Is It Okay If I Don't Want to Try Anymore? [9]

“Kanade~ I came to hang out~”

“It’s ten at night. You came to hang out. You’ve got balls, Konata.”

“It’s only ten! The night hasn’t even started yet.”

“That’s your house. In my house, this is when I’m supposed to be asleep.”

The Higashino Residence.

Late at night, Izumi Konata had shown up uninvited.

“So are you going to sleep?”

Without hesitation, Konata climbed into Kanade’s bed and sprawled out like a starfish.

“Yeah, I’m going to sleep.”

Kanade grabbed his toothbrush and headed to the sink. If he were a high schooler, he probably wouldn’t sleep at this hour—but he was an elementary schooler. If he didn’t sleep early, he wouldn’t grow tall.

“But you were up till midnight yesterday, weren’t you?”

Konata didn’t get it. Who the heck went to bed at ten? That was just wasting life.

“Care to guess why I was up? Or rather, whose fault it was that I couldn’t sleep?”

Kanade closed the Weekly Shōnen Jump in his hands.
It really was Shōnen Jump. Just like in his old world, manga here was just as good.
Could he really make it as an original manga artist? Could he actually debut in Jump?

“Oh~ so you were lying awake thinking about me? I didn’t realize I had that much of a hold on you.”

Konata grinned at the ceiling and lazily rubbed her belly under her shirt.

“Because of my drafts! My manga drafts—you ruined them!”

Kanade flopped into bed beside her and gave her an exaggerated shove.
If it weren’t for Konata, he’d never have been up so late. He used to have great sleep hygiene. He only started staying up once he began drawing manga—but even now, he tried to hit the sack by ten.

If his parents came home and found out he’d been up late… well, best case: a lecture. Worst case: a 1v1 showdown. And if both parents got involved? It was a tag-team mixed doubles death match.

That said, he hadn’t actually been hit much growing up. His soul was an adult’s, after all—even if his age sometimes made him slip, he generally knew when to act like a responsible kid.
Still, it wouldn’t do to act too mature. A kid who’s too well-behaved makes parents panic the second they start rebelling. A little mischief here and there keeps things balanced.

“Really now? I don’t believe you.”

Konata had known Kanade for years. She’d learned to spot his rhetorical tricks.

“Shoo. Go home. I’m going to bed.”

Kanade waved her off like she was an annoying housefly. He didn’t want to talk about the ruined drafts anymore—the more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and if he got too worked up, he really wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“Let’s just sleep together.”

Konata closed her eyes.

“Nope. You grind your teeth, talk in your sleep, hog the blankets, and fart.”

Kanade pushed her. Sure, part of him liked sleeping next to her—but that was a thought. Acting on it? No way.

“That’s you, not me.” Konata didn’t budge. “We used to nap together when we were little. Don’t be shy.”

“We were just dumb kids back then. Go home. If your dad finds out you slept over, he’s gonna lose his mind.”

Kanade knew full well: Izumi Soujirou was a textbook overprotective dad.
If he found out Konata spent the night here, he’d go full final boss.
World-ending evil overlord arc, activated.

“Mm… yeah, good point.”

Konata opened her eyes and nodded.

Her dad wouldn’t care if she stayed out late—but if he found out she’d slept next to Kanade?

Yeah. That’d be a problem.

Still, isn’t there a saying? If no one finds out, it doesn’t count as a crime.
If she could slip in and out without her dad knowing, wasn’t that fine?

…Nah, better go home.
She’d just been teasing anyway.

Konata gave it a little more thought and decided to leave.
If Kanade really insisted on sleeping together, well, she wouldn’t mind.
They’d done it plenty as kids—though that was usually just collapsing after playing too hard.

If they could nap together then, they could now too. They were still kids—what was the big deal?
And when they got older…
If Kanade still wanted to sleep with her, well, they could discuss it. As long as they didn’t do anything, it wasn’t a big deal.
And if they did do something, well… they could talk about that too. Talk about it a lot.

“I’m taking a shower. You go home. Don’t even think about sleeping here.”

Kanade hadn’t bathed the night before, so tonight was non-negotiable.
Showering felt great… except for adjusting the water temperature.

He didn’t know why, but for some reason—across both worlds—he had the worst luck with faucets.
Most people had showers with three basic settings: hot, just right, cold.
Or at least a smooth gradient: 60°C, 55°C, 50°C…
But his showers?

Left side boiled pigs.
Right side froze dogs.

Lava or ice.
Pick your pain.

There was a “just right” temperature—but it was like a razor-thin line. A pixel-width sweet spot. One millimeter too far either way and you’re scalded or frozen. You had to tap-tap-tap, test it like a master thief cracking a safe.

Kanade had opinions about this.

“In the White House, I lay low for years, biding my time to strike~!"
"Now tell me—who can match me? A snap of my fingers, and billions vanish~!”

Scrubbing himself down in the bath, Kanade was singing again.
Not Hero, not The Champion—nope, he sang Chuan Shan Jia or The Chicken Is My Name.
Normal songs? No idea. Meme trash songs? He knew a ton.

Thirty minutes later, he stepped out of the bathroom.

All clean, and the wave of fatigue hit him hard.
He’d barely slept last night and had dragged himself through the entire day.

He had to sleep properly tonight.
That way, he could wake up tomorrow feeling refre—
strike that—feeling supercharged.

Tomorrow would be his new start.
He’d grind manga properly.
No more slacking.

Yawning, he grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and headed back to bed.

“…Huh? Who turned off the light?”

His room was dark. Weird.

Still drowsy, Kanade didn’t think too hard. He figured maybe his mom had done it. He turned off the hallway light and climbed into bed.

Wow. The bed’s warm tonight. Like an electric blanket’s been running.

Felt like he was forgetting something…

His brain didn’t want to process it.

Eh, if I forgot, it can’t be that important. Sleepy. Whatever. I’ll remember tomorrow.

“Goodnight, Konata.”

Kanade tugged on the blanket—only to realize he was tugging it away from Konata—and closed his eyes.

Wait—hold up!

DUANG!
His brain snapped awake.

Konata!!

No wonder the bed was warm—someone was already in it.

She hadn’t left. She’d even turned off the light!

Kanade groped for the switch and turned it back on.
Now sitting up in bed, hands braced behind him like a disappointed dad, he stared at Konata snoring softly on his pillow, drooling.

Just like Tom staring down a smug Jerry.

“…Konata.”

No response.

“Izumi Konata.”

Still nothing.

“Konata!!”

He leaned in and gave her cheek a firm pat. His voice was louder now.

Nothing.

“…Konata—never mind.”

Kanade gave up.

Three strikes. She’d ignored them all.
He was done calling.

He wasn’t exactly a paragon of virtue.
If Konata had willingly given him the chance—well, it’d be a shame not to take it.
He’d sleep.
If she woke up in the middle of the night, they’d deal with it then.

He turned off the light.

As soon as darkness fell…

A sly, foxlike grin crept onto Konata’s sleeping face.

Just as planned.

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This is a fan translation of 不想努力可以吗？by 优的布丁 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!