WebNovels

Chapter 48 - [48] Sabrina, Died from Laughter

When Hayashi excitedly carried Erina over to the Pokémon, he noticed a slight commotion.

The Vulpix and Growlithe were fighting.

"Woof woof woof—"

The fiery Vulpix pressed down on Growlithe with tears streaming down her face, both wailing heart-wrenching accusations and angrily gnawing at Growlithe with her teeth—though unfortunately, under Growlithe's Intimidate ability, Vulpix's weakened attacks barely tickled.

"Hey hey hey, what's going on?"

Erina quickly jumped out of Hayashi's arms and grabbed Vulpix by the scruff of her neck. She turned to Hisako and Sabrina, who were doubled over laughing, and asked, "Why are they suddenly fighting? And you two just stood there watching?"

"Because, because—"

Sabrina crouched on the ground, clutching her stomach as she laughed uncontrollably. "G-Growlithe... hahaha..."

Hayashi could tell at a glance that Sabrina was definitely the type who, when trying to share a joke, would end up laughing too hard to finish telling it.

Work on your sense of humor. I'm afraid one day you'll die, and your tombstone will read 'Died of Laughter'—that'd be too tragic.

Erina stared at Sabrina, whose face was red from laughing and even had tears in her eyes, and could only sigh in exasperation. She turned helplessly to Hisako and said, "Looks like Sabrina's no help! Hisako, what happened?"

"Ahem, well—" Hisako coughed twice, trying to suppress her own urge to burst out laughing. "Just now, Vulpix suddenly got emo for some reason. When she snapped out of it and went to eat lunch, she found that Growlithe had already devoured all her food. So..."

"Pfft—"

Erina was also amused by the turn of events. She pictured Vulpix, fresh out of her emo episode, discovering her food completely gone, and couldn't help covering her mouth to stifle a laugh.

Hayashi's lips twitched several times before he finally managed to suppress his own laughter. He crouched down and rubbed Growlithe's head reproachfully. "You little rascal, were you still hungry or what? How could you eat someone else's food?"

"Woof woof!"

Growlithe barked innocently: "I just saw her sitting there all spaced out next to her bowl, not eating, so I thought she wasn't hungry!"

"Even if she wasn't eating, that was still her lunch. It's no excuse for you to take a bite." Hayashi gently scratched behind Growlithe's ears. "Go on, apologize to Vulpix."

"Woof!"

Growlithe nodded obediently and trotted over to Erina. She looked up at Vulpix and said, "I ate your lunch—I'm sorry! You can have my dinner instead!"

"Since you apologized, I'll forgive you." Vulpix, now placed on the ground by Erina, lifted her head haughtily and hmphed. "But I don't need your dinner! I'm not like you—I can't eat that much!"

Didn't you say you had three stomachs?

Hayashi shot Vulpix a sidelong glance and muttered, "Do Pokémon have tsundere traits too? Effects: +Underdog, -Honesty?"

...

...

After washing the cookware and utensils, Hayashi and the others gathered on the backyard lawn, enjoying an afternoon tranquility they couldn't experience in other worlds.

"Ah—"

Hayashi let out a long sigh and leaned back against Gengar's soft belly, saying, "Gengar has the ability to lower temperatures, so leaning against her in summer is incredibly comfortable—"

"Really?" Erina curiously moved closer to Hayashi, pressing against his shoulder as she leaned on Gengar. Immediately, she exclaimed in delight, "It's true! There's this sudden cooling sensation—so nice—"

Hisako and Sabrina exchanged glances before quickly joining in, pressing against Gengar to enjoy this "hard-won" coolness. Meanwhile, the Gengar being leaned on by all four of them grinned widely, letting out a "Gee-hee-hee" laugh.

Happy—she felt like her ghostly life had reached its peak!

"Once winter comes, leaning on Gengar won't be as suitable anymore—" Hayashi narrowed his eyes, lightly inhaling the fragrance of Erina's hair beside him, and said, "But by then, Growlithe should have evolved into Arcanine. Snuggling against his big, fluffy body will definitely be warm and cozy."

"Woof-woof!"

The Growlithe lying at Hayashi's feet barked cheerfully—I'll grow up strong, Master! You can rely on me all you want!

"Eevee-vee!"

Eevee puffed up her cheeks as she lifted her head from Hayashi's lap, complaining, "Why am I so small? I want Master to lean on me too—"

Hayashi chuckled and patted Eevee's head. "What are you thinking? If you became as big as Arcanine, I wouldn't be able to hold you in my arms anymore, you know—"

"!"

Eevee quickly shook her head, deciding that staying in her master's embrace was more important.

"Hahaha—"

Hayashi laughed, then glanced at everyone gathered with their Pokémon and murmured softly, "This kind of life feels like a dream."

