Chapter 40: 40: Jingles~

Chapter 40: Jingles~

I abruptly opened my eyes.

It’s morning already.

According to the smartphone in my hand, it’s currently 6:21 A.M.

I’m still not fully conscious yet. I was sleeping on the futon I laid out on the floor, so I couldn’t sleep well. My neck and shoulders are all stiff now.

Three people won’t fit a single bed, so we decided that I would sleep on the floor. Angelica said that she would sleep on the floor with me, but I managed to persuade her by asking her to understand the feelings of a parent who prioritizes the sleeping comfort of his daughter.

Anyways, that’s how Angelica and Ayako-chan can sleep peacefully on the bed.

The two of them are wearing pajamas with the same pattern. There are clear differences between a western-looking girl and a Japanese-looking girl, but both of them are beautiful regardless. If only they’ll stay sleeping, they’ll always be cute though…especially Ayako-chan.

I head for the toilet and finished my business there. I then washed my face and brushed my teeth, only to find that I still couldn’t shake my drowsiness away, so I headed for the kitchen and drank some water. The feeling of having water go down your throat wakes me up a bit.

I unsteadily went back to the living room.

Today’s recording session should start from 9:30, so I still have a lot of time.

I was interested in the news, so I thought of turning the TV on but I’d feel bad for waking the girls up so I decided against it and decided to fiddle with my phone instead. I tapped on the screen and looked up some news site.

[Increasing the Power of Pluripotent Cell; A Human Experiment of your Own!?]

?[Clone of the Genius Table Tennis Player Yui-chan Appears]

[Clones of Japanese National Football Team Members Appear One After Another]

Lots more similar titles are lined up.

It seems like the culprit has gone out of control1 and had begun to mass-produce people again and again.

For now, the culprit still aims for skilled people, which only muddies the water as of why they decide to clone Ayako-chan. No matter how I think of her, her abilities are nothing more than a normal person. Her academic ability might be quite high, but at best it’s an average for someone who aims to go into higher education. If there’s anything that would be considered outstanding, it’s her physical appearance.

Then again, if that fits the bill, then a lot of celebrities should’ve been cloned as well, but so far the people who has been cloned are those who are a cut above the rest in terms of intellect or physical strength. Not one idols or actresses had been cloned.

Why her? What would be their reason of breaking their own rule and wish for another Ayako-chan specifically?

Murmuring to myself as I tried to make sense of it, I saw someone squirming on top of the bed. It’s the awakening of my beloved daughter.

“Good morning, Ange.”

Angelica lets out some groans before stretching.

“Good morning…daddy…you’re early today.”

“I couldn’t have a good sleep.”

Angelica rubbed her eyes as she headed for the bathroom.

There’s one thing you must do in the morning.

“…and I’ll be able to hear all of them.”

The sound of water flowing and the sound of toilet paper rolling resounded.

I want to quickly move into a larger place with thicker walls. ASAP. The noises of a teenage girl’s daily life is dangerous.

Several minutes later, Angelica pattered her way to me. Judging by how I heard some splashing in the washroom earlier, I figured that she had washed her face and brushed her teeth.

“Dad?”

“What is it?”

I gave a curt reply while still looking at my phone. I also thought that perhaps it’s time for me to make breakfast.

“Did something happen between you and Ayako-san?”

Shaken, I lowered my phone.

“…W-what are you talking about…I just saved her, and now I’m temporarily taking care of her…that’s all…”

“Hmmm…” Angelica threw me a doubtful gaze.

“Haven’t you been scared of Ayako-san, dad?”

“…I still am. That doesn’t change.”

“Really? Even if she’s scary do you still think she’s cute?”

“Huuh? What’s with that?”

“I saw it, you know?” Angelica said.

What did she see? She shouldn’t have seen when Ayako-chan started sucking on my fingers, right? She should’ve been taking a shower at that time so it’s physically impossible for her to see it.

“You went to the toilet late at night, didn’t you?”

“…y-yeah, I recall going to the toilet once. You were awake?”

“You looked at the bed, didn’t you?”

“W-What’s so bad about it? I was curious on your sleeping face. Besides, your sleeping posture is bad, you know? If I were to leave you alone you’ll sleep with your stomach in the open so I thought I had to fix it.”

I’m your father after all, I added as a bluff.

“Riight. As usual, you fixed my disheveled pajama and even put the blanket back on me.”

“Y-Yeah. What about it?”

“And then you did the same thing to Ayako-san and even gave her a pat on the head…and you took your time with it.”

“…”

You saw that much?

