Meshitaki Onna ni Yakuza no Ai wa Omosugiru

10. Danger is a short distance away

With two large bags from the supermarket weighing down my hands, I returned home with great effort.

I’m starting work again tomorrow huh. It was a brief relaxation period……

I sighed deeply, but I had to work to keep living.

For the time being, I’ll be careful so that demonic President won’t push anything weird onto me.

I probably won’t be able to make Kawata-san and co’s food until the weekend, at least. The work has likely piled up during my time away too.

After that occasion, my relations with the yakuza onii-sans went swimmingly.

Well, I knew they were people working in organized crime, and they definitely weren’t「good people」as defined by the general populace of the world, but from my point of view they’re all good people―― Rather, they’re good children.

I wonder why, maybe it’s because I’ve been feeding them but I view them with a strange affection.

They pay the food expenses without a complaint. I have an image that yakuza underlings are poor and needy（my apologies）, but those four don’t seem to be troubled for money.

They properly say「itadakimasu」and「gochisousama」, and they also help with preparing the food. Because of that it felt like they were kids anticipating the food, so they were mysteriously cute.

Well, they’re all old men above the latter half of 20 though! And they’re yakuza too!

They also help clean up. They’re good people.

It was a fate that started from a weird circumstance, but I was enjoying this situation a lot.

This grocery bag sure is heavy.

Packed into the bag was a baffling amount of vegetables and chicken meat.

Today, it was going to be hot pot as planned.

I like kimchi nabe 1 and tonyu nabe 2 too, but if I was making something for my neighbors who loved simple cooking, then as I thought, it’s gotta be mizutaki.

Well, the first time will be mizutaki, but next time I plan to make a bunch of different types of nabe! Curry nabe 3 and other quirky ones are good too.

Huffing while carrying the heavy baggage, I pushed open my neighbor’s steel door.

「Good afternoonー. I’ll be intrudingー. Today is nabeー」

Like that I took off my shoes and straightened them. 4

「……っ!!」

「Ahー, it was heavy! Nabe ingredients are usually heavy ne…… Tte, huh?」

Having no reaction at all, that’s strange.

Normally when I announce the menu, they would shout「Oohhー!!!」all excitedly.

Maybe they’re not home, while I was guessing such, when I looked up into the room……

Everyone was there. Everyone was there, but had dreadfully…… Their complexions were terrible.

They were white as a sheet, with cold sweat dripping down.

It felt like they were pleading something with meaningful eyes, but…… What did they want to say? I had no clue at all.

But, I wonder why. I have a terribly bad premonition……

Like I stepped in a tiger’s den unwittingly, or finding out the person I accidentally bump shoulders with in the street was a notorious assassin…… Well no, I’ve never been in either situation though.

The instinctual sense of when your life is exposed to danger, that sort of feeling.

I pondered for a moment whether I should turn back and leave.

That moment became my downfall.

「――Nee-chan, who’re you?」