Chapter 6: University Period

Editing and Proofreading: LordVTP and Marv

Part 1

As I was starting university, I couldn't work full-time like before.

I split my shifts with a new hire, although from what Aqua told me, the newcomer wasn't that good at his job.

"This new guy sucks, Kazuma! Oi, why don't you drop out of school and work as my assistant? I'll give you a raise, or whatever!"

"The shelf-life of idols, especially controversial ones like Aqua, is largely unpredictable. I can't base my career on your success… The more I think about it, that's a bad idea. Never bring it up again."

I was chatting with Aqua in her dressing room after a show.

"Obviously, I will have a career in this business forever. Kazuma won't screw up investing in me."

"That's straight-up a lie."

I don't have any problems with this line of work, but spending my days as Aqua's assistant didn't appeal to me very much.

"Oi, Kazuma-kun, can I see you for a second?"

I was called over by my real employer, Cecily-san.

"What is it? If you're going to ask me to sabotage a rival idol again, I'm sorry but I can't do that kind of work. I can't do that kind of work without proper reimbursement, I mean."

"That rotten attitude of yours is what makes Kazuma so valuable. But that's not what I need you to do today. It's about the event coming up…"

The next event in our schedule was a charity performance for the local community.

Cecily-san wanted to boost local support for Aqua, so I had come up with the idea of holding an event for the locals. The proceeds would go to one of the city's fundraising efforts.

"Since it's Kazuma-kun's idea, I feel that you should be the one in charge of this event."

"In a dog eat dog world like the idol business, Cecily-san is actually giving me the chance to earn some recognition? As if. You're just dumping the work on me and plan to take the credit in the end, right?"

"I'd do the job myself but I have to work on our long term projects, too. For a relatively small-scale project like this, I thought that I could trust Kazuma-kun with the work."

"Trusting a mere assistant with running a project, what is Cecily-san thinking?"

"I'm thinking Kazuma-kun is kind of stupid to think I only consider him a mere assistant. Can't you tell I'm grooming you for the future, my protégé?"

With a wink, Cecily-san left me there as I was processing her words.

Cecily-san… Is grooming me as her protégé?

"Uwaa~ Can it be that Kazuma actually fell for that? It's obvious that Cecily-san is dumping the work on you and waiting to take credit in the end."

Aqua was quick to ground me back into reality.

Part 2

"Lately, doesn't Megumin smell a bit weird?"

"Can Kazuma not start our conversations with an insult? I came back from lab work and used some fragrant chemicals. I'll go take a bath."

In the rare moments we could be alone, Megumin would come over.

"Megumin can take a bath after Kazuto finishes his."

"I'm surprised Kazuma didn't offer to join me this time."

"Doing lewd stuff in the bath when my mother could potentially use it afterwards? No thank you."

"Who said anything about lewd stuff? Anyways, I'm off to take a bath now. Farewell."

"Why does Megumin have to make even the most common daily routine sound dramatic? Just leave already."

…

…

When Megumin came back from bathing, she sighed and roughly closed the door behind her.

"What's wrong, Megumin? Did you happen to catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, see the lack of physical development despite being a college girl now, and become frustrated?"

"That's not what happened but I feel like hitting Kazuma now for even implying that I'd have a pitiful moment like that. I saw Kazuto peeping on me again. I thought his antics were cute at first, but it's getting annoying."

"That kid still has a crush on Megumin? What's wrong with him? Is he crazy?"

"It seems like Kazuma is siding with me, but why do I feel like I'm being insulted? Please stop finding all these sneaky and creative ways to diss me."

Megumin sat on my bed as she dried her hair with a towel.

I've noticed that she has been growing her hair out lately.

I prefer longer hair, but I couldn't imagine Megumin with anything longer than shoulder length hair.

"It's strange how that kid hasn't moved on yet. Isn't there a cute girl at school that could catch his attention?"

"There are two popular girls in Kazuto's class who are considered beauties, but I don't think they meet his taste. I don't find them especially attractive, myself."

"Kazuma said a lot of concerning things there. I want to know how Kazuma is so familiar about the girls in Kazuto's class."

"I'm collecting information on them right now, that's how I know."

"Kazuma, if you have committed a crime, please tell me now. Even if you go to prison, I will wait for you no matter how long it takes."

"I'm not doing anything strange. It's for work."

The local event Cecily-san entrusted me with…

It was more troublesome than I expected.

