Volume 21 - CH 5

Aria’s mother, Kanae Kanzaki, who was finally free, seemed to be much more relaxed than I thought she would be. I guess as the wife of someone from the Holmes family, a few years of jail would leave her no worse for wear.

The evening of the next day, Aria had emailed me, saying “I’m going to make dinner with mama, so you should come help us”, and so I rushed to the women’s dormitory on by bicycle.

It wasn’t because I particularly wanted to help her cook, nor was I afraid of Aria’s wrath, but because from the email I could inference “Aria will be cooking”.

(At this rate, Kanae-sans life might really be in danger, not to mention the girls dormitory as a whole…!)

Aria has a criminal record of causing dust explosions in my room, shortly after saying something whimsically like “I am going to make a cake”, which somehow results in my gas stove exploding.

Because of that trauma, I was imprinted with the notion that Aria + cooking = bombing, and I was worried that Kanae-san, who has gone through great lengths only to finally be released, would be blown up alongside Aria’s VIP room and part of the building.

In addition, Aria was only able to finally make an omelette rice late last year, but… After a short while, she seems to have forgotten how to even make that, and has now gone back to aristocratic Lady Aria who cannot even make fried eggs by herself now.

In the sunset, I was in such a hurry that I fell over at the corner of a Lawson’s and hit a post after getting off my bike… I ran, out of breath, all the way to Aria’s room.

And then…

“Good evening. Welcome, Kinji-san.”

It was Kanae-san who greeted me at the door, with the flapping sound of her slippers.

Entering a house, late in the evening, I was greeted by a beautiful adult women wearing an apron.

I was so strangely nostalgic at such a sight that I had forgotten my own impatience, and…

“Ah, I’m ho…”

For some reason I had started to say “I’m home”, but blushed partway through and stuttered.

Seeing me like that, Kanae-san put one of her small hands to her mouth and looked like she had started laughing.

Her long, soft, wavy hair, which was a little light and brown for a Japanese person, was help up with a barrette. Her hair was also slightly gathered at the back of her head, presumably to make it easier to cook.

The sun, that was setting in the west, was shining into the entrance to Aria’s dorm, giving Kanae-san an angel’s radiance.

The gentle spring breeze blowing through the window was carrying with it a sweet scent like a gardenia.

“… Ah… Sorry for the disturbance.” (TL Note: the sentence here is used when entering someone elses home. Earlier, Kinji almost said the one for his own home.)

Feeling overwhelmed by the sweet scent coming on the breeze, I averted my gaze and looked down.

Kanae-san, she has the presence of a goddess.

It might be because she is also 165cm tall, but her womanly atmosphere is amazing.

She does not wear much makeup but regardless is beautiful, she really is Aria’s mother.

“…”

As I got down on one knee to take off my shoes, Kanae-san… Her loose, cream-colored skirt that went halfway down her calf’s was swaying in front of me.

Although the shape of her legs was not defined due to her long loose skirt, judging from the height of her waist, her long legs were not typical of a Japanese person. Aria, naturally, did not inherit this trait, who has short legs, granted, she is short overall.

As I was glancing at Kanae-sans physical features, such as her long legs, which naturally is just a habit for Butei, Kanae-san squatted down in front of me.

It seemed to me that she was just being thoughtful when she crouched down, to match the height of my eyes,

(……!)

But the sight that suddenly jumped into my eyesight made my eyes pop out.

I had let down my guard because I had thought that her long, loose tlt would give me a high degree of safety from Hysteria Mode.

… But Kanae-san was squatting with her knees together in a classy and elegant manner.

However, her legs are slightly cross-legged to begin with, and in order to maintain stability she squatted down with her legs slightly spread below her knees.

The front of her long skirt, however, is lifted up, the ends just below her knees.

Because of that, Kanae-san wouldn’t notice this fact from her point of view…

Her lower legs form an arch-shaped gate with her knees at the apex and the skirt was slightly covering it, like the letter “A”, but beyond that thin cloth gate, on the inside of her skirt, her white, plump, thick thighs were quite clearly visible! No, that is not all. Between her perfect thighs. Beyond her legs. There. That…! The thin cloth that shows a hint of skin, that allows you to just see through it with minimal effort…!

(……!)

Frightened, I accidentally pulled on my shoelaces with all my strength while trying to stand up, and stumbled backwards.

Butei are trained to protect the back of their head should they fall, and so I reached out to grab something to stop my fall–

“….!”

“Ara. What’s wrong?”

Kanae-san was waiting with a smile on her face, her hands outstretched as if to catch them…

–Pofun, and, she pulled me into a hug.

“……!”

Even without a mirror, I… I know, that I am doing the rapid blush technique, just like Aria…

So-, soft.

It wasn’t just her breasts. The arm that was holding me, my hand on her thighs burying my fingers in their elasticity, and… the scent of her breath and the “ara” that was spoken into my ears.