“…you didn’t even do it to me. You didn’t even do it to me. You didn’t even do it to me!”

“No, there wasn’t any deep meaning behind it! See, don’t you feel sorry about her? Because of some weird reason, Ayako-chan had been split into two and because of that she can’t go back home, you know? I thought I felt sorry for her, so it was just sympathy and compassion. I’d do the same even if it’s an animal.”

“…that rapid talking makes you suspicious.”

Rather, has this girl been feigning sleep the entire time?

“I wondered if there were any events last night that could make you feel something towards Ayako-san. It’s really suspicious.”

“…of course not…Since we came back here there weren’t any time when me and her were left alone, right? Except for the several minutes when you were in the shower.”

“You can do a lot of things in between several minutes though, right?”

This might be it for me. A father can not win against his daughter. That’s how our affinity works. It’s like I’m someone with Fire attribute while she’s someone with Water attribute.

“…Ange…um…listen…”

“Do something to me too.”

“…huh?”

“You gotta do something to me too.

“Huuuh?”

Angelica’s eyes are sparkling. Not like a heroine of a love comedy, but rather like a shark lurking after its prey, and I’m but a piece of meat floating on the surface of the ocean.

“…Do something…like what?”

“Bad things.”

“I’m telling you I didn’t do anything to Ayako-chan……damn it, that’s unfair. You can’t just start crying out of nowhere…”

I don’t get it. I was just seriously thinking about the recent bizarre incidents, but for some reason I got swallowed by a worrisome infatuation. What did I do? I didn’t dosomething that weird, did I? All that happened was that the girl I picked up were ogling me indecently and started sucking on my fingers while another girl that has feelings for me was in the bath. That person deserves a death sentence, and that person is me! I’m the ace of a fucked up world. I’m in the pace of the Tokachi era2. The more I win the less of a decent human being I feel like I am.

“…My bad, Ange. I’m sorry. For now I’ll admit that everything’s my fault. Please don’t cry.”

I stroked her soft blond hair trying to calm her down. If I were to be honest, at this moment in my life, I love Angelica the most. That’s without question. I don’t mean it in a weird way of course. I love her like a daughter or a little sister, and I hold that position dearly. If our age difference is less than 10 years, it’s possible that I would possibly consider her as a romantic partner.

On the other hand, I only felt that Ayako-chan and I closed our distance only briefly. You wouldn’t feel anything weird from being approached by a junior of the opposite sex, would you? For her I only felt that I’m just doting on an underclassman. If you want to blame someone, blame that mole on her nape. That thing’s a war criminal.

“Can you understand from my explanation? I cherish you the most.”

“…I want to have the same mole as well. I’d be able to entrance you in a heartbeat then.”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

With this much ruckus, I won’t be surprised if we woke Ayako-chan up, so I glanced at the bed. While I’m not sure if she’s feigning sleep or not, at least there were no signs of movement. Ah well, I’ll do anything at this point. Whatever happens, happens. If she wants me to ask then I’ll ask.

“What should I do? Can I not convey my sincerity through words alone?”

“…I’ll forgive you if you do lewd things with me.”

“I’m telling you that’s not possible.”

It’s so early in the morning and she’s clinging to me begging for something crazy with tears in her eyes. I want to stay as a parent and child with this girl though.

Parent and child…parent and child, huh.

“Alright, I just have to show my sincerity by actions, right?”

That’s right. Parent and child. Angelica was from that other world. In other words, she’s a foreigner. Over there, this is just a greeting between a child and her parent.

That’s why.

I pushed my lips toward Angelica’s.

“Do you get it?”

We’re still parent and child; I’m still on the clear. That was close, but it’s safe. Angelica counts as a Westerner, so it’s close but safe. If I were to do this to a Japanese, it would count as a relationship between the sexes. It would probably be a lot of trouble even abroad if I were to do this to a girl I met about a month ago, but as long as it’s legal in my mind, that’s fine. It’s just how you feel about it. Or rather, I’m not sure what I’m thinking about right now.

“…you did it when you have something to feel guilty about, so it’s a kiss to distract me, isn’t it?”

“I’ve never felt guilty about something since I was born.”

Angelica touched her lips with her finger and glared at me with her reddened eyes.

“…Well, that’s fine. I’ll let it pass for now. You’ve never kissed anyone else other than Elza-san so you’re quite an oddball, aren’t you dad?”

“Is it really that well-known?”

Even if the people in that world see it as a greeting, in my point of view, it’s still a strong way of expressing your affection, so I didn’t want to do it so liberally.

