Monster no Goshujin-sama

21. Thoughts on Her

Twenty-one.

In the living room in the prepared room, I was sinking myself on the couch.

"... have you slept"

Crush, drop your gaze.

Beyond that was the figure of Robbia, who lay to rest, trying to crumble around my thighs.

Sleeping she is doing her hand to her mouth and eating around the second joint of her fingers.

Lily, sitting on the other side, peered into its face.

"There's a lot going on today."

"Right."

Robbie's side looked younger than his real age.

Maybe stress is making her behave slightly younger.

I remember what happened during today's contact with the Expedition - I didn't think such a bomb would be in the Expedition.

I think it was dangerous.

This is a very delicate situation.

Making a difference with an expedition with great influence doesn't work in the right direction.

It was a shame that the crack didn't turn out to be decisive.

In addition to his thoughts, Mr. Nakatsuki favored me, but he was also helped by Robbia's rational response.

I stroked her red hair and the look on Robbie's face, who fell asleep, loosened a little.

Rose showed up when she opened the door to the separate room when that's how she was spending her time.

"Your husband. Um, may I ask you a few questions?"

"What's up?"

Rose cut out as if she had decided to, returning the words with suspicion of some lost mouthfeel.

"Well, I'm talking about the real vegetables."

"Mr. Kato? Anything wrong?

"Yes, I think I'm getting a lot depressed."

"... oh. You're talking about Mr. Handwash."

Naturally, that was the first thing I thought of.

Mr. Handwash took action for Mr. Kato.

Although Mr. Kato didn't do anything, there are some things that I would think would happen to him as a winner.

"Right. And so is that."

Rose nodded as well.

However, it also appeared to contain a little.

"I guess that's not all..."

"What?"

"... no. Nothing."

Though I felt something that did not fall in my heart at all in response, I was distracted by the words that went on.

"Anyway, the genuine vegetables were depressing, and honestly, I can't watch. Why don't you talk to your husband?"

"... me?

"Because I think that would be best"

Is that what it is?

I doubt it, but it's what Rose, Kato's best friend, says.

Immediately after the contact with the expedition, Kato apologized about your hand wash, so I told him that I didn't need to worry about it, but maybe that wasn't enough.

"Okay. Let's talk about it."

I snorted back.

After dinner, Mr. Kato was spending time in a separate room with Rose.

Said he was going to prepare tea, and Rose came out of the room, apparently.

I put the tea she prepared in the basin, and I moved to a separate room.

"Go ahead, my lord"

Rose opens the door instead of me.

And you two step into the room - I just thought, Rose put her foot together.

"So long, my lord. Best regards,"

I said, "Huh?" I just thought, "the door closed behind me.

I thought Rose was with me, but apparently she was going to ask me to speak to Kato alone.

It was a bit of a mistake.

That's not what I usually care about.

But only at this time, I felt a little troubled.

Not that I don't like it, of course, I don't.

I just got a little awkward.

The reason for this... is a little pitiful, so don't think about it, then change your mind too.

Thoughtfully, I looked back to the room.

"... that?

And the voice of doubt leaked.

As soon as I looked back, I couldn't find Kato.

Most of all, the question cleared up quickly.

Mr. Kato was sitting in front of a prep desk that was a dead end as soon as he walked into the room.

That was also unnecessarily difficult to get into view because I was stuck at my desk.

She was resting quietly when she left her torso at her desk.

Apparently, in the short time since Rose left the room, she fell asleep.

Kato's sleeping face with his arm as a pillow turned this way.

……

Her figure, falling asleep, looked so defenseless.

So much so that I feel kind of weird guilty.

Kato's impression is accompanied by some dangers and dangers.

Whenever I see those aspects, I get the desire to protect them.

However, I was rightly aware that the thoughts in me were not just that.

Because of those emotional swings, I may have gotten a little off hand.

The cup I put on top of the basin made a noise.

"... ah. Senior."

He slept shallow.

Kato, who heard the noise, woke up.

"Bad. You woke me up"

I spoke to her when she woke up recognizing this one.

"But if you're going to sleep, you better sleep in bed properly"

"No. Hey, I just fell asleep..."

The look on Kato's face, who answers so, seemed, at first glance, to be as usual.

Though, given her character, I can't be relieved.

"Is that it? What about Mr. Rose?

Mr. Kato asked one beat late and looked like he had noticed.

And I answered, showing the basin in my hand.

"Looks like I had a little errand to run. So he asked me to take this."

……

There was something to think about.

I'm talking about Kato.

Maybe I noticed Rose's care.

Most of all, I didn't do anything to point it out.

"Thank you. Well, I'll take it."

Mr. Kato stood up and received a basin from me.

"Be seated, seniors, for I will brew"

"Oh."

Though I replied, this room was small and there was no place to sit except in Mr. Kato's chair.

I got a little lost, but I put my hips down on the bed.

Without being waited so long, the good smell tickled my nose.

Mr. Kato came here with two cups.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks"

I thank you and accept.

"Excuse me."

I thought I'd go straight back to the chair, but Mr. Kato lowered his back next to the bed.

There's not a single fist in the gap.

It was the distance my arms touched each other.

I was somewhat concerned about that, not because that's unusual.

This much distance was normal for us right now.

As unconscious as I dare to be - really sometime, this was the norm.