Above all, the mood. Everything was soft… it enveloped me, all my being. That is truly what I felt the moment I made contact with her.

(… mother…)

It was instinctual.

The word that I never thought I would say again crossed my mind.

I… have almost no memories of my own mother.

That is one of the reasons why I am so unsure how to treat women, especially older women.

I do not know if my synaptic connections are wired differently than the other guys, but I am weak against older women. That is especially true for motherly women like Kanae-san.

However, even if the memories of “my mother” are minimal if at all present…

This is making is feel like she has come back to life.

“–Are you okay? Did you hurt your feet?”

Kanae-san gently tilts her head to the side, and asks me worriedly from a distance where our faces are almost touching…

“Ah, I’m okay.”

The fact that they are pinned to your legs is not okay, however, I though internally.

It seemed that Kanae-san was ready to hug me for quite some time, so I voluntarily moved away from her soft, gentle body.

Then,

“Kinji-san. It seems that I was wrong just now and you were right.”

Kanae-san, who was wearing a thin sweater that hid her skin but clearly revealed her large breasts, placed her hands on her breasts.

This was a gesture that Meiya and Lisa have also done, but when the breasts are as big as Kanae-sans, it becomes less of “putting ones hand on their breasts” and more so “placing ones hand on their breasts”.

“What, what do you mean?”

Despite it being rude, after standing up I put my hands on the wall so I could take my shoes off while standing up. Kanae-san casually picked at something under her sweater. Apparently, she was adjusting her bra, her shoulder straps were slightly out of place due to the physical contact we had just made.

“Earlier, when I had said “Welcome, Kinji-san”, it had felt wrong to say. But, when you started to say “I’m home”, it felt right. Maybe you just think that is weird, but…”

Kanae, who was smiling innocently as if she were just a little girl,

“Welcome back.”

She said.

Those words, I… I subconsciously thought to myself, those are the words that my mom would have said to me.

“I… I’m home.”

Once again, I responded with those words. When she said something like that, I had no choice but to say those words to her.

After such an embarrassing play, we entered Aria’s living room…

(This… this is absurd…!)

I was so surprised that I stopped and looked around the room in disbelief.

In Aria’s room, which was as spacious as ever, there was something impossible.

First, was an eco-friendly basket for shopping. Aria, who was a real overseas celebrity who is well known for her “meals? I eat out or have them delivered”… I cannot believe that she has her own bag for shopping.

Herbs were planted in a planter on her balcony. She has… a kitchen garden.. does that mean…?

Does that mean that Aria, who has a track record for killing even cactus’s and preserved flowers is…?

Upon a further inspection, I also found that Aria’s room had an ironing board, a front-loader washing machine, and a sewing machine. That is impossible! When could this have happened!? It is dangerous to mix Aria with housework. An ironing board is a fire hazard for her, the washing machine had turned my whole house into a bubble bath, and the sewing machine has a history of sewing my blazer and Aria’s together when used by her, turning our clothes into some weird kinf of tug-of-war. All of that, just in my room.

“… Aria, this is… uooooo!?”

I was now face to face with Aria, who was in the kitchen holding a knife. Instinctively I backstepped away from her with a pinched face.

“Kinji, why are you so pale? Yet despite being so pale, you are sweating so much. What is it, are you too cold or too hot?”

While I was wiping away my cold sweat in front of the apron-clad Aria, who had an eyebrow raised in suspicion,

“When it comes to cooking, “it is best to learn by doing”, Aria.”

“Okay, mama.”

Kanae-san and Aria, who was holding a ladle and tasting her cream stew from a tasting plate, were happily having such a conversation while cooking.

(… I, I see…)

This is perhaps the system of inheritance of girl power that I had also seen between Minuet and Lisa.

In the case of men, this is similar to how a father plays catch with his son, or an older brother teaches his younger brother how to fight to raise his manhood. Aria has only ever leaned on Shirayuki or Lisa, but with kanae-sasn as her partner, is it possible for even her to learn how to do housework? This is just unbelievable, and yet, it is reality.

… I am just too exhausted now, and retreated to the leather sofa with unsteady steps.

Carrot-san♪ Potato-san♪ Fu-fu-fu♪ Kanae-san’s singing and humming made me feel as if I was in another world.

After all, it has been five minutes since I entered Aria’s room, but I have not heard any gunshots yet and I am getting rather concerned. It was so discomforting, I was getting a stomach ache. I need to get a drink.

Like in trench warfare, I glimpsed into the kitchen to get a read on the situation, from behind the sofa and then bar counter, but Kanae-san was just acting like a normal mom. Her cooking skills are comparable to those of Shirayuki and Lisa, and even though having Aria cook was the maximum level of a hindrance, Kanae-san still seemingly was able to achieve her goal.

