The day after the medical officers' assistants' dinner gathering,
Maomao
felt a heavy weight settling in her belly.
Sprawled on top of Maomao's belly was
Suzume,
and in the corner of the room,
You
had been bundled up in a futon and rolled over.
"Um..."
She hadn't had any drinks, but the atmosphere felt much the same as if she had. Going to the restaurant near the dormitory, as Suzume had proposed, turned out to be the right call. It was a place that stayed open quite late, so by the time they finally left, it was too late to even arrange a carriage.
Yao
and
Yenyan
should have been sleeping in
Chōsha's
room.
In the end, all manner of topics had come up after that.
What had transpired was this—
"You two understand things perfectly well with your heads, but don't you prioritize your emotions far too much?"
It was Chōsha who had bluntly laid bare, to Yao and Yenyan, exactly what everyone around them had been wanting to say for the longest time.
Normally, Yao would have been more rebellious, but lately she had been reflecting on her own conduct, so she kept quiet. Yenyan desperately wanted to argue back, but with Yao restraining her and Chōsha's relentless momentum of speaking, she couldn't win.
(If it were someone older saying it, maybe...)
Chōsha was the youngest among them all. Being lectured continuously by that young girl, and with nothing but sound reasoning to show for it.
"The way I see it, the reason things have ended up in this precarious state is because you've been treating Yao-san like a child all this time and affirming everything she does without question. Normally, no matter how much it's Maomao-san's family—"
"It's not my family home."
Maomao denied it, as usual.
"Putting that aside for now, Maomao, you should realize it's strange to keep freeloading like this forever. This is a household with an unmarried man around your age. Sure, the mansion is big, but you shouldn't be squatting here for years."
"That's exactly right. I understand."
It was fine that Enen agreed, but Chōsha's expression clouded over.
"But you've been indulging her all the same, Enen. That's why Yao-san keeps going even though she probably knows it's wrong. Yao-san has more common sense than she appears—if you'd properly put your foot down, she would have stopped. Yes, she was clearly showing she wanted to find a roundabout way to move out, but you never said anything.
Rahan,
was it? I should have told you that trying to stay because you're interested in him is a bad move."
Maomao wondered how to describe the atmosphere at that moment.
Like prepared dishes left
in the corner of the kitchen
during the summer heat and forgotten for days—that stench. That uniquely congealed quality, like the instant you lift the lid of that pot.
Yao's mouth trembled as her face gradually turned red.
Enen took on a demonic expression.
Sparrow kept shoveling rice into her mouth, while Yu's eyes
sparkled ever so slightly at the talk of
romance.
Maomao ordered extra drinks for the time being.
"Yao-san deserves! Someone! More! Decent!"
"Because Enen said things like that and kept men away from her daughter, our great-aunt supposedly remained unmarried her whole life. On her deathbed, her last words were that if her father was in paradise, she'd drag him down to hell. Is that the kind of grudge you want Yao-san to hold against you, Enen?"
"Th-that's..."
"Yao-san. You already realize this, I'm sure, but let's change the way you approach Rahan. Yes, yes, I know. Your feelings toward Rahan—you're not sure if they're romantic or just curiosity. But let's set that aside for now. At this rate, not only will you make him uncomfortable, but your own impression will suffer too. It'll even affect your work."
"My work too?"
Yao reacted to the word "work."
(That's smooth, Chōsha.)
Her talent for conversation came from having grown up in the most ordinary family one could imagine—for better or worse. The fact that Maomao could speak freely, even about the parts others would tread carefully around, was likely because she had grown up in an environment where, even if something was wrong, you could remain somewhat optimistic about it.
In the future, there would certainly be difficult moments in her dealings with the medical officials, but for now, that attitude was working in her favor.
"What kind of impression do you want Lord Luo Ban to have of you?"
"What kind... that's hard to say."
"Do you want to be admired for your beauty?"
"As if. What a pain."
"What a pain, huh?"