Angelica is the second person I’ve exchanged a kiss with. It’s more like a surprise attack though to be honest.

“…I’ll have you do it more frequently from now on.”

“What?”

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“I’ll have you do it before you go out and when you come back home, okay!”

“That’s too much! That’s like a married couple!”

“I came with the intention to be married with you!”

Ayako-chan turned over in her sleep and hit something. She’s scary…but whatever. Whatever happens happens. Because of my drowsiness, fatigue and hunger, my head is not working properly.

The two of us ended up yelling at each other. This sleep-deprived body can put up with a lovers’ quarrel.

“…this is so troublesome…I wanna be healthy3…if I’m healthy this will be…”

Holding tightly to my phone, I remembered of the late rhythm game I played. It’s not really dead, but I was so cornered that I automatically thought of that expression.

Idolmaker Princess Concert; a rhythm game where you tap at the screen on the appropriate time to accumulate your score as some pixel beauties dance in the background. When you tap the screen, there’s a sound of bells jingling, and it seems like people would feel better playing it3.

When I came back to Japan, this used to be what numbed the pain, and I even spend quite a few bucks on it.

Still, I haven’t been playing it recently. I’m so busy, and there’s a girl in my house, so I held back thinking that I don’t want to bother her with the noise. I also held back considering what would they think of me if they see me playing a game with girls on it.

I was paying attention to how society sees me.

“…I wanna do the jingles3…I wanna be healed…”

I feel like I’m getting withdrawal symptoms. I even thought that perhaps this is why my thought process had been messing up recently.

My eyelids grow heavy and my vision starts to fade. I’ve been interrogated by Angelica from early morning, felt the pure dread that came from Ayako-chan and had to think about the cloning incident. I think I’m turning into a mentally ill patient that can only mutter the word “jingles”

“…dad…?”

“…I wanna do the jingles…I wanna sleep…it’s nothing but troubles since early morning…”

“D-dad? What do you mean jingles?” Angelica looked at me with a worried expression.

She’s too soft more than one way, so even after all that she’d still be concerned. She’s a simple one, really.

“Jingles is jingles. Can’t you understand that? It was my sole purpose in life before you came.”

“…huh?”

“I wanna jingle…I wanna play…”

I can’t play with it muted, it’s just not how it works, so I couldn’t possibly play it with you two in the room. Besides, playing aside, every time I have a spare time you would ask me to pay attention to you so I can’t possibly have a time to sit down and play a game.

“Umm…can I ask something? What kind of act is this…jingles you speak of?”

“It’s a game, you know, game. A game to push yourself beyond your limits. It feels really great if you can do well in it, like you’ll feel a rush in your brain.”

Angelica looked suspicious.

“…so jingles is a form of playing that feels very good?”

The feeling of accomplishment after finishing a song with high difficulty level is way more than just refreshing.

“Um…do you often do this…jingle, dad…?”

“I haven’t done it since you came here. I’m holding myself back.”

“…so it’s something you can’t do with me around, is it?”

“There’ll be some sounds and it’s lewd, so obviously I can’t do it with you around.”

The idols’ costume can be a bit extreme at times and their boobs tend to jiggle a lot. It’s a game you can’t really play in front of a girl in her teenage years.

“…s-so it’s a type of play that lets out some sound and it’s lewd…um…do you feel refreshed after doing that?”

“Super refreshed. It’s really refreshing.”

“…r-really…h-have you jingled in that world as well?”

“Of course not.” I didn’t have my smartphone back then. It’s a form of entertainment only available in the modern world. “I started to do it once I went back here.”

“…t-then did you start to be completely absorbed in it after you lost Elza-san?”

“Well, yeah…It heals your loneliness…that alone was my only source of hope…”

Before long, I was moved to tears. The heart of a rhythm game addict is a brittle one.

“I really wanna jingle…Should I just do it here right now? I don’t care about the sound anymore. I’ll just do it full volume.”

“Y-You can’t do that!! What are you thinking! Where’s your pride as a hero!?”

“I didn’t have any of that since the beginning. I’m gonna do it. If I said I’m going to do it I really mean it. Witness my way of life!”

“YOU CAAAAAN’T!!!”

Angelica desperately clung onto me, shaking her steaming red face. Why are you so against it anyways?

“I’m sorry dad! It’s because I teased you too much that it’s come to this, isn’t it…? B-besides, you can’t do it because you suddenly have to live with a girl, right? You’re at your limit, right?”

“So you can understand me, I see. Then let me go, I wanna pursue the path of the jingles!”

“You can’t!! I’m here…and Ayako-san is also just over there you know!? She’ll definitely be able to hear it!”

