After crying for several minutes, she finally stopped. Her eyes were a little red and swollen from crying.
“Eh?……Ah, ah, well it’s fine…………..no it’s actually not fine……yes. Suddenly crying is not fine!”
“Fufu! ………What’s that? …And, thank you.”
“Hmm?…………….Well, you are welcome.”
To be really honest, I don’t really know what she is thanking me for.
For example, the former boyfriend from a while ago….hahh, if I think about it calmly, no matter how much he teased her, they were still childhood friends.
Hmmー? If it was about the parfait, wouldn’t it be awkward if she got angry because of it? No, no, even so. I think the mood is kind of tense.
Then, is it the fact that I patted her head………but I heard that girls don’t like to be petted on the head.
Yup, I don’t know after all.
Eh? There’s no reason for thanking me? No no, don’t joke with me.
Perhaps without realizing it, I helped her quite a bit. Surely, probably.
“Leaving that aside, what do you want to do? Do you still want to continue? The date. I personally think that stopping it now would be better since it is already this late. Definitely.”
“It is true that it is already this late. What should we do?”
“In that case let’s go home. My house is pretty near so it’s okay, but it would be troublesome if it’s far right? Shall we go home while it’s still bright?”
It is roughly 6 pm now. The sky is still bright. I’m such a gentleman for letting her leave this early~!
“I, I see. It’s close……….t-,then……….is it okay if I intrude on your house? I heard from Akira that you are living on your own right?”
“Ehh!………………Well it’s fine I guess.”
“Really!? Thank you!”
Well, to be really honest I actually do mind it, but it’s my house anyways, it’s way better than spending time elsewhere. It’s fine then……
◇◇◇◇◇
“Here, this is my house.”
“Amazing. It’s so wide. You were living alone in a place like thisー! This is extravagant.”
“Well, yeah”
The condominium I lived in is probably comparatively more expensive than usual. I’m not so sure I’d go so far as to let a high school student live alone in a place like this, but both of my parents told me to take advantage of them while I still could so I did.
“More importantly, is it okay to not contact your parents first?”
On the way over, I told her that I was making the food myself, and she said she wanted to have dinner at my place. I don’t particularly have any reason to refuse so I accepted it but is it really okay for something as sudden as this to happen?
“Ahー, my mother is busy at work so she won’t be home until late at night.”
“Hmm. How about your father?”
“……you see, my parents were divorced…”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“No no, it’s fine. To begin with, when they divorced I was still a child so I don’t really remember his face. There was an affair. ……That’s why! You don’t have to worry about it, okay?”
“No, I wasn’t doing that though.”
“Oi.”
“In the first place, even if you told me that I wouldn’t understand. I apologized to you earlier because I had no choice.”
“Gumumu……that’s true…”
“In the first place, I’m not interested in Tachibana’s home situation.”
“Ah,”
“Hm?”
For some reason she let out a voice, and I looked at her face.
She is grinning somewhat and it gives me a bad feeling.
As I kept looking at her, either she realized it, or maybe she remembered something and proceeded to look at me with a smile on her face.
“What, what? To stare at me to that extent, did you fall for me?”
“No, you were grinning and it gives me a bad feeling.”
“Oi”
How should I put it, her parents had a problem with cheating. Next her boyfriend is chosen from a punishment game……………what can I say……..
“Somehow, you don’t have much luck with men huh….”
“Ahー, you might be right about that. But even still…….”
She says while looking at me with a cheerful smile.
“It’s good if the ending is nice!”
“Hmm, is that so…..”
Wait, in that case isn’t it pitiful?
Well, it doesn’t really matter anyways. After all, I never heard about Tachibana’s love circumstances.
“Now, more importantly, I don’t want it to become late so I’ll make dinner now, is that okay with you?”
“Eh? U, Un….Ah! Then should I help?”
“It’s fine, there’s no need for you to do that. You can do what you want in the living room. Please.”
