Chapter 53: Momo: Taking Care of Brother-in-Law is My Duty.
....
In the early morning, Momo stretched her arms lazily as she walked down from the attic, catching Ibuki Suika letting out a boozy hiccup as she stepped out of Kihara's bedroom. The pungent stench of alcohol radiating from her could be smelled from several meters away.
'Did she go over to drink with brother-in-law all night again? Even though brother-in-law doesn't drink alcohol, staying up late constantly like this will mess up his health.'
As a caring sister-in-law, Momo felt it was her obligation to look after Kihara's health on her big sister's behalf. Thus, she called out to stop Suika: "Miss Suika, please wait a moment!"
"Hmm?"
Suika turned her head back with her eyes half-squinted, her drunk posture giving off the impression that she might collapse onto the floor and fall asleep at any second. Seeing that it was Momo calling her, her lips curled into a wide grin. "If it isn't Momo! What're you calling me for? Don't tell me you want to join me for a drink?"
"I don't like drinking, and I have zero intention of asking you out for a drink."
"Now that's a real shame." Suika pulled back the little hand that had reached down to her waist, tilting her head in confusion. "Then what did you call me for?"
"Miss Suika, I hope you can try to drag brother-in-law out for late-night drinking as little as possible."
"Why? It's not like I forced him to drink."
Momo was left speechless. "He didn't drink alcohol, but you dragged him into staying up late! Brother-in-law is just a normal human; being dragged into all-nighters every couple of days is really bad for his body, not to mention he has to juggle his studies and acting schedule!"
"Didn't expect you to care about him this much."
"That's a given! As his sister-in-law, it's only natural for me to keep an eye on his health for big sister."
"A sister-in-law, huh..."
Suika flashed a playful smile. Remembering that Momo was an alien, her eyes lit up as she asked with anticipation, "Speaking of which, aren't there many types of liquor out in outer space?"
"That's right. Why do you ask?"
"Hehehe... I can agree to your request, but you have to fetch me some rare galactic brewing ingredients."
"You only need raw materials provided?"
"Yep. You can manage a tiny task like that, right?"
The request wasn't difficult at all. As the Second Princess, Momo only needed to have Zastin purchase rare galactic brewing ingredients for her in the interstellar market to resolve the issue.
However, she didn't plan to use that method. In the specialized garden planet where she cultivated various unique plants, there were plenty of flora whose fruits served as exceptional brewing ingredients—and every single one of them belonged to species that were extraordinarily rare or outright extinct in the galaxy.
Handing the absolute highest-grade raw materials directly over to Suika would prevent her from using poor quality as an excuse to back out later.
"I agree to your condition. Make sure you keep your promise when the time comes."
"Rest assured~ I never go back on my word."
Momo turned and walked back toward the attic. She was going to use the teleportation device inside her room to travel to the garden planet located near Planet Deviluke, picking out the most suitable brewing materials to deliver to Suika.
...
At around ten o'clock in the morning, Kihara—who had stayed up through the second half of the night with Suika—finally came downstairs from the second floor. Ever since his physical condition kept growing stronger, the amount of sleep he required had been steadily decreasing.
Now, barely three hours of sleep was enough to match a full day's rest for an average human, though he still maintained the sleeping habits of an ordinary person.
There was no other reason for it; the bed was simply too comfortable.
"Morning, Nana."
"Oh~ Morning, brother-in-law."
After greeting his sister-in-law, Kihara scanned the living room, which was occupied by only the two of them.
"Where are Lala, Momo, and Suika?"
"Big sister is in the kitchen using the food machine to make snacks. Momo ran off to her garden planet to tend to her plants early this morning. As for Suika, I think she's still sleeping in her room—the smell of booze in there is so strong I can catch the sharp stench right through the closed door."
"I see. What are you planning to do?
Nana gave the two controllers in her hands a light shake, raising her eyebrows. "Can't you tell? I'm playing video games with you, of course! You said earlier that you wouldn't reject me."
"Uh... I haven't eaten breakfast yet."
"Breakfast is wrapped in plastic film sitting right on the dining table. Once you finish eating, make sure to come over and play games with me."
"Sure."
While Kihara was eating breakfast, Nana turned on the gaming console and launched a fighting game. She didn't care for games that required puzzle-solving or complex reasoning; direct, raw combat suited her taste much better.
Stepping into practice mode, she clutched the controller and began frantically practicing inputting combo moves. Kihara genuinely wanted to point out that fighting games were normally played using dedicated arcade sticks or keyboards; trying to execute complex inputs on a gamepad was practically asking for punishment.
Seeing her having so much fun, however, he didn't have the heart to pour cold water on her, quietly munching on a ham and egg sandwich made by who-knows-whom.
Controlling her character, Nana executed four consecutive perfect combos to crush the AI opponent from full health, her hands operating at peak heat.
Wiping his mouth clean, Kihara sat down beside her, picking up the second controller. "Alright, let me see how good you really are."
"You finished eating already?!" She was surprised by his eating speed at first, before gripping her controller tight, her battle spirit surging: "Fine then! Watch me beat you into a ten-game losing streak!"
"So confident, huh? Then I'll definitely have to witness it."
Half an hour later...
"K.O.! PERFECT!"
Crimson letters flashed across the screen. The initial confidence on Nana's face had completely vanished. The girl who had declared before the game that she would hand Kihara a ten-game losing streak had ended up on the receiving end of a ten-game loss herself.
The reason was exceedingly simple: her offensive style was far too formulaic. Once she started an opening move, she would commit to the combo all the way to the end. Even if she was interrupted mid-way, she would keep mashing out the inputs, as if she didn't know how to play the game unless she finished an entire string of moves.
This kind of performance was very likely the result of fighting AI opponents for too long.
Kihara's evaluation of her was: terrible skills, yet loves to play.
"Curse it! My form today must be off!"
Nana had no intention of letting the humiliating number of ten consecutive losses expand any further. Red-faced, she casually cooked up an excuse to swap games. Whether it was good luck or bad luck, she stumbled upon a Metroidvania-style single-player game in the library.
The simple yet distinctive art style on the cover instantly caught her eye, prompting her to launch the game without a second thought.
This genre typically demanded mechanical skill, careful map observation, and remembering enemy attack patterns. Nana's personality was blatantly incompatible with a game like this.
After her character was knocked off a platform by a minor minion for the nth time—wiping out twenty minutes of tedious platforming and sending her right back to the starting point—the overwhelming sense of frustration made her boil over completely.
"What kind of garbage game is this?!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't be impulsive!!"
Kihara hurriedly grabbed her right hand just as she was about to hurl the controller, pulling her down to sit directly in front of his lap as he offered gentle comfort: "A game like this requires a bit of technique. Don't rush it; I'll guide you through it slowly."
Sitting between his legs, Nana instantly turned exceptionally well-behaved. Though both her ears flushed bright red from embarrassment at first, she was quickly drawn back into the game screen and completely forgot about the situation.
She allowed Kihara to hold her hands and teach her step-by-step. Looking purely at this scene, no one would ever suspect that Lala—who was sitting by the dining table munching on snacks—was actually his fiancé.
....
Thank you for reading.