https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/44/
Tabletop
When I returned to the client’s house, Melia and Dahlia were waiting outside.
“Done already?”
Dahlia looked at me with a tired face.
“It’s over. The husband was apparently a fan of Melia’s. He agreed to everything after she told him he could hold her hand.”
“T-That poor wife….”
“Seriously. Plus they’re in over their heads with a debt to Don. But that has nothing to do with us.”
As long as the clients are satisfied, we get our points. The question of that debt leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but if Andy snaps out of the slump I left him in, he’s probably going to come raging at us.
“That’s right. So, should we get going?”
“Lily-chan, did something happen? If this happened yesterday, you would’ve said, ‘If the debt isn’t resolved, then there’s no point!’ or something like that.”
“I-I guess so. I just want to get past the first screening is all.”
Melia was looking at my face like the answer to her question might be there somewhere. There isn’t really a problem with her finding out I kneed Andy in the balls, but since it would make things complicated if she asked for details, I kept it vague. Luckily neither Melia nor Dahlia seemed that curious and didn’t look too much into it.
♠
We’ve finished a ton of requests since then. I’ve also had a lot more people off the streets ask to shake my hand. Half of them are old disgusting men with nothing clean to say to me, but the other half are small girls and nice old men who hold no prejudice against dancers.
I almost cried in more ways than one when a little girl came up to me and said, “Do your best, last place Onee-chan.”
When I returned to the dorms, I headed straight to Olive’s room rather than Lily’s. I knocked on the door, and Olive came out a second later.
“Oh my, Liffy-san. Is something wrong?”
“Can I have a minute…. it’s hard to talk right here….”
Olive’s face became a mask as if she sensed what I was going to say. I took her out of her room and brought her to the unused room that me and Melia used to sleep in.
Even though it’s only been a few days, the room feels nostalgic. Also a little dusty.
“So, what did you want to say?”
Olive asked while tracing her finger through some of the dust that had accumulated. The first thing I need to do when I come back to this room is clean it.
“It’s about Elm’s revenge, Onee-sama.”
I didn’t want what happened last night to happen to again, so I hugged Olive’s shoulders while she was still confused about what was happening and whispered into her ear. After a few short sentences, Olive left the room with a determined look on her face.
♠
When I returned to Lily’s room, there was someone who looked an awful lot like a corpse lying on the bed. Beautiful silver hair was lying along its slender body.
I tried sitting down in a chair while making as little noise as I could, but Lily’s body jolted upright at the sound of the creaking wood.
“*Yawn*…..welcome back”
A girl who looked no older than me stood up to her feet and started stretching her arms. There was nothing cold or intimidating about her. And the way she’s rubbing her eyes over and over again is like a daughter whose being scolded for oversleeping by her mother.
“Did something happen to make you sit over there?”
She’s either still half asleep or has completely forgotten the homework she gave me.
“My assignment. With Olive-san”
“Oh…. that was a thing….”
Lily languidly moved around the room, first pulling out some of the same herbs she was chewing this morning and plopping them in her mouth. Then she moved over and sat right in my lap while wrapping her arms around my neck. The chair made a louder creak than it did when it was just me alone.
The scent of the herbs wafted off of Lily. Even though just yesterday she was having me smell her sweaty feet, for some reason she is much more concerned about having bad breath.
“So, did you think about it the whole day? Were you able to come up with an answer?”
Lily’s mouth is moving right in front of me. I don’t know if she’ll be okay with what I decided on, and I always have the option to bite Lily’s lips right now and end the conversation before it can even begin.
However, I suppressed my impulses and organized my thoughts before laying it all out there.
“Olive-san….should take her revenge.”
“I see. Continue”
“I happened to run into Andy today, so I talked to him about it. He hadn’t reflected on what happened in the slightest, and even worse, he was making jokes about the whole thing.”
Lily listened to me talk while looking me directly in the eyes and nodding along.