No, no thank you. Even though I’ve learned to cook based on my preferences, it might still change.
I haven’t particularly decided what I’m going to cook, when the noodles I saw by coincidence caught my eyes, I decided to cook yakisoba.
There was just enough for two people, and there is probably nobody who don’t like yakisoba.
◇◇◇
“Okay, it’s ready.”
I splitted the quantity, put the portions on the respective plates, and placed it on the table.
“Ohー! It looks delicious!”
“Well yeah, and this too.”
As expected, just serving yakisoba seemed improper so I made a quick and easy to make oyster egg soup.
“Ohー! This looks delicious too!”
“Yes yes. Let’s eat then.”
“Un”
““Thanks for the food(!)””
And then both of them have their dinner together after that. Apparently it suited her taste too since she smiled repeatedly with the look of a person eating a delicious food.
When I saw that face, a thought suddenly came to me.
“…..How should I put it, it’s good.”
“Eh? About the fact that this cooking suits my taste? In that case, then I should be the one thanking you…”
“No, of course that too. But that’s not what I meant……the fact that you became more energetic, I became relieved.”
“Eh, ”
“I don’t know the specific reason but, you were crying pretty bad just now right? It didn’t look like you were putting up a front now, if you could smile so happily like that, I thought it’s nice.”
“Is, is that so…….It’s all thanks to Kiyama.”
“Well, that is right. I knew it.”
“Fufu…..I don’t need to hold back right?”
“Because there’s no point in doing it. Besides, during the time you were crying, the time when you became lively, the one beside you is none other than me, there’s no one besides me right?”
“Well, that is true.”
After laughing, her face once again is filled with distress.
It’s just that, at the very least she doesn’t look pained.
How should I put it? Like she is embarrassed?
“……………..Um, look here………!”
“Hm?”
“My, my name…”
“What’s the matter, Tachibana?”
“….Well, you know……….we have become lovers, so call me by my first name, okay…?”
“Ahh, okay. Koyomi, is this fine?”
“Ehh!? Isn’t this too fast!? Even though I was pretty embarrassed to bring this up!”
“I understood the persistence of someone who asked for those kind of things from Akira, you see. I have already resigned myself.”
Akira was really obstinate. Until I called him by his first name, he kept following me around to request I do so. And that happens every day. When he came during our days off, as expected I almost snapped. As one would expect, I reached my limits after 2 weeks. It was uncommon for me to accumulate that kind of stress in 2 weeks.
Well, when I look back at it, it’s the same whether it’s the first or the last name. There’s no particular need for me to refuse to that extent, right? Maybe half of me just felt like rebelling at that time.
“I, I see. Thank you……….Ko…….Ko, Kouyou”
She called out to me while her face is bright red.
If it’s going to be like that, you don’t really have to force yourself……
Well, it doesn’t really matter either way.
“Hm. You should eat it before it becomes soggy.”
“Ah, U, Un.”
◇◇◇
“Well then, thanks for today!”
“Un. It’s fine.”
After finishing our dinner, we washed the plate, and now we are in the front door. It is 7:30 pm now. As a high school student, this is not that late and so there is no need to send her back home right?
“Bye-bye!”
“Bye-bye.”
And like that, I opened the door and was about to enter the house.
However, just as the door is about to close, she turns around and opened it again.
“Umm…..Kouyou….”
“Hm?”
“Do you always pack lunch?”
“Un. That’s true, but why do you ask?”
“U-,Um…….packing it up every single day……..Is, isn’t that tough?”
“Hm?…..Well it certainly is troublesome…”
“Th-, then!……Do you want me to make it for you?”
“No, it is fine. Surely that is troublesome. And I have already grasped my preferences perfectly, it is troublesome but, it doesn’t really bother me.”
“Ah,……………….Is, that so……..”
“Then, bye-bye”
“Eh? ……U, Un…Bye-bye…..”
And like that, the door slowly closes. I locked the door and went on to prepare for the bath.