Okaeri Saotome-san Chapter 21

Sorry for the late chapter 🙁

Saotome-san doesn’t know the meaning of retreat

Taking Tennosuke from Murasaki’s lap and placing Akai-san there pronounced the start of the second round.

And then….

Six hours went by

“Ding-dong”

「Saotome-san! It’s me, Tsuchiya Haruto, I dealt with my work at a breakneck speed and rushed over at your invitation」

「Perfect timing Tsuchiya, I am really thankful you showed up even though you are tired because of your work」

「What! Why is Matsu also here?」

「Now, now, I am the one that called you amn’t I. Well, stop standing there and come on in」

I opened the door after answering the intercom and found my former colleague from last week standing over there. Tsuchiya was standing there with tanned skin that gave one the impression of noon. Even though it’s still late into the night.

「I thought Saotome-san asked you to call me as she was feeling shy to do so herself」

「Rest easy, it’s true that Saotome-san invited you over. Murasaki is also waiting for you inside」

「Finee, if what you are saying is true, then great. By the way Matsu, your face is pale. Did something happen?」

「It’s just that the fight prolonged for a while」

「Eh? A fight?」

「You will understand once you see it for yourself」

「Wh, what happened?」

We walk over to the living room.

Opening the living room door from the corridor, whoosh, a sweeet fragrance flows out. The lights are switched on but for some reason the room feels dark and gloomy.

Entering inside you find Mio-san and Murasaki who took the oath of sisterhood, developing strategies for the next battle.

「No, that’s not it Fuu-chan. You should save this card so that you can use it if Matsutomo-san plays a three-pronged skip like before. Yuu-chan, you have gradually become great at this. NO, you shouldn’t fall asleep Koro-chan!」

「Akai-san, Akai-san feels good……feels good to snuggle……snuggle snuggle snuggle snuggle」

It looks like they got a little better. It is evident in their faces too, some colour has returned to their face.

On the contrary, why has Tsuchiya, who just entered, become this pale?

「Matsu, I, have heard a story similar to this before」

「What’s the matter」

「Amongst people from north India, there is an aborginal religion where they burn sweet smelling incense sticks which makes people hallucinate」

「Ah, if it’s that story, then I have also heard about it. The devotees get into a trance, with blank eyes not having any bearing of the situation around them and start blurting everything. Why are talking about this suddenly, is something the matter?」

「Umm, it will be great if it’s just my misunderstanding」

「That so? Well, whatever, take a seat. I will pour you some milk tea」

「This is the fragrance of the milk tea….!」

「What else did you think it was?」

「That side, how tha hell did this happen?」

「Ah, it’s difficult. Where do I even start…. It’s something that transpired seven hours ago, no three, three hours back. I, Mio-san and Murasaki, who came to deliver my belongings only to end up becoming Mio-san’s younger sister, started the Great UNO Meet. But then…」

「Little sister…..?」

———Three hours before———

In UNO you will be dealt seven cards. The aim of the game is to exhaust your hand before others by using the varied rules.

In such a simple game, it is unexpectedly difficult to team up against others.

「Reverse」

「Reverse」

「Reverse」

「Reverse」

「Skip」

「Skip」

「Uh! It’s already…..!」

「Is it only up to here…..?」

「That’s a given isn’t it. It had to come to an end at some point」

『You cannot look at the cards of other players』It’s this inviolable rule that makes teaming up hard.

It prohibits not only stealing a glance at your opponent’s war potential but also showing each other’s cards amongst allies.

With that in mind, in order to co-operate amongst two people and defeat one, you are left with roughly two big stratagems.

First, Use the card that skips the opponent’s turn 『Skip』 and the card that switches the direction 『Reverse』 in order to keep the turns amongst yourselves. This effectively blocks your opponent from playing anything.

Second, transmit your will through eye contact and match the cards that you are playing in a way that is mutually beneficial.

In reality, a tepid game where one can play just reverse and skip doesn’t exist. The two who were using the first stratagem until now have completely exhausted their firepower.

「Murasaki-san, Murasaki-san……!」

「Saotome-san, Saotome-san……! Please accept everything…….」¹

「Since Murasaki is weak at using strategy, you plan on giving your cards to Saotome-san.  Don’t even think about it」

These two are exchanging glances passionately. The second stratagem, in other words they are attempting thought transmission through eye contact. If they are able to pull it off, then they grasp the overwhelming advantage of playing cards that are mutually beneficial to each other.

As expected, the result was soon out.

「Saotome-san, I got it! Yellow 7!」

「Uh, Draw……can’t play, even after that…….Pass…..」

• When you don’t have a playable card, you draw a card from the draw pile. If you are able to play the card that you drew, then you can do so. (Same with both official and house rules)

「You people can’t get it across at all….. Yes, yellow skip, UNO ²」

「Sa, Saotome-san!」

「I, it’s all right. Draw, the draw card is still there….! Please, a good one please!!」

If you add Yuu-chan who joined in after Koro-chan was taken from my hands then right now the number of guardian deities that Mio-san is holding has increased to three.

Holding three plush toys as well as her card all at ones, it looks like she is already at her limit. Holding onto this much at once, don’t Mio-san’s thin arms ever get tired?

Holding the plush toys on her right, Mio-san extended her left hand towards the draw pile and drew a card.

「Ah!, thi, this is ….!」

「Saotome-san!」

「Don’t tell me it’s going to be a game changer!? Did the guardian deities have such an effect to them?!」

「Pass」

It was not a game changer.

「Hmm, then Yellow 5, with that I win the game」

「We lost again…..」

「However many times we play, We are not able to defeat Matsutomo-san at all….!」

「I never thought that being unable to lose intentionally would be such a big burden」

It’s not that big of a deal to be saying things like this. Both Mio-san and I are full-fledged adults after all.

At times you have to concede and lose. We do understand that in order to make a living it is important to discern the necessary things. And we also know how to participate in a give and take exchange.

…

But UNO is unnecessary to make a living. Therefore, there is no reason to lose intentionally.

「Urgh. Had winning in UNO been a requirement to be recognised as an adult, then I would have had some experience going easy on people. Why, Why is it not required for UNO to be a part of coming of age ceremonies or marriages!?」

「If you ask me UNO should have been a part of business conventions then, I wouldn’t mind losing and we wouldn’t have had to fight this much…..!」

We will stop once everyone has won at least once.

While playing UNO, our tacit mutual understanding somehow got caught up in this very popular Japanese trap mentality.

Moreover, the biggest miscalculation was Murasaki’s UNO ineptitude. With the slightest mishap or the trouble at sight it is already game over.

Without a single change in the state of affairs, we lost track of the time and before we realised it, four hours had passed since the commencement of the Great UNO Meet.