"There was a contest among the local schools and the winning class can participate in Aqua's event? Who came up with that stupid idea?"

"I suggested something like 'maybe we should get the community involved since this is a community event' and somehow it ended up like this. What I really meant was, 'let's get the community to do the grunt work for us for free so we can cut down on expenses'."

"That's what Kazuma gets for trying to take shortcuts. Looking at all these pictures… Uwaa, these kids all look like problem children. This looks like a class where the faculty dumps all the kids no one wants and assign some hapless new teacher to handle them."

Megumin said as she browsed the pictures I showed her from the portfolio I was given by Cecily-san, which revealed quite a bit of information.

Even the 'health day' results were included. The growth of these children in puberty over the years was available for my perusing.

For some reason, this sensitive information was given away without much caution.

"Oh? It looks like there is an exchange student mixed in here. Eh?! Isn't this girl really cute?! I didn't notice her from my scouting before!"

"So Kazuma admits to having done scouting even before he had this information available to him. Really, I'll be upset if my boyfriend has criminal tendencies… Oh, Kazuma is right. This girl is rather cute. What nationality is she?"

Megumin forgot what she had been saying as she became interested in the girl in the picture.

"I'm curious about this girl. Let's ask Kazuto about her. Kazuto, can you come here for a… bit…"

Megumin got up and opened the door to call for Kazuto.

She instantly found him on the other side.

"Were you listening this whole time?"

"I always listen. Please keep that in mind when you two plan on engaging in any erotic activities. There will be no inappropriate conduct happening on my watch."

It seems like my own home is a danger-zone now.

I'd rather not use Megumin's house. The madam always brought out her weird smelling candles whenever I came over.

"Never mind that for now, Kazuto. We are curious about this exchange student, do you know her?"

Kazuto's eyes lit up. He snatched the picture.

"It's a picture of Iris-san! Lucky! I'll have fap material for tonight!"

I knew he was going through puberty, but since when did my little brother get so perverted?

Megumin snatched the picture back.

"Kazuto, it seems like you are quite fond of this girl. Why don't you give up on me and try to woo this Iris girl, instead?"

"Why do I have to do that? I can have both Iris-san and Megu-nee if I try hard enough."

What's with that optimism?

"Kazuto, I just thought of something that could benefit both of us. If Kazuto gives me information about how to deal with his classmates, I will give Kazuto this picture of Iris."

"That sounds good. I'll also add a bonus favor, just for my nii-san. I will convince the more problematic people in my class to behave. This will make nii-san's job easier. In exchange, I want nii-san to tell me about the last lewd thing Megu-nee did for him."

"Kazuma, your brother is really gross."

I'm surprised it took her this long to figure that out.

"Megumin might have a problem with it, but I don't really care. I don't know why Kazuto would want to hear such a thing. I thought it'd be painful for any guy to hear about what their crush is doing in bed with another man."

"That is usually the case, but after being cruelly exposed many times to Megu-nee getting it on with nii-san, I developed a peculiar taste…"

I see. It was my fault for corrupting this little brother of mine.

Still, to develop a taste for NTR at such a young age, the pervert potential of this one is quite high.

Megumin seems to have many problems with it, but I decided to go ahead and make a deal with Kazuto.

"M-Megu-nee really did that?! How erotic! Along with this picture of Iris-chan, I will have a lot of fap material for tonight!"

"Kazuma, if you don't do something about your little brother, I will inform child protective services."

I couldn't tell if Megumin was bluffing or not.

Part 3

A few days later, Aqua and I were set to meet Kazuto's classmates.

"Whoa~! It's a real idol! I wish it was Eris who came, though…"

"Hey, is it true what I hear about idols? That they don't poop or pee? Then how come I saw Aqua-san coming out of the bathroom earlier?"

"Um… Why does this idol look like she wants to strangle us? It's just my imagination, right?"

"Damn kids…!"

It was only the first few minutes and these kids were already getting under Aqua's skin.

Since Aqua had the mental capacity of a kid, I thought she would get along with the kids.

I guess this 'All-Japan' line up of problem children was too much for her.

"First things first, even though you are all contest winners, please keep in mind that this is a professional event. If we are not satisfied with you, we will look for another class."

"…!"

Kazuto gave me all sorts useful information about his classmates.

He spilled everything, the little snitch.

As expected of problem children, this class made a show of boasting to the rest of the school about winning the contest.