The only thing that Kanae was having trouble with was,

“Um, to turn it into an oven…”

It was the microwave that she was looking at with a fingertip on her lip.

Apparently, she is not good with appliances.

Of course, Aria has only ever pressed the “automatic warm-up” button, and so she is just as useless as her mother, looking at her like a toddler.

Because of that, I decided to enter the kitchen, and found out, that the microwave is symbolized, on the buttons are images that show what they do. Beep, beep, beep, beep, I put it into oven mode. Well, that was easy to figure out.

Kanae in response put her hand to her mouth in surprise.

“Wow. Kinji-san, did you understand all that just by looking at it?”

“Ye-… Yes, the buttons have symbols that show what they do. How hot should I set it?”

“I wonder if it can go up to 240 degrees?”

“It should… there. When you are done, I think you can stop it by pressing “cancel” here.”

“Thank you. You saved me…”

Kanae-san, who is only 5cm shorter than me, is peering into the microwave with the gratin now in it, bringing her face close to mine.

When I reverted my eyes away from her approach, Kanae was leaning forward, her apron pulled down due to gravity, and I could see her pure white cleavage from the neckline of her thin sweater underneath.

(….!)

I panicked again and turned my head, this time my eyes meeting Aria’s. I prepared myself to rapidly unholster my Beretta on my waist, but…

Whenever I accidentally looked at Shirayuki’s or Riko’s breasts, she would say “What are you looking at, Stupid Kinji!”, and Aria would swiftly and sharply notice… “?” But for some reason, she is just looking at with with a confused face like a dumb child.

Apparently, Aria never imagined that that I would see her mom as a woman, and thus has not realized why I am panicking right now.

It would seem that she turned off her radar. I feel kind of guilty, but I am grateful for that. I was surprisingly saved.

“Fufun, as expected of a boy. You saved this old lady.”

Kanae-san, who was smiling at me in sync with my internal thoughts, had no idea that I was looking at her as a woman. That was probably because the age gap was too big between us.

“I am a little old to be called a “boy”, and you are not old enough to be called an “old lady”.”

When I pretended to still be calm and spoke to Kanae-san, who to me actually looked like an older sister…

“Well, that makes me glad. You are not a boy, but… Instead a respectable man to say something like that.”

Kanae-san put one hand on each of her cheeks to hide her blushing, and started to twist her body in a playful, yet sexy, way.

… It would seem even here, there is a certain maturity that girls my age don’t have.

Cream stew, shrimp gratin, and herb quiche are lined up on the table…

Even guys such as myself could see that the menu was made with fresh ingredients and was made with nutritional balance in mind.

In contrast to Kanae-san, whose table manners were perfect as she was cutting the quiche for us, Aria–

“So, Kinji ran into a nuclear submarine with just a single pistol, and had a gunfight on top of a bullet train that had bombs planted in it, oh, and then there was a Yakuza hideout–“

I am not privy when it comes to the manners for choosing topics when having meals. However, the food is delicious, so please stop digging up my past traumas one after the other.

However, Kanae really is Aria’s mom…

As Aria told her the story about the stealth bomber I was on that exploded over Sagami Bay, the story of how I grabbed a bullet that was shot at Hilda on the sky tree and turned it around… Kanae was smiling, and saying “Oh dear” or “wow” while listening to Aria tell my stories in a messed up chronological order.

(I guess this is what it means to have a gentle personality…)

And yet Kanae-san… you were so sharp when I met you when you were in jail.

At home, though, she is laid back. Anyway.

Aria kept saying “hey, mama” and “so mama” in a sweet and gentle voice. Kanae seemed so happy to listen her talk. She was happily taking in everything in stride.

And so, in order to not interfere with this mother-daughter bonding time, I just started at the two in silence.

When looking at these two, though, I realized that they don’t look like mother and daughter alike at first glance… Their equally white skin, long eyelashes, and the shape of their nose and mouth are very similar. I guess it isn’t that hard to actually see that they are related by blood, mother and daughter.

Looking closer, the shape of their ears is also very similar, and when I, who was amused by that, gave a wry smile–

“What is it, Kinji-san?”

Kanae-san, who I was staring at at that moment, made a gesture as if she was fixing her hair, and returned a wry smile.

“Ah, no. I’m sorry. When I was looking at Kanae-san and Aria together, I thought that a parent and their child really are similar…”

When I spoke honestly,

“I am glad that you think that, I do not hear that too often. What about you, Kinji-san? Do you look like your father? Do you look like your mother?”

Kanae asked me a question herself.

“… My grandpa told me that I am exactly half and half. However, I don’t remember my mothers face very well…”

Again, when she asked me though, I answered her honestly.

Kanae in response put her hand to her mouth…

“… I’m sorry. I am so sorry to have asked something that might have hurt you…”

She looked quit anxious and apologized profusely.

Lisa gave a similar reaction when this topic came up with her, but for me, my parents are a thing of the distant past.

