"Whew...."
A man looked up at the dark night sky. That man was... me. Yes, I am Hoshino Yume.
If you ask why I was looking at the night sky like this...
"It's because it's Christmas, but work isn't over yet, so I can't go home."
"My, if you say it like that, this senior might get a bit upset, you know?"
"You've arrived?"
For the record, the reason I was looking at the night sky was partly because it was beautiful, but mostly just to kill time while waiting for my senior.
"It's almost the end, so let's finish up quickly and head back. My husband is waiting for me at home, so it's a bit of a problem for me too."
"Well, it can't be helped. There's no one else but us who can handle this kind of work."
"That's why~ everyone else is just too weak. It's because they don't train normally~"
"We don't exactly do 'training' either, do we?"
"We have, you know, that level of talent and this body to back it up?"
"That's not wrong."
Certainly, the performance of this body of mine is incredibly good. By human standards, at least.
"Still, aren't we humans who would die if we were shot, stabbed, or received a fatal wound?"
"That's why we work hard to avoid that, isn't it?"
"I don't have good 'eyes' like you, Senior...."
"Fufu, instead, you have excellent 'intuition,' don't you? I think it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a sixth sense."
"Haha..."
My senior and I continued our idle chatter as we slowly walked toward our destination. Where was our destination, you ask? Well, of course...
"We've arrived."
"Seems so."
The place my senior and I arrived at was a long-abandoned building. In front of it, our company's employees were stationed in a wide perimeter, and the person who came to greet us was...
"Yo, you two are quite late, aren't you?"
"I thought we arrived quite quickly, considering?"
"Uh-oh. The youngest is talking back?"
"Fufu, so is it that building?"
My senior, who had been listening to the conversation between me and my other senior with amusement, asked him, and he replied.
"Yes, that's correct. The ones we're chasing are in that building. However... judging by their armament, they seem to have firearms... so we couldn't approach carelessly."
"Hmm.... That is certainly a problem. How about we just bring the whole building down?"
An opinion to nonchalantly kill dozens of people came out of my senior's mouth. Unlike me, who was used to it, the other senior broke into a slight cold sweat.
"Ahaha.... That... wouldn't that be a bit much?"
"They're just criminals, is there a need to keep them alive?"
On this point alone, I always agree with my senior. There's no need to specifically keep criminals alive. Especially if they are criminals with clear evidence against them, killing them whenever possible helps ensure the safety of our 'family.'
"Unfortunately, we absolutely need the information their leader has, so the Director's 'request' is to capture him alive if at all possible."
"Hng~ A request, not an order. Then we have no choice but to follow it, right, youngest?"
"As for me....."
I don't really care whether they live or die.
"Haha! Then shall we handle this quickly?"
"Are we entering immediately?"
"Yes. I want to finish this quickly and spend time with my husband at home. You should get home soon too and spend Christmas with your family, right?"
"...That's true. I plan to buy a cake on my way home and have a party tonight."
It will surely... be fun, right? I'll invite Saito and Miyako too.... And I should invite Kana, MEM-cho, and Akane for a good time.... Ah... lately, Kana and Akane keep sticking to me to appeal about Aqua.... Our son being too popular is also a problem.... Eventually, Ruby will probably join that harem too, right...?
"Sigh....."
"My, why the sudden sigh?"
"No, just thinking about our son....."
"Oh my, oh my."
Since my senior roughly knew what Aqua's situation was like, she just let it pass with a smile in her eyes.
"Well then, shall we do a final check?"
"Yes."
Bulletproof suit... OK
Hemostatic agent... OK
Interrogation knife..... OK
My custom gloves..... OK
"Everything's confirmed."
"Is that so? Then let's head out... We finish within one hour."
"Yes."
My senior's atmosphere changed in an instant. Her smile deepened, and her expression turned into one of someone who had found an interesting toy.
This is exactly why my senior is scary. The distinction between 'enemy' and 'ally' is absolute, and she shows zero mercy to 'enemies,' and then there's...
"It's been a while since I've seen blood... This will be a very merry Christmas.... Ahahahaha!!"