If they were to fail on the very first day, they would surely be teased and made fun of by those they boasted to.

These kids who were hyper-conscious about how others perceived them, should understand the consequences that would come should they fail.

"We… We'll try our best!"

"Um, you're Kazuto-kun's nii-san, right? He told us that we should cooperate with you. Please lead the way!"

From within the group, Kazuto gave me a knowing look.

Somehow, Kazuto managed to make friends with the rowdy delinquents in the class.

Even with my threat, I doubted that those cocky group of delinquents would easily bend to my will.

With Kazuto vouching for me, I had the complete cooperation of the class.

"I don't really get what's going on, but why do I have the feeling that Kazuma is doing something really terrible?"

"Don't worry about it, Aqua. I'll leave teaching the steps to you and the choreography team. We have an hour with the kids every day after school and a total of two weeks to practice. I doubt that we'd need that much time, so have the kids work on the decorations when you're not teaching them the steps."

"Gotcha! And what will Kazuma be doing?"

"I'll take care of acquiring a venue, balancing the budget, renting costumes and…"

"Ah, I got it! I don't want to deal with that stressful stuff, so don't involve me in it!"

I watched Cecily-san at work enough times and remembered the random pieces of advice she'd throw my way. I didn't have much trouble setting things up behind the scenes.

I was already well equipped for the job in terms of the know-hows.

Maybe Cecily-san really was training me as an apprentice of sorts.

"Um… H-Hello… I… Need… Um…"

I had set aside a working area for myself in the school's gymnasium, which the school lent us for practice.

While I was working, a familiar looking blonde girl approached me.

"Oh, Iris, right?"

"Eh? How… How you know…?"

Since she only recently transferred, her Japanese was still a work in progress.

This transfer student was sent to the class of problem children.

I understand not having enough classroom space, but I feel like the faculty staff should have tried a bit harder.

They were essentially sending an innocent lamb to a pack of wolves.

I was quite concerned, but for now, Iris was trying to tell me something.

I took out my phone and launched an app.

A robotic, monotone voice came out,

"What do you need, Iris?"

While not exactly perfect, translation and voice-to-text technology sure came far through the years.

Seeing my idea, Iris's face lit up. She smiled in relief. I handed her my phone and she typed out her response,

"This gig is lame AF, Kazzi. I'm going back to my crib, muthafucka."

Eh?

I don't think I screwed up with the settings or anything, did I?

Seeing my stupefied face, Iris-chan rolled her eyes. She returned the phone and started sprinting to the exit. I was too stunned to stop her.

There were some kids in her way, Kazuto's delinquent friends, but they immediately made way for her.

Instead of the lamb, she was the wolf.

I see.

I think I see now why she ended up in the class of problem children.

Part 4

It was only the third practice and the event was already falling apart.

Encouraged by the sight of Iris leaving, the other kids felt empowered to skip as well.

At least a quarter of the class stopped showing up.

"What are you thinking, Kazuma-kun?! This was supposed to be a simple event, but you somehow managed to get a mutiny in your hands?! I trusted Kazuma-kun with this event, and this is the result?!"

I've never seen Cecily-san this angry before.

"I'm sorry, Cecily-san. I'll try to do better…"

I swallowed my pride and apologized, bowing.

"Did you know how hard it was to pass up the opportunity to spend the afternoons surrounded by junior high school girls?! Junior high school girls still sweaty from a long day of school! Junior high school girls still wearing their uniforms! I picked this school specifically because the uniform is cute, you know?! And yet I handed the project over to Kazuma-kun since I thought it would be a good learning opportunity! What a mistake!"

"Give me my pride back, you lolicon bitch…! And what's that about choosing a school because of their uniform? I thought the results were chosen by random!"

"Hah! All contests are rigged! These are the realities of the adult world, Kazuma-kun! Face it already!"

Cecily-san offered to help, but I didn't like the dangerous aura she was giving off. I assured her that I could handle the situation myself.

Iris was the key to all this. If I got her back on board, the other kids would follow her example.

However, just in case I failed at doing that, I came up with a back-up plan.

…

…

"Um… Who are these kids, Kazuma? And isn't that Megumin's little sister?"

Aqua asked me this the next day, as I arrived at the gym. I didn't come alone.

I recruited Komekko-chan and her schoolmates to replenish the numbers.