“Ah, don’t worry. I don’t mind.”

That said, on the topic of family matters in general for me is complicated, be it my older brother, my young brother, my older sister, or my younger sister. After all, in my family there are three nationalities: Japanese, Egyptian, and American, and I am not even sure if I have one sister or two.

That is why I kept quiet and emitted an air of not wanting to continue this talk regarding my family situation.

However, this had an unintended consequence. (TL Note: not a perfect translation, same meaning.)

Kanae-san’s black, onyx eyes became moist, and seemed to say “to make amends for hurting him, I have to become a motherly figure for him”… I have a bad feeling about this.

After such a peaceful and nice dinner,

“Aria, go take a bath.”

“Okay, mama.”

I could hear a dangerous conversation going on,

“Ah, okay then, I’ll go home now.”

I was about to watch a variety show on TV for the first time in a while, but as I started to get up from the sofa to leave…

Kanae-sane turned to me with a “?” face.

“Can’t you stay the night? I had thought you were going to, and so I got everything ready for you…”

Kanae looked disappointed that I had said I was going to leave and not stay the night.

Even though she would have heard this conversation, Aria calmly went to the bathroom,

“staying overnight… No, that’s…”

I was feeling a hysteria danger from both Aria and Kanae-san, I was thinking up an excuse, even a poor one, to refuse to stay overnight—

“Fufu.”

Kanae-san put a hand to her mouth and smiled politely.

“… What is it?”

“Kinji-san you are really cute. Whenever something unexpected happens, you become really cute and makes an even cuter face.”

“Eh, really?”

“Yes. Even right now.”

While saying that, Kanae-san who was still wearing a thin sweater and a long skirt… With a squeak, she sat down on the sofa.

The sofa in Aria’s room has a weak spring, and so when Kanae-san sits on it, she leans towards the weak spring. With two people sitting side by side, both of us were leaning towards each other… waist to waist, shoulder to shoulder, we were basically stuck together.

From the bathroom, I could hear the sound of Aria starting to use her shower.

Right now, Kanae-san and I are alone in the living room.

“”You’re cute”. I don’t think I have ever been told that before.”

While speaking with camouflage to hide my internal struggles, I try to avoid our bodies touching by tilting my body away to an extent that it doesn’t look rude to her.

“Maybe the boys won’t. But I think you are cute.”

She was treating me as a “boy” again. And, when I made a slightly sullen face, Kanae-san said “Ah”, remembering that it was a “no good” word… Kusukusu, and giggled. It seemed she was having fun.

“sorry, obasan has bad memory.” (TL Note: Obasan in this context means “older woman”. There is no real English word that works here so I used Japanese.)

Her talking in first person made me slightly uncomfortable, so I continued to lean back and do my best to avoid physical contact while talking to her. (TL Note: iirc, when talking mature/sexy first person talk is normal.)

“Yo-, you aren’t an old lady. I told you that earlier.”

“Well. If I am not an old lady, than what am I?”

Somehow, Kanae-san… I feel like she is interrogating me.

“… You are like a mother…”

Kanae-san is more like Aria’s older sister, but saying such flattery would be embarrassing to say. This was the only answer left.

It seems that Kanae-san was expecting this answer,

“… It is okay for you to think of me as your mother.”

And, she gently embraced me.

It is so gentle and enveloping.

I think she is trying to atone for asking me about my parents earlier.

It seems as if she is trying to comfort me like she is because I have no memory of my own mother.

Up to that point, it is fine. I am not hurt, but maybe it is beneficial to be comforted like this. So, let this matter end here as a beautiful story.

(I want this to end, but…!)

… a mature adult body is throwing cold water onto this beautiful story…!

Due to the fact that I am being hugged while sitting down, Kanae-sans big breasts are right in front of my face. With my face in her sweater, peaking through her sweaters keyhole I could see skin as white as porcelain. The effort I had put in earlier to avoid physical contact was all in vain.

Above all, the softness of her body is felt because of our waists being forced to touch. A mature woman like this… she is so soft. Shirayuki and Lisa are soft as well, but Kanae-san is in a different dimension in comparison.

(……!)

Kanae-san, who is seemingly just trying to be nice, hugs me deep into her chest–

I held my breath to its utter limit, but in the end, I was forced to inhale her sweet scent through my nose.

Uhh… This sweet scene unique only to mature woman…! It was similar to Aria’s scent, a sweet gardenia scent was mixed in… is this the ultimate form of female fragrance?

Kanae-san… is the “real thing”. There is a thing called a “woman’s scent”, but as a creature, you feel it as a woman’s pheromones. It is not something that is random, it becomes present when a woman is old enough to give birth… it is an incredibly lusty, sexy scent…!

(Shit, the blood flow…!)

Hysteria modes original goal was the express intent of leaving children behind. It is reacting to Kanae-san, who is a true woman, its original target.

