Well, time certainly flies, and Naoya Zen'in has already become a third-year.
It feels like just yesterday those literal brats were smelling of diapers, and now they're already elementary schoolers. Time really does move fast. Kids start hanging out with other kids their own age eventually, so looking after them has become a lot easier lately.
Even so, for some reason, one of them still insists on coming to see me. Why is that, Mai Zen'in?
While Maki Zen'in is off playing kickball or Monster Hunter with the others, this girl is the only one who comes to me for training. That's not normal for a kid. She must be a little crazy.
...Well, regardless of how it started, I did say we were master and disciple, so I'll look after her.
But it's a bit scary seeing a kid get so excited about it. First, she was bloodthirsty about getting Shoko Ieiri to teach her Reverse Cursed Technique, and now she's demanding I teach her precise cursed energy manipulation and physical reinforcement.
Honestly, it's a bit off-putting. How much does this girl want to be a brawler? Girls should stay a thousand steps behind and just throw a spear or something, seriously.
So, I started wondering if it was really right to let Mai Zen'in do nothing but train, even if it was her own wish. Today, on the way back from exorcising a Grade 3 cursed spirit with her, I decided to take her to a nearby aquarium to give her some much-needed distraction. However—
"Mai-chan, can we stop holding hands like this? There's a size difference, so doesn't it hurt your fingers?"
"No. I like it this way."
And so, pathologically, I'm being forced into a lover's hand-clasp by a first-grader.
The warm, smiling gazes from the parents around us are annoying as hell. What are you looking at? I'll kill you.
Besides, I just came in here on a whim, but an aquarium... Since I can't eat them, looking at fish doesn't really do anything for me. I'm sure I ate them when I was a kid, but I've lost all memory of what they taste like. To be blunt, when I take the kids to a steakhouse, I can't even imagine the flavor, so I have to rely on restaurant reviews. ...I made a mistake with this choice. I'm bored out of my mind.
"The fish here look happy."
"You think so? Being stuck in a cramped tank usually sucks, doesn't it? Isn't the normal way of thinking that it's better to swim freely in the ocean?"
"I'd rather be kept inside a tank."
"Is that so? Well, whatever floats your boat. I guess. You're a strange one for your age."
"Big sister would probably prefer the ocean, wouldn't she?"
"Probably. That's the normal way to think."
"What about you, Naoya?"
"I'd rather be free than be kept until I rot, obviously. That's a no-brainer."
"Even though you're binding everything so much?"
"No, this is actually for the sake of freedom. Listen, Mai-chan, I'll teach you something: the weak have no path to live freely. If you don't understand how to live by relying on the strong, you won't even be able to breathe."
"Hmm. Then, I'll rely on you and play my part, so make sure you protect me, Naoya."
"...That's not something a kid your age should be saying. I think a wife should stay three steps behind, know her place, and support her husband. But listen, that's adult talk. You're still a kid, right, Mai-chan?"
"I'm Naoya's fiancée, and I'm already a proper lady."
"Don't talk stupid. You're way too young to be a lady."
Seriously, young girls talk way too much for their own good. What's so fun about discussing life philosophy with a kid at an aquarium?
Man. I wish the crab in that tank could take over as Mai-chan's conversation partner right about now. Talking to this kid wears me out.
...I don't know what the old man is thinking, but the engagement between me and the twins, Mai-chan and Maki-chan, is somehow still valid. Since the primary school was built as a joint venture between the Gojo and Zen'in families, and the goal was to protect the twins from that idiot Ogi Zen'in, he should be able to scrap my engagement by now.
I know for a fact that since I'm almost eighteen, a ridiculous number of marriage proposals are coming in from various families. And they're all for well-endowed older women! Hurry up and set up an interview already, seriously.
At this rate, I'm definitely going to end up as a 'wizard' by default. Even with an age-gap couple, Suguru Geto having an older wife is one thing, but a wife eleven and a half years younger than me will undoubtedly get me treated like a criminal.
And Satoru Gojo will absolutely start calling me Hikaru Genji. I can easily imagine it now, and the fact that I'm certain it'll happen is the absolute worst...
Before that happens, I really wish they'd let me marry one of those busty older sisters from the proposals. I know Mei Mei even sent one in, though she probably didn't expect much. I won't touch her, though, because she'd definitely strip me of every cent I own. I hate the idea of being on an allowance. She's already taken control of my fan club, so I can't let my guard down. I'm supposed to dislike women who don't know their place, but those curves of hers make me want to forgive everything... Is that some kind of cursed technique...?
Come to think of it, I feel like she had a hand in the fan clubs for Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, too... Scary...
Also, Azuki Sakata sent one in too. Could you maybe come back after you've actually got a chest to speak of?
While I was thinking about that, Mai-chan started sulking, muttering, "You're thinking about other women, aren't you?" What the hell. Do women have some kind of 'other woman' radar?
I really wish the moray eel in the tank would swap places and talk to her.
Even that sea anemone over there would do. No? Not happening...
Sigh...
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