Okaeri Saotome-san Chapter-22

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Sorry for the late release people. Been a bit busy recently with work. Expect erratic releases for some weeks going forward. But will try and ensure 1 chapter a week

Saotome-san won’t sleep

———2 hours ago, Time: 10:30pm———

「Thank you for today Matsutomo-senpai, Saotome-san…. next time, we will win next time for sure!」

After playing for more than 10 times, the result was Mio-san and me helplessly plopping our heads down on the table.

The unending eternal UNO prison already went on for five and a half more hours.

「Murasaki! You, you must abbsso….lutely not gamble, ever! Got it!? When it comes to things like tactics and psychological warfare, you are bad enough for it to result in a disastrous situation」

「Understood senpai! I will keep it in mind」

「It’s good if you understand! But the problem now is the UNO match. Actually, I don’t feel like wrapping it up like this」

「W, we can’t give up yet! Look here, everyone else is also of the same opinion. If you give up then…..」

When Mio-san proclaimed this and hoisted the guardian deity¹, right at that instant Yuu-chan wilted.

「Eh?」

「Haa?」

「Ugu?」

All three of us were blank as to what happened. Amidst the silence, white and yellow coloured urethane foam started falling onto the tatami in the living room.

「Abababababa」

「Mi, Mio-san don’t move! If the cotton scatters everywhere then we will not be able to gather it and put it back!」

「Saotome-san you didn’t augment it?」

「Eh, augment?」

Mio-san who is taking care not to step on the urethane foam is doing a weird pose. Her upper body is holding the plush toy out just like in the movie lion king and she is standing on one leg like a flamingo. Staying frozen like a statue, she managed to stretch her neck out towards Murasaki at the unfamiliar vocabulary she used.

「Murasaki, what is “augment”?」

Collecting the urethane that was on the floor and placing it on a vinyl nearby, I too looked at Murasaki for an answer.

「Shitora….. No, even though this cat is a prize article, it is made using premium quality cloth. Just that, the thread used to sew it is doesn’t go with the cloth, so it easily crumbles at the weaker sections if it is not augmented」

Murasaki was observing Yuu-chan with a face that said, “Since he looked well-kept I thought the surgery would have already been completed”

「Before we retrieved him, he was inside the game cabinet for a long time and was crumpled quite a bit. I guess it’s no wonder the condition deteriorated this fast」

「Wh, What do we do? What should we do to get him back to normal?」

「Anyhow, if you have to stitch it up by choosing the places to reinforce then it isn’t something that I can do. Please get it done at a service shop」

「Can you let me try it out?」

Done with her observation, Murasaki asked for permission right away.

「Will you be able to do it? Murasaki-san!」

「Yes, I was also the one who reinforced my Shitora. Looking at it, the broken place seems to be quite clear-cut, so I will definitely try to do something」

While saying so, she took out a sewing kit from her bag. It doesn’t look like a professional one. Rather it looks like an ordinary needle and thread used to sew buttons back again.

「Will you be fine with just those?」

「It’s fine, not a problem. I will be dismantling it now, so can you go and buy some thread in the meanwhile?」

I took note of the necessary specifications such as the type, thickness and colour of the thread. They should be available in the neighbourhood supermarket.

「Oh and also get a punch needle, safety pin and fabric glue if they are available」

「What do I do if there are multiple varieties」

「Get the cheapest one. Ah, get a good one just for the fabric glue」

Telling me these things, Murasaki started dismantling the plush toy. Taking out the remaining cotton, removing the parka that it was wearing she turned it inside out and started removing all the unwanted seams using a thread snip.

「Woo—w!…..」

By the time I returned, the three dimensional Yuu-chan had already been reduced to a flat two dimensional object.

It is obvious, but dismantling it into its components like this really drives home the fact that a plush toy is made up of cloth and cotton.

「Here you go, the thread. This is fine right?」

「Yes, thanks! This should do the trick」

「And Mio-san, we have already collected all the urethane, so it’s fine for you to move now」

「A, ah really..?」

「Then, I will start my work」

Murasaki skilfully passes the thread through the needle’s eye. What happened after was much faster.

「Woow…..」

「Mio-san, it is dangerous to get too close while she is working with needles」

There were no faltering movements.

Murasaki will probably brush it off by saying, “It’s because I am doing it for the second time”, but even an amateur can see that this level of skill and speed can’t be explained by that.