“She can hear it if she wants. She can do what she wants.”

I glared at my phone, but Angelica, with her face red as a tomato, said with a burning emotion;

“…I-is there anything I can do to help? No, please let me help. I’ll take the responsibility of pushing you to your limits…O-or rather, I want to help!”

“No, you can’t. It’s a single player game.”

“R-Right…it’s really a game for one…but…still…I think…it’s the responsibility of a wife.”

“Aah, no, it’s not a completely single player I guess. I’ve gotta compete to get a better score than other players across the country.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a competitive element to it too. There’s an event happening every month, and so I had to work full power to participate.

Angelica’s face turned from red to blue.

“…dad…you compete on how many times you jingle with other people?”

“Of course. I’d have to drink some stamina recovery items if necessary and do it the whole night.”

“The whole night…”

“At most I’ve done it 40 times in one go I think.”

That time when I did 40 songs in a row I was really tired. Not physically, of course, I was mentally exhausted. My physical prowess as a hero didn’t matter.

“F-Fourty!? Fourty in a row!?”

“Is it really something you need to be that surprised about?” Angelica’s mouth opened and closes silently before continuing. “Y-You’re amazing, dad…As expected of a hero…the best in the world, right…” she said to herself as if understanding something.

“Hmm…well that’s about it…if you’re interested in it then should I teach you?”

If she also plays it then I wouldn’t have to hold back in playing it in front of her. There’s been a lot of girl gamers recently so it’s not really that weird. Maybe she’ll be interested in how cute the costumes are.

“…t-teach me what…?”

“Hm? How to play it. It’s fun once you’ve learned how to do it. I think it’s better for you to get used to these types of entertainment anyways.”

“…Learn how to…I already know about it…you know that, right?” Angelica fidgeted as she muttered, “I can’t do it a lot of times like you can though…”

“Huh? You’ve jingled before, Ange?”

“…I did it just yesterday! I did it reluctantly to get back at you though…”

Did she fiddle with my phone and played it when I was in the bath? I guess she’s really interested in my phone. Maybe she accidentally opened the app when she was looking at what girls I’m in contact with.

“Then that makes it easy. Let’s play it together.”

“…together?”

“Let’s do it quietly so we don’t wake Ayako-chan.”

“Quietly…”

“We still have time before I have to make breakfast so…how many times can we do it?”

“…um…If I continue on, I can probably do it three to four times…I can’t do 40 times as you can…”

“Of course we won’t do that.”

I opened the app and I muted it. There’s nothing as lifeless as a muted rhythm game. Still though, playing a game with a girl really makes it a bit more interesting for some reason.

“Y-your phone? Are you going to use that piece of wood? …you’re a peculiar one, dad…”

Angelica looked at me with questions, but I still continued to tap away to the tune.

“Are you looking?”

“…yes. There are some girls with big eyes dancing in there.”

“This is what I mean by jingles. It’s this rhythm game.”

“Huh?”

I went ahead explained the idea of a mobile game to Angelica. She muttered “how did I misunderstand like that” with a grim expression on her and she felt relieved for some reason, but I think her response is not bad.

With untrained fingers, Angelica tapped on the screen this time.

“…it’s difficult.”

“It’s difficult for the first few times. Besides, you’re playing it with it muted, so it’s hard to follow the rhythm.” Her ears are still untrained too.

“Is it just me that’s too dirty…?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, before patting her head and saying that she’s a good girl.

“I’ll be making breakfast soon, so you can go on and play it a bit more.”

“…yeah.”

As I opened the fridge, I remembered that I need to make another portion of breakfast. Fortunately since I’ve cleared my head as Angelica is still being amused with the game, I think I can make a delicious breakfast.

Note:

1 Another trivia regarding Japanese sayings: “タガが外れる/taga ga hazureru”The literal translation means “The hoop had fallen off”, the hoop being the metal rings holding wooden buckets/barrels together. These falling off would make the parts of barrels/buckets difficult hold together, or in a sense, to control, which leads to the saying meaning “the behavior of something gets difficult to control/uncontrollable”

2 I really can’t say what he meant by this

3 The chapter title and some phrases marked in this note number refers to the same Japanese phrase of シャンシャン/Shanshan which could mean an onomatopoeia for an applause, bells jingling (like Christmas bells) or being healthy and active, that’s why it’s said that “people would feel better playing it (because of the jingles)”. Not a reference to a certain ex Royal Navy officer turned into a Youtuber. Side note and a quick trivia, it’s also the name of a panda born in Ueno zoo in June 2017

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