Chapter 3: Heavy Punch Attack

“Mom, I’m home!”

“Welcome back — “

Hearing the sound of the door closing in the entrance hall, Yuuma Tsugumu’s mother, Yuuma Riko, poked her head out and saw the familiar pair, one tall and one short, standing in the entryway.

“Good evening, ma’am!”

Noticing Riko’s gaze lingering on her, Akiba Sakura immediately waved her hand and greeted her with a sweet smile.

“Oh, it’s Sakura. You came back with Tsugumu today too!”

Riko walked out with a smile, looking at the young girl before her with eyes full of doting affection.

“Hehe, after all, Tsugumu really can’t manage without me!”

Sakura nodded quickly, her large, sparkling eyes darting mischievously toward the indifferent Tsugumu standing beside her.

“Hey — go back to your own house!”

“Tsugumu, you shouldn’t be so rude. Sakura always takes such good care of you!”

Riko immediately placed her hands on her hips and glared at Tsugumu, the soup ladle in her hand looking very much like a teacher’s pointer.

“I can’t win, I can’t win…”

Tsugumu quickly swapped his shoes, stepped onto the wooden floor, and scurried off toward his room on the second floor.

“That child…”

Watching Tsugumu flee, a hint of helplessness flashed in Riko’s eyes.

“Ah, I’m going up too, ma’am. We have to do our homework together tonight!”

Sakura also hurried to kick off her leather shoes.

Her small feet, encased in white silk stockings, padded across the wooden floor as she chased after him.

“I’ll leave him in your care then, Sakura. Why don’t you stay for dinner later?”

“That would be great, ma’am — “

Sakura left that trailing sentence behind as she rushed up to the second floor.

‘Mm-hm, she really is the Daughter-in-law Candidate I’ve had my eye on. Whether it’s her family background, appearance, grades, or their relationship… she just doesn’t drink enough milk. I wonder if Tsugumu and Sakura’s children will go hungry in the future?’

—

“Don’t come in! Go back to your own house!”

“Don’t be so distant, Tsugumu. I haven’t tutored you on your schoolwork today yet~”

A rustling sound came from the doorway of Tsugumu’s room on the second floor.

The two of them were currently in a stalemate at the door.

Both were pulling on it — one trying to shut it, while the other tried to yank it open.

“…”

Downstairs, the slight curve of Riko’s mouth flattened instantly.

‘Has Tsugumu been a bit too cold to Sakura lately?’

Suddenly, a bad thought cropped up in Riko’s mind —

‘Could he have suddenly started liking boys?!’

—

“I — I don’t need — your tutoring!”

At that moment, Tsugumu’s face was flushed red from the effort, yet he still couldn’t close the door.

“You… you shorty! How do you have so much strength?”

“Shut up! Who are you calling a shorty!”

On the contrary, Sakura still seemed to have strength to spare.

“You… you clearly are! You’re in high school now, but you’re still as short as you were in elementary school. You’re a flat-chested shorty, yet you act all elegant at school… let go of the door!”

“What do you know? I’m just a late bloomer!”

“A late bloomer…? When I said that in elementary school, didn’t you mock me for being a shorty just the same?!”

Hearing Sakura’s excuse, Tsugumu was the first to object! The strength in his hands increased by several notches.

“So petty, actually daring to call me a shorty!”

‘Let me tell you, my years of training haven’t been for nothing! Only God knows how much effort I put into maintaining my figure and avoiding an Iron Barbie physique!’

As Sakura exerted her full force, Tsugumu was suddenly yanked forward by a freakish strength.

Combined with his unsteady center of gravity, the boy naturally fell forward, his entire body toppling toward the girl in front of him —

‘Hehe, that’s it — ‘

Watching everything unfold, the corners of Sakura’s mouth turned up slightly.

‘Next is the classic scene from romance novels — the innocent moment between the hero and heroine!’

“What’s wrong with you?”

However, he didn’t pin her down as she imagined.

Tsugumu managed to regain his footing at the last second and didn’t fall on her.

He looked at Sakura, who had suddenly closed her eyes with a blissful expression, and asked in confusion.

“…”

‘A bad start…’

But Sakura quickly snapped back to reality.

To avoid wasting any more time wrestling at the door, she suddenly ducked under Tsugumu’s arm and slipped inside.

“Tsugumu’s room, mission accomplished! “

“…”

Sakura plopped down on Tsugumu’s bed, pulled back the duvet, and crawled inside in one smooth motion, leaving only her small head peeking out.