Up until this point, the usual activator was Aria, Kanae-sans daughter. Although there is the unethical situation of it now being Kanae-san, regardless the blood was rushing to the centre of my body.

No, no, no, no stop rushing in!

No matter how beautiful and mature yet youthful she is, she is my classmate’s mom!

But wait, there are real life examples that are like that! The wife of the great slugger Roberto Petagine, who is rumoured to be joining the Hawks next season, is one of his friends mother! Stop reminding me of such stories brain! (TL Note: this is a real story btw. Dude went to his friends house one day, fell in love with his mom, and married someone who is over 20 years older than him.)

“… Ah. umm, as expected–“

I’m going home! As I took my body away from Kanae-san to say that,

“Kin-chan? What happened? Why are you sweating so much…”

Kanae-san is much like Aria, in that she does not realize that I see her as a single woman. Just like earlier, she treats me gently, as if I were her own young child.

Continuing from the earlier thought of Aria doing housework, my forehead was dripping with sweat again…

Kanae took a tissue from the tissue box on the table and wiped my sweat off.

Purunpurun… With that movement, her large chest under her sweater was trembling and shaking. Her twin mountains, which even large might not be appropriate, both shook and frequently bump into her arms, causing them to shake even more.

“Ah, um, I… already…!”

–I’m going home!

As I was about to say that, I started moving away from the sofa and, zuru, I slipped and fell to the floor!

I fell on my butt, but there was a soft carpet underneath. It feels soft, as if I fell on a futon.

But the problem was Kanae-san–

“Ah… Kyaa!”

The hand that was wiping my forehead reached out in vain, and fell forward.

There was no reason for me not to, so I decided to catch her…

However, I ended up using my body as a cushion as she fell on me.

“……!”

“Ahh…!”

Kanae’s whole body fell onto me, but rather than being crushed it felt like I was being wrapped up in it. She was so warm and smelt so good, I felt like I was going to faint…

Seriously, I passed out for a second.

I, who had not fainted even when a missile grazed me in combat, had passed out from physical contact with one adult woman.

“… Kinji-san? Kinji-saaan.”

However, I regained consciousness after a few seconds, and could see Kanae-san who had some blood on her face.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Kanae-san. Did you get hurt?”

“Yes. Thanks to Kinji-san, it is not too bad… Kinji is safe… thank goodness…”

Kanae-san is a little teary-eyed over this incident…

Despite being dignified and sexy, she also has this kind of girlish side to her…

From the way she just stumbled, I could tell that her motor skills were somewhat poor. She really a clumsy person, she does not even realize how she is making me feel.

Even so… despite all that, Kanae-san is trying her best to be a good mother.

That much is obvious.

Also… passing out was quite beneficial. Thanks to Kanae-san, my blood is calming down. It feels like hysteria mode has come full circle, I am in a state similar to hysteria wiseman.

“Mooouu, that is enough mama” Aria said while pouting.

I had only just noticed it, but Aria, who had finished taking her bath, appeared wearing her bath towel and with a bottle of milk in her hand… She seemed to have seen the whole thing and was giggling now.

Aria… I am grateful that she did not realize I was entering hysteria mode. If she found that out, I would be in wind hole tornado hell by now.

To be honest, I feel like I should be kneeling down and apologizing from the bottom of my heart, even if she does not plan on shooting me, but even if I did, Aria would probably not know why I am apologizing… What should I do from now on for tonight…!

In preparation for something like this happening, I had an overnight bag packed with a change of clothes that I had left with Fuuma last year, and I had her secretly deliver it to me.

(Even if I sleep on the couch, if I don’t wash off the sweat from my two breakouts, I will have a hard time sleeping…)

So, I held my breath as I entered the bathroom that Aria had just taken a bath in… I couldn’t help but mutter “Heh, you bourgeoisie” because of how big her bathroom was. I took a breath and nearly choked on the scent of gardenia.

The Kanzaki family, being western, do not particularly care about the order in which men and women use the bath. The order is whoever wants to use it first, that is why I went in after Aria… If I entered after Kanae-san, I might have hysterised purely from her smell alone.

This was a bathroom that only girls have ever used before. It was essentially a women’s only bath. I did not want to stay in such a place for too long, regardless of the problem of Aria’s scent being here, and so I used the high speed washing technique that I hadn’t used since Reki and Tamamo shared a bath with me…

After I got out, I realized that the next person to use this bath will be Kanae-san–

Just thinking that was dangerous to me, and so I tried to escape reality through games to get the images out of my head. Luckily, Aria’s room has Mario Kart for the Wii that Riko had left behind.

I grabbed a bottle of Perrier from the fridge, changed into my pyjamas… and decided to grab an extra controller and went to invite Aria, who was watching BBC news in a one-piece negligee.

Aria, however, who was watching some serious breaking news, didn’t seem motivated to play games right now,

“Hey, Aria, let’s play some Mario Kart.”