“Okay, but what about the people around him? Isn’t there an old woman who lives with him?”
“Yes. That’s why I asked Olive-san to put the grandmother somewhere nice, where she could live quietly after completing her revenge. It seems like Dahlia might have a few regrets left over, but I don’t really like her as a person….so it doesn’t matter.”
“Wait, hold on. Asked? Did you already talk to her?”
“Yeah, I talked to her before I came back here. Andy’s hands might already be missing some fingers by now.”
Lily’s eyes opened wide in surprise. I guess she didn’t think I would do anything.
“O-Of course I hesitated! I hate pain too. But I thought it’d be better than having Olive-san suffer on her own. And when I thought about if it was my little brother tangled up in that rope, it’s…. well…. heavy.”
I couldn’t find the right words to voice my feelings, and when I used the word ‘heavy’ at the end, Lily burst out in a fit of laughter. Hey, I’m trying to be serious here, and laughing like that is a real jab at my mental health.
Lily’s laughter just kept getting louder and louder as time went on. She looked up at the ceiling and laughed so loudly I was afraid she’d choke herself. It’s gone well past being amusing and is starting to freak me out.
“So…. uh…. did I do something wrong?”
Lily coughed several times into her hand and eventually she was able to get her laughter under control. Although she was still wiping the tears out of her eyes when she answered me.
“You have really delighted me with this. You pass”
Congratulations on passing me, although I can’t really celebrate when I don’t know what passing gets me.
“T-Thank you very much. Was it that funny though?”
“I just never thought you would take things so far. I assumed we would talk about it at most, and things would end there.”
“Sorry. I got emotional…. and did something I didn’t need to….”
“As I told you yesterday, no matter how things end with this, it will not harm us in any way. You can do as you please. I am more than happy to see you grow.”
Looking overjoyed, Lily placed her hand on my face and traced my cheekbone with her thumb.
“You aren’t even aware of it….you were so confident and beautiful when you danced at the debut assembly. But without knowing how, you lost that confidence, became dull, and drifted into this room with no will of your own.”
Lily’s expression suddenly turned gloomy.
“If you move, others will move with you. You have the ability. You don’t have to know everything or be able to do everything to make change. Never forget to think and make decisions based on what you see with your own eyes.”
So stop giving up just because I’m a commoner dancer. There are people out there who support me. Lily has this amazing power to make me think positively like that. I nodded while doing my best to hold back the smile I could feel creeping out.
“This is a joyous moment. You have officially become a human being again. This is the minimum requirement for you to walk beside me. I will ask you to continue taking care of me, as a friend rather than a pet from now on.”
“T-Thank you.”
I think this is the first time she’s ever recognized me. In short, Lily wanted to tell me I should be a confident and independent person. She just told me in an incredibly roundabout way.
Still, I’ve only moved up to being a friend. Capturing Lily’s heart is still a long way off.
Lily seemed to have finished saying what she wants to say to me and climbed off my lap. She sat down in her own chair instead, facing me with her chin resting on interlaced fingers.
“I should reward a child who has done so well. Which would you prefer, my legs or some alcohol?”
If I choose legs, she’s going to make me lick her feet again. For whatever reason, she seems to like that a lot. Of course, my choice is obvious.
“L….Legs….”
“Oh? Have you become addicted to them as well? Then come here.”
When she stood up from her chair, Lily moved her hand around to direct me where I needed to go.
“No, not there. Here.”
Lily sat down on the top of the table. I guess she wants me to hide underneath. I did as I was told, curled my body up, and crawled under. All I could see from this spot were Lily’s crossed legs and thighs, distorted under her own weight.
“I thought I would change my taste every once in a while. I will make do with just the sound tonight.”
Lily’s feet moved as she spoke, as if it were her ankles doing the talking.
I wonder if I should try making myself louder while licking her feet tonight. As I timidly stretched out my tongue towards Lily’s dangling feet, I noticed the smell was a little stronger than last time.
Experimental Translations 