"We're making this a co-op between two schools now. Having a mix of big kids and small kids will be endearing. And with this many people, no one would be able to tell that those other kids ditched us."

"Kazuma has no shortage of dirty tactics."

If I managed to get Iris and the other kids back, that was fine. We will welcome them with open arms.

If they didn't come back, then screw them.

"We won't let you down, nii-san! Everyone, let's try our best!"

"Yosh! Komekko-chan!"

As expected of Komekko-chan, she already had her classmates wrapped around her little finger.

Perhaps not willing to get shown up by a bunch of younger kids, the problem children of Kazuto's class picked up on their efforts as well.

Since that was taken care of, I paid a visit to Iris.

I knew her address from the profile I was given.

She was staying in a fancy condominium in downtown.

When I paged the room, a female voice answered.

"Yes? Who is this?"

"I am the project manager for the school project Iris is currently skipping on right now. I've already visited numerous households since the other kids are skipping after they followed Iris's example, so I would like you to cooperate with me."

"…! I'm… I'm sorry for all the trouble our young lady has caused! I'll let you up immediately, sir!"

I lied about one thing.

There was no way I'd spend all that effort visiting all those homes when I only had to take out the ringleader.

I didn't want to meet any resistance from Iris's guardians and increased the sense of urgency.

The door opened and I took the elevator up to Iris's floor.

When I knocked on the door, the door was opened immediately.

A cute, blonde maid greeted me.

"I-I'm sorry for having you come all this way, sir! Going around to so many homes, you must be tired! Please come in and have some tea!"

After serving me tea, the maid introduced herself as Rain.

"Nice to meet you, Rain-san. Where is Iris right now?"

"Um… Her guardian, Claire, is trying to get her to come out of her room right now, but she's not succeeding…"

"Can I come see her myself?"

"Ah! W-Well, there isn't any problem, but the young lady isn't exactly presentable right now…"

"There is no problem."

"Eh? But, but she's not adequately dressed, and…"

"There is no problem at all."

I am not perving out here.

This is a viable strategy.

If I confronted Iris while she was in a vulnerable state, she'd be easier to persuade.

"It's fine. Please show me to her room."

"Um, I'm not doubting you here, but can I please see some identification? You're really the project manager and not some random pervert, right?"

The subservient attitude went away as Rain-san looked at me suspiciously.

After I showed her some documents proving that I wasn't some random perv, she allowed me to enter the room.

A tall, busty, blonde woman wearing a white suit was speaking in English with Iris. This white suit woman must be Claire-san.

Claire-san was the first to notice me.

"Good evening, sir. Sorry for having you come all this way. As you can see, my charge is refusing to speak with you. I'm sorry but perhaps this visit won't work out."

For some reason, I was meeting resistance with this white suit onee-san.

Could it be that Iris was so spoiled because of this lenient woman?

I looked at Iris who currently had her back turned to us. Like Rain-san said, her hair was a mess and her clothes were in a disarray.

The straps of her tank-top were drooping down, nearly revealing her chest.

She was still ignoring me despite being aware of my presence, completely absorbed in a game she was playing on her computer.

I recognized the game she was playing.

Maybe I could use this to my advantage.

"Iris plays that game too, huh?"

I took out my text-to-speech translator again.

From my words, Iris's ears perked up. I got her attention.

"I recognize the monster Iris is fighting right now. The weak point is the legs. If Iris aims for the legs, she will cripple it, making the monster vulnerable to attacks."

She looked at me suspiciously before trying out my advice.

"…!"

She was startled as the monster fell to its knees, leaving it open for an uninterrupted assault.

It didn't take long for the 'Victory' message to pop up.

Iris stared at me in wonder. She grabbed my phone and typed into the text-to-speech app.

"How did you know about that hax? That monster was hard AF to pwn! I was about to ragequit until you showed me that epic move!"

I was already getting annoyed by her speech.

Speaking in such stereotypical 'gamer slang', somebody Iris met online probably thought it was funny to teach a kid to speak this way.

Only a true scumbag would trick an impressionable child to speak in such a crude manner.

"I can teach more moves to Iris, if she wants."

"Epic! Let's pwn some skrub noobs 2gether FTW, Kazzi!"

It's getting worse.

"On two conditions. First, you speak properly without all the l33t speak. The second condition is that Iris must come to practice again."

Her excitement died down as I explained my conditions.

She looked a bit betrayed as she turned around and started gaming again.