“Why should we?”

“Oh, are you just afraid of losing?”

“Hah?”

And, she decided to pick up the controller. It is almost too easy.

Finally, with an opponent, I got to playing some racing.

(Really, older woman are like poison for Hysteria mode… Rather, I have never been so conscious of a woman before…)

I couldn’t concentrate on the game because I could hear the sound of water in the bathroom.

Aria eventually prioritized attacking my cart, and so eventually I got angry and counterattacked Aria with a red shell and a blue shell. Somehow, this racing game is not much of a race anymore but a different kind of game… although,

“Don’t stay up too late, okay? Yes, you two, bedtime, bedtime.”

I turned around at Kanae-sans voice and nearly spewed out the Perrier I was drinking– I managed to just endure it and force it down my throat. However, my trachea and pharynx were tormented by the carbonation and I ended up choking.

Because Kanae-san’s glorious body…

Like Aria, she was wearing a negligee nightgown!

“……!”

I hate the me of 20 minutes ago who sought to escape reality with games without solving the problem when I should have easily predicted this crisis.

(I was prepared for everything up to a bath towel, but this is…!)

I was used to seeing Aria in a negligee, and so when I saw her in one my brain just thought “this is just a child wearing a loose, one piece dress”.

… Because of that, I was careless.

Kanae’s white negligee, which looked like a super short miniskirt, was made of synthetic fibre’s that allow even those without stealth powers to see inside.

Her half-cup bra hiding only the bottom of her large breasts that put even cows to shame, and an all lace short skirt that allows you to just barely see her skin underneath… the fact that I could only just barely sometimes see it made it even more erotic than bare skin…!

While I was standing perfectly still, my entire body tensed, Kanae-sans face showed that she clearly did not know what was wrong with me right now.

“…?”

No, “…?” is not the correct response to this, Kanae-san!

I do not think that Kanae-san had this intention, but, the translucency of her negligee and the shape of her underwear and bra was definitely designed with the thought of drawing the eyes of men…!

I think my inner thoughts finally got through to her, as,

“Oh no, I was careless…”

Kanae-san made a sweet and youthful gesture to hide her soft and plump thighs, which were radiant from her recent bath, and turned around. However, now I could see her well defined heart shaped butt, which was even worse for my blood flow.

“Since I am in my daughters room I was a little too relaxed. I am sorry for showing you such an unflattering appearance…”

Embarrassed, she brought out a remote control–

She changed the light in the living room from bluish daylight to orange-ish incandescent light, giving off a dim yet warm glow.

Ah, thanks to that her negligee is less transparent and I cannot see through it anymore. However, there was no change to the fact that your mature body lines are clearly visible, and that includes your chest, waist, and butt!

… The worst thing about my bad luck is that, whenever I, a bed, and a woman are involved, I almost always end up having to share a bed.

However, thankfully this is not the time to sigh and regret my luck.

Aria’s room has two levels despite being just one room, with the 10th floor being the usual living space and the penthouse portion of the 11th floor being the bedroom. (TL Note: in this context floor is height, as in the “10th floor of the overall building”. Aria’s room alone is not 11 floors, it occupies the 10th and 11th floor of the building.)

And so, Kanae-san and Aria went up together, so I saw them off with some incomprehensible “good night”, but then just as I was taking a sigh of relief on the sofa,

“Kinji, you should come listen to mama’s fairy tale too. It will help bring you happy dreams when you sleep.”

Looking over the balcony, Aria made an unnecessary suggestion.

Such a thing should only be done between a real mother and her daughter…!

My blood cannot handle anymore!

“No, that… Um.. ah, huh? The inside of my knees hurt, with this much pain it would be impossible for me to climb the stairs. It is a shame, but I have no choice but to just go to sleep now on the sofa.”

“Do you not like my mom? You have been acting weird around her for a while now…”

…Giku…!　My “Government Appearance” alert is blaring…

And so, in a trembling voice, I said “Hey, my knee is fine now”… And walked up the stairs to her bedroom, feeling like a prisoner being led to death row.

I mean, I know what it is just past 9 o’clock, but are you going to bed already?

It might not be as early as the Hotogi family, but the Kanzaki family apparently also go to bed quite early.

The eleventh floor, which seems to have been refurbished from carpet to wood flooring, makes a squeaking noise when I walk on it.

To begin with, I don’t understand why such a large area is necessary for just a bedroom. Other than the king sized bed that could easily fit 5 people on it, there wasn’t much. Why is there a need for so much empty space?

It was quite a big difference from the men’s dormitory where four people live in a six tatami mat room. Half a tatami mat for when you are awake, 1 tatami mat to sleep on. Humans don’t need this much space to live, do they?

