Chapter 922 - 922: Mari Funamoto's "Concern" for Saori Funamoto

Faced with Mari Funamoto's indifferent tone, Saori Funamoto laughed as though she had no worries at all.

"Haha, why does it feel like you're so concerned about my love life, Sis? Even your voice got all serious."

She really is stupid. She can't even tell kind words from insults. But that's fine. At least this way, the two of us won't end up becoming mortal enemies someday... Mari Funamoto thought.

Out loud, however, she continued,

"Of course I'm concerned about your love life. And not just that. Think carefully. Ever since you were little, which of your problems have I ever not taken seriously?"

Even though she had only just mocked Saori, Mari still did not forget to put on another performance, pretending to be a caring older sister.

It was not because she was worried Saori might resent her.

Rather, Mari had just heard footsteps approaching.

She did not yet know who was coming, but to be safe, she decided to act like she cared deeply about her younger sister.

A girl in a Harugamo Inn uniform walked over.

She worked at the front desk.

Since there were still no guests that morning, she had decided to go to the lounge to get her wallet, then head to the vending machine beside the employee break room and buy a hot coffee.

When she saw Saori Funamoto and Mari Funamoto, she froze.

Then she quickly recovered from her surprise and respectfully said,

"Miss Mari, Miss Saori, good morning."

"Mm, hello. My troublesome younger sister drank too much again. I'm lecturing her here, so don't mind us. Go ahead and get back to your work."

Mari Funamoto smiled at the employee.

Her manner, as always, made her seem as though she did not have the slightest air of superiority.

"O-Okay!"

The girl in the Harugamo Inn uniform hurriedly nodded, then quickly left.

Only after confirming that the girl was completely gone did Mari withdraw her gaze and continue,

"All right. That's everything I wanted to say. Think about it carefully yourself. I'm leaving now."

"You're not staying for lunch? You could bring brother-in-law over too," Saori Funamoto said drunkenly.

"No. I don't have time at noon. And looking at the state you're in now, you'd better go back to your room and sleep for a while."

"If you keep staying up all night drinking like this, be careful you don't die at a drinking table one day."

Mari unconsciously emphasized the final sentence.

Saori, however, acted as though she had not taken it to heart at all.

She scratched her hair with an embarrassed smile.

"Ah, you have a point. Thanks for worrying about me, Sis."

As she watched her sister walk away, Saori added,

"Drive safely, Sis~"

Mari Funamoto did not respond to her younger sister's concern.

She simply left Harugamo Inn.

Saori watched her go.

Only after she saw the Land Rover parked outside drive away did she stop standing there and turn back toward her own room.

The instant Saori turned around, the drunken haze that had filled her eyes in front of Mari vanished like evaporating mist.

At that moment, neither her expression nor her gaze looked remotely like those of a drunk person.

After returning to her room and locking the door, Saori Funamoto slapped her own head hard and instinctively dry-heaved several times.

"Ugh—pretending to be someone addicted to alcohol really comes at a price."

"I have to admit, vodka is ridiculously strong. When I swallowed that mouthful, I almost thought my organs were catching fire."

Before she had even finished speaking, Saori, who barely had any strength left, fell backward onto the bed.

She closed her eyes to rest while taking deep, heavy breaths.

Still, once she thought about the fact that her act had not aroused her sister's suspicions, the corner of Saori's mouth curled upward.

Just now, her sister had kept stepping all over her, flaunting that so-called sense of superiority while putting on a hypocritical display of concern and disappointment.

Saori knew perfectly well that if she ever showed even the slightest sign of becoming competent or getting her life back on track in front of her sister, she might never see the next sunrise.

Maybe one night, while Saori was driving a convertible past some building, a sniper's bullet would suddenly blow a hole through her skull.

After resting with her eyes closed for a while, Saori slowly opened them and muttered to herself,

"Judging from the conversation between Sis and Mom in that room... the day they completely turn against each other is getting closer."

"The fact that Mom dared to throw hot tea in Sis' face at a time like this means she's absolutely confident she can win against her."

"I don't need to worry too much about Mom's side."