Erina closed her eyes and quietly reached for Hayashi's hand, saying, "This isn't a dream—it's reality."

Hayashi intertwined his fingers with hers, grinning as he replied, "Of course it's reality. I wouldn't want the girlfriend I worked so hard to find to just be a dream, hahaha—"

Who would even dream of not having a girlfriend?

"Erina, Mr. Hayashi—" Hisako lazily eyed the two and said, "As much as we ship you two, even we can't handle the constant barrage of PDA."

"Hahaha, fine, let's change the subject—" Hayashi cheerfully rested his head against Erina's, then paused for a few seconds before saying, "How about this—I'll quiz you all on something, okay?"

Sabrina waved a hand. "Go ahead—"

Hayashi: "What's the English word for 'wolf'?"

"Wolf!" Hisako answered without hesitation, then groaned, "Come on, Mr. Hayashi! At least make it a little harder—is this a question for elementary schoolers?"

Hayashi smirked smugly. "Wrong! It's not 'wolf'—hint: this isn't a serious question!"

"Not 'wolf'?"

Sabrina and Hisako exchanged puzzled looks before falling into thought.

Sabrina guessed, "Is it Poochyena? Or Mightyena? Or maybe Lycanroc?"

Those were the only three Pokémon with "wolf" in their names, so Sabrina felt confident in her answer.

"Nope, nope!" Hayashi quickly shook his head and said, "It's not related to Pokémon! The answer is super childish!"

Super childish??

Sabrina and Hisako fell into deep thought, tossing out all sorts of guesses—from "Big Gray Wolf" to "Grrrowl"—but Hayashi kept rejecting them.

Finally, Hisako gave up. She raised her hands in defeat and said, "Mr. Hayashi, just tell us the answer. I can't figure it out."

Sabrina nodded weakly as well. "I can't think of it either. Go ahead."

"Ahem—"

Hayashi cleared his throat, then announced the answer amid Erina's laughter: "It's dog.pro.max."

"Dog...?"

Hisako and Sabrina gaped, their expressions instantly turning exasperated.

"Seriously? That's the answer?"

"That's just a brain teaser, isn't it!?"

"Exactly! I told you from the start it wasn't a serious answer!" Hayashi grinned smugly. "This question even stumped Erina once—"

"And you have the nerve to bring that up—" Erina chuckled, lightly swatting Hayashi's arm before turning to Hisako. "Actually, there's a follow-up to this answer. Hisako, do you know what 'dog' is in English?"

"..."

Hisako and Sabrina exchanged glances, their lips twitching in unison—clearly, these two questions were connected! And the answer to the second one had to be related to the first.

Who could possibly guess that!?

"I give up! Erina, just tell us the answer already!"

"Yeah, yeah—"

Faced with the two who had completely given up, Erina shrugged helplessly and said with a grin, "The answer is wolf.mini!"

dog.pro.max and wolf.mini? Seriously, you've learned Apple's naming scheme, huh?

"Mr. Hayashi, how on earth did you come up with this question?" Hisako twitched her lips and couldn't help but say, "This is like Kennedy riding in a limo—absolutely mind-blowing!"

"Ahem—"

Hayashi instinctively curved his lips but quickly suppressed his smile, saying, "Hisako, don't ruin my karma! I've already lost ten years' worth of merits from laughing at this joke—I can't afford to lose another ten!"

"Mr. Hayashi, the moment you labeled that as a joke, you already lost ten years' worth of merits."

"What! Damn it, I let my guard down—"

Listening to Hayashi and Hisako's banter, Sabrina was once again amused, clutching her stomach as she burst into laughter. "Hahaha, one of these days, I swear—I'm gonna laugh my abs into existence, hahaha—"

"Fighting and Psychic type?" Hayashi blinked, then mused, "Gallade or Medicham?"

Hayashi was referring to Pokémon with both Fighting and Psychic typing.

"Pfft—hahaha!" Sabrina, the weakling when it came to jokes, was hit right in the funny bone again. She slid off Gengar's back onto the grass, clutching her stomach and convulsing with laughter, making everyone worry she might just "gack—" and keel over.

"Maybe…" Hayashi hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "We should tone it down a bit when telling jokes, puns, or dark humor? I'm kinda worried Sabrina might actually laugh herself to death. Then her epitaph would read: 'Sabrina, dead from laughter.'"

"Pfft—HAHAHAHA!" Sabrina was now laughing so hard she was practically drooling.

Hisako covered her face with her hands and exclaimed, "Mr. Hayashi, are you just twisting the knife now?!"

Sabrina's really not gonna make it at this rate! If this keeps up, she's gonna croak for real!

Dying from laughter is just too hilarious!

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