Chapter 20: Is It Heresy for a Narrow-Eyed Character to Open Their Eyes?

Everyone’s doing whatever they can to get the maid to open her eyes—but nothing’s working. Not even a triple burger. Who knew that could fail?

“What should we do…?”

“If we want to make Hahari-san even happier… there’s only one thing left…‼”

“What is it, Kawaru-chan?! What’re you gonna do to Mama?! ❤”

“Mother… you’re phrasing that on purpose, aren’t you…?”

“…What if we make her laugh?”

“Make her… laugh?”

“…? How’s that supposed to open her eyes?”

No idea. I reacted without thinking. Is there even a connection between laughing and opening your eyes?

“Meido-san… bets on people who laugh with their eyes open!”

“That’s just villains, isn’t it?!”

“If a narrow-eyed character suddenly laughs with their eyes open, that manga’s about to end!”

“Tone shifts like that mean cancellation’s coming…”

They’re all pushing back hard. Still… what if it does work? But how do we make her laugh? Hm? What’s up, Rentarou? Got a good story? A joke? A fail? Whatever, might as well try it.

…Oh. The “10-Question Quiz”? That trick where you repeat a word ten times to plant it in someone’s head, then hit ’em with a tricky question? And Kusuri-senpai’s twist on it… of course it involves drugs.

Ugh. Those squiggly lines again—flashback time?!

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"Totoro, Totoro, Totoro..."

"What’s the white, sticky food you eat on January 7th?"

"Tororo!"

"Wrong! It’s nanakusa-gayu! Tororo’s on the 3rd~!"

"Aah!"

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"...And that’s what happened."

Huh. Turns out it was kinda educational. Kusuri-senpai’s sharper than she looks. But how does that make her laugh?

“Anyway, after that, Kurumi got super into tororo, so I said this—”

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“Ahh… now I kinda wanna see it…”

“...Torororototoro!”

“Huh?”

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“The quiz messed me up so bad, I couldn’t even say My Neighbor Totoro.”

“…Heh!”

She laughed! But… her eyes are still closed? I thought we were close. Wait—what?

Spin spin spin…

“…Tororo.”

“Even I didn’t see that twist coming…‼”

The moment I heard “tororo,” I thought, Of course… Nice move, Kurumi. But tororo, huh… Kinda want some now.

“Torororototoro!”

“Hehe…! Torororo…!”

Still laughing. Well, if she’s happy, that’s what matters.

“Actually… that story was about Hahari-san!”

Gasp…!

The moment she realized that… her eyelids, closed all this time, snapped open. No way… her eyes are rainbow-colored?! Rentarou, how’d you pull this off?!

“Eh?! Eh?! Why’d her eyes open?!”

“Ah, that’s…”

Let me explain. I just finished decoding the full plan. Complex stuff takes time to load, y’know?

Basically, Rentarou used her instincts against her. She’s always smiling to show loyalty to Hahari-san. But the second she realized the story mocked Hahari, she forced herself to stop smiling—instinctively. And boom—eyes open. Sasukoi.

“Perfect plan… ❤”

“Sasukoi‼”

“Sasukoi…? Oh, like, ‘As expected of Rentarou-senpai’?”

“…Dunno. It just came out.”

Can’t help it. But to come up with this on the spot… genius.

“They were really rainbow-colored—!”

“[So pretty, yep!]”

Damn… her eyes looked like swirling rings of color. Kinda cool. Rentarou even noticed Hahari-san’s little mess-ups. Now Hahari’s all flustered… Cute…

…Wait. Cute? Hahari-san’s… cute? I mean, yeah, obviously. But not elegant-princess cute—more like that unexpected, clumsy charm she doesn’t realize she has… Who knew?

As for Mei-san, she’s been blushing since earlier. Embarrassed? Or—wait. This vibe… Is it love? It’s gotta be Rentarou. The timing fits. She’s never opened her eyes around him before.

“My, my, my~! Meido, could it be…? Did you fall in love at first sight with Rentarou’s handsome face⁉”

“"""Eh⁉"""”

‘TOTALLY GET THAT‼’

It felt like everyone thought it at the same time. No one even said it out loud, yet it echoed clear as day.

“Maid-neechan’s so nice—it’d be awesome if she joined the Rentarou Family!”

“[Oi-ra agrees, yessir~!]”

“N-not like I want her to join or anything!”

“Increasing family size is efficient.”

Yeah. Having Mei-san around would be great. She’s kind and could totally boost the Anti-Kurumi Spinny Defense Force… or so I thought. But—

“No… For a servant to love her lady’s beloved is unforgivable.”

“To dream of romance with Aijou-sama… I’d sooner die.”

‘……Meido-san……‼’

No way… I mean, yeah, it makes sense. But she’s not that kind of person! Isn’t there a way around this?

“Meido, you mustn’t hide your true feelings.”

“As you wish.”

“Aijou-sama... would you do me the honor of dating me?”

‘……Meido-san……‼’

...Well, that worked out. Props to Hahari-san!!

“I wouldn’t mind you taking me as your concubine.”

‘……Meido-san……‼’

“Stop doing sudden twist gags—people get confused!”

“The anime did it, so we’re good.”

Who’d have thought Mei-san—Meido-san—would (basically) join the family? Today, she’s doing a “trial run” as Rentarou’s exclusive maid.

Exclusive maid… Sounds like trial dating. A bit weird, but hey, it’s familiar territory for her. Feels right.

At this point, it’s basically official. If she joins… first priority: Kurumi’s food.

Right now, Mei-san’s the only one who can really cook. The others are decent, sure. But if we’re talking real prep work? She’s unmatched.

Rentarou’s got the brains, and yeah, he cooks sometimes… but he leans on pre-made stuff a lot.

Still… if Mei-san starts cranking out gourmet meals… am I obsolete? Even if she doesn’t mean to be, Kurumi’s taste buds could get too refined…‼

Then again, Kurumi’ll eat anything. I’m probably overthinking.

Still, I should level up. I’ve picked Mei-san’s brain before, but it might be time to go full apprentice mode. I’ll ask her.

“Aaaand… done!!”

Finally finished cooking. Took long enough. Now to pack it up for tomorrow… and clean… and—

Ugh. Exhausted. Can’t move. Not even gonna try. At least I didn’t pass out.

Might as well overthink stuff. What’s bugging me lately…?

Oh yeah. That Bzzt! moment. When Mei-san opened her eyes and they said it was “love at first sight”... it stuck with me.

Sure, I felt it. But I already knew his face—it wasn’t just about looks!

But… if God says Bzzt! means “love at first sight”… and I did end up liking his face anyway… Eh, whatever. I like him now. That’s what matters.

I’m kinda different from the others. I don’t get hyped over stuff I already know. But I’m working on it.

Hm? A message from Hahari-san. Can’t lift my phone, but I saw the preview…

‘Kawaru-chan wear a maid outfit‼‼❤❤❤... Oh, right! Mei’s gonna…’

…Girl. Please. Filter yourself‼ That’s just raw instinct!!