Chapter 10: Kururu’s Class Change

Chapter 10:
Kururu’s Class Change

 

I COULD HEAR PEOPLE talking in the storefront. I closed my eyes and focused on the conversation.

“What’s up with you?” someone asked.

“U-um, I’m not sure what to say to that,” said Mina’s voice. “I’m sort of attached to this house, but the other rooms aren’t part of the drugstore.”

“You mean, you refuse to let me behind the counter?!”

“Er…although you’re upset, I…”

From that back-and-forth, it sounded like the customer had some complaints. They’re probably gonna ask for the manager. In my mind’s eye, I could already see a teary-eyed Mina.

I rushed out to the store, calling, “Excuse me, can I help you with something?”

As I expected, Mina’s eyes were watering. In front of her was the elf Kururu.

“Mr. Reiji, give me a hand,” Mina mumbled.

“Reiji, my dear!” exclaimed Kururu.

Slam! I shut the door to the house tight.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Someone hammered it from the other side.

“Why’d you close the door on me?” called Kururu. “I went out of my way to see you this morning! Just like before…and before that…and before that! Don’t be shy!”

“I’m not being shy,” I replied. “If you don’t have actual business here, could you please just go home? You’re gonna bother the other customers.”

“What’re you saying, dear? I specifically visit when there aren’t other customers! This way, we can be alone together!”

Hunh. He’s at least thinking of others, I guess. “It’d be nice if you stopped bothering me, too.”

Kururu changed the subject. “I noticed a young man visiting your store. Who exactly is he?!”

Was he referring to Zeral? Ever since his fight with Feris, he’d come to the drugstore frequently just to chat. “Hrm. I guess I’d say he’s a friend.”

“So, you’re already intimate?!”

“Jeez. Not that kind of friend. Are you kidding?”

“Fine,” said Kururu. “I’ll go home for today. See you later, my dear Reiji.”

Things went quiet on the other side of the door. I peeked into the drugstore and saw Mina gripping a bouquet.

“Sorry for making you deal with him, Mina,” I said. “From now on, if someone annoying pops up, just call me, okay?”

“All right. Thank you very much. Um…he probably intended to give these to you, Mr. Reiji. What should I do with them?”

Oh. Kururu brought that bouquet? Maybe I can use the flowers as ingredients. Otherwise, I don’t know. The bouquet did smell good; it was also quite pretty. I was sure Mina would’ve been delighted to receive something like that under other circumstances.

I glanced at the drugstore entrance absentmindedly, only to see a stunning elf girl cautiously approaching.

“Welcome!” Mina and I said.

“My name’s Ririka,” the elf girl greeted us. “Um…my big brother’s acting weird.”

Her “big brother”? Mina tilted her head at me. I responded in kind, communicating via eye contact.

“Um, who’s your big brother?” I asked Ririka. “We’re not exactly a counseling service—just a pharmacy.”

“His name’s Kururu, and he’s been acting strange recently.”

“Recently…?” You mean, he wasn’t an oddball to begin with?

“Whenever he heads into town, he always seems so restless,” Ririka explained. “Today, he took a bouquet, and—well, I followed him. That’s when I found this drugstore.”

Oh no…this sounds like trouble.

Noticing the bouquet in Mina’s hands, Ririka pointed at her. “You’re Daisy!”

“‘Daisy’?”

Mina and I locked eyes, confused. Who the heck is Daisy?

Beats me.

Yes, we were in fact conversing via eye contact.

“My brother’s always grinning and saying ‘Daisy, Daisy’ over and over!” Ririka continued. “Don’t get all cocky just because you’re a little cute!”

Ririka must’ve been referring to Mina, since the elf girl was pointing at the ghost. She was really angry.

However, Mina didn’t seem particularly bothered. She pulled at my sleeve. “Mr. Reiji! Mr. Reiji! She said I’m cute!”

“She did! I’m pretty proud, since you’re one of Kirio Drugs’ two poster girls.”

Thump! Mina hit me lightly.

“Oh, you! Don’t expect any special treatment for flattering me…but tonight I’m going to make your favorite for dinner!”

Mina skipped into the back of the house as if flowers were blooming around her.

“Hey! Wait!” Ririka exclaimed.

“You’re the one who has to wait,” I interjected. “What business do you have with ‘Daisy’?”

I’m guessing she misheard “Reiji.”

“Er…nothing important,” replied Ririka. “I was just upset that my brother’s been all weird. I wanted to see who he was meeting, that’s all.”

Should I really tell her that her brother’s into men? It’s not my place to come out for him.

“But after seeing you and Daisy talk, I get it,” Ririka continued. “She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she? Yet she’s leading my brother on. She’ll never get away with this. My poor brother’s the victim here!”

Man, Ririka just keeps going on about him. Every time she opens her mouth, it’s “brother this” and “brother that.” I guess Kururu acts more impressive at home. She must really love the guy.

Now it all made sense. Despite Ririka’s prickly attitude, I couldn’t help but smile at her. A worrywart little sister, huh? Heh heh.

“Wh-what is it? Why’re you grinning?”

“No particular reason! Go on. You’re jealous that Daisy took your big bro from you, right?”

Poof! Ririka’s face turned bright red.

“N-not at all! I just came to see who my belo…er, my brother’s so infatuated with! He kept saying Daisy’s voice and butt were particularly attractive.”

Ugh…

“I-I know it’s not my place to butt in,” Ririka continued. “B-but it’s just…if she’s going to become part of our family, I want to know more about her. As Kururu’s little sister.”