I watched her accept a quest that would normally take at least a party of 4 to complete.

As expected, she died almost immediately.

She only sighed and accepted the quest again.

"Oi, doesn't Iris know that you need at least 4 people to complete that quest?"

"I know."

"Does Iris not belong in any party?"

"No, and I don't need one."

"You know… If Iris comes to practice, maybe I can party up with her for a bit? I have friends who play this game, you know?"

She ignored my offer and continued playing.

"…As you can see, sir, Iris would like to be left alone for now. Thank you for your efforts."

This white suit lady isn't helping.

I didn't want to cause a commotion in somebody else's home. I followed Claire-san as she led me out the door.

"W-Wait… I… Can… Play…?"

In broken Japanese, Iris called out to me.

"Of course. I'll see Iris tomorrow."

…

…

The next day, Iris came to practice. Following her example, the other kids who skipped started attending as well.

Now I had two full classes of children.

"Alright, kids! Follow my moves in 1… 2… 3…. Eh?! Gahhh! You stepped on my foot, you little bugger! It huuuurttsss!"

With so many bodies, the gymnasium stage wasn't big enough.

…We're going to need a bigger venue.

Part 5

The day of the event…

"Everyone! Thank you for coming~! Now, please enjoy the fruit of our efforts!"

Aqua started off the event with a simple, but heartfelt speech.

In three weeks, the children had perfected their routine.

I also managed to take care of the behind-the-scenes logistics. Everyone had their own fitted costumes, the venue was big enough for all the attendees, and the stage was big enough for the performers.

"You did well, Kazuma-kun. I knew I could trust you. And good job with those costumes! They look cute!"

"Out of all the things Cecily-san could give me praise for, it was the costumes."

I was seated in the front row with Cecily-san. I also invited Megumin and both of our families to watch Komekko-chan and Kazuto perform.

"I'm so excited, hubby! Look at all those cameras recording this event! Our Komekko-chan is going to be a star!"

The madam was already eyeing Komekko-chan as if she were a golden goose.

"Yes, it's all very exciting! Ah, I think I see Kazuto! Eh? Doesn't it look like he's hanging around with a bunch of problematic looking children?"

My mother turned to me in question. It wasn't my job to counsel that kid, so I ignored the parent who allowed her son grow up a delinquent.

The performance went off without a hitch. Aqua and her team did a good job teaching the children.

They had gotten so good that some children who could carry a tune were even given back-up vocalist duties.

Among these children was Iris. She was given English lyrics to sing, to make it easier for her.

The languages blended well together. There was often a mix of Japanese and English in most pop songs these days, anyways.

Iris was definitely the best singer among the children and obviously received prior formal education.

From a few rows back, I could see Claire-san and Rain-san looking at their young charge with pride.

Iris would have stolen the show by herself with her performance, but…

"Eh? I've been thinking this for a while now, but where's Komekko-chan? I lost track of her about midway through this last song…"

Hyoizaburo-san, who had been crying tears of pride all this while, said when Komekko-chan suddenly disappeared.

"Maybe she needed to pee and snuck off to use the bathroom. But when she came back, she saw that the song was about to end and felt bad about sneaking in, and now she's waiting behind the curtains and watching her classmates enviously."

That was a needlessly detailed account, Megumin.

I'll listen to your childhood traumas later. Please don't look so gloomy during your little sister's important event.

As the song was about to end, Komekko-chan finally returned to the stage.

"...!"

"Eh? What's Komekko-chan doing?!"

She returned in a dramatic way, cartwheeling and performing all sorts of acrobatics, as she made her way to center stage.

Komekko-chan appeared in front of Aqua, and snatched the microphone away from the star of the show.

"…Eh?"

Aqua looked at her empty hand.

"The great Komekko always steals the spotlight at the end!"

The great Komekko-chan said, as camera flashes erupted, capturing the unexpected stunt.

Part 6

Overnight the footage of Komekko-chan stealing the show became a trending topic in Japan.

You didn't often see a kid cartwheeling onto a stage and stealing the spotlight from an idol.

"I don't know whether to call that event a success or a failure considering what happened at the end there. However, since Komekko-chan is such a little cutie, I completely forgive her even if she did sabotage us! Hehe… That girl has potential. Maybe if I train her, mold her, she will become a formidable idol in the future?!"

Cecily-san already seemed like she's losing interest in her current idol.

