Chapter 34.2
Visitation
We took the bus from the station, came to the apartment building where Katsuhina-san lives.
My ears picked up the conversation that Serai-san was having over the intercom at the apartment entrance, as I stood a short distance behind her. Thanks to the dungeon, my eyes have improved, but my ears have also improved considerably.
[Ugh… yes].
"Oh, are you the mother of Ruu-san? I am a friend of Ruu-san's from college. My name is Serai."
[Ah, yes! My daughter is always talking about you.]
"Ruu-san is absent from the university, so I came to visit her out of concern. May I come in?"
[Please come up…]
(Hmm, what is that? From what you said, we didn't have an appointment?)
"Oh, Serai-san. Did you have an unannounced visit today?"
In between the elevator ride to the next floor, I asked Serai-san to confirm it.
"Yeah, I couldn't reach Ruu, and I didn't have her home phone number."
"So, how did you get the address?"
"I asked a girl who entered college from the same high school as Ruu. I asked her friend to look up the address."
Wow, that's a great network of girls. But yes, when I was a bullied student, a girl from another class, whom I didn't know, also made a sarcastic remark to me. I didn't know why, but I guess it was the girls' network.
["Pimpon."]
"(Gacha) Welcome!"
The one who opened the front door and peeked in was an elderly, mature-looking woman who I recognized at first glance as [Ah, she's Katsuhina-san's mother]. And then, her mother opened her eyes wide in fear and froze.
Oh, I'm sorry. If suddenly a strong stranger like Tetsuo's character visits her house, you'd be surprised. Yeah, even I would be surprised.
"Ah, you must be Ruu's mother! I'm Serai. Nice to meet you! And this guy over here is…"
Serai hurriedly followed up.
"My name is Ezuki. I'm a mutual acquaintance of Serai-san here and Ruu-san at your house. The two got into a fight, and I've been there to help them reconcile. "
"Ha, ha…is that so? I was surprised…"
Oh, thank goodness. The heart of the mother of the breadwinner didn't stop. I thought her heart had stopped because her face froze as if she had seen a demon.
We were given slippers and allowed to enter the room. The special item, "sympathy water-yokan set," helped to ease the mother's guard.
"(Kon-kon) Ruuuu, Serai-san, and the others have come to visit you."
Mom knocked on the door of Katsuhina-san's room and called out to her, but…
"No! I don't want to see you! Please go home!"
We hear her sad reply from inside the room. Her voice was nasal, and her throat sounded raspy and painful.
"Ruu! I'm sorry! It was my fault! Listen to me!"
"No way! Go home! I don't want to hear anything! (Gehoggeho!)"
Serai-san apologized and called out to her from outside, but she replied in an even harsher voice. He was sobbing because he had forced himself to speak too loudly.
[What should I do…] with a troubled expression, Serai-san holds her hand and stares at the door. Um, what happened to this?
However, I was surprised that the calmest person in the room is me. This is because I had experienced this kind of "visitation event" in many bishojo games and eroge games I had played before. So, I had probably trained in the simulator for several hundred hours.
So, I put my hand on Serai's shoulder as she was about to call out to Katsuhina-san on the other side of the door again. Serai-san looked up at me in surprise, and I lightly tapped her on the shoulder to reassure her, and asked her to switch places. It was a change of players.
"Katsuhina-san, it's Ezuki. Do you understand?"
"(Eh…? Coach…?)
I guess Katsuhina-san just mumbled, but I could hear it in my ears. And the reaction of Katsuhina-san was much different than when Katsuhina-san's mom and Serai-san called out to her. Yes, that's not a bad response. If this is the case, it would be nice to hear a little more.
"I heard from Serai-san that you were absent from the university, and I was worried about you, so I came to visit you. Serai-san is also very worried about you. If you can't make it, I'm going to leave now, so could you glance at me before I go?"
I tried to raise the only request that seemed the easiest, with the following concessions: [No pressure], [I'm leaving], and [Just a glance]. My enhanced intellect and the play skills of the bishojo games I used to play are now united here.
But I can't let my guard down. This is not a game, but a reality. If I fail to make a choice, I can't start over at a save point and rewind time and her mood, not the game heroine.
"………"
But there is no reply. If this is the case, any more deadlocked situation could bog down the battle line. If that's the case, we should retreat as soon as possible and change our strategy to [Mitsugu-san's thanks strategy].
"Serai-san, shall we go home for today?"
"Please come in."
"""Eh?"""
The voice that came from inside the room made me, Serai-san, and the breadwinner's mom look at each other with a look of disbelief on their faces.
Serai-san and I were allowed to enter the room by Katsuhina-san.