After that, the two of them enjoyed the playground equipment. They swung on the swing, all the way to its zenith. They flew through the air with the Tarzan ropes, and played tag on the jungle gym. Once they were done with the more energetic activities, they went down the slide.
Watching Kusuri in high spirits brought a smile to Rentaro’s face. He wanted to match her childlike joy.
“Let’s go on seesaw next!” Kusuri declared as she enthusiastically plopped on the seat at one end.
Rentaro followed suit, sitting on the opposite seat, but…
“I figured this would happen.” He couldn’t help but chuckle self-deprecatingly. Their weights were so lopsided that the seesaw tilted entirely in his direction.
“Then Kusuri drink Medicine-Reversing Medicine, aye!” Kusuri whipped out a test tube and chugged its contents.
Her body grew rapidly. In an instant, she had transformed into a buxom young lady. This was Kusuri’s true form. Due to a failed immortality medicine, she normally possessed the body of an eight-year-old. Only when she drank the Medicine-Reversing Medicine could she revert to her original form.
With that body, the weight discrepancy between her and Rentaro was no longer that of a child versus a teen. Theoretically, they could play on the seesaw without a problem, but…well…
“Feels weird for two high schoolers to play on seesaw,” she remarked.
“You only realized that now?!”
Kusuri, now replete with a ponytail and glasses, seemed embarrassed, judging by the faint flush of her cheeks. Her mental age seemed to grow with her physical body. At the moment, she was every bit as mature as her appearance suggested.
“In any case…” Kusuri stood, walked over to Rentato, and cast a sideways glance. “The park at night is…fun in another way.”
Rentaro glanced in the direction Kusuri was looking and saw a couple making out in the bushes.
“Oh! Uh…”
Kusuri was standing right in front of where Rentaro was sitting on the seesaw. On top of which, she was leaning toward him, and their faces were almost touching. Being in such close proximity to an adult’s sexy allure made Rentaro stiffen. His heart pounded…
Mwah. Kusuri planted a kiss on Rentaro’s forehead.
“Leave it at this for today, aye,” she said with a cheeky grin.
In her child form, she was endearing in an innocent sort of way, but this Kusuri was very sophisticated and beautiful. Rentaro was once again reminded that both versions had their distinct charms.
“With Make Park Hundred Times More Fun Medicine, the seesaw might have been more enjoyable, even in this form,” Kusuri remarked, after a silence.
“I feel like that just paints a scarier picture, so I’d really appreciate it if you stopped right there!”
This sort of propensity was another one of Kusuri’s charms, at least as far as Rentaro was concerned.
Sunday, 12 a.m.
Though Kusuri went home to sleep, Rentaro still had another rendezvous lined up.
“I’m here, Hahari-san!”
It was less of a meetup and more of a house call.
“Why hello, Rentaro-chan! Come on in! I just finished work for today,” Hahari said.
“Wow! You’re such a hard worker!”
The woman shuffling papers around and exuding adult charm was Hanazono Hahari. She was Hakari’s mother, and also Rentaro’s girlfriend.
“I’m so sorry we had to have our date at this late hour, dear. My Saturday was fully booked.”
“I’ll come running at any hour, Hahari-san! Whatever time fits your schedule!”
“Tee hee. You’re such a sweetie.” Her slightly bashful demeanor made her appear younger than usual. Rentaro thought she was adorable. “But…you do understand what it means to visit a women’s room at this hour, don’t you?”
And then came the one-eighty. The seductive smile on her face gave her the air of a carnivore locking onto its prey.
“Let’s enjoy ourselves tonight, hm?”
“Y-yes…!”
As Hahari stroked his chin, Rentaro stiffened a little and dug his hand into his pocket. Having anticipated what would unfold next, he had made sure to bring those.
“It’s so fun playing cards!” he cried out as he revealed a deck of cards.
“Oof! Oh, Rentaro-chan, you’re always such an innocent, wholesome boy!” Hahari subtly clutched her head in her hands. “That’s all well and good, but isn’t there something else we could do? A more adult kind of entertainment?”
“Ah… I understand.”
