Asobi Otonari

Keep the Promise at Night

[Pov Charlotte ]

"Lottie, are you going shopping?"

Emma walked up to me as I got ready for the day.

I wonder why it is so funny to see a little girl trying so hard to walk.

I bent my knees so that my eyes aligned with Emma's and started talking with a smile.

"Yes, I'm ready. I'll buy some clothes to wear tomorrow. I'll also buy a new one for Emma.”

"Wow! New clothes!"

Emma may be young, but she's a strong girl.

She was always happy when she could buy new clothes.

So, what kind of clothes should I buy for her today?

I basically chose Emma's personal attire.

Part of it was that she wanted to buy him all the clothes I gave her, but the main reason was that she was so cute no matter what I wore to her.

For example, if you wear it in white and pink clothes with frills on it, it will look like an angel descending into this land.

On the other hand, if you dress her in simple black clothes, she will look like an angel landing on her with the silver color of her real hair.

In other words, no matter what you wear, she will always look as sweet as an angel.

Emma hasn't been wearing clothes to get out lately, but if she prepares to go out, I'm sure Aoyagi-kun will be in trouble.

…wait a minute.

I think it's gonna be a problem for me.

If all the attention was focused on Emma, it would make me sad.

I'm sure he'll be a little more aware of me when we're together, but according to a certain information network (music teacher), Aoyagi-kun is a lolicon.

If this continues, I might be ignored tomorrow.

I really don't want that.

“Lottie, Lottie. How about this?"

“Eh?-What!? I-It's very funny...!”.

As I was alone with my thoughts, Emma, who had left my side before I knew it, pulled my sleeve.

And there's a very cute angel― no, angel cat.

Emma wore a light blue fuzzy dress with a white miniskirt.

Not satisfied with that, she also wore a cat earband on her head, though I'm not sure why.

I don't remember buying a cat's headband, but it looks good on him and he's very cute, so it's okay.

But why would he dress himself to go out?

Usually he'll keep his nightgown on until I tell him to.

“You look so beautiful, Eomma. You look so cute, Emma, and you love changing into outerwear.”

"Yes! Because Emma is going to date Onii-chan today!”

Emma smiled happily at me, but I realized that she made a big mistake.

Yesterday, Emma told me that she wanted to play with Aoyagi-kun.

However, I told him that he couldn't because he had a plan.

Instead, he will be playing with Aoyagi-kun tomorrow, but maybe he didn't hear it.

How does this girl assume that I talked about going clothes shopping earlier …?

He understood that I was going to go shopping, so maybe he was planning to leave me alone and play with Aoyagi-kun just with the two of them?

And she's gonna make me buy her clothes exactly the way she wants?

…Her husband, Emma, has grown into a demonic girl without my knowledge.

It's a joke, but it's troubling …

Now that Emma is ready to go out and play with Aoyagi-kun, I feel like she will start crying a lot when she knows that she cannot play with Aoyagi-kun.

But there's a limit to how much I can cover it…

…I can't help it.

Even though I felt guilty for tricking her, I wanted to take her out and buy her ice cream or cake to trick her.

Then, when she was in a better mood, I would tell her the truth.

After this, I managed to trick Emma into dating me.

...----------------...

[Aoyagi Pov ]

After escorting Aki home on the way back from the amusement park, I came home alone, and the sound of the bellbird echoed in the silence of the night.

I wonder how long it's been since I've had this fun.

It was fun when we played, but now it's even hard to lift my legs.

I felt tired as soon as I was left alone.

When I arrived at my apartment, I stopped in front of the room right in front of my own room.

<>

I rang the intercom, and moments later I heard the polite voice of a girl.

It was the voice of Charlotte-san, who lives in the room next to me.

“Goodnight, Charlotte-san. I'm Aoyagi.”

"―What!? A-Aoyagi-kun!? Eh? Why are you here!?"

When I said my name, somehow Charlotte-san started to panic.

I began to hear a loud voice inside that I could tell even through the door.

“U-umm, good night.”.

As I was wondering what she was doing, Charlotte-san came out of her room, looking uncomfortable.

She was wearing white pajamas with pink spots on it.

If our classmates knew that I had seen him like this, they would be jealous and give me a hard time.

"Sorry, are you going to sleep?"

The fact that she had already changed her pajamas meant that she would probably sleep.

Apparently, only I thought that the usual promise was still valid until now.

“Sorry... I did not expect you would come again today..”.

"It's okay. Emma-chan is asleep, right?”

“Ya... When I told her that Aoyagi-kun could not come today, she sulked and fell asleep..

Charlotte-san apologized again and again, probably feeling guilty because she had made the wrong decision.

Although, he didn't need to worry too much about it.

It's my fault for not making sure that we're on the same page.

Moreover, I felt that Charlotte-san's decision was rather appropriate.

If I were in his position, I would probably make the same decision.

No matter how many times I promised to play with him every day, it was hard to believe that the person I played with would come to my house.

“Don't worry about that. I'll pretend to Emma that I can't come today, and I'll give her some candy tomorrow and apologize.

“It.... Aoyagi-kun came right, but..”.

“It's okay for you to pretend that I didn't come, because it's late. There is nothing to worry about Charlotte-san.”

It was my fault because I could only come late at night.

Emma-chan is very young.

He should not be allowed to stay up.

“How good are you..?”

"Hmm? Did you say something?”

“No, it's okay.”

I thought I heard Charlotte-san mutter something, but it seems like I was imagining something.

Thats odd…

I feel like this has been happening a lot lately.

I'm sure I'm young, but have my ears gone crazy…?

In the past few days, Charlotte-san's muttering and auditory hallucinations have made me feel a little uncomfortable.

“Well, if Emma sleeps, I don't think I can come today. I'll go back to my room.”

If no one can be invited to play as promised, then of course nothing can be done.

I was about to return to my room, but Charlotte-san grabbed my sleeve as I turned around.

When I turned around, he looked at me for a reason.

“Eh, what's up?”

I suppressed my racing heartbeat and tried to look indifferent as I approached Charlotte-san.

Then Charlotte-san, who started to squirm, slowly opened her mouth.

“Erm... Emma fell asleep.. but there's one more you promised me, right..?”

“Ah..iya, true..”.

“Is tonight.... alright with you..?”

"Yes…"

I was invited in such a way that someone might misinterpret the meaning as something strange, and my head was almost boiling seeing the cuteness of Charlotte-san's reddened and agitated face, but we went to my room with her.

And then― we both get along well and read manga about drawing manga.

......................