Chapter 2 - The Secret

.... Ever since Kurokawa moved into my house, the atmosphere in my family has become almost unbelievably cozy.

My house used to be gloomy and lonely. But now, my home has changed since she, the perfect Kurokawa, moved in. In a noble and gentle way, his social skills coupled with his bright smile create a refreshing atmosphere, she is like a gentle and obedient son-in-law who gives his in-laws a warm and joyful feeling.

Kurokawa was originally just a guest, but she was always doing housework and helping my mother in the kitchen make delicious potato casseroles with an attractive look that mesmerized the senses of everyone around her, making her even more like a good daughter-in-law returning to her husband\'s home.

Compared to her, I was just a busy man who only played games in his room and caused trouble for his family.

After noon, all my parents went to work early with bright smiles on their faces when Kurokawa came out to greet them.

Regarding work, my parents work as priests at a temple near my house, where that god is worshiped. Did he ever plan to leave her in my care,

"You can rest at home, since you have a very good daughter."

Well, put that aside. It\'s already three in the afternoon.

I\'m currently on vacation, because my parents are all working, so, I have to stay at home by myself to look after the house... instead of just me, there\'s also the perfect girl Kurokawa sitting opposite me on this sofa. She\'s also sitting here so it\'s hard for me to get into the room, what can I say, I\'m so nervous. This awkward situation, I didn\'t want it. But rather, because I had seen Kurokawa talking to my parents, I lost the chance to enter the room.

" ... "

" ... "

Although the two of us were still sitting facing each other, we weren\'t looking at each other as you might think. The main problem was that I was avoiding her gaze.

What kind of lonely atmosphere is this. It made it impossible for me to remain silent. So, I reached for the remote and turned on the TV. Although there weren\'t any good programs on holidays. But it was better than not turning on the TV at all. I switched to a rebroadcast detective program, which was probably almost over. I didn\'t know what it was like from the beginning, I just saw the image of a criminal cornered on the edge of a cliff.

"Do you find this program interesting?

After being asked by me, Kurokawa switched to the act of thinking while muttering. While waiting for an answer, I fell nervously silent.

"......No, not at all." Kurokawa shook her head gently.

"Ah, um, let me turn off the TV then."

The image playing on the TV closed to form a black screen. Still in the same silence, Kurokawa continued to stare at me for a while and then began to speak.

"Let\'s talk for a while, Takkun."

............ Takkun. That was my old nickname. When Kurokawa called me the same thing in the morning, I thought I had misheard, but who would have thought it was true. Ever since we were kids, we had used this nickname when we were playfully chasing each other.

"...Talk? I don\'t think we have anything to talk about." My voice was shaky.

After hearing what I said, Kurokawa muttered while tilting his head with a question mark on his face.

"Why is there nothing to talk about. There are many things worth talking about, like this weather, things at this school, friends and so on."

"If you think even further, you should find all sorts of things to talk about."

It\'s true, I didn\'t even think about it in the first place.

Seeing my enlightened face, Kurokawa smiled gently and said.

"Then, let\'s talk about school."

"My journey home from school was so boring, I played alone in this room, slept only for a short while, then got up and carried my bag to school. Most of my time in class, I just sleep, leave school and go home. It goes on and on and on every day"

"It\'s not like you still have friends. Narumiya-san and Kasumino-san, I saw you talking to both of them, right?"

Kurokawa-san, did she notice me that closely. Well, she is Kurokawa-san such a perfect person, I\'m not surprised at all. However, in my heart, I still feel very happy.

"Indeed, those two are my friends. But they all talk about nonsense... You don\'t need to pay attention to their chatter, Kurokawa-san. Also, you should be careful of your surroundings...."

"Looks like you care about me a lot, huh, Takkun?"

Kurokawa interrupted me and suddenly leaned over and placed her hands on the table, tilting her head to look at my confused face.

" .... Well, I just don\'t know how to deal with someone as wonderful as you."

"I\'m extraordinary, it\'s not what you think" Kurokawa shook his head.

"No, you are very, very, very extraordinary. Kurosawa-san is very good at studying, often helps people, and is admired by those around you."

After hearing my words, Kurokawa winked at me from a distance

"Other than what you said, is there anything else?"

"Huh, is there anything else?"

While wondering why Kurokawa cared about this, I tried to calm my racing heart and continued the conversation.

"Kurokawa-san always completes the assigned homework, even when sensei asks a lot of questions, Kurokawa-san can still answer in perfect detail."

"What else? What else?"

"One last thing... you are so beautiful and have such a beautiful voice"

I don\'t understand myself, why would I say those words to a girl? This is nothing more than daytime sexual harassment.

But, despite my embarrassment, Kurokawa nodded happily and sat down on the sofa, then cleared his throat slightly and said the single word "Chika."

"...Huh?"

Kurokawa looked at me with an unhappy expression. "From now on please call me Chika."

"Why, why all of a sudden. At school everyone calls you Kurokawa."

"But at home, it\'s called Vetchika. And from today on, we are the same family, so you have to call me by another name too."

"Vetchika, then."