While I was saying such things in my mind, I was startled when Kanae-san operated a switch on the bedside and the lights in the bedroom were turned off…

When I arrived at the bedside Kanae-san and Aria were lying down, Aria…

Even though she had just threatened me, right now she was curled up like a baby next to Kanae-san… tsu… tsu… She had already fallen asleep.

… so much…

She must be so relieved.

She waited such a long time to see her mother again, and finally, she can sleep with her again, curled up next to her…

“Kinji-san.”

In the dim orange nightlight, lying on her back, Kanae-san turned to look at the sleeping Aria next to her and gave her a wry smile… She then turned her gaze towards me.

She then put an index finger to her mouth, a gesture as if to say “she has just fallen asleep, please be quiet”.

And then, pom pom.

The tapped the bed to her right to indicate where I should sleep.

it was a formation where Aria, Kanae-san, and I slept in the shape of a river (Kanji for river is 川).

Uh, I mean, I can’t sleep in such close proximity to these two.

(–Why… How did… this happen…!)

I could sense it from Kanae-sans hand gesture that she had naturally assumed that I would be sleeping here to begin with, but…

Kanae-san seems to think of me as a child, rather than my actual age, as evidence earlier by her declaration that “I can be your mother”.

Because Aria is so childish, maybe she has a feeling that me, Aria’s classmate, is also a child.

I guess to her it was cruel to let a child sleep alone on a sofa.

“……”

Looking down onto Aria’s bed where the Kanzaki mother and her daughter are lying down, sleeping…

Gokuri… my throat tightens.

Hysteria is basically a disease to me, a woman’s scent is more dangerous to me than the scent of gunpowder.

And this bed right now is a honey pot that is full of these two women’s scent.

And on top of that, right now, both these women are lying here, one already asleep…

I have an excellent sense of smell, and I could tell just by standing by the bedside, this smell was something that might occur once in a decade. It was more pleasant than even Jeanne’s bed in France, which in my memory was the best in the past 10 years of my life.

Aria’s sweet and sour scent combined with Kanae’es mature, sexy scent, a fruity start and an elegant sexy finish. This bed smells better than even the finest of perfumes in recent years.

(–Wait, why am I thinking about this bed like I’m a sommelier!) (TL Note: Sommelier is professional wine taster.)

For tonight I have to sleep here!?

Rather, I was forced to sleep here by Aria in the first place. I do not even know if that fairy tale was told or not, but Aria is already asleep regardless.

Actually, if I do sleep on the couch now, I won’t be shot right now, but that would only delay the timing of my execution until tomorrow morning.

My only to options are to either A) Sleep here in hell or B) Sleep downstairs and go to hell tomorrow morning.

If the outcome is the same anyway, I might as well not hurt Kanae-sans feelings. Ryoma Sakamoto once said that when you die, make sure you fall forward. (TL Note: the longer saying is “If you are a man, even if you die in a ditch during battle, you will die pitching forward”.)

Just as I was about to wrap my head around what was about to happen, Kanae-san…

“Come.”

She gently beckons me to the bed, and I climbed up onto it… Uhh, this womanly scent is amazing after all. I felt even more overwhelmed than when I was trapped back home during the Far East Warfare. (TL Note: Not sure what exactly he is talking about, I can only assume he is talking about his interactions with Kaname back home?)

However, the numerical disadvantage of 2 women to 1 man can be used to my advantage here…

I managed to get to a point on the bed where I could lie down on it and not be in danger.

I slept on my back so as to not be rude to Kanae-san, and breathed through my mouth to avoid the smell from entering my nose. When I close my eyes, I project prime numbers on my eyelids, resembling the opening scene to “The Matrix” which helped me escape from reality. Okay. With this, I have shored up my defences from both smell and sight.

“Kinji-san… Isn’t your tummy going to get cold…?”

I forgot I have hearing…!

Sweet sweet Kanae-sans voice whispered into my ear. Opening my eyes, I watched as she covered my upper half with a blanket!Estimated at 99cm her bust, it was… close enough to touch my nose!

“Ah, ah, I–!”

I’m fine! I tried to say that, but of course I had to breath to speak. They smelled like sweetened milk, which is only natural I suppose. It was a motherly aroma that spoiled anyone who smelled it. I was in a hurry to say that, and thus not only my nose but even the bottom of lungs had breathed that smell in.

“…!……!”

My fortress of smell and sight crumbled without any resistance. My defences were much too weak!

It was not in my spirit to give up without a fight, however, and so I closed my eyes and held my breath again.

She then proceeded to tuck in the blanket that was soaked with the the smell of Aria. I do not know why it is, but the smell of Aria is something I am particularly weak against. Receiving something like this, I am sure now that I will enter hystria mode at this rate–!

But, for now, all I can do is close my eyes so as to not look at Kanae-sans chest. Considering the risk that this blanket has, I used both hands to push it off me as quickly as possible.

However, my hands.

Once I started pushing it off, Kanae-san moved… Unfortunately, both my left and right hand missed their targets.

