Chapter 561: You… had plastic surgery?
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
Seiji and Mika decided to tell her mother Nozomi the truth.
Although it was probably possible to forcibly fool her somehow, when considering what might happen in the future, they felt it would be better to tell her the truth.
Mika immediately called her mother to reassure her that she was safe.
The call connected immediately.
"Mom…"
"Mika! Where are you? Are you alright?" Mika immediately heard her mother's concerned voice.
"I'm fine. I'm currently by the riverside and on my way home now."
"What exactly happened to you? Why haven't I been able to contact you?"
"Something out of the ordinary happened… I'll tell you about it when I return home," Mika answered.
Nozomi fell silent for a moment.
"Are you currently together with Haruta-kun?" Nozomi suddenly inquired.
"Yeah…"
"Haruta-kun became uncontactable as well after he said he was going out to look for you. Chiaki said that he would definitely find you and told me to trust in him and wait at home," Nozomi said. "I was unable to wait… and then she said that the two of you might be in a special place that ordinary people will be unable to find, and that I would only be wasting my time if I went outside, in addition to possibly meeting with danger."
"…Chiaki was telling you the truth," Mika softly stated.
"Mika… just what are the two of you concealing from me?"
"I promise to tell you when I return home, mom."
After ending the phone call, Mika told Seiji what her mother just said. Then, the two of them hurried back to the Uehara apartments.
When they arrived, they saw that the front door was open and that Nozomi and Chiaki were waiting outside together for them.
"Haruta-kun…"
"Seiji…"
They saw his familiar figure returning, while an unfamiliar silver-haired beautiful girl was next to him, which confused both of them.
Who was this supposed to be? Where was Mika?
Nozomi questioningly looked towards Seiji, while Chiaki made a bold inference and widened her eyes at this "unfamiliar" girl who had such an ethereal aura about her.
"Mika?" Chiaki tried calling out to her.
"Yep, it's me, Chiaki," Mika responded.
"Mika… how did you become like this!?" The tomboy's eyes widened into saucers at receiving this confirmation.
Nozomi also widened her eyes in surprise upon recognizing her daughter's voice.
"Mika… is that really you?"
"It's me, mom." Mika smiled wryly. "As I said, something out of the ordinary happened."
Nozomi was rendered speechless.
Just what could have happened!?
Her daughter went out for just a while and returned back with such a huge change, and… she became so much more beautiful!
"You… had plastic surgery?" Nozomi couldn't help but ask.
"Not at all!" Mika instantly denied this.
Even plastic surgery wouldn't be this effective.
"Let's talk inside, Miss Landlord," Seiji mentioned.
The four of them entered the Uehara residence.
"This is indeed Mika. And as for why she became like this, that's because…"
Seiji explained the general situation to Nozomi. In order to sound more convincing, he even displayed his Spiritual Abilities. Once again, he used [Telekinesis], which was by far the most suitable spell for acting pretentious.
After Nozomi personally witnessed Seiji making a chair fly up into the air and spin around right under the ceiling, she believed what he said after she was done being shocked.
"Can Mika return to her original state?" She looked towards her daughter.
"Yes, it just needs some time," Seiji replied.
"Becoming so beautiful? It's fine even if you don't return to your original state." Chiaki's mouth arced upwards as she looked towards Mika.
"I'm going to hit you, Chiaki."
"Heehee, sorry. But really, you're so beautiful right now. You can even compare to President Yoruhana." The tomboy chuckled while praising Mika.
"…I'm simply me." Something flashed in Mika's eyes.
"That's right, Mika is Mika. No matter if it's how you originally looked or how you are now, Mika is still Mika." Seiji smiled.
Mika looked towards him with a gentle expression.
"Hmm?" Chiaki astutely perceived something upon witnessing this scene.
Nozomi noticed something as well. She blinked as she looked towards her daughter and Seiji.
"Haruta-kun, thank you for saving Mika once again… I don't even know how to thank you anymore."
"There's no need for such formalities, Miss Landlord."
"So, I might as well just let her thank you instead," Nozomi remarked with a big grin. "Although she's not quite mature as a daughter yet, I still hope that you'll properly accept her."
"Mom…" Mika got all embarrassed.
'Does this count as having the parent's approval?' Seiji couldn't help but wonder to himself.
No, the landlord was definitely only permitting him to have a normal boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with Mika, and not some harem…
When thinking of harems, Seiji recalled what Mika said earlier about Chiaki. He couldn't help but glance over at the tomboy.
Chiaki was mystified when he suddenly looked at her.
Seiji hurriedly averted his gaze when he noticed that she saw him looking in her direction.
Honestly, he still didn't know what he should do in the future. Nor did he even know how to start thinking about it.
But he had to think about it… and he needed to figure out what he really wanted.
"I feel like you and Seiji have suddenly developed your relationship to the next level… what happened between the two of you?"
Even later that night, Chiaki was on her bed as she called Mika and asked this question.
"No… rather, I should ask instead, just what did you do, Mika?"
This wasn't the tone that a friend would use to ask a question. Mika felt that it sounded quite distant. However, she didn't dislike this, and even felt a subtle sense of delight.
"I expressed my own feelings, and Seiji accepted me as a member of his harem," Mika replied softly.
Chiaki was rendered speechless.
"Could you say that again?" The tomboy found it unbelievable what she just heard.
Mika chuckled.
"I made the same decision as you, Chiaki… perhaps not exactly the same, but quite similar… that's all."
Chiaki sat in stunned silence for a moment before she guessed at what must have happened.
"You told him about me and President Yoruhana, and then you expressed that you were willing to accept being in a harem as well, is that correct?"
"Yes, although it happened in the opposite order."
Mika summarized what happened between her and Seiji.
A strange smile gradually appeared on Chiaki's face as she listened.
"Heh heh… Haha… Hahaha…" She started laughing while rolling around and covering herself with her blanket.
"Chiaki?" Mika was confused by her reaction.
"Mika, you're amazing!" Chiaki gave her sincere praise after laughing for a while.
"Chiaki… are you alright?" Mika felt that something was strange.
"Of course I'm alright. I just felt that this was truly amusing, and I couldn't control myself… heh heh." Chiaki chuckled yet again. "You did beautifully, something I didn't expect at all, but upon closer consideration, this is indeed something that you're capable of doing. So, that's why I feel… that this is all so wondrous!"
"…I don't understand what you mean."
"I mean that you did an excellent job, Mika! So excellent that I feel like I'm just getting to know you all over again!!" Chiaki stated with great sincerity. "You were able to act for yourself and catch your own fortune. Congratulations."
"Chiaki…" Mika was surprised to hear all this.
"You forcefully stole away what should have been President Yoruhana's! And, this was something that neither me, Asamiya-san, nor Juumonji-sensei were able to accomplish. You surpassed all of us, and you're number one in the running now!" Chiaki continued. "Currently, only President Yoruhana and Kagura-san can compare in what Seiji must think of you! Originally, those two were fighting for the lead, yet you suddenly put yourself in contention. The situation has now changed from battle between two rivals to a three-way fight."
Mika was rendered speechless.
"You don't even understand just how amazing of a feat it was that you accomplished, which is really Mika-like as well." Chiaki chuckled. "Nor do you understand just how dangerous it was, what you did just now… but it's all water under the bridge now. There's no meaning in going on about this. At any rate, you caught your chance and did something that only you were capable of doing. That's really incredible."