"No, it has to be C-H-I-K-A"

Kurokawa\'s words and his unbearable gaze. Facing that pressure, so, I have to accept it.

"...Ah um, then, Kuro... Chika."

I said this name for the first time in 10 years.

Then Kurokawa, or Chika, nodded in satisfaction and stood up from the sofa in a joyful mood.

"Then I\'ll ask for your help from now on, Takkun."

Kurokawa left the living room with her usual sweet smile. Looking at her back, I whispered.

".... Chika."

So nostalgic, that\'s what I used to call her when I was a kid. When Kurokawa first met her, her parents used to call her Vetchika. This name was too difficult for me at the time, so, I called her Chika in my own understanding. And then the word Takkun that Chika used to call me back.

"Why did I call him by that name in the past?"

I leaned back on the sofa in thought for a moment, then took a deep breath.

Even if we both lived in the same house, the distance between us was still very far.

.... Right now I\'m still thinking about it, until that moment comes...

Yes, it was that night.

❖ ❖ ❖

———Scene Change———

❖ ❖ ❖

Tonight\'s meal was also cooked by Chika.

Before my parents returned, Chika had already prepared her own dinner. From the ingredients available, she created special dishes such as Japanese grilled fish, miso soup and fried eggs. It was a dish that fell within her area of expertise.

As for me, I don\'t know how to help her with cooking. But the least I can do is clean the dishes on the table.

Later, my parents returned. They shed tears of joy when they saw the luxurious dishes placed on the dining table.

"I wonder if it\'s to your taste?"

In my opinion, everyone has their own taste, from taste to appearance, every dish Chika cooked was very good, just as good as my mother\'s cooking. I wanted to say the same thing, but I couldn\'t say it out loud because I was too embarrassed.

It\'s almost time for bed. After taking a shower, I\'ll play games for a while before going to bed. Since today is an exception day, I\'m going to bed earlier than expected.

As for the reason, it might be because I\'m already tired from morning to night, but the main reason is because I don\'t want to make any strange noises as it would disturb Chika if I overslept in the morning.

I crawled onto the traditional Futon mattress spread in the center of the floor and slowly closed my eyes.

".... Good night"

For various reasons, I still couldn\'t sleep. The room next to me was Chika\'s, since I heard creaking footsteps on the stairs, I knew for sure it was her footsteps. I tried to keep my eyes closed and tried to sleep again. And after that...

"GUYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

That horrible scream woke me up, the sound echoing throughout the house. I jumped up thinking that something was wrong, I quickly left my room. At first I thought it was the sound of a drunk person on the street, but it turned out that it wasn\'t the sound of a drunk person, the sound was clearly coming from inside my house.

I mean, my parents would wake up first to see what was going on outside, but they were the kind of people who were fast asleep so they didn\'t know anything, which made me jealous. I picked up the flashlight and looked around.

"...Chika?"

In front of the toilet at the end of the corridor, I saw Chika sitting there with her body trembling, her face wet with tears...

" ... Takkun?"

Faced with this strange situation, I could only stare at Chika who was muttering in a trembling voice.

The outfit Chika was wearing was a light pink oversized pajama set with Cotton material, her hair only partially tied up. Her unusual appearance was the first time I saw her so I was surprised.

"This Chika"

" .... Good night, no. Good morning."

Chika greeted me with strange words.

"Uh, why are you sitting here?"

"I just wanted to calm down a bit."

"What, in front of the restroom? Right now?"

That\'s not right, it\'s hard to understand. I felt like this didn\'t make sense, so I thought I\'d ask her a few more questions.

"There was a scream just now, did you hear it?"

"Screaming? What do you mean?"

"That scream. I think it was the scream of a monster or something. "

"It wasn\'t a monster or anything like that."

"I\'m sure I\'ve heard it."

In the darkness, suddenly a strange sound echoed in the quiet room of the house.

Chika paled in shock, she jumped to me and started crying.

"What what what!?"

"Calm down. It\'s just a cat."

"Cat!? Is that Nekomata!" (cat-type youkai)

To prove to her, I turned on the flashlight, looked into the sink, the cat under the sink was looking at me like a child. The small window up there was open, that\'s why the cat was able to get in here. On the cat\'s blue collar was a bell. No wonder there\'s a strange sound bouncing around, so it\'s because of the bell.

"This cat usually comes here in the middle of the night. Because I was the one who opened the window to let it in."

"...I thought, this cat would be a deterrent against thieves or something. "

"No one can enter from that window."

Just as Chika said that, the cat turned around and walked away with a meow.

After it was completely gone, I turned towards Chika, who was clinging to my leg.

"Heeeh~....., so that\'s why you were yelling..."

".... If you promise not to tell anyone about this, I\'ll do it."

"Of course, I won\'t tell anyone."

".... Let\'s go to your room, Takkun."

I nodded in agreement and stood up.

".... D-don\'t go."

"You, get up"

Seeing that Chika was still very scared, I grabbed her soft hands and pulled her up.

After entering my room, Chika looked around my room while walking with an expression like seeing something new for the first time.