“–!”

At that time, my hand got caught in the opening above Kanae-sans negligee… her stretchy, white, thin negligee…

It looked as if I was using both hands to try to forcefully take it off.

Her loose elastic shoulder straps were easily pulled off to the right and left.

Her large breasts, like cannon balls, exposed only the upper half, and yet had a staggering sense of volume.

Both left and right.

“………!”

When I opened my eyes, I could see Kanae-san’s upper body covering me… It looked like I was trying to undress her negligee from under her.

In an emergency like this, I am at a complete loss for words.

The silence was not good. Kanae-san was (seemingly) being undressed by me,

“…eh…!?”

This entire situation was an unexpected development for me, but for Kanae-san, she was surprised by this development in a different sense. She was so surprised that her long-lashed eyes widened. And,

“N-… no, you can’t do that Kinji-san. No…!”

With one hand, she held down the chest area of her negligee that was about to fall down.

With her other hand, she held down my hand and was restraining me as if she was asking me to calm down.

She then lifter her upper body up and turned her back to me, and fixed up her negligee, which was about to completely become undone… She also fixed her long, loose wavy brown hair.

Finally, while guarding her chest with her arms…

With a wry smile, she turned around.

“Mo, mou. I am surprised. To do such a thing to an older lady, such… For a young boy to feel that way about an older lady is okay.”

“N-, no……!”

No it isn’t!

I was about to say that out loud, but I felt that it would be rude to Kanae-san to deny it outright… And so I blushed and hesitated.

But, this hesitation…

It seems that Kanae-sans misunderstandings have been spurred on again. “This boy just had his heart broken, I have to encourage him”. She looked at me with a wry smile.

“But thanks to that… I might still be able to make at least one more flower bloom…? Thank you for restoring my confidence, Kinji-san.”

Although she was in a joking mood right now, Kanae-san had made a remark that said she was happy right now.

What? What are you so happy about, that a boy had tried to strip you naked in bed?

Women… They are hard to understand. An eternal mystery, an enigma. Apparently, at any age.

At 7:00 the next morning, while I was still in agony from not sleeping a single minute throughout the night, I was brushing my teeth, thinking that the circles around my eyes reflected in my eyes resembled a pandas eyes.

“Do you have your lunch? Do you have your handkerchief? Are you sure you have everything?”

“I said I have everything mama.”

I could hear a conversation between Kanae-san and Aria, who both woke up before me, through the bathroom door.

Now that I think about it, yesterday while I was playing Mario Kart with Aria I had heard that Akari Mamiya, Aria and the other girls are having a picnic for a girls party today. The party is being held at Daiba Park though, which is just around the corner.

(… you are leaving already! I am going to be alone with Kanae-san here!)

When I hurriedly exited the washroom, ran into the hallway, and looked towards the entrance… there, Aria, was wearing a red checkered jumper skirt and was carrying a rucksack on her back, ready to head out.

“Mouu, mama stop worrying! I told my juniors to make sure that they are always punctual, if I am the one who is late I will just be embarrassing myself!”

“Look, your ribbon isn’t straight, Aria. Take life slowly, one step at a time.”

Aria, who was fussy and nervous, and Kanae, who was calm and collected, started to get into a bit of a mother daughter argument–

–Kui, ton!

“Mikya!”

“If you run too fast you are going to fall!”

….!?

A-, amazing.

I have just witnessed the impossible.

Kanae-san had lightly touched Aria’s wrist, and almost like a four-way throw in Aikido… she flipped Aria over on the spot.

Aria’s skirt was naturally flipped when she landed on her back, so I averted my eyes, but… That was probably a Baritsu move. Aria was an expert user of Baritsu, and yet Kanae-san was enough of an expert to easily defeat even her.

This is amazing. Was there really someone in this world who could soundly defeat a raging Aria with such ease?

Aria, whose forehead was now swollen like a chipmunk with food stuffed into its cheek,

“Hmm, that’s right, Aria.”

Kanae-san gave her a little push with her finger, and gently scolds her.

Aria seemed to understand that she was no match for her mama, and so reluctantly let herself be scolded.

This is similar to my relationship with Kana.

Aria, finally gaining her composure, said “I’m off!” and left the room…

Kanae-san, who turned around once Aria left, met my eyes, who was still surprised at what I had just witnessed.

“Ara, arara? Oh dear. Did you see that just now, Kinji-san?”

After being caught disciplining Aria, Kanae-san blushed and smiled wryly.

Embarrassed, she put her hands on her cheeks and shyly pressed her knees together under her long skirt.

That gesture which resembled a well-brought up young lady turning into an adult… How could such a cute person give birth to such a ferocious creature, the level of moe Kanae-san gave off made me marvel at the mystery of DNA when I compared her to Aria. No, this isn’t the time or situation to be tilting my head in confusion.