Speaking of whom…

"Megumin! Your little sister completely stole the show! What do you have to say about that?!"

"To be honest I'm quite proud of her… Ah, no! I'm truly very sorry, Aqua! I'll make sure to give her a strong talking to!"

"I have a feeling Megumin will go easy on the discipline. I'll take matters in my own hands and give that little girl a spanking she'll remember for the rest of her life!"

Aqua wasn't very happy about the event.

She was receiving publicity from this incident, sure, but her pride couldn't handle being upstaged by a kid.

The other kids didn't really mind, though.

The whole performance was uploaded to all the major social media websites and was gaining lots of hits due to Komekko-chan's stunt.

They were indirectly getting famous as well.

Right now we were all 'celebrating' the 'success' of the event.

We booked a family restaurant for a party, bringing the kids and all the staff involved in the event along.

About midway through the evening, a certain blonde girl approached me.

She pulled out her phone and typed,

"Onii-chan, play with me again today."

In accordance to our deal, I would play that MMO with her in exchange for Iris's participation in the event.

"Doesn't Iris want to hang out with the other kids? Look, they are having fun."

"I don't really care about this sort of thing. Come play with me, onii-chan."

A cute young girl calling me 'onii-chan' would normally make me succumb to all her whims, but hearing it from a text-to-speech translator killed the charm somewhat.

"Listen, Iris. The real reason why I made you participate in the event was because I saw that you were throwing your youth away playing games. Stop being a LoliNEET and socialize with people your own age already!"

"Onii-chan is toxic AF! You're ditching me after you've lost your use for me, is that it?! WTF don't be a gold-digging THOT, onii-chan!"

She reverted back to that crude speech.

After hearing what Iris had to say, Megumin responded,

"Iris, please understand what your onii-chan is saying. It's no good if Iris spends all her days playing video games with adults like us."

"What adult? I don't see no adult here."

"Why you little brat…!"

Like Megumin said, it was no good if Iris didn't play with kids her own age.

As I was thinking, I saw Komekko and Kazuto getting along with their peers.

"Ah, I have an idea."

Part 7

"Onii-chan, I'm supposed to play with these noobs?"

Iris said as she looked at Komekko-chan and Kazuto.

"Oi, don't underestimate Komekko-chan. She'd sometimes play with us and she has a good grasp of the game. Ah, but you're right, Kazuto is a total noob. Please be patient with him."

"I'm not a noob! I haven't played this particular game yet because it's shitty and full of flaws!"

I couldn't really argue with him there.

"Hah?! Doesn't this noob realize that it's the game's faulty coding and design that makes it so charming?! Its selling point is its imperfections and crappy balancing! GTFO you noob!"

"This girl…! I thought you were cute at first, but I didn't know you were such a prissy bitch! And it's annoying to have to listen to this text-to-speech thing all the time! Learn Japanese already!"

"Why don't you learn English instead?! It's the most commonly used language in the world, dumbass!"

It didn't take long for these two to start fighting.

Even though Kazuto was desperate to acquire even just one picture of Iris before, he completely got over her once he learned of her true nature.

"Nii-san, I was playing a gacha game and drew this weapon I already own. I have a full inventory already, so do you want to trade for it?"

I don't have anything of equal value to that ridiculous weapon you apparently already have a duplicate of, Komekko-chan.

Iris and Komekko-chan were already playing, but the elitist snob Kazuto was still refusing to play this 'inferior' game.

"All the review websites gave this game a crappy review, there's no way I'll play it!"

"Why are you basing your opinion from an abstract score made by some guy you don't even know? Make your own opinions, you sheep!"

My approach didn't seem to work and only made Kazuto more obstinate.

"Oi, Megumin, it's your turn."

"I'd really like it if Kazuto-kun played this game. Maybe we can party together someday?"

"What class should I choose, I wonder? Maybe the archer class? And what's a good name to choose for my character? I think 'Revi' sounds good. What do you think, Megu-nee?"

This thirsty brat is too easy.

And with that, Iris got two new playmates.

Part 8

After that event, my workload, at least job wise, got lighter.

Cecily-san was able to work on other projects while I took care of the community project for her, which meant that our calendar was free for a while.

This didn't mean that I had any time for reprieve, though.

"…I don't want to do this anymore."

I said while looking at the essay that would be due in a few days.

Megumin and I were working on our homework in her room.

"It'd be pathetic if Kazuma burns out in his first year. Please hang in there."

