Atelier Tanaka

Book 6: Chapter 2 (5)

Sickness Unto Death

A few days have passed since Edita Sensei began dieting.

I figured it would only last a day or two, but she’s much more determined than I thought. Each day that passed was started with a single cup of tea. Even when we were given snacks, she turned down everything that was offered to her. She would also only eat half of her dinner and lunch.

“…why is dinner today so special?”

Sensei glanced down at the food laid out before her.

This busamen was deeply concerned about the potential loss of sensei’s plump body, and so, I asked the chef for a favor. I asked him to make Sensei a delicious meal filled with food that would fatten her up. Especially around the thighs and butt.

What we were served was a meal that was twice the size as normal.

Edita Sensei seemed to pick up on this and was glaring at me.

“Doesn’t it look good?”

“…did you do this?”

“Me? No, I’m sure a big meal like this takes a while to plan.”

Please, Sensei, regain all of the weight you’ve lost over the last few days.

Hopefully you can begin storing some fat again.

“….”

“….”

Edita Sensei and I exchanged glances.

We both understood the situation but neither of us spoke.

Goggoru-chan ate her meal in peace without paying any mind to the two of us. She must have a high metabolism. I’ve seen her do nothing but eat and sleep since coming to Dragon City, but she’s not gained any weight.

She sat with her legs crossed beside the dining table in a corner of the room. Her folded legs and arms were thin but the muscle tone was clear. These muscular limbs made me think her body was designed for reverse rape. I want her to pin me and hold me down so that no matter how hard I try, I can’t break free.

“This meal looks delicious. We should eat before it gets cold.”

I encouraged Edita Sensei to get started and sat down to eat as well. A high-calorie meal like this is a double-edged sword to a middle-aged man like me. Even so, the sacrifice is worth it to regain Sensei’s plump body. I picked up my utensil and started to eat. However, something strange happened.

“…you’re right.”

Edita Sensei casually mumbled to herself while running her fingers through her hair.

When she brought her hand back down, several strands of blonde hair were caught between her fingers.

“….”

I was left speechless.

Her beautiful hair was entangled in her hands, countless strands of it. Despite experiencing this for myself just a few days ago, I still started to panic. Because now it’s affecting Edita Sensei. It’s quite different from a middle-aged man like me starting to lose his hair.

“E-Edita-san, your hair….”

“Hm? Ah….”

I was still panicking.

However, Edita Sensei was calm.

“That’s a lot.”

So much of her beautiful hair has fallen out that it’s painful to watch. The amount of hair she has lost is about the same that I lost a few days ago.

“I-I’ll use heal right away….”

I’m sure that the stress put on her body by her sudden change in diet has led to her hair loss. Stress induced hair loss is something that should be feared even more than a mortal wound in this world. My heal is capable of healing the worst injuries but even I can’t do anything to cure baldness. However, Sensei didn’t seem to care.

“This might help cool me off a little.”

“No, no, no, that’s not what you should be focusing on.”

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting so upset?”

“Nothing, i-it’s just….”

Sensei has a lot of hair still, so her situation isn’t as dire as mine. Only a middle-aged busamen like me can truly understand her position.

“I think the way you are now is attractive.”

“You really think so?”

“Absolutely.”

“Still, that’s just h-how you feel. Maybe I’m not happy with how I look.”

“You’re right, how you feel is important too.”

I’m not sure the point she’s trying to make.

“Now that you’ve said your side of things, allow me to say mine.”

“…Sensei?”

She held out her hand with her hair still tangled between her fingers.

“How much is this worth?”

“….”

That’s a dangerous question to ask a virgin.

It’s her precious hair that has fallen out.

“Your answer?”

“It’s just that, well….”

“It’s just what? Look, I’m glad that you’re worried about me, but I can take care of myself. I’m going to my room to rest for today and if I get hungry, I can handle it on my own. You don’t need to be so worried about me and maybe you could try taking some of your own advice.”

“….”

Sensei quietly got up and left the table.

Her figure disappeared behind the door to the dining room and her footsteps quickly faded away.

As a current balding busamen, I feel the need to chase after her and tell her how important her hair is and how beautiful her plump thighs are. However, just as I started to get up, I noticed someone else staring at me.

“…bald?”

“….”

Goggoru-chan.