"Right now, I only need to worry about myself."

"Once Mom and Sis formally turn against each other, their conflict definitely won't end in a day or two."

"Not only do I need to avoid getting caught in the crossfire and killed by accident, I also need to seize the opportunity to prove myself during their struggle."

"The ideal outcome would be for Sis to fail, and then for me to officially become head of the Funamoto family one week later."

Truthfully, a long time ago, Saori Funamoto had not been particularly interested in becoming head of the Funamoto family.

The problem was—

Back then, her sister had never trusted her and had repeatedly tried to find ways to get rid of her.

No one wanted to be meat waiting on a chopping block.

Saori Funamoto was no exception.

After enduring several rounds of probing from her sister, Saori finally reached the end of her patience.

She decided to act like a wastrel on the surface and lower her sister's guard.

Meanwhile, she would secretly develop her own strength, carefully lay out her plans, and wait for the instant when an opportunity for revenge finally appeared!

Ring ring—

Just as Saori was thinking about all sorts of things, the sound of her phone ringing made her alcohol-induced headache clear slightly.

"Hello?"

"Saori, did you get home?"

A voice came from the other end.

It sounded slightly drunk as well, but also very gentle.

Hearing that voice, Saori's previously tense nerves relaxed a little.

"Ah... Masa. I just got home. What about you?"

"You listened to me and stayed home to rest all day, right?"

"Of course. On my way home just now, I bought some rice. I'm planning to make a bowl of porridge before I sleep."

"I barely ate anything all night yesterday. More than being tired, my stomach feels awful," Masa said with a laugh.

"Ah, sorry. Yesterday I was the one who insisted on dragging you along and making you drink with me..." Saori apologized.

"It's okay. Thanks to you, I don't have to worry about sales targets for half a year."

"If this had been before, I might've stayed with a client at a hotel for several days just to show my gratitude," Masa said self-deprecatingly.

Hearing those words, Saori suddenly felt a strange ache in her chest.

If only I'd met Masa sooner...

When Saori remained silent for a long time, Masa finally realized she might have said the wrong thing and hurriedly added,

"Sorry. I accidentally slipped back into the way I normally talk with my coworkers..."

"I'm disgusting, aren't I?"

"No!" Saori said firmly.

"Didn't I already tell you? I like you for who you are. I don't care about your past."

"As long as from now on, you don't keep doing things like that just to sell alcohol..."

"Mm, I know..."

"Phew. All right, let's leave it there."

"I'm suddenly feeling a little sick, so I want to sleep for a while."

"Looks like I overestimated my body. I guess I still thought I was eighteen."

"I really need to cut down on how often I stay up all night drinking from now on," Saori said.

"If you're feeling unwell, do you need me to come over and take care of you?"

"You drank more than I did last night. I'm in a little better shape than you are right now, so I can look after you."

"No need. It's not bad enough for that."

"If I really feel awful, I can always ask one of the maids at home to take care of me. You should get some rest too."

"All right. Bye."

"Bye."

After ending the call, Saori casually tossed her phone aside.

Just before falling asleep, she unconsciously murmured,

"Sis already knows Masa is my weakness."

"I need to become head of the Funamoto family as soon as possible."

"Otherwise... Sis will definitely make a move against Masa."

...

Kotomi Izumi had originally planned to work on her manuscript.

But after turning on her computer, she ended up getting absorbed in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel instead.

After using her Galaxy-Eyes deck to raise her rank to Silver, she picked up her Switch and started playing Pokémon Sword.

Honestly, after so many generations of Pokémon games, Kotomi Izumi's favorite female protagonist was still Gloria from Sword and Shield.

When she used to play Pokémon, Kotomi had always been obsessed with the Pokémon themselves.

But when playing Pokémon Sword and Shield now, most of her attention stayed on Gloria's beauty.

After finally putting down the Switch in satisfaction, Kotomi glanced at the sky outside and saw that evening was already approaching.

She froze for a moment.

Only then did she realize that she had spent the entire day playing games.

As for the manga manuscript, forget several dozen percent of progress.

She had not even completed one percent!

