Chapter 101

Iris’ Past (9)
It's been a year since Iris arrived in Japan. Takuto continued to excel academically, while Iris, tired of constantly teaching the forgetful Kazuhito the same things over and over, invented a technique to directly implant knowledge into the brain. In addition, Takuto, Kazuhito, Mai, and Iris enjoyed fun days, such as going to amusement parks together.

Kazuhito had some moments where he was almost like a lifeless shell, but he remained sane.

About six months after Iris arrived in Japan, a slight rift seemed to form between Takuto and Mai, but they managed to settle into a friendly relationship.

Mai also initially harbored some hostility toward Iris, but eventually, they settled into a sisterly bond, with Iris taking on the role of the younger sister.

This dynamic emerged because Iris had absolutely no interest in fashion and left even her daily grooming entirely up to Lim. Her attitude was that as long as she was clothed, it didn't matter if the clothes matched or not. She was even okay with wearing mismatched outfits. When she showed interest in tracksuits, Carls vehemently opposed it, to the point of tears.

"Iris, you're a girl, so you should care more about your appearance. You were born so cute, after all!"

"I don't really get it."

No matter how many times they tried to teach Iris about fashion or brought in renowned stylists for lessons, Iris's sense of style remained unchanged.

Lim and Shizuka had already given up on Iris's sense of style and had resigned themselves to treating her like a dress-up doll, as long as she didn't reject clothes that restricted her movement.

Carls felt a sense of crisis. "At this rate, she'll become a failure as a girl."

At that point, Mai took action. She was a healthy young girl who cared about her appearance. She couldn't stand Iris's sloppy sense of style. Mai decided to use her own books to try to improve Iris's fashion sense.

Iris, for her part, showed at least a semblance of interest. However, she had absolutely no fashion sense. Though it was like aiding an enemy, Mai couldn't just ignore it and ended up spending more time with Iris.

"That's why this skirt is cuter with this top."

"That one has too many frills and gets in the way."

"Aren't you a girl?! Why don't you understand?!"

"I didn't grow up in an environment where I encountered things like this."

"Then start now. Otherwise, people will call you a disappointing girl."

Mai couldn't bear it any longer. She couldn't accept losing to such a hopeless girl. She believed that even if it was an unavoidable battle, her opponent should face her in top form.

Indeed, Takuto was looking at Iris. However, Mai couldn't stand the thought of the boy she liked choosing someone as disappointing as Iris.

"Look, why did you stuff this in the back of your closet? This is the latest style, and I can't even afford it with my allowance. Combining this with that would make your blonde hair stand out so much!"

"Momoniku, do a handstand."

"Woof."

At Iris's command, Momoniku did a handstand and started circling around Mai on her front paws. Mai, without saying a word, grabbed Momoniku’s waist and made him sit down.

"I didn't think she was this hopeless. And there's definitely something weird about this dog. Someday, I'll send her to a TV station."

"Momoniku says he’s not fit for filming."

"Woof, woof."

"Be quiet. Stop using Momo to interfere all the time. It's fashion time right now."

"Mai's been scary lately."

Iris was slightly intimidated. However, Momoniku didn't come to her aid. He was a loyal dog. Though he was like a knight to Iris, he was also a dog who understood human nuances. He could tell that his master, Iris, wasn't truly bothered.

If Iris were really unhappy, she wouldn't meet with Mai.

However, there seemed to be some effect. Occasionally, Lim and the others would catch her staring into the wardrobe… but this was a misunderstanding.

"It seems Momoniku can't fit into the closet after all."

Apparently, Iris had simply been plotting to turn the wardrobe into Momoniku's new home. Momoniku currently didn't have a designated house; he just had a blanket laid out in Iris's room. Feeling that Momoniku needed his own space, Iris had been trying to create nests for him in various places. The idea of placing a doghouse somewhere was something she would come to much later.

Iris was in the garden. Using tools Carls personally owned, along with materials he purchased at his own expense, she was building a doghouse.

That's right, Iris had finally understood the concept of a doghouse. It took her about two days to come to this realization. After seeing a dog on TV living in a small house-like structure, Iris asked Lim, "What's that?"

"I need to create a suitable house for Momoniku."

"Iris~ I came back early today... Wait, what are you making?"

After working for a while, Carls returned home. He had said he would be visiting the Shishido family today and had left early in the morning.

Tools and materials were scattered around where Iris was sitting... but they were clearly not for building a doghouse. Carls had heard that Iris was making a doghouse.

However, what was there were the remains of some kind of machine and a fairly large house-like structure. It was about the size you might expect for a doghouse.

"I made a doghouse with a door and air conditioning for Momoniku."

Sitting there was a white doghouse. It had patterns meticulously carved into it, covered with resin, which gave the entire house a faint pattern. It was a work of craftsmanship.

To test it out, Momoniku pressed a paw-sized switch next to the doghouse, and the glass door slid open.

Inside, it seemed ready for a blanket to be laid down. Beside the entrance, there were several switches, including buttons for opening and closing the glass door, switching to a smoke-screen mode, and controlling the air conditioning. This was clearly not a typical doghouse. However, Carls thought, since his daughter seemed to be enjoying herself, why not just accept it and avoid reality?

Incidentally, Momoniku was intelligent enough to operate it with ease.

Since it weighed about 30 kilograms, Carls carried it up to Iris's room. Carls thought, "I'm glad Iris's room isn't on the second floor." It was obviously bigger than the door. He removed the window and brought it into Iris's room without a word of complaint.

“Whew, but this isn’t a doghouse, is it? It’s got an automatic ventilation system, too. This is practically a little house.”

“I think Momoniku needs privacy too.”

