I Live With My Villain Uncle – Chapter 7

Author: isuzuuy

I was so bothered by it that I unconsciously pressed a little harder, and the crayon suddenly snapped cleanly in half.

“Ah.”

Oh well, I’ll have to be more careful when I draw.

I set the broken half of the crayon aside and used the slightly larger piece to color the remaining parts.

The leaves were colored with dark green and an even lighter shade of green.

And after drawing everyone—Mom, me, Uncle, and even Grandfather—the picture actually looked pretty decent.

Oh, I think I’m actually good at drawing.

Feeling proud of myself, I called out to Uncle, who was sitting in the chair at his office desk.

“Uncle, you know what?”

“I don’t.”

“……”

But I haven’t even said anything yet.

I bit my lip tightly and frowned before quickly breaking into a grin again.

Well, if Uncle says he doesn’t, then he doesn’t!

“Uncle, then you’re not here.”

“I am…… hey.”

Uncle, who had been keeping his eyes closed, opened them irritably.

Without missing the opportunity, I held up the large sheet of drawing paper I had worked so hard on.

“Uncle. Do you want me to draw you too? Look, I’m really good at drawing, right?”

“No.”

At that, I smiled in satisfaction.

Uncle’s face became even more crumpled with irritation.

“I said no. Why are you smiling?”

“Mom said you’re the kind of person whose heart and words are different, so I can just understand you the opposite way!”

“……The two of you really are birds of a feather.”

“I’ll draw you too, Uncle!”

“Do whatever you want.”

After that, I called Uncle a few more times, but he didn’t even answer.

After drawing my family, Uncle, Mom and me together, and me and Uncle together, my arms started to hurt and I lost interest.

The gaze I had occasionally felt must have just been my imagination, because Uncle kept his eyes closed.

He looks like he’s not sleeping, though. Just keeping his eyes closed.

I put down the crayon that was almost completely worn away and approached Uncle, peering at him.

“Uncle, are you sleeping?”

“Yeah.”

“Uncle, if you’re not sleeping, play with me. I finished all my drawings.”

I kept wandering around Uncle and pestering him.

“Uncle’s busy.”

Despite his casual tone, Uncle was sitting with his legs crossed and propped up on the desk, his fingers interlaced over his stomach, his eyes still closed.

“You weren’t busy until just now.”

“I suddenly got busy.”

Uncle answered without even opening his eyes.

“You’re lying…….”

He had been sitting in exactly that position this whole time. There was no way he had suddenly become busy.

Especially when he wasn’t even looking at the mountain of documents piled up beside him!

I continued clinging to Uncle and begging him.

After a long while, Uncle finally reacted.

“Fine.”

“Really?”

I grabbed Uncle’s arm and pulled on it, looking ready to jump up and down at any moment.

“Should we play dead?”

Uncle, who had spent all this time with his eyes closed and not moving at all, opened one eye slightly and asked.

I leaned close to Uncle’s face and asked,

“How do you play that? Is it…… scary?”

What kind of game had such a frightening name?

“No, it’s fun.”

Uncle gave a crooked grin.

Fun.

If those words didn’t tempt me, I wouldn’t be Aika!

“How do we do it? I’ll play. I’ll play!”

“The person who’s better at pretending to be dead wins. Uncle will be generous and let you go first, so go over there and pretend to be dead.”

A game where you pretend to be dead? That was something I had never even played with Mom.

“Umm…….”

I thought about what position would be easiest for me to use to beat Uncle.

“If you don’t want to, forget it. One, two, three……”

“No! Uncle, then can I lie down and pretend to be dead? I just have to stay still, right?”

I hurriedly cut Uncle off and ran over to the thick carpet spread across the floor.

Then I hurriedly cleared away the sheets of drawing paper I had worked so hard on.

“Do whatever you want. You win if you don’t move until Uncle calls you. Then I’ll buy you a present.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Don’t move until Uncle calls you. You can only breathe, got it?”

“Okay!”

It was suspicious that he had suddenly become so kind, but I quickly flopped backward onto the floor, afraid Uncle might change his mind.