Even Rentaro wasn’t so simpleminded as to believe that a mere pack of playing cards would be enough for the entire night. He had something else up his sleeve.
“You’re talking about UNO, aren’t you?”
“How is UNO more adult?” This time, Hahari didn’t even bother trying to hide her disbelief. However, she quickly composed herself, covering with a cough. “Rentaro-chan, I see how it is. You are firm in your beliefs and I respect that.”
Rentaro stuck to his wholesome principles. Hahari nodded in approval.
“Putting that aside for now… How about we play house? I’ll be the mother and you’ll be the baby!”
“How did we get from cards to this?!” Rentaro couldn’t help but shout, even though he always wanted to grant his girlfriends’ desires to the best of his abilities. “Well, if it’s family friendly, I don’t mind…”
“Why, yes! It’s very, very family friendly!” Hahari insisted. The drool on her chin made that seem suspect, but Rentaro decided to ignore that for the moment. “Now then, lie down, my darling!”
Hahari gently coaxed him into laying his head in her lap.
Whoa?! His view was instantly blocked by two enormous mounds. Yeah, I’m really doubting that this is family friendly!
Crushed under the pressure, Rentaro was about to suggest a rain check, but…
“Every day is bliss with you as my boyfriend, Rentaro-chan!” Her gentle voice warmed his heart. “But you know that it’s fine if you want to be spoiled every once in a while, right?”
He could just barely see Hahari’s motherly expression.
Ah, he thought. So this is what Hakari grew up with…
It vaguely occurred to Rentaro that Hahari must have raised her daughter with just as much tender, loving care. A sense of ease washed over him, and his eyes felt heavy.
“Are you sleepy, my dear? We can’t have you wetting the bed, so let’s get you a diaper!”
“Worry not! I’m wide awake”
Sensing that falling asleep had become a hazard, Rentaro desperately tried to avoid any interference with his underwear as Hahari’s maternal energy continued to envelop him.
Sunday, 3 a.m.
In the early hours of the morning, Hahari waved Rentaro off, saying that she had a meeting with a foreign corporation. In order to meet his next rendezvous partner, Rentaro left Hahari’s room…and that completed his journey.
“I have been waiting for you.”
“Whoa! You’re already here! You’re a super-maid!”
Meido Mei stood right outside the door, dressed in a maid uniform. She was a bona fide maid who worked for the Hanazono family. She was also Rentaro’s girlfriend.
“Mei-san, is there anywhere you’d like to go or anything you’d like to do?” asked Rentaro. “There might be a limit to what’s possible at this hour, but I’m happy to oblige.”
“Something I’d like to do?” Mei tilted her head upward slightly, her eyelids tightly closed. “Yes, I would like to clean that window.”
“Huh?” Mei proceeded to wipe a window with a cloth, wasting not a single motion, leaving Rentaro in the middle of the hallway blinking. “Wh-what’s the problem with that window?”
“I clean it every day,” Mei responded matter-of-factly.
“Um… May I ask if that’s part of your day job?” Rentaro asked gingerly.
“Yes, it is.” There was no hesitation in Mei’s answer.
“Just to be clear, did Hahari-san ask you to do that, or…?”
“I merely do it of my own volition.”
“So, in other words, cleaning that window is your heart’s desire?”
“Yes, precisely.”
Upon hearing this frank declaration, Rentaro’s face lit up with a smile. “Then let’s have a window-wiping date! It looks like fun!”
Rentaro promptly procured some cleaning tools and stood next to Mei.
Whatever his girlfriend wished to do was something he wished to join in on. Mei gazed fondly at her devoted boyfriend before turning back to the task at hand. The two of them cleaned the window together.
“Wait. Why’s your part so much cleaner than mine, Mei-san?”
The gap between their skills was left clear as day. Despite Rentaro’s best efforts, small smudges and uneven spots were still left behind. Mei, on the other hand, moved with practiced efficiency—her side was clean as a whistle.
“If you would allow me to say so, I believe these tools may be easier to handle while you are still learning.”
“Oh, you’re right! Thanks! This is a lot easier than before!” With the new tools, his second attempt was a marked improvement. “Feels great watching yourself improve in real time!”