What a strange feeling to think that when we just met, we were pointing our suspicious gaze, but this was the natural distance for us right now.

Well, that's between us.

How does it look in the eyes of someone else at all?

That's what I thought.

It wouldn't be normal.

It's not strange to look special.

Regardless, it's not special for men and women, it's special as trusted companions.

But you can't possibly find that out besides the rest of us.

Even if they look like men and women, it's never weird.

Maybe that's what your hand wash thought.

For example, I can snort that I went into tomorrow's action.

This is a very common story, as the sensibility of a girl going to high school... but if a man like you are socializing with more than one person and a close friend were trying to get along well, that would stop it.

But this time it was a misunderstanding.

Yes. Misunderstood.

... should be.

I tilted the cup once and wet my throat and opened my mouth.

"Rose told me. Do you still care about your hand wash?"

Cutting out the story from here, Kato nodded honestly.

"... right. If you say you don't care, you're lying."

As I glanced, my expression shook up.

"I was hoping that my relationship with Aoi would help my predecessor's relationship with the expedition. There was an exchange in the expedition because it was about Shimazu-san and Iino."

"... Was it"

"Yes. It's a stupid story. In fact, it wasn't."

If I had such thoughts, that development would have been an extra shock.

Mr. Kato sighed quietly.

"The rendezvous with the expedition flowed with that. On the contrary, the relationship itself could have gone bad"

Like Rose said, he seems badly depressed.

This was, indeed, the right thing to do when I came to talk to you.

You'll need to follow up.

"Nothing. I don't care."

When I spoke, Kato looked up to me.

"But seniors..."

"Either way, there was an incident in the Dragon Abyss and Okazaki, so we wouldn't have been able to rendezvous"

"As it turns out, yes, but"

"Besides, I thought you might turn down the rendezvous."

When I told her, Kato took a short breath.

"... Really?

"Somehow. I thought so somewhere in my head."

So I'm not so surprised that it did.

'I knew it' if I wanted to.

"Today's contact with the expedition also involved trying to be clear around it."

Whatever it is, trumpeting options from the beginning leads to narrowing down possibilities.

Besides, I had a thought.

That was turned down, too.

"There are some aspects of the expedition that I figured out thanks to your hand wash. Around the time we talked about using Lily as a resuscitation tool for the dead, it was so helpful to know. So there's nothing wrong with Kato."

"... is that right?"

You must have figured out that there was no lie in my words.

Kato nodded and dropped his gaze on the liquid surface of the cup in his hand.

I just couldn't get that look yet.

My words didn't make sense, I don't even think.

He understood, and I felt convinced.

Speaking of which...... does it feel like there are still other things that are blocking my feelings?

I didn't know what that was, but before I asked from here, Kato was opening his mouth this time.

"Um, seniors. I just want to apologize for one more thing."

"What do you want to apologize for?

"Yes."

The gaze that was pouring into the cup turned this way.

A snack.

It was like being frightened by this reaction.

"To Aoi, that's what I said. Seniors, I don't... like them."

……

Moment after moment, I realized that my body would harden.

- I don't like seniors.

- It's annoying to be mistaken.

Those words lingered to creep in the back of my ear.

"No, that's not it."

Mr. Kato took over the words in a hurry.

"I don't know what that is. Then it feels like I don't like the seniors. But I'm not. Because Aoi was oh, that's what I just said. I respect and respect my predecessors. Important, I mean. I can't believe I don't like it."

The words to be spinned were followed.

Words don't come out well.

Still, I want to tell you somehow.

I could feel that feeling.

……

It's okay, I know - and it would have been an immediate occasion to return it.

I'm sure we think of each other as important people, and in the first place, I don't doubt that.

But I could not return the words immediately.

Because there was one thing I noticed because they talked about that time.

No. Instead of realizing it, should I say I can't help but be aware again?

- That I became rigid as soon as they cut out the story.

- In the first place, the reason I felt a little awkward about being alone.

I mean, I couldn't help but notice what Kato said.

I was originally aware of that fact.

However, when you two were thus asked about that time from Kato's own mouth, I could not help but feel strongly about that fact again.

Of course, I know a hundred things that were spoken of because your handwasher was there.

Still, I was really worried about it.

It was a stupid story.

I think so myself.

But I didn't think it was crap.

I can't do it with reason.

Reason doesn't work.

Because I knew the emotions directed at the girl in front of me were of that kind.

The emotion, at some point, was so much bigger.

To such an extent that it is impossible to hold it down.

"... seniors?

At a distance you could hold him if you turned your hand, Mr. Kato raised a strange voice.

Her very existence, where the voice touching her earlobes, the body temperature felt at close range, is small, luxurious and somewhere in danger, cannot be felt by anything important.

The emotion resembled a flame.

I've been trying to draw a line against Kato.

But the flames of burning emotions in my chest were burning up what had held me down so far at this moment.

Thinking of the hang-up that happened, it could have been an ironic result for your hand wash.

"Mr. Kato."

Call me, touch that shoulder and face back.

If I had any reluctant bare gestures at all, I would have immediately let go of my hand.

However, although she was frightened and stiff, she never hated it.

"Shh, seniors...?

Soon, those cheeks became red.

My wet eyes are looking up at this one.

"Mr. Kato. I 'm-"