My head was facing the ceiling, so I couldn’t see Uncle’s face.

What should I ask for as a present? Should I ask him to have snacks with me tomorrow? Or ask him to go outside with me and buy some flowers? I could even ask him to go somewhere with Grandfather and me. I want to do all three, though…….

“You have to close your eyes. Start.”

“Ah, okay!”

How did he know? I squeezed my blinking eyes shut as tightly as I could.

How long do I have to stay like this to beat Uncle? I feel like I’m going to fall asleep.

Even though I had chosen the most comfortable position, my body somehow felt itchy and restless.

And somehow, the surroundings seemed to grow quieter and quieter…….

Creak, went the sound of the chair.

Afraid Uncle might notice, I even breathed as quietly as I could.

And how much more time passed?

With a dull thud, Uncle’s footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

***

“Gasp!”

Oh no, I must have fallen asleep!

I cautiously turned my eyes toward Uncle’s desk.

Because I was lying on the floor, I couldn’t see Uncle.

But strangely, I had an uneasy feeling, as if I had been left all alone in the room.

Gathering a little more courage, I moved my head from side to side.

“Ah!”

Uncle was gone.

And it seemed like he had disappeared quite a while ago.

He left me behind and went out! Uncle tricked me!

I was going to go easy on him when it was his turn.

“Uncle is such a stupid dummy.”

I huffed angrily as I dusted off my skirt and stood up.

Then I turned around and headed for the door, but stopped just before reaching it.

“Still, I should give Uncle my drawings before I go.”

I went back and neatly gathered up the papers scattered across the floor, then placed them right in the middle of Uncle’s desk where they would be impossible to miss.

Right between the half-finished cup of tea Uncle had been drinking and the mountain of documents piled up there.

“If you throw them away, I’ll really hate you.”

With both hands on my hips, I narrowed my eyes and glared at the stacks of documents that were taller than me.

“……Why do Mom and Uncle have so much work?”

It would be nice if all of that just disappeared.

As I glanced around and fiddled with the documents, I noticed a pile of envelopes stacked beside them, just as high as the paperwork.

Some were still unopened, while others had already been opened and checked.

Wouldn’t Uncle’s workload become a little lighter if I helped him?

Maybe he’d be happy if I read them for him and told him what they said.

Mom liked it when I stayed beside her or helped her while she worked.

Hmm, no. Maybe it would be better if I just didn’t touch anything?

I really couldn’t figure Uncle out.

“Then I’ll just organize the ones sticking out……”

“Freeze.”

Just as I reached out to straighten a few that were sticking out, Uncle appeared.

I froze like ice, my hand still stretched out.

A letter envelope with the name Aika written on it caught my eye.

Huh? A letter for me.

After three seconds of silence, I stopped thinking for a moment, whipped my head around, and glared at Uncle with narrowed eyes.

“Uncle, you’re a liar!”

“Looks like I’ve been caught.”

Uncle strode toward me with one hand shoved deep into his trouser pocket, then picked me up and set me down far away from the desk.

“Ah, wait……!”

Right, there was a letter addressed to me!

“I was going to go easy on you when it was my turn!”

“Then shall we do it again?”

“Ah, no. But Uncle, you’re really mean.”

I hesitantly began inching my way back toward the desk.

“So I guess you can go back to the old man’s house. Go tell him that Uncle is too mean and you can’t live with him for the rest of your life. Hey, what are you coming over here to cause trouble again?”

“Nooo. I’m not causing trouble.”

I shook my head and pressed myself right up against Uncle’s side.

Fortunately, he didn’t simply pick me up and move me away again.

“Sure you aren’t.”

“Uncle, you have to read all the letters over there too, right?”

“Yeah, so don’t get in the way and go.”

“I won’t get in the way.”

Uncle raised one eyebrow and stared at me for a long while before finally turning away with a sigh.

“Do whatever you want. But the moment you get in my way, you’re getting kicked out.”

“Okay. But, Uncle, you know……”

“Tsk.”

“I just want to look at the letter that came for me before I go……”