"Excuse me."
Rumi Tsurumi stood in front of the old dorm with a curious and uneasy expression. It was the first time she had come here, and she wasn't sure whether this was the correct address.
Today, she was invited by Shishio to eat a nagashi somen (flowing noodles), and she agreed to his invitation.
He sent her the address and told her to come.
The address was quite close to her house, so she agreed to his invitation, but even so, it still took a while for her to arrive at her destination.
While she didn't need to take the train, she had to get on the bus.
She might be only in the fifth grade of elementary school, but the children in this country were relatively independent and could travel to many places alone.
Still, she was quite nervous since it was their first time meeting each other after the training camp, and she wondered whether she was in the right place. She looked at the two-story building in front of her with some curiosity.
While the building was rather old, she could feel some gentleness from it.
After pressing the bell, she waited for a while, and someone walked out from the door.
"Welcome! Ah, are you Rumi-chan?"
"........"
Rumi couldn't say anything since it was her first time seeing someone with breasts as massive as this woman's.
"Ah-ah, yes!"
However, she knew she had to answer this woman's question. Still, she was slightly on guard since even if this woman oozed gentleness, which was more than her mother, this woman was practically a stranger. Yet, even so, she had to say she got a good impression of this woman.
"Rumi, is that you?"
Before Rumi asked who this woman was, she saw Shishio. "Shishio-nii!" While she tried to act nonchalantly, her eyes brightened when she saw him.
"It's been a while." Shishio smiled and asked, "Your skin is as white as ever. Don't you play with your family at the beach or something?"
"Your skin isn't much different from mine, Shishio-nii." Rumi pouted since Shishio's skin was as white as a baby, or it might be even better than her skin.
Unlike when they met for the first time, his skin was brown during the training camp, so this change slightly surprised her. However, he was still as handsome as ever, which made her stare at him most of the time.
"Anyway, come in. It's hot, right? By the way, she's Ayaka Sunohara. She's the dorm manager of this dorm," Shishio said while introducing Ayaka.
"Dorm manager?" Rumi looked at Ayaka curiously.
"Yes." Ayaka smiled gently and said, "If you enter the middle school nearby, you can stay at my dorm if you want."
'Dorm...'
Rumi was confused and wondered why Shishio brought him to this place, and she wondered about the relationship between him and Ayaka.
However, she had to say Ayaka's breasts were massive!
She looked down and thought it was impossible for hers to grow so big.
While she was curious about why she brought him to this dorm, she was more cornered about the boobs.
'Did he like them big?'
Shishio wasn't sure what Rumi thought since this girl was quite expressionless most of the time.
"I need to cut up the bamboo first. You should wait with everyone inside."
"Cut the bamboo? Are you going to make the bamboo chute for the nagashi soumen from real bamboo?"
"Yes, I just got it from the forest. It's fresh."
"........."
Rumi was in a daze, and then she realized something. "There's going to be a lot of people here?" When she entered, she heard many voices from inside.
"Well, not much, but all of them are women, so you should be okay."
"Come in, Rumi-chan. It's hot outside, right? You should cool yourself up inside. It's dangerous if you get a heatstroke."
Ayaka brought Rumi inside since she was worried about Rumi. "But it's amazing that you can come here on your own! You're an amazing girl!"
Being patted, Rumi stared at Ayaka, wondering why Ayaka was better than her real mother. She felt that making Ayaka her mother wasn't that bad either.
"Ah, Rumi-chan, it's been a while!"
When Rumi entered the living room, she saw a familiar girl. "Umm... Ebina-nee-san?"
"Yes."
Ebina nodded with a smile.
Her relationship with Shishio had changed, so naturally, she also came to this party.
While he wanted to invite a lot of people, he only invited his girlfriends to this place, except for Rumi, of course.
When the tenants of the Sunoharasou returned home because of the summer vacation, this place was empty.
The only one that lived here was Ayaka.
Naturally, she was alone, so she was quite excited when he thought he wanted to have a party at her dorm.
As for his reason for setting up this party, it was because of Mai's homecoming.
In addition, he wanted to introduce Rumi to this place.
The only person that Rumi knew in this place was only Shishio and Ebina. She thought she would meet Yukinoshita, Yui, or Hikigaya, but she didn't see them. Instead, she saw someone unexpected. "A-Are you Sakurajima Mai-san?"
"Oh? You know me?" Mai asked with a smile. Still, at this moment, she was eating mochi from Kyoto, so her appearance was rather cute, with a puffy cheek like a hamster.
"Ah, I, um, I am your fan!" Rumi seemed so excited.
"........"
Shishio looked at this quiet little girl, who suddenly became excited and couldn't help but feel speechless by her change. However, if she was happy, it was alright. He didn't have anything to complain about Rumi, who became Mai's fan since he didn't even say much about Ebina, who loved BL-related goods.