The items from my bookshelf to my personal computer were nothing embarrassing for her to see. But I was still worried when a pretty girl like Chika saw my stuff.

While looking around, Chika saw something placed in the corner of the bookshelf and took it out.

"Oh Takkun. What\'s this? Although I don\'t understand it, I don\'t understand why I find it so cute."

Chika looked at him with a curious gaze, a mascot character wearing cute clothes drawn on a black background. It looks like it\'s the DVD box I watch all the time.

"Ah, it\'s a movie disk. This is one of my favorites."

"This, this is so cute, isn\'t it?"

"I guess not, it\'s a horror movie about a chaotic battle between corpses"

"Uh..."

Chika was startled and immediately returned the DVD box to its original place, then she took out a book from the next place.

"What about this book? There\'s a beautiful girl depicted on the cover...what is this, it seems like a good book..."

As Chika said, on the cover is a beautiful girl in a colorful Kimono with the title "Real existence! A book about cases caused by spirits, youkai, Japanese mysteries!"

Once again, Chika\'s face began to turn pale, she returned the book to its original place and at a speed even faster than before.

".....Takkun, do you like things like this?"

"Like... ah, these books are mine."

Since my parents were temple priests, they often took matters into their own hands as well as giving advice to others. I don\'t know how to describe it properly, but in short, because of this case, my parents often went on business trips.

In addition, because of my parents\' book, I also gradually became interested in the horror genre.

"Why don\'t we just get to the point?"

Chika nodded saying "Yes" while sitting on my bed casually.

Then, I pulled the chair next to the study table closer to Chika and sat on it.

After a few moments of silence, Chika remained calm and started talking.

".... About that scream earlier. It was actually mine."

"Oh yeah, that\'s what I know."

"Are you that clairvoyant!?"

Chika groaned and said "Graveyard..." with a funny gesture and then looked at me.

"Do you... remember when we were kids, we used to play together?"

"Yes, but only a little."

If I said I only remembered a little, of course that would be a lie. To me, the memories are still as vivid as if they happened yesterday. To be honest, I\'m not really used to expressing my feelings.

Before my answer, it seemed like Chika was a bit frustrated.

"A little?" Chika muttered.

"I used to be very shy, afraid of scary things, right?"

"I guess it\'s like that?"

In my memories, Chika and I once entered a haunted house in Yashiki amusement park. From the darkness, strange noises began to sound, so the two of us got lost.

"TRUE!"

I nodded in agreement while thinking.

".... I think I\'ll get over it.... Who would have thought that there are demons, aliens, and deformed creatures inside....they\'re really scary. Sometimes I faintly hear screams and strange sounds." Chika pursed her lips.

I don\'t know if the other girls are similar to Chika as of now. That horrible scream emanated from someone with fear on her mind, maybe even more.

Although I don\'t know how to describe her mood... In short, her current face was filled with a mixture of emotions far from the expression of a normal person.

It\'s been a long time since I\'ve seen her old self.

Chika with a panicked expression sitting right next to me admitted "It\'s her."

"The perfect girl at school?"

"Right."

"That\'s why a big problem happened this time."

Chika clearly raised her voice.

I nodded and said, "Yes, yes."

"There\'s no need to worry. I won\'t tell anyone about this. I will drag this secret to the grave with me."

"Mo, don\'t say that...?"

Chika shook her head and said, "It doesn\'t have to be that way either timeeeeee."

"That\'s not what I meant. It\'s just that, after I tell you this secret, I hope you\'ll help me get rid of this fear."

To be honest, I didn\'t want to do anything that could harm Chika, I even thought about banging my head against the sharp corner of the bookshelf to erase everything I knew about her secret.

"No, I don\'t want you to do this just for me..."

My thoughts came out loud.

"Takkun, you seriously went that far..."

"I\'m scared, you don\'t need to hit your head .... just beat the fear.... I want you to help me overcome this fear."

"Overcome the fear?

Chika nodded vigorously.

"If that still happens even at school, then I won\'t be the perfect Kurokawa or something. And now that Takkun knows my secret, you should help me overcome that fear."

I was confused by Chika\'s serious face as she brought her face closer to mine.

"Even if you ask me to..."

"I don\'t need to know what options you\'ll make. I\'ll listen to whatever you say if it\'ll help me to get through it."

"Anything?"

It\'s not a joke or anything. In front of her serious blue eyes, I had to give in to her.

" .... OK. If you put it that way, I\'ll help you."

"Really? Are you okay with this?"

"Okay... I don\'t want the whole neighborhood talking about this strange and mysterious scream of terror."

"It\'s not that big."

"What\'s so big?"

Chika smiled and extended her hand towards me.

"Then thank you again, Takkun."

I nodded and took the hand.

"...I will help you with all my might."

"If that\'s what you want".

Chika\'s innocent smile was exactly like the one I saw when I was in school. This perfect daughter was completely different from the one I knew. Now, Chika is no longer different from the Chika in my memories.

Disclaimer :

"If you like this light novel, please help me with a donate to buy raw materials for future projects or encourage me to continue this light novel."