At the end of the day, your big brother’s into men. I got that Ririka wanted to watch over Kururu, but this misunderstanding couldn’t go on forever. That wouldn’t be good for anyone.

With that in mind, I spilled the beans. “I want you to listen very carefully,” I told Ririka. “You misheard your brother. He wasn’t talking about ‘Daisy’; he was talking about ‘Reiji.’”

“Huh?” Ririka furrowed her brow.

“And the Reiji he mentioned has a real tough time kicking Kururu out whenever he shows up at the drugstore,” I added. “The girl who was here earlier is named Mina. I’m Reiji.”

“Wait. That means…”

“Yeah, exactly.”

Ririka was unable to hide her shock; her jaw dropped. “Mr. Manager, you like men?”

“How’d you reach that conclusion?! Your brother does. I’m into women, but whenever I see Kururu, he goes on and on about me.”

“He likes men?! N-no way! My brother’s the most popular with the female elves. He’s so—”

“I’m telling you the truth.”

Ririka looked stunned. “I-I can’t believe it.” I understood where she was coming from. To her, this must’ve been a totally new side to her beloved brother.

At any rate, Kururu’s actions were becoming a problem for Ririka, too. Isn’t there something I can do about this? I’m guessing Kururu’s been so relentless about this because of his over-the-top sex drive.

“I can’t change Kururu, but I might be able to help him reign himself in,” I told Ririka.

“Really?!”

“Yeah. First, I’d decrease his sex drive. His personality notwithstanding, his behavior is probably tied to a strong libido.”

“Huh? But…um…what would that do to my brother?”

He wouldn’t be able to get it up. Which I definitely can’t tell Ririka outright.

“He’d chill out for a while.” Okay, that might be too vague.

“Sounds good,” said Ririka. “What should I do after I leave?”

“Hold on a sec. First, I gotta make the prescription.”

I grabbed a landen flower off the shelf. The tea I made for Feris had calmed and relaxed her nerves. In other words, it kept her from getting overexcited. If I strengthen that effect just a little, I should be able to make exactly the medicine I need now.

As I headed back to the laboratory, Noela saw me and trotted over. “Master, Master! Noela poster girl? Poster girl?”

“Hm? Oh, you mean the thing I told Mina?”

Noela nodded energetically. She must’ve overheard when we were talking.

“Yup. You’re my cute little poster girl.”

“Arrooo!” Noela wagged her tail, hugging me around the waist.

“Hey, get off! Eh, whatever.”

Since Noela refused to leave me alone, I took her with me into the lab and started on the treatment. Eventually, she fell asleep holding her own tail. She must’ve gotten bored, I thought. Just looking at her heals my tired soul. Hunh…she can stretch her tail out that far?

I held back the urge to play with Noela and somehow managed to finish the prescription. I used basically the same process as making herbal tea, just more concentrated. It hadn’t taken much time at all.

Landen Extract (Strong): Lowers sex drive by calming nerves.

Hopefully, this landen extract would lessen Kururu’s obsession with me. I put a bit into a vial and headed back to the drugstore.

“It doesn’t have a strong aroma,” I told Ririka, “so you should be able to mix it into food. Just keep in mind that the extract’s effect is very strong. You can only use a little at a time.”

“All right. Thank you, Reiji!” Ririka grabbed the landen extract from me and rushed out of the drugstore.

Is she gonna be okay? I hope this won’t add fuel to the fire.

The next day, my fears turned out to be spot-on. Ririka dashed into the store as soon as I opened up. “Reiji! Sort this out!”

“Er—what?”

Breathless, Ririka pointed behind her. I cautiously craned my neck and saw Kururu approaching us.

“Ah, good morning,” I greeted him. “You two are together today, huh?”

“Sure are,” Kururu replied. “Gosh, this goody-two-shoes! I swear, as soon as we woke up this morning, she just babbled on and on about how I was acting—like, come on, Ririka! Then she dragged me all the way here. Can you just, like, believe her?”

Hunh. His voice is still deep, but he almost sounds like an okama.

“Need an explanation?” Ririka cried.

Nope.

She clutched my shoulders and shook me. “What am I going to do, Reiji?! My brother—he’s unrecognizable!”

“How much landen extract did you put into his food?”

“I wanted him to control his libido, so I put it all in his dinner last night!”

“There’s your problem. Didn’t I tell you only to use a little?”

“Oh my gosh, Ririka,” Kururu interrupted. “Why are you acting, like, all clingy with Reiji? When we get home, I’m gonna totes tell you off.” He glanced at me. “Like, women, am I right?”

For some reason, Kururu now had an okama-style cleft chin. Seriously.

I rubbed my eyes and took another look. Yup. Cleft chin, right there. Weird. That wasn’t listed as one of the landen extract’s effects.

I told Ririka to take a deep breath. “The extract’s effects aren’t permanent. He should go back to normal eventually. His chin, too.”

Ririka looked relieved. “Th-thank goodness. No more side effects.”

Sadly, my landen extract hadn’t had any effect on Kururu’s overconfidence.

“His face is strangely pudgy, too,” Ririka added. “Will that go back to normal? Along with his chin?”

“Whoa—you’re right, it is. Don’t worry, that should go away with his chin cleft.”

Three days later, the usual Kururu strolled into the drugstore with a refreshed smile, his chin cleft gone.

With this trial run in mind, I decided not to sell the landen extract. Somehow, however, word got out about the treatment, and wives with cheating husbands visited in droves.

I made a point of warning each and every one of them about the extract’s effects. “Just be careful. If you use it wrong, your husband might end up with some pretty unexpected side effects.”