“What’s the gender of a 3-year-old baby… what’s the name?”
“The name is Kerke!”
“Understood. I’ll contact you again. The application should be completed without too much difficulty.”
“Thank you…!”
After finishing the consultation for the application, the agent stepped back out of the office.
There really wasn’t much else to do.
Bringing the baby to kindergarten right away wasn’t an option since there were no other personnel available yet, and excluding the application, there were no tasks on the table.
“Lindera, how is work going?”
“It’s going well for now. It seems there are more applicants than I expected.”
“Well… people are in their early 20s and it’s understandable they have babies.”
“Exactly. I hadn’t met many of the new agents, but it’s interesting to see the variety.”
During the break, I found out new agents had come in.
It was surprising to learn some of the familiar agents had babies.
“Once we have people to work at the kindergarten, it will definitely liven things up.”
The construction was all finished.
They had just finished the interior decoration properly, and now all that remained was to find children and staff to fill the space.
Since it wasn’t just any facility, but one for childcare, naturally, we couldn’t just use any workers.
We needed people who were a bit more specialized and could spend quality time with the kids.
“Hmm…”
“Why?”
“I’m just looking through resumes, but I haven’t found anyone I really like yet.”
“Well… it hasn’t been long since the recruitment started.”
“That’s true, but…”
As Corbin said, not much time had passed.
I understood, but I felt a bit let down.
“Hmm.”
I wished there was someone I liked a bit more.
Something about everyone felt just slightly off.
Maybe it was a feeling of being 2% lacking.
They had qualifications and everything, but still felt somewhat underwhelming.
It was true that we needed several new staff members, but there just didn’t seem to be a standout candidate.
“Still, if we wait patiently, a good person will come along.”
“That’s true.”
“Speaking of which, check on Charlotte.”
“…I already know.”
“Mittoori, you fool!”
“I’m working hard, why am I the fool…”
Turning my head, I could see Charlotte teasing Midori from the sofa behind her.
At this point, it seemed like Charlotte had just accepted Midori as a fool.
From the beginning, between Midori, Dolores, and her sister, Midori and Charlotte were always the closest…
I didn’t know why she felt the need to tease someone she was close to, but maybe Charlotte was just too cute for it not to be funny.
“Hey, Dolores! What’s that?”
“Dotoroses!”
“No…! If I’m a fool, then what is Dolores?!”
“Dotoroses!”
“Eeeek…!”
“Ha ha.”
Dolores laughed at Charlotte while Midori was getting increasingly frustrated at Charlotte’s responses.
No doubt… Dolores was addressing her normally, just like Midori was.
In fact, both Midori and Dolores called each other by name.
They just happened to add “fool” before or after the name.
Anyway, everyone was getting along well with Charlotte.
Originally, Charlotte should have been playing with other friends, but she got along so well that they ended up spending time together in the office.
Charlotte would probably be working at the company kindergarten soon, but for now… this was it.
“Kiss, Midori! Kiss!”
“Eeeek…”
“Charlotte, stop bothering sister Midori and do something else?”
“Okay!”
“Sigh…”
Despite having a friendly banter with Charlotte, Midori was only left with hurt feelings.
It was almost painful to watch.
Seeing a colleague argue with a one-year-old baby for days was a sight to behold, in many ways.
I always thought Midori’s reactions were just too funny, right?
“Charlotte, is sister Midori a fool?”
“Yup!”
“Why?”
“Because of the kiss!”
“Hahaha…”
“…Lindera.”
“Is a kiss a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Totally good!”
“…….”
“Really? It’s a good thing?”
“Yup!”
Well, it was clear that Charlotte liked Midori the most among everyone around, except for me and Corbin.
Maybe it was the entertaining reactions, or maybe she just seemed the youngest among the lot.
“So what about sister Dolores?”
“Dotoroses is good too!”
“What about that sister over there?”
“I dunno!”
“Eh.”
“…Hmm.”
Uh… I didn’t expect such a response from Charlotte.
After all, I thought she got along with her sister well enough…
“I don’t know!”
“”……..””
I genuinely didn’t think Charlotte would say something like that.
But still, she had been someone who played around with Charlotte in the office, so I didn’t expect her to know this little.
Upon hearing Charlotte’s words, Midori paused typing and stared blankly…
It was clear she was taken aback by Charlotte’s remarks.
Certainly, she wouldn’t have expected such a reaction from her.
I was surprised, but how would the person in question feel?
“Hmm… Really?”
“Yup! I dunno!”
“…No, it’s like… Is she pretty or nice or something…?”
“Pretty!”
“But you don’t know?”
“I dunno!”
Hmm… They certainly spent a lot of time together in the office, didn’t they?
Why?
Oh.
