Once we’d changed into our usual work clothes, we headed to our destination.
「Yuu-riii-chan! Rets play!」
「Yeahhhh!」
Yuri and Haruki came out through the door.
「Oh, you look great!」
「For a guy like me, even a jumpsuit looks stylish!」
「Yeah, but when Haruki stand next to Papa, you kinda fade into the background.」
「Wha—」
Today, the four of us were going mushroom picking.
And of course, when it came to easy-to-move-in clothes, nothing beat the jumpsuits we used for farm work.
We were all dressed in matching outfits.
Naturally, this was another one of those couple look requests from Lady.
Oh, and behind us, hiding as if they weren’t really there, were Sena and Lady herself.
They could’ve just come along, but apparently, walking side by side with their favorite person was too much for them.
Did they really not want to go mushroom picking with me that badly?
When I’d told Lady that I’d be going with Haruki and the others, she was practically leaking poison out of sheer excitement…
「Gyufufufu… And just like that, mistake Haruki-san’s for a mushroom and—」
「Dori-chan is here, so stop. I was originally supposed to be over there too!」
「Then why don’t you go? I, for one, am planning to create an accidental—」
「Not in front of Dori-chan, you’re not! Over my dead body!」
I thought Sena and Lady had gotten along better lately, but here they were, arguing again.
「Papa mushrum you!」
「…You’re making it sound like I’m the mushroom here.」
「Hahaha, why not? Today, you’re Papa Mushroom.」
「Then Haruki is—」
「Shiitake.」
Yuri glanced at Haruki and declared him a shiitake.
To be fair, his hair had gotten long, and when he let it down, it kind of fanned out like a shiitake cap.
Barbers and salons weren’t exactly common around here.
And going all the way into town just for a haircut was a hassle.
「Hehehe, shiitake!」
「Ugh, fine, whatever. I’ll be shiitake for today.」
And so, for the rest of the day, I was Papa Mushroom, and Haruki was Shiitake.
「What about Dori?」
「Hmm… Dori is… Dongyuri!」
Dongyuri? Did she mean donguri—an acorn?
Why were we mushrooms, but Dori got to be an acorn?
「Dori, acorns aren’t mushrooms, you know?」
Haruki seemed to be thinking the same thing.
「…Eh?」
「Wait… Dori, did you think acorns were mushrooms?」
「Yeah… They fall down…」
So she thought anything that fell from trees or grew on the ground was a mushroom?
Come to think of it, mushrooms weren’t a common sight in our house.
We rarely ate them, so it wasn’t surprising that she couldn’t tell the difference.
Even during our practice runs for the mushroom pick, Dori had been picking up acorns.
At the time, I guess she really thought acorns were mushrooms.
「Then I’ll be a pinecone!」
「Payn cown!」
Seeing Dori’s reaction, Yuri decided to call herself Pinecone.
She really was good at looking after others.
「Ugh… Yuri’s grown up so much, I could almost cry—」
「Hey now, we haven’t even started mushroom picking yet!」
Haruki was getting emotional over Yuri’s growth.
But come on, we weren’t even in the mountains yet.
We still had quite a way to go.
「By the way, isn’t Sakura coming?」
「Oh, she’s over there.」
「Over there?」
Haruki pointed behind me.
At some point, Sakura had appeared beside Lady, wearing a jacket with my face printed on it.
She didn’t have her usual fan—maybe she thought it’d be dangerous to bring along.
「Hey, what’s that say?」
Her trekking pole was covered in writing.
「Apparently, it says ‘Half-Heart.’ Looks like some kind of spell.」
I guess this was her way of supporting her favorite person while dressing for the hike.
‘Half-Heart’… oh yeah, that was what Yuri taught me the other day.
「Should we do it?」
「Man, you’re really committed to fan service.」
Haruki threw an arm around my shoulder and made a half-heart pose.
I matched him, forming my own half-heart and placing my hand beside my cheek.
「Gyufufufu! The way you’re not even in sync is perfect!」
「Kyaa! Papa-san, you’re the best!」
Lady and Sakura were overjoyed.
「Hey, hey, Half-Heart is supposed to be our thing, Naoki!」
「Huh? But Yuri taught me the version where you put it beside your cheek.」
「Haaah!? Yuri never taught me that!」
「Haruki, you’re so outdated.」
「Guh…」
Yuri calling him outdated hit Haruki hard.
Well, out here in the countryside, trends didn’t really spread much.
And maybe what really stung was that Yuri hadn’t taught him.
「Geez, guess I have no choice.」
I clasped my hand with Haruki’s, forming a proper heart.
Gotta be the bigger person here.
「Dori, let’s do one too!」
「Yeah!」
Right in front of us, Dori and Yuri were forming a heart pose together.
Dori stretched her entire body to make a big half-heart.
Yuri sighed and adjusted herself to match.
And watching them from afar—
「TOO CUTE—DEAD!!!」
The three fangirls collapsed on the spot.
Lady was even spewing poison from her mouth.
Kinda worried she might actually die.
「Hey, Naoki?」
「What?」
「When are we actually going mushroom picking?」
「…Huh!?」
Even Dori had forgotten about the mushroom pick.
Checking the time, over thirty minutes had already passed.
But hey, fan service was important too.
Naturally, our heart poses were later uploaded as wallpapers for the Fertilizer Fan Club members.
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