"If Megumin gets naked right now maybe I can have the motivation to try again."

"We already did it earlier! And Kazuma used up the last of the condoms we had left. Remember to buy some more when you get the chance."

There was a tight correlation between my stress and lust levels.

"Kazuma should get a hobby. And I don't mean playing video games. Maybe something active."

"I may be heading down the path of a normie recently, but I still want to maintain some of my roots. I'm not going to join jogging groups or drink protein shakes or anything like that!"

"By the way, did I mention that Kazuma looks like he's gaining a bit of weight? Especially at the sides here."

Megumin poked at my sides. Her fingers sunk into the bit of fat that was growing there.

"Those… Those are only love handles! And no one will notice them if I wear my pants really high up!"

"Kazuma is still young and yet you're relying on slimming techniques already? Listen, Kazuma may be fine now, but in a couple years the high metabolism you enjoyed in your prime years will start to fade away. It starts in the sides, here, but with a couple more years and a few beers after work and…"

"I get it! I'll start exercising or whatever, so I get it!"

In face of the grim future Megumin depicted for me, I promised to become a bit more active.

"I know, why don't we do something right now? A physical activity that will get the sweat flowing… Why is Kazuma taking off his pants?"

"I thought Megumin was inviting me."

"I can't deny that lewd activities provide great exercise by itself, but that's not what I was referring to! Staying cooped up inside and having sex all day doesn't count as a hobby!"

"It sounds like a damn good hobby to me."

"Say, isn't the weather pretty good outside? Let's go out for a jog, Kazuma."

"I'd rather not."

"The alternative is Kazuma spending the next two hours finishing up his essay."

"I think the tracksuit I'm wearing right now should do, right? Let's get exercising, Megumin!"

I quickly saved my document and logged off the computer.

"I expected Kazuma to put up some more resistance. Anyways, let me change and I'll meet Kazuma outside."

"Why do I need to leave the room? I've already seen all of Megumin. Go ahead and change."

"It's called being a gentleman!"

What good did being a gentleman do for any guy?

When has a woman ever hooked up with a guy just because he opened the door for her or let her have his seat on the bus?

The synonym for 'gentle' is 'soft', you know? Just because I'm getting a bit soft at the sides, doesn't mean I'm soft when it comes to my pride as a man!

"I'm ready. Thanks for patiently waiting outside, Kazuma. Now, let's go."

"Yes, dear."

Megumin wore her old gym uniform from high school, a boring old tracksuit similar to mine.

I eagerly await for the return of bloomers.

Please make those fashionable again.

We started with a slow jog as we hit the streets.

The weather was good, as Megumin had said.

"Ah, the rush of wind hitting your face...Isn't this great, Kazuma?"

"Uh-huh."

"Getting fresh air after being cooped inside a room all day, this feels great!"

"Uh-huh."

"We should make this a routine. Ah, look another couple over there is jogging. Uwah… They look really fit. Oh, no, they're heading this way. If amateurs like us meet paths with them, we will look pretty pitiable in comparison. Let's cross the street."

Megumin was only self-conscious when it comes to minor, obscure things.

As we crossed the street, we ended up in front of the sweets store across from Megumin's apartment.

"Ara? Isn't that Megu-chan? You haven't been coming to use my landline phone recently ever since you got that fancy new smartphone!"

The old lady Megumin mentioned before greeted us.

"Ah! No, it's not that! I'm just busy with university and everything!"

"Or so you say, but isn't Megu-chan flirting around with a man right now? Sniff… Please don't forget about me…"

"Ahhh! No, that's not it at all!"

This old lady was obviously teasing Megumin, but she didn't catch on until later.

"Geez… Oba-san is so mean, playing with my emotions like that..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Megu-chan~ You're just so fun to tease! Here, you two, these sweets will expire in a few days but I still have a surplus of them left in stock. Finish them up for me, OK?"

We couldn't refuse her offer and accepted the sweets.

After saying goodbye, we resumed our jogging.

"Um… She sure gave us a lot of sweets, huh?"

"Uh-huh."

"Ugh… I guess it'd be a shame to throw them away."

"Uh-huh."

I was supposed to be losing weight, but I ended up eating a bunch of sweets instead.

After that day, Megumin and I kept up our jogging routine.

Combined with our 'bedroom activities', I did manage to get in a fair bit of exercise through these months.

About mid-way through my first year of university, the love handles were gone.