Without showing any gratitude to Carls, Momoniku entered the hut, opened the glass door, and fogged up the glass to prevent anyone from seeing inside.

Momoniku doesn’t like humans very much. It can’t be helped since it was originally a lab animal.

In fact, it only ever warmed up to Shizuka, Iris, and Mai.

“Whew, I was thinking I haven’t been getting enough exercise lately, but it seems I’m still okay.”

“So, what’s up? You said you would take all day.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right. There’s something I need to talk about, so could you come with me to the Shishido household?”

“I don’t mind.”

In the past year, Iris has gotten used to going to the Shishido household. She was also learning self-defense at the Shishido dojo.

Iris isn’t very strong and has no stamina, but she’s tough and quick. Most importantly, she’s always calm. Her self-defense skills are already quite adequate.

If anything, in hand-to-hand combat, she’s at a level where she can go up against Takuto… although it’s mostly because Takuto can’t bring himself to hit Iris, and there have been some close calls.

They traveled to the Shishido household in a car driven by Lim. Iris found this rather puzzling.

Why use a car for this distance? Since coming to Japan, there’s always been someone nearby. Even at amusement parks, Carls’ acquaintances watch from the shadows, and people seen at the Shishido dojo appear here and there.

It seems the security level has increased. However, the reason was unclear. Iris is a NEET. She holds several patents and doesn’t need to work because of the royalties. Her patents are all cutting-edge technologies that will develop in the future, so the royalties are enormous. Money comes in from various places.

However, Iris thinks she has no influence. A scholar who does nothing has no value. Scholars are meant to think or create, and for someone like Iris who lives lazily, even the paparazzi haven’t come around for the past few months. On the network, there are still people trying to hack into the mansion’s computer, but “nobody can breach that place.” Without someone on par with Iris and Carls spending a massive amount of time, nothing can be stolen with existing methods. That’s probably their greatest invention.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everyone seems on edge lately.”

Carls’ shoulders twitched, but he didn’t respond.

“It’s good to see you… oh, but it’s only been two days, hasn’t it?”

“Grandpa, are you getting senile?”

“I’m not senile yet!”

While drinking juice in the tatami room, Gensai arrived. He’s usually at the dojo or meeting with town officials. The reason is simple: this town used to be Shishido land. Even as time passed, the Shishido family’s influence remained strong. There’s nowhere in this town that isn’t within the Shishido family’s reach.

“So, what do you need? If it’s about the satellite, I have nothing to do with it.”

“Ah, you’re only suspected. The actual object accidentally fell into the trench, so it’s impossible to recover, and there’s no evidence you were involved. Carls was suspected too, but there’s no evidence there either. It’s your win.”

“I don’t know anything about it.”

“… Well, that’s fine. This is a different matter… Will you marry Takuto?”

“Gensai!! I haven’t approved anything that far. At most, I agreed to an engagement.”

“There’s no difference.”

Iris couldn’t immediately understand those words.

First, she thought about marriage… her parents. They live very happily. Whether or not she wants to do the same is a different matter, but she thinks it’s a very good thing.

Next, she considered her future with Takuto as her partner. Imagining herself (exaggeratedly, actually quite small) becoming a voluptuous beauty like her mother, alongside Takuto (in his 20s), they seemed to be having fun together.

However, she didn’t know if she would actually marry him. This is because Iris is convinced that marriage is as happy as her parents’. She doesn’t understand that there could be other ways.

She wasn’t sure if she should decide for herself.

“To be honest, both you and Takuto need an engagement. In your case, I can’t say much, but it’s probably not a situation where you can choose for yourself. It’s necessary to have a fiancé as a precaution.

But as I discussed with Gensai and Takuto, this isn’t meant to restrict your future. The purpose is simply to show to the outside world that you have a fiancé. So, when you turn 20, you’ll only marry if you both want to. If the engagement is called off at 20, no one will say anything about it.”

“We intend to end outdated customs. There are mutual benefits, of course. And we will respect your wishes. If you don’t like it, the Shishido family won’t insist.”

The Shishido family is an old house. Even now, marriage exists for the connection between families. Takuto’s parents’ marriage was a decision between families, but they were able to love each other. However, Gensai believes this should not be a practice to continue forever. The drawbacks of arranged marriages have begun to appear even within the family. He thinks it’s time to end things and change the atmosphere.

Currently, Takuto had several candidates for fiancées, but in reality, he could only choose between two. The others were met with resistance from their families. It would only be possible if forced.

The era of forcibly connecting families is over.

“If you get engaged, it’s fine to break it off anytime. I’d be thrilled if you became Takuto’s bride.”
For Gensai, Iris marrying Takuto would be a dream come true. Takuto himself probably wouldn’t refuse, and might even be happy. However, he emphasized that this is just a temporary arrangement.

Iris roughly understood. This might have something to do with the people snooping around her lately. However, she knows nothing about them and has judged that they aren’t taking any actions to harm her or her family. Someone seems to be investigating around her, and there might be someone behind it, but since she has no intention of becoming a Hollywood star, she thinks it’s fine to leave it alone as long as there’s no harm. Dealing with it every time is a hassle.

There weren’t any real problems. Whether it was a temporary or genuine engagement, Iris herself felt no aversion to the idea, which she was well aware of. That’s probably what it is.

To Iris, Takuto is a gentleman, capable, and unique. He’s one of the few people who can talk normally with someone like her, who isn’t particularly sociable.

“I don’t really mind.”

However, the words that came out were blunt. This surprised Iris… no, you could say she was quite shaken. It was the first time she couldn’t understand or control her emotions, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling… which confused her.

Seeing this, the two looked at each other and laughed joyfully. Although Carls’ smile was a bit stiff.