"Shishio, are you going to cut down the bamboo now?" Rui Tachibana asked.
"Yes."
He walked out to the courtyard, putting on gloves before he took a machete to cut down the bamboo.
"Is there something special about this bamboo? Or is there a special way to choose it?" Rui asked. As someone who aspired to become a chef, she couldn't help but ask this question.
"Hmm... there is nothing special, but if I have to say, then the bamboo has to be thick and straight."
"Thick and straight..."
"Rui, where are you looking at? Hey, take away your eyes from that place!"
Anyway, even if Rui was distracted during the lesson, she was a good student and listened to him carefully.
He might have forgotten to explain it in the beginning, but a nagashi soumen was a special way for one to eat soumen (soumen), especially in the summer.
If one usually ate a soumen from the bowl, then nagashi soumen was an eating style of somen by catching them from cold running water.
Hearing that explanation, one might ask how one ate soumen from running water.
After all, it was impossible to use running water as a container.
So one used a bamboo chute as a container, letting the soumen flow from the upper part to the bottom gently, slowly, and elegantly.
Besides the elegant feeling, it also kept the soumen cool all the time, which was pleasant to eat, especially during the summer.
The thick and straight bamboo was cut down and tied into a long chute shortly after.
Everyone was excited when they saw the completion of the bamboo chute.
As for the rest, they made the soumen together in the kitchen.
He looked at everyone's relationship, which was close to each other, and couldn't help but feel gratified. It was amazing when he thought about it that the relationship of his women could be so close to each other.
After all, if he was in their place, it was naturally impossible for him to share his women with others.
Yet they could share him with other women.
His sophistry, appearance, and feeling aside, he knew the reason why they could be obedient to him was that he had conquered them. He dominated them on the bed, showing his mightiness, and let them accept his relationship with other women.
It was unfair and despicable.
However, he wanted all of them, so this was the only way.
Anyway, soon, the soumen was ready.
Ayaka, Nana, Nanami, and the rest brought the soumen with a variety of dipping sauces.
There were three types of dipping sauces.
The first one was the orthodox bonito and konbu sauce. By adding egg yolk to the sauce, it would be more delicious. The second was a light Italian-style sauce, and the last one was the orthodox sesame sauce.
Those three sauces were delicious, and the cool soumen increased their appetite.
Shiina even ate it several times since it was so delicious.
On the other hand, Shishio and Rumi sat next to each other, enjoying the soumen quietly.
"Is it delicious?"
"Un."
He smiled, then looked at everyone in the courtyard that laughed happily while they ate with the nagashi somen. "You must be curious why I have invited you here, right?"
"Yes." Rumi nodded while looking at Shishio.
"The reason is simple. I just want to recommend you a place to live."
"...you mean I should live in this dorm?" Rumi was surprised.
"Yes. There is a good middle school nearby, so if you graduate from the elementary school, you might think to go to this middle school." Shishio nodded. "I know that you're worried that you might be alone again in the future, but even if you can't make a friend at school, you can make a friend in this dorm. This is also a female dorm, so everyone that lives here is a girl, and by living with everyone here, you will make friends sooner or later. You might be quite an awkward girl, but you're definitely a gentle and good girl. I am sure that when you become a middle school student, you will make good friends. You don't need many, only one or two are enough, but they can stick with you no matter how difficult the situation is."
He ignored Aki Shiina since he had a feeling this guy wouldn't stay too long.
Rumi stared at Shishio for a moment, wanting to say something, but words stuck on her lips since no mere words were enough to describe her emotion. She lowered her head gently, trying to hide her tears.
"...thanks."
Her voice was soft but full of gratefulness.
Shishio gently rubbed her hair and didn't say anything since he felt he owed something to this girl. He had messed up the relationship between her friends, so he thought to do something. His method might not be the best, but for now, this was the only thing he could do.
Hopefully, when Rumi entered middle school, she would be alright and make good friends.
This was his wish and came from the deep of his heart.
"Rumi-chan, eat more!"
"Yeah, you shouldn't go home until you're full!"
"By the way, do any of you want fruit? I have just cut them!" Ayaka came out with a plate filled with many fruits.
Roberta also followed behind while lowering her head, showing off the messed up fruit that she cut with Ayaka.
Shishio smiled and thought that this day was something he looked forward to. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warm sun and the cool wind under the shade, thinking that this summer would be unforgettable in his life.
*Ring!*
Suddenly, his phone vibrated.
He took his phone and saw that he had gotten a call from his father.
"Father?"
"Oh, Shishio, I want to tell you that I am going to visit Tokyo soon. Be prepared. I will bring you to a party."
"Party? What party?"
"It's a party to introduce you to your fiancee."
"...what?"