“Oh,”
“What’s wrong?”
“…I think I understand why Charlotte is reacting like this.”
“Really?”
“…I think I understand why she’s showing this reaction only to her sister.”
After a moment of thought, I certainly figured out why Charlotte behaved that way.
It was obvious once I thought about it a bit.
Charlotte wasn’t a bad kid, nor would she display a poor reaction intentionally.
“…Wasn’t your sister always taking pictures?”
“That’s…”
“And so I think that’s why Charlotte can’t react to her, just like she does with Midori. Because she always takes her photo quietly without saying a word…”
“…That’s.”
“…Isn’t it.”
Indeed, everyday… every time… it was always Charlotte’s photos being clicked.
It was a habit of Midori whenever Charlotte came to the office to snap shots with her phone.
It was more surprising that Charlotte had any other reactions at all.
Since it wasn’t like she directly spoke like Midori did.
From the perspective of a one-year-old like Charlotte, it might truly feel like there was just someone silently taking her picture at all times.
I’d probably feel that way too.
“…Maybe next time, could you not take so many pictures? Let’s do other things too…”
“…I think that might be for the best.”
“…Yes.”
Anyway, thanks to Charlotte, there was a lot to talk about in the office today.
…I really didn’t expect such a sharp contrast in reactions.
How I found out was quite the surprise.
…I’m relieved I still see her as an ordinary mom.
Hearing a baby say they don’t know, like that, could hurt a little.
Really…
“I’m sure if we work hard, it will be fine next time…”
“…Yes.”
“…Stay strong.”
It’s somewhat pitiful.
But still, it’s something that can’t be helped, right?
*
“Charlotte, from now on, this guy is a fool!”
“Fool?”
“Yup yup!”
“…Midori, you’re a bit cringey.”
“That’s not true?!”
“…It is a bit cringe.”
“…True.”
Midori had Charlotte sitting on her lap and began her little lessons.
Honestly, I didn’t think it would be effective.
But Midori wanted this so much.
So I just let it be.
“Okay, repeat after me. Fool Dolores.”
“Kiss?”
“Yup.”
“Mittoori?”
“No, not me! I’m talking to Dolores…!”
“Dotoroses?”
“Yup yup! That’s right! You’re calling Dolores a fool!”
“Kiss?”
“Yup!”
“Mittoori!”
“Aaaah!!!”
“…Sigh.”
“Let’s just stop this…”
“…No, I am going to make this happen! Does everyone know how tough it is to be called a fool by Charlotte?”
“I don’t know, but this is getting really cringey now.”
I found it rather pitiful in many ways.
At this point, I just wanted Midori to admit it already.
I lost count of how many days I had seen her like this.
I just wished she would admit it and enjoy playing with Charlotte.
Although Charlotte actually found Midori’s reactions entertaining…
“Charlotte, do you dislike sister Midori?”
“Good!”
“See, that’s what I’m saying. Just think positively.”
After picking Charlotte up, I said that.
If I pressed further against Charlotte’s feelings, it was obvious Midori would have to suffer more.
So I thought it was better for everyone to just take a break.
“But Charlotte, let’s stop teasing sister Midori, okay?”
“Stop?”
“Yes. Enough.”
“Enough…?”
“…Yes.”
…Charlotte rarely cried when she asked to stop doing something.
But now, her plea to stop teasing Midori was making her eyes water just a bit.
It wasn’t full-on crying, but it seemed that was a strong possibility.
“….”
“….”
…Everyone around started to look at Midori.
After all, Charlotte was sitting in my lap.
They had no choice but to see the reactions that followed her plea to stop teasing Midori.
“Ch-Charlotte…?”
“Yup…uhhh…”
Charlotte was beginning to cry softly.
She wasn’t full-on crying yet… but she was about to give in.
“N-No, I’m a fool!”
“Kiss…?”
“Yup! That’s it! I’m really a fool…!”
“…Do you mean…?”
“Yup, really!”
“…Hmm.”
“Really?”
“Yup!”
“…Midori.”
“Midori…”
“Midori…”
…We started to look at Midori with pity.
Until just a moment ago, she had been adamant about it all not being true, but now that Charlotte was about to shed tears, it was pretty sad to watch her bend.
After all, Midori was still an adult.
If she hadn’t relented here, it could have been a bit pitiful, but still, I never thought she would recognize this after opposing it for so long.
“…We don’t think you’re a fool.”
“…Yes.”
“That’s right.”
“Stay strong.”
“…Everyone.”
Upon hearing our words, Midori’s expression showed a hint of feeling touched.
And the one who had made Midori feel like this was…
“Kiss, kiss!!!”
“……..”
Charlotte was overjoyed at Midori’s reluctant admission, unable to contain her joy.
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