"At this rate, am I going to flake again when the next deadline arrives?"

Kotomi Izumi shrank her neck and gave an awkward laugh, then slapped her cheeks lightly.

"All right! After dinner, I absolutely have to pull myself together and focus on the manuscript!"

And so—

After dinner.

"Onee-chan, go to sleep early today."

Aimi lay on the bed while launching a gal game and spoke to Kotomi Izumi, who was sitting in front of the computer.

"Don't worry about me. If you're sleepy, go to bed first."

"I'm definitely finishing the manuscript for Chapter 8 of Chainsaw Man tonight!" Kotomi Izumi said confidently.

"All right. But it's not the deadline yet, is it? Do you really need to rush this much?"

"Because I already delayed it once..."

"Ah... I see. Then yeah, you really should hurry."

Kotomi Izumi took a deep breath.

Then she picked up her pressure-sensitive stylus and seriously began working.

Half an hour later.

Kotomi Izumi stretched her wrist, glanced at the manuscript, and said with satisfaction,

"Once I actually get serious, my efficiency really is incredible."

"I already finished two pages."

"All right. I'll reward myself by playing APEX for a little while."

"I'll play a few matches with the Charge Rifle, then get back to drawing."

With that, Kotomi clicked the save button and stored her current progress.

Then she opened Steam and launched APEX.

Originally, Kotomi had wanted to invite Merii Hizuki to play with her.

But when she checked her friends list, she discovered that Merii was offline.

It was already rather late.

To avoid disturbing her, Kotomi decided not to message Merii and ask whether she wanted to play APEX.

And so, another two hours passed.

Aimi Izumi watched Kotomi finish gaming, shut down the computer, and climb back into bed.

Curious, she asked,

"Onee-chan, aren't you going to keep working on your manga?"

"Ah... I originally planned to draw more today."

"But halfway through, I suddenly thought I'd play a game for a bit and then continue."

"Then I wasn't paying attention and got addicted to using the Charge Rifle."

"I kept playing until now."

"By the time I closed the game, I'd already completely lost the mood to work on the manuscript."

"Forget it. It's already this late anyway. I'll deal with it after school tomorrow."

"Onee-chan, at this rate, you might accidentally become a serial flaker."

"A flake, huh... Whatever. If I flake, I flake." Kotomi Izumi stretched lazily.

"Hehehe, true. Taking it easy is nice."

Aimi Izumi giggled in agreement.

Hearing Aimi say that, Kotomi, as the older sister, could not help reminding her,

"I can take it easy, but you can't just relax whenever you want right now."

"Your high school entrance exams are only a few months away."

"Even if your grades are good, don't get complacent."

"After all, Sobu High School's admission cutoff is going up next year."

"Yes, yes~ Onee-chan, sometimes you nag like an old granny."

Bonk.

Before Aimi could finish, Kotomi lightly tapped her on the head.

"Don't speak so disrespectfully to your elders."

"Yes..."

Aimi rubbed her little head and answered with an aggrieved expression.

A while later, after saving her gal game progress, Aimi also shut down her laptop and placed it on the bedside table.

Then she lay down and said to Kotomi Izumi,

"Hey, hey, Onee-chan. Do you have any plans for next weekend?"

"This weekend isn't even over yet. Why are you already thinking about next weekend?" Kotomi asked with a laugh.

"Because a gal game I like is releasing a new store-exclusive bonus next Saturday."

"The shop is right here in Chiba City, so it's really close."

"That's why I'm not planning to buy it online."

"If I order online, shipping alone might take several days, and I'd still have to pay delivery fees."

"So I'm just going to buy it directly from the store."

"Come with me, Onee-chan~"

Kotomi Izumi had just been about to nod and agree.

Coincidentally, there were also several limited-edition gal game bonuses she had been wanting to buy recently.

But then she remembered the promise she had made with Iroha Isshiki a few days earlier.

She had no choice but to shake her head and turn Aimi down.

"Sorry, Aimi. I just remembered I already have something to do next weekend, so I can't go with you."

Because I'm going on a date with Iroha... Kotomi silently added in her heart.

—

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