Sparrow reacted in a small voice. Maomao thought the same. Yao had fine features and a voluptuous figure. In other words, it was the kind of trouble only those who possess such things could have. It wasn't really a problem that concerned Maomao or Sparrow.
(The one who has that particular trouble,
Jinshi,
is the worst, honestly.)
Maomao sipped the tea the server had brought.
"So you want to be recognized as someone who's good at her job, then?"
"Y-yes."
Yao gave a vague affirmation.
YanYan scowled while staring at Changsha the whole time.
"Then why don't you go back to your family home for a while?"
"How does that follow?"
"If you want to be seen as someone capable, don't you also need to get a handle on household affairs, not just work?"
"That's a fair point, really."
Sparrow said that as she polished off the last of the braised pork belly.
"Your family estate—your uncle is still in the Western Capital, right?"
"Yes."
"Well then, now would be the perfect opportunity. You should seize control of the household while your uncle isn't around."
(This is getting ominous—)
Suzaku continued clearing away the leftovers without pause.
"While your uncle is away, who's been keeping the household running, I wonder?"
"My mother, I suppose."
"So then, is your mother any good at that sort of work?"
"I don't think she's particularly good at it."
"Then why don't you go do it in her place? Or are you saying your current work as a physician's assistant keeps you so busy you can't manage anything else?"
Suzaku said, goading her on.
Maomao had her own reservations about this. If Yao crammed too much in and pushed herself too hard, she'd only break down—much like how Yuu had wanted to return to the smallpox-ridden region.
But Suzaku was deliberately trying to back Yao into a corner.
Maomao assumed she had her reasons and kept quiet.
Yuu seemed like she wanted to say something, but Maomao quietly stopped her.
"Going back to your family home is a good thing, isn't it? After all, even if you were to leave Lord Rahan's place, I don't think you'd be able to manage living on your own. So wouldn't it be better to stay at your parents' house while helping with the household work?"
"Just a moment, Chousha."
"What is it, Yanyan?"
"Did you not just say 'living on your own'?"
"I did."
Yanyan's expression twisted.
"Well, if you want to become someone who can stand on her own, it doesn't make sense to have Yanyan take care of your meals and laundry, does it? That means you'd need to be able to live independently, but Yao isn't very good at housework, is she? She might be able to wash a sarashi, but she couldn't possibly use a"
flat iron
"on her clothes, could she? So you might as well give up on that and go back to your family home."
"Even if I go back to my family home, someone other than me will be doing the work. So wouldn't it be fine if I did it instead?"
"There's a huge problem with that. Yanyan and Yao work at the same place, doing the same job, right? But when you get home, Yao has nothing to do and Yanyan waits on her hand and foot. No matter how capable Yao might be at work, doesn't Yanyan clearly come out on top?"
An invisible, fatal arrow pierced through Yanyan's body. Maomao truly thought Chousha was terrifying.
"If you can't beat Yanyan at housework anyway, wouldn't going back to your family home and taking charge of the clan in your uncle's stead make you look more like someone who can actually get things done?"
"B-But..."
Yanyan looked at Yao as though clinging to her for help.
"You're right. I've been too easy on myself. Housework is work too, after all. I kept telling myself I could do everything when I really can't."
Yao was so honest.
And Chousha pressed her advantage against the now-honest Yao.
"Then let's go with returning to your family home."
"Yes. Are there any other areas where I fall short?"
"Well, if you're asking, there are a few."
Chousha said meaningfully.
"Will you tell me in detail?"
"Yes. I'll need to hear all about what kind of feelings you have toward Lord Raban."
Yu's eyes sparkled once more.
"Please tell me everything — what you like about him, what draws you to him, leave nothing out."
Yanyan, looking like she might keel over dead, pleaded for it to stop.
(Chousha is too much.)
Maomao resolved that she must never let Chousha corner her like this.
—And that was how the room assignments came about.
The reason Yao and Yanyan were still in Chousha's room was because the hellish talk of romance continued on and on.