…shall we stop here….?」(Kaito)

I call out to Momoi, who probably wouldn’t want to stop because she said she wanted to play together.

However Momoi shook her head.

Seriously….we’re going to continue….

But if Momoi says so, then it can’t be helped…

Maa…tomorrow is Saturday so school is closed and I’ll be going to work in the afternoon.

I decided so, but I eventually regretted the fact that I didn’t stop at that time…

４

「Mo, Momoi?」(Kaito)

「What?」(Momoi)

When I call out to Momoi, she stops clicking the mouse and looks at me in confusion.

Momoi couldn’t be said to be normal anymore—-but I could at least talk to her as usual now.

….That’s right….

Currently it was 04:00–I’ve been standing for 6 hours since I started the eroge with Momoi at 22:00.

「Isn’t it time to go to bed….?」(Kaito)

「What are you talking about!? It’s just reached a moving scene where the heroine is reunited with the main character! We can’t stop now!」(Momoi)

「I, I see….」(Kaito)

….Like this, Momoi isn’t stopping….

I had asked her previously about stopping as it would be bad if we didn’t sleep soon–

『Eh, the protagonist has confessed to the heroine, but she’s still confirming her feelings!? If I stop here, how could I get to sleep!?』

『Ah, ah…is that right…?』

I could only think『Maa, I’m off tomorrow, so it’s okay if I go to bed a little late』

So at that time I backed off—

『Momoi, it’s time to go to bed…..』

『Eh–? It’s just reached an important scene where the main characters are saying their farewells!? It may be okay for Kanzaki-kun because you’ve played it once, but if I stop here, I won’t be able to sleep from worry!』

『A, ah, that’s true….』

I was pushed away by Momoi’s power and withdrew again at that time.

So–

『Mo, Momoi, this might be a good place to stop–』

『Where is it!? Where is it good!? It’s a scene where the main characters have separated right now!? Well, the protagonist might be okay, but the heroine isn’t at all!?』

I really wanted to sleep, but the heroine had time slipped into the past, and the protagonist had lost his memory and hard to start over with a newly appeared heroine–so when she reached the home screen, I urged Momoi to finish.

Momoi didn’t miss the restart button on the home screen, so immediately restarted it.

…no way, this girl is going to play it until the end….

In fact, Momoi who was watching the H-scenes with dead fish eyes at first, could barely look at the screen now, with red cheeks as she glanced back and forth.

….Does she finally get it…?

That was the feelings of the man who had been next to such a girl…

Is this the first time my reasoning has been tested so much….?

What’s more, Momoi is so cute right now, completely different to the usual Momoi…

I feel like I’m dying….

—-Momoi continued playing the eroge until the heroine’s route was over, finishing at 6 in the morning.

「U~n, it was fun! A very good story!」(Momoi)

「Ah….is that right?」(Kaito)

To Momoi who seemed satisfied after finishing, I returned a tired voice.

「Why aren’t you energetic?」(Momoi)

With that said, she tilted her head in confusion.

Compared to her thorniness until now, she seemed more like an ordinary girl.

….hahaha, is this girl actually an idiot!?

「I didn’t expect you to stay up all night!」(Kaito)

「Waa!? Why are you angry!?」(Momoi)

「Isn’t it normal!」(Kaito)

I say so and get angry at Momoi.

…..Maa, its true, I should have forcibly stopped her….

I was reluctant to force Momoi to stop, as she was having such fun playing eroge.

Besides, it can’t be helped as it’s already happened.

So let’s hit the nail on the head now, so we won’t be playing all night next time.

…Will we be playing next time?

I haven’t made such a promise, but seeing Momoi’s expression, I feel like it would happen.

「E, etto, sorry….」(Momoi)

I was shocked by Momoi’s words…

…..who even are you….?

No, this is Momoi….

I’ve been going along with her so far.

Let’s get her to spit out everything.

「So, are you really you now?」(Kaito)

I asked Momoi.

….eh?

I feel like I’ve heard these words recently….?

「U….un….」(Momoi)

Momoi nodded to my question as I was wondering where I had heard it.

Un, she nodded—-why!?

Why does she look so cute just by nodding!?

「Etto, why did you have a cold personality until now?」(Kaito)

「That is…boys were obsessed with me since middle school…so in high school I adopted this personality so it wouldn’t turn out the same way….」(Momoi)

I see…so that’s why….

Doesn’t she have a great acting ability?

Was she pretending to verbally abuse me?

……Un, eh, that was really acting!?

「Hey, does that mean you were acting coldly forcibly? You know, you said bad things to me」(Kaito)

「Ah, no! from the second half of the first grade, everything was true you know?」(Momoi)

….that’s not acting!

「Momoi…」(Kaito)

「Nn?」(Momoi)　

「…..Why don’t you use your cold personality anymore? If that was your intention, isn’t it strange to change now?」(Kaito)

When I was about to complain, I suddenly said something else as Momoi looked too cute.

….I wonder if both me and Momoi have gone crazy due to the all-nighter….

「Why do you think that is….?」(Momoi)

「Eh….?」(Kaito)

Momoi didn’t answer my question and just puffed her cheeks up, but I seriously couldn’t understand it.

「Nothing! Is that all you want to hear!?」(Momoi)

Momoi turned red and shouted at me.

「Ah, wait. One last thing, you actually love light novels and anime right?」(Kaito)

「Ugh–」(Momoi)

Momoi’s face drops at my words.

If she’s come this far, it’s impossible that I’m mistaken.

「Th, that’s right? Is it wrong that I like them?」(Momoi)

With that said, she turned away from me.

Eh…the real Momoi has come back a little right?

Well, I don’t care about that now…

「Isn’t it fine?」(Kaito)

「Eh?」(Momoi)

Momoi stared curiously at me.

「What is it?」(Kaito)

「That’s because, it’s funny isn’t it? For an honour student to have the hobbies of an otaku?」(Momoi)

「Why? Being fond of light novels and anime has nothing to do with honour students」(Kaito)

「—!」(Momoi)

She looked at me in surprise.

Eh…why is she so surprised?

I guess she tried to hide her hobby.

But from my perspective, I want a friend who I can talk about my favourite works with.

So for now, let’s just say–

「I don’t know what other people think, but at least I don’t think it’s weird. If Momoi likes light novels and anime, then why don’t we talk about them again in the future?」(Kaito)

「Ah–un!」(Momoi)

She replied with a lovely smile to my words.

To that, I return a smile.

In the beginning we fought with each other–or rather, I thought I was seriously out of luck today, but in the end we got to know each other better.

This was a big step forward for us.

…or rather, it would have been more odd to get along immediately with her like Sakura-chan.

I didn’t realize at that time, that I was jumping into a sea of misfortune–