“Hehe~ Tsugumu’s scent…”

“…”

Tsugumu let out a long sigh, then closed the door and said, “You really are like a Pervert Loli.”

“What did you say? What was that?!”

Sakura immediately struggled to sit up, her cheeks puffed out as she looked at the ungrateful Tsugumu with a dissatisfied expression.

“I’m using my precious time to accompany you, Tsugumu! You should know that every bit of progress you make in your grades is the result of my meticulous tutoring!”

“Is the ‘result of your meticulous tutoring’ just coming over to mooch dinner every night?”

“Ugh! How mean~ How can you say that!”

Sakura got out of bed and slowly walked over to sit beside Tsugumu.

“I’m helping you improve your academic performance every single moment, you know?”

“…”

Tsugumu’s eyebrow twitched.

He suddenly grabbed Sakura’s wandering hand as she patted his thigh.

“Your hand — behave!”

“Aw — you’re so cold, Scrub Tsugumu. And here I thought we were on such good terms~”

“…”

Hearing the phrase ‘good terms,’ Tsugumu rolled his eyes at Sakura.

If it weren’t for the fact that this girl used her fragrant, soft little feet to step on his face to wake him up every morning, he might have actually believed her lies.

“Don’t bother me — I finished today’s homework at school already.”

Tsugumu sighed and pulled a manga from the bookshelf.

“Hmph… What’s so good about the beautiful girls in manga? A real beautiful girl…”

Sakura leaned in toward Tsugumu with a wicked grin.

“Is right here — !”

Then, before he could react, she wrapped her arms around his neck with lightning speed and leaned her entire body backward —

With a soft thud, Sakura was now lying flat on the tatami mat with Tsugumu’s face buried in her chest.

“How about that? You Small Fry~ Have you learned your lesson yet?”

“Let… let go! This is so uncomfortable — “

“What?? You’re so infuriating! Outside I call you Tsugumu, but in here you’re just Scrub — Tsugumu!”

Hearing his words, the irritated Sakura grew even more aggressive.

Her small body suddenly erupted with immense strength, and her legs clamped around Tsugumu’s waist like a pair of vise grips.

“Don’t even think about escaping, Scrub~”

“Tsugumu, Sakura, you must be tired from studying. Come and have some fruit…?”

At that exact moment, Riko suddenly pushed the door open gently while carrying a fruit platter.

The moment she opened the door, she saw the scandalous position Tsugumu and Sakura were in on the floor.

“Oh…”

The light instantly vanished from Riko’s eyes.

“Ma… ma’am?”

The strength in her legs and arms vanished instantly.

As Sakura looked at Riko standing in the doorway, her mind went completely blank.

“Mom?”

Meanwhile, Tsugumu, who had been suffering from a brief lack of oxygen because his face was buried in Sakura’s chest can one even lose oxygen against such a flat surface?

Tsugumu, you bastard… how hard was your nose being pressed…, felt Sakura’s grip loosen.

He struggled out of her embrace, gasping for fresh air.

He was just about to scold Sakura when he noticed the girl looking toward the door with an expression of pure horror.

Tsugumu was confused, but he followed her gaze.

“Mom, I can explain — “

“Mhm! Go ahead, Mommy is listening — “

With a flash from her phone’s camera, Riko let out a knowing, motherly smile.

“When did you even take your phone out! Don’t take random photos!”

“You two continue — I’ll leave the fruit platter right here~”

Riko placed the platter on the tatami and swiftly closed the door.

‘I knew it! How could my dear son possibly be gay? Keep it up, my boy! Try to seal the deal!’

“…”

“Hey, my mom obviously misunderstood something. You’re not going to go explain?”

“Ex… explain what!”

Despite her words, Sakura was now sitting formally at the small table, eating the apples Riko had sliced.

However, the small hand holding the toothpick was trembling with obvious nerves.

‘…’

Except when around Tsugumu and her own parents, she usually had to maintain her modest and polite persona.

‘If Mrs. Yuuma thinks I’m some kind of lewd woman and forbids me from seeing him from now on, then my Childhood Friend NTR Great Battle Plan will be…’

“That… that was too close!”

‘Too close? Where did the smugness from earlier go?’

“…”

Seeing the drop of cold sweat rolling down Sakura’s cheek, Tsugumu’s own cheek twitched.

“Tsugumu, is there a bug crawling on your face? Why is it twitching like that — “