Chapter 18

After finishing her meeting with Kōichi Okaya, Ruria Kaeda returned to her room.

"…………"

The room was a terrifyingly large Japanese-style room, but the furniture was Western-style.

She approached the canopy bed and dove onto it with a plop.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu~"

She kicked her limbs up and down.

She was incredibly worried.

"Okaya. What does cohabitation mean? Living with such a beautiful woman..."

At the end of today's meeting, the beautiful girl working at the café had said that.

She had tried to ask for more details, but because they were in the shop, she couldn't delve further.

"I'm so worried. Is that woman really cohabiting with him? What is she to Okaya? Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu~!"

Just then,

"Excuse me, Miss."

A man's voice came from the other side of the shoji screen.

Ruria jumped up, tidied her disheveled hair and clothes, and sat on the bed.

"Zarigawa, come in."

The shoji screen opened, and a man who looked like a Terminator walked in.

He was a muscular man wearing sunglasses.

"Miss, I've done some investigating!"

"Investigating...?"

Ruria turned her head to look at the man.

He approached her with an excited expression and took out a thick file from the case he was holding.

[Investigation Results: Kōichi Okaya]

"This...!"

"I thought you were worried, so this [Zarigawa Saburō] investigated after that!"

"Y-You did...? No, no! That's not good!"

Ruria slapped the file out of Zarigawa's hands.

"Why not? Miss, aren't you worried? About that girl?"

"Ugh... That's..."

Saburō took the file and sat next to Ruria.

"This Zarigawa Saburō, out of a desire to support Miss Ruria's love, has conducted this investigation."

"...Aren't you enjoying this a bit too much?"

"Absolutely not! Come on, Miss, take a look. His address and information about that girl are written here~?"

"Uu... Uu... No, but... I don't want to."

Ruria got up and shook her head.

"This is an invasion of privacy. You know that, right? I don't want to use the power of the Kaeda family against him."

"But... you're worried, aren't you? Is it okay?"

Saburō flipped through the documents.

"Wow! Such a fact!"

"......" *Twitch*.

"Amazing! The cohabitation is real... Yes, and even more...!"

"......" *Twitch* *Twitch*.

Ruria, as mentioned earlier, did not want to use her family's power.

But, egged on by Saburō, she desperately wanted to see the contents of the file.

"Come on, Miss, what you want is right there."

"Uu..."

Just then,

"Saburō, what are you doing?"

"Ge...! Onee-chan!"

The shoji screen opened, and a tall woman in a suit stood there.

She had long hair in a ponytail and a model's figure.

She was Zarigawa Ichika, Saburō's sister.

Saburō's face turned pale at her appearance.

"No, nothing! I'm not doing anything, Onee-chan!"

"Oh, really?"

Ichika approached and easily lifted Saburō by his arm.

She performed a flawless shoulder throw and applied a joint lock to her fallen brother.

"Miss, she doesn't want it."

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Stop it, Onee-chan!"

"I'm sorry, Miss. My stupid brother acted on his own."

"Ah, no... Um! While his actions were inappropriate, he did it for me. I'll forgive him."

Ichika released her brother.

"So... What will you do with that file?"

Ichika pointed at the investigation report.

"Well... I'm hesitating."

"Why not just look at it? What are you hesitating about, Onee-chan?"

"Saburō, you don't understand a girl's heart. That's why you don't get any dates."

"Ugh..."

Watching the Zarigawa siblings, Ruria pondered.

The information she wanted was in that file.

But looking at it felt like intruding on the private life of the man she liked.

"What should I do...?"

"That's not something for mere servants like us to decide."

Ichika was right.

It would be a mistake to leave such an important decision to others.

"But one thing is certain: if you hesitate, that girl will take away the man you love. You don't want that, do you?"

"...No."

"Then you need to act. Now is the time to make your move, since he's currently single."

"You're right, Miss. Unlike in harem novels, there's only one man you can marry. Of course, if you want, you could reverse the harem... *cough*"

Ichika stomped on Saburō's back as he lay on the ground.

"How about this? I'll take you to Mr. Okaya's house."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"See, the manuscript was revised during today's meeting, right? So, you can take the revised manuscript to Mr. Okaya's house."

"Ah, but Onee-chan, we're supposed to send it by fax."

"Make up an excuse, like the fax machine is broken, and go to his house. You can say you got the address from your boss."

"Ah, I see...!"

Saburō and Ruria nodded in agreement.

"In other words, Miss, you won't look at the contents of the investigation report. I, who know the address, will take you to Mr. Okaya's house. There, you can ask him and the girl directly."

"That's right. That way, it won't be an invasion of privacy. Good thinking, Onee-chan!"

Ichika's suggestion was reasonable and practical.

But Ruria still hesitated.

Going to the house of the man she liked alone was embarrassing, and she worried about being a bother.

"Miss."

Ichika took Ruria's hand.

"Please make a decision you won't regret."

"You're right, Miss! If you run away now, you'll definitely regret it later!"

...They were right.

If she ran away now and lost Okaya, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

"Ichika, Saburō. I... will go to Okaya's house."

The Zarigawa siblings smiled and nodded.

"Alright! Then I'll go break the fax machine!"

"You don't need to actually break it, you idiot."

Ruria sat at her desk and took out some manuscript paper.

Ichika silently placed a new stack of manuscript paper on the desk.

"Will you be having dinner here? I'll bring you a sandwich later."

"Yes, thank you. Oh, right. Grandfather is coming for dinner today... I need to eat with him..."

"I'll take care of that. Please finish your manuscript quickly, Miss."

Ruria looked up at Ichika and smiled.

"Thank you, Ichika. And Saburō too."

"No problem! It's for you, Miss!"

"Don't worry about it. Miss, good luck."

The Zarigawa siblings left the room.

"Who can't get married? You, because you're a muscle gorilla... *cough*!"

"Who's a female Bob Sapp? Huh?"

"......I didn't say that."

Ichika, who had just punched her brother in the stomach, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the room.

In the quiet room, Ruria closed her eyes.

She slapped her cheeks and mustered her courage.

"Alright! Wait for me, Okaya!"

...After that, Ruria completed the manuscript in an astonishing three days.

With it in hand, she went to Okaya's house.