While we were watching cloth and cloth combining to return to its original form, the flat two-dimensional object gradually became three-dimensional again. With the stitching almost over, turning it inside out, one can see an augmented plush toy that can’t be told apart from its original pristine condition.

「The urethane should be fine, but I will add a little to it in order to correct it’s appearance」

She stuffed the scrap cloths and added a little urethane inside its limbs, puffing it up and finally closed its mouth.

All this took merely an hour. “Cloth” became “Yuu-chan” and thus he was revived.

「I have also strengthened the clothes he is wearing by using fabric glue on the broken parts. If you leave it for about an hour then you can hug it all you want」

「Murasaki, you even had such a special skill」

「Ah, well, things happened and…」

It was at a level where she wouldn’t have trouble making a living out of it. Mio-san too is listlessly staring at Yuu-chan, who was revived stronger and better by Murasaki’s hands and now is seated above a chair, waiting for his glue to dry.

「Murasaki-san」

「What is it?」

「Amazing」

「Eh, Th, Thank you」

「Amazing!」

「Thanks a lot!」

「Amazing!!!」

「Thanks a lot!!!」

「Amazing, Amazing!」

Mio-san who is holding Murasaki’s hands and praising her has run out words to use.

It was the same with the fried pork incident too; it’s probably because she is predisposed in such a manner.

「Amazing! Really amazing, thank you so much!!」

「Ma, Matsutomo senpai!」

「What happened?」

「I haven’t been praised to this extent since successfully finding a job!」

「Isn’t that great!」

Looks like Murasaki is suffering from that “my pace”² like visage.

No wait, don’t all “my pace” people do whatever they want regardless of whom they are with?

After getting to know Mio-san, I realised that there are people who want to adjust to circumstances, try really hard to do it and finally end up looking like a “my pace” person.

「Now, now, I think this is a good time to stop. It’s already past 10 p.m. shall we eat something? Do you have any request?」

With that, I was able to make Murasaki see a good side of me and also calling it a day at this point is sheer wisdom. With that in mind, I proposed a meal that combines both dinner and a late night snack.

「Curry—!」

「Udon or the sort…..」

「Then, we will go for Curry-udon」

There isn’t enough time to make curry now, but the readymade curry that you get in sealed pouches is delicious enough. There shouldn’t be any problem in making Curry-udon using dashi to spread it out.

「After eating it…..」

「Let’s go for the continuation of UNO!!!!!」

「That’s right」

「…….Eh?」

Let’s dissolve this meeting.

Getting caught up in that atmosphere, my expectation was that she would get crushed under the democratic rule of majority.

「If it’s Murasaki-san then you will definitely be able to win soon, you are that amazing!」

「I think I got the knack of it. Next time around, I have a feeling that I will do well」

I will do well next time around. It’s just my imagination that I heard this every single round.

But, because Japan is a democratic country and because I am Mio-san’s employee…

「That’s the spirit, Let’s keep going at it….. is what I want to say, but change is a necessity here」

Though she is brimming with spirit, the possibility that Murasaki wins the game is unimaginably miniscule.

A new variable is required, a new rule or possibly…

「Should we increase the number of people? But…」

「To find someone who will turn up at this time when called upon doesn’t seem likely」

「Exactly… that’s the thing…..Ah」

「Ah」

Thinking of the same tanned face, all three of us looked at each other at the same time.

「…..And that’s how we called upon you using LINE」

「I think there was about an hour’s time between your meal and my arrival. What happened in meanwhile?」

「With the quick shogi rule of limiting the time to 2 minutes a turn, we had about thirty skirmishes. But Murasaki still lost in every single one of them」

I thought she would at least win a round by accident at this fast pace, but on the contrary she got even worse and the scheme backfired.

「Is it bad to such an extent?」

「Tsuchiya, you really saved me by showing up. Now, let’s start the next sequel」

「Till Murasaki wins?」

「Till Murasaki wins」

「I still have some work left to do, so…」

「Tsuchiya-san won’t play together with us……?」

「Uh」

Mio-san uses puppy eyes, it’s a HIT.

It struck right at his vitals. It’s a critical hit! ³

「……I will show you the spirit of Kyushu men!!!!」

「Ah, Atta boy! Tsuchiya」