All the executives know this side of her—a maniac who seems to enjoy killing 'enemies'—which makes her even more terrifying. Well, for me, who operates with her every time, this is actually more comfortable.
Slowly, my senior and I entered the abandoned building, and exactly one hour later, after finishing everything, we emerged.
"Whew~ that was fun."
"I don't think that's something to say while slicing people up."
"Haha! You say that, but even you look quite relieved, youngest."
"Well, as for that....."
It was just right for relieving stress.....
"Then, I'll leave the cleanup to you?"
"Understood."
With those words, my senior and I boarded the vehicle that came to pick us up and fell asleep for the short duration it took to reach the company.
If you ask why we didn't go straight home, I'll tell you it's because I couldn't return home smelling like blood. In fact, I did get some blood on me.
"Then, get home safely."
"You worked hard today too, Senior."
After showering and changing clothes at the company, we parted ways in front of the building and headed to our respective homes where our families were waiting. For the record, the time was 8:00 AM—I thought it was a reasonable time to return home.
"I'm home."
Thinking Ai and Ruby would be asleep and there was a high probability Aqua would be awake, I called out as I entered, and the person who greeted me was not Aqua, but...
"Ah, Yume, welcome back! You're a bit late, aren't you?"
"Ai?"
The question of why Ai, who had no schedule at this time, was awake naturally circled in my head, but...
"That's an 'I'm surprised' look!"
"Well, naturally....."
Wasn't it the most obvious thing?
"Hehe! It's a wife's job to warmly welcome her husband when he's worked hard and returned!"
"Aqua woke you up, didn't he?"
"Flinch!"
I thought so.
Ai and I eventually got married. Of course, we also announced that Aqua and Ruby are our children. And before that, we succeeded in getting rid of that unnecessary 'guy.'
When we revealed that Aqua and Ruby were our children, the reception was unexpectedly positive.
Ruby looked so much like Ai, and since Aqua's personality turned out to be quite similar to mine, there were even rumors asking if they were siblings.
Well, from our perspective, we considered it a stroke of luck. I had even thought we might have to do some dirtier work to handle it, but thankfully it didn't come to that.
Because of that, Kana and Akane were trying even harder to get on my good side...
If there's a secret I still haven't revealed..... it's just the fact that I'm a reincarnated person. For the record, Ruby ended up joining Aqua's harem party as well.
I tried to stop it somehow, but unfortunately, I had no power.... Sorry, Aqua.
"Ehehe~ Since I didn't see you all day, I'm going to stick to you all day today~!"
"We decided to have a Christmas party today anyway. Hurry and get dressed, we need to go grocery shopping."
"Ah! Have a nice trip~"
"You're not going!!"
Was that 'devoted wife' act from a moment ago just acting?!
"Ehehe~ But it's cold, isn't it?"
"Ha... I thought so. Is there anything you need?"
In the end, it was settled that I would go shopping alone.
"Häagen-Dazs!!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Just five minutes after arriving home, I found myself walking back to the supermarket. Is this the sorrow of the head of the household...?
"I really should break this habit sometimes...."
Because of that word 'party,' I ended up buying three times... no, about five times the usual amount.
Including alcohol needed for the party, drinks, food, and snacks.... I felt like I spent about 100,000 yen today alone.
"Wait, I need to give Ruby and Aqua their allowance too..... and Kana's and Akane's allowance... and MEM-cho is.... uh.... I should give her some too. Yeah."
For the record, the activities of the new B-Komachi were also steadily increasing. Of course, Kana often drifted toward the acting side and didn't participate as often, but she always joined official events.
MEM-cho also said that thanks to the new B-Komachi, her YouTube subscriber count had exploded, leading her to be frequently picked as an influential YouTuber.
Ruby was steadily establishing her position not just in the new B-Komachi but also as a solo idol. Of course, her disastrous singing skills were somehow raised to the level of a decent singer through 'special training' from my senior and me.
There were many cases where Ruby shed tears during the process, but because I knew those tears were crocodile tears, I helped her even more strictly.