The chocololi has casually read all of my thoughts over the last several days, so it shouldn’t be surprising that she’d continue today. However, when she pointed it out so blatantly I couldn’t stop myself from panicking. Don’t you think you could’ve given me time to prepare myself, Goggoru-chan.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I’m not bothered by it.”

“….”

I gave her a straightforward answer.

She then got up from her corner and ran to the side of the table before getting down on all fours and picking up some of Sensei’s hair that was on the floor. She then came over to my side and held it out to me. It was only a few strands of hair that must have slipped from her fingers as she left.

I was still unsettled after what happened and missed the opportunity to look up her skirt.

“Look.”

“What? Edita’s hair?”

“….”

I guess she wants me to take a closer look.

I did as I was told and grabbed the strands of hair.

It didn’t take me long to realize what she meant.

“The hair follicles….”

None of her hair had any follicles on the ends. No matter how closely I looked at them, there was none I could find. Instead, the hair had been cut in a straight line, almost as if by a blade. I checked each strand individually but they were all the same.

What does this mean?

“That elf wasn’t lying.”

“….”

Goggoru-chan’s right.

I was so oblivious.

This oblivious busamen was so worried about taking care of my traveling companion, that I failed to realize she was looking after me. She even went to the extent of putting her own body on the line to make it clear to me that what I was doing was unnecessary. Edita Sensei, I want to impregnate you from the bottom of my heart.

“Was it that obvious what I was worried about?”

“…extremely.”

Seriously? I thought I was doing a good job of hiding it too.

I noticed that Goggoru-chan seemed hesitant to answer. Even this girl is worried about how much it’s been bothering me. I’m embarrassed by how easily everyone was able to see through me. Goggoru-chan, please, reverse rape me.

My blonde plump loli sensei was doing her best to show me what I was doing wasn’t necessary. She even went to the extent to use some magic to sacrifice her precious hair.

“….”

“….”

I honestly thought she was worried about her figure. She’s been dieting like that since the second day and I never noticed. Baldness can truly make you go mad.

Why can something so superficial dominate a person’s thoughts?

I wonder if the apes we descend from experienced something similar when they lost the hair on their arms and legs. “Your arms are bald!” “No, they’re not!” And now, we’ve evolved so everyone is hairless over most of their body.

That shows that baldness is a sign of evolution. A strength of homo sapiens.

A new stage in human evolution is taking place on my head right now.

“Thank you, Rocoroco-san.”

“….”

Goggoru-chan didn’t react to my words of gratitude.

I took that to mean that I should be directing them to someone else.

The next day, Edita Sensei ate all of her breakfast.

Then, we had an after-meal tea time.

It was at this time that I casually approached her.

“Thank you, Edita-san.”

“…what are you thanking me for?”

She gave a curt reply, but I’m sure that’s just her way of showing she cares. I now know that she could tell exactly what’s been bothering me the last few days.

Maybe she walked in on me when I was trying to regrow my hair. Mirrors are terrifying. They’re a constant reminder of the passage of time. I personally prefer a bathroom mirror that’s higher up. At least that way I can pretend some of the uglier parts of my body don’t exist.

“So? Do you have an answer…?”

What should I say?

I was searching for the words, when Sensei stood from her chair and gazed out the window toward the deck.

“Isn’t it time we started exercising?”

“Eh? You’re still planning on running?”

“Shouldn’t I be?”

“I-It’s not that you shouldn’t….”

I thought she had stopped dieting and assumed that meant the exercising with it, but I guess she intends to keep that up.

I don’t think that’s a terrible idea.

“It’s one thing to be less worried about it, but it’s another thing entirely to give in to laziness.”

“….”

These words suited her.

Sometimes, it can come off like she’s talking down to you, but I know that’s just her way of letting you know she’s thinking about you. As a busamen, this caring nature is quite attractive.

I was relieved to see that when she looked up at me, that cold distance I felt yesterday was gone and we were back to normal.

She did all of this to me and even showed me an embarrassing side of her. I can’t help but fall in love with her.

“Then, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to join you.”

“O-Of course!”

Even though she told me not to worry about her, there’s no way I wouldn’t. That’s why I healed her hair this morning before we started breakfast.

It’s fine to be concerned about superficial things as long as you remember that there are more important things that should take precedent.

“…I’ll run too.”

“I think it might get a little too cramped to have all three of us running together, Rocoroco-san….”

People are difficult to understand.

Even so.

I’m glad that we were able to share something personal like this and allow ourselves to grow a little closer because of it.

***