"Looking at it like this..... everyone is really working hard at their lives."
Ai and I are still active as actors, but not that frequently. Well, it's not like we need to work given how much money we have, but Ai believed that resting too much wasn't good either.
Ai was living actively in the variety show scene, and I was still mostly an actor, especially taking on villain roles lately.... No, there were particularly many roles as the protagonist in the dark hero genre....
"Pffft.... I guess what's left is just living peacefully and then dying peacefully."
"That's a rather humble dream?"
The identity of the voice coming from the seat next to me while I was loading items into the car to go home was...
"How long have you been there?"
"I wonder? Want to guess?"
"Hah, as if I'd do something that bothersome."
"Oh, what a shame."
The girl, no, the 'god,' appeared by my side as always. She spoke as if she wouldn't appear again after 'that incident.'
"You seem quite disappointed?"
"Hardly. You and I don't have that kind of relationship, do we?"
"Hahaha! That's true too. Well, I'm happy to see a happy ending, and you're happy to have created one, so it's a good result for all of us, right?"
"Hmph, sure."
Well, thanks to this 'god,' 'that incident' was also resolved safely, so I do hold a slight feeling of gratitude now.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"I wonder.... I don't really have anything to do."
"Then come to our house and join the party."
"Heeeh~?"
The 'god,' who looked at me with a playful smile at my words, eventually said:
"Really? Since I've been invited, it would be polite to go play, wouldn't it?"
"Isn't there a thing where you decline once out of courtesy?"
"And then you might actually let me decline?"
"Tsk."
While I wasn't certain... the thought that she really might have done that flashed through my mind.
"I'll just introduce you as the niece of someone from our company, so make sure to get your story straight."
"That's easy enough~"
In the end, one more member(?) was added to the party.
"What's with this kid?"
"She's the niece of one of my subordinates, but he had to be away for a bit, so I decided to look after her. We'll have the party together and then she'll head home."
"I see~ Well, everyone else has arrived!"
"I took a bit of time. I should start cooking immediately."
To think I actually spent two hours on grocery shopping.....
Upon entering the kitchen, the people waiting for me were...
"Welcome back, Yume-senpai!"
"Please excuse our intrusion, Senpai!"
"Ye... yeah...."
Kana and Akane greeting me with such pressure..... This... is heavy...!
"I'll be doing the cooking, so I think you can just spend time in the living room until then. Or maybe Aqua's room....." "YES!!" "Ye... yeah...."
In the end, I had no choice but to sacrifice Aqua. After the two of them went up.
"Papa!?"
"Ruby, even your father is helpless here. Love must be won..... and.... wait...."
"Boohoo!!!"
I couldn't bring myself to look at Ruby's face and say, 'You two are biological siblings, so you can't get married!' Since it's come to this, I'll have to change the law..... I should storm the government tomorrow morning....
I found myself entertaining such ridiculous imaginations.
"Anyway, Ruby, you go rest in Aqua's room too."
"Yes..."
Ruby walked off dejectedly, and finally, I was left alone in the kitchen. I better finish the cooking quickly.
"Hahaha! You know your son's situation is just too funny?"
"If you came here just to mock him, how about you go watch a children's program in the den?"
Her outward appearance is clearly that of a little runt.
"Don't you know well that appearances don't matter to me?"
"I'm just speaking figuratively."
"More importantly, where is your wife?"
"She went to nap."
"Beautiful women do sleep a lot~"
"To hear the word 'beautiful' coming from your mouth, I've lived long enough to see everything."
"Are you an old man?"
"Hardly."
I prepared the dishes for the party along with light banter, and it took four hours.
Soon it was almost dinner time. I sent Ai, who had come down with her hair all messy, to the shower, then greeted Miyako and Saito.
After bringing down the four who had been playing(?) in the room, I finished setting up the party in the living room.
"Well then, now that everyone's gathered~"
"""""""""MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!"""""""""
We proceeded to enjoy the Christmas party slowly.
I hope that next year, we can all gather like this again to enjoy the end of a pleasant year.