"You're fired!"
'There goes my part-time work, I guess…' I thought, while the lady was shouting at me.
My name is Sakurai Fumiko. And currently, I am getting shouted at by my boss at the part-time job I work in.
No, the part-time job I used to work in.
After a few more minutes, the lady that used to be my boss finally went back inside her store and I was left behind here outside while it's raining.
What should I do now then…
At this moment, I heard someone walking towards me. It was a man that wore the same uniform as my schools. It was my neighbour, Inoue Haruki. How do I know his name you ask? Well…
One day, As I was going back home to my small apartment, I noticed someone in front was going at the same direction as me. Then, I saw him stop in front of a big house where he went in. That was the day I found out that he was my neighbour.
After finding out that a fellow student was my neighbour, I did a little digging to find out who he was. And so, that's how I came to know the identity of my neighbour, who is currently walking up to me.
But enough about that.
After walking up to me, he finally stops and asked:
"What are you doing out here in the rain?" I was surprised that he came to me just to ask that question. But I am already used to men suddenly talking to me, so I was able to respond to him.
"Oh? Inoue Haruki, right? How may I help you?" He also looked surprised for some reason. Perhaps it was because I mentioned his name… As I was thinking about this, however, he responded back to me.
"Nothing, I was just curious what you were doing here outside the rain with no umbrella."
'Well, that was a weak excuse.' I thought.
But anyhow, that's not really the main thing I'm concerned about right now...
"...Did you see anything before that?"
"Before what?"
It would seem like Inoue-san knew nothing of what had just happened, so I was able to let out a sigh of relief.
But with this, we could finally go back to the main topic at hand.
"Nevermind...Well, about me standing here out in the rain. It doesn't really matter to you, right? Inoue-san?"
I said, while forming a fake smile. It seems like Inoue-san also noticed this as he started to back off.
"Oh… Okay then…" he said, while backing away.
Thinking that it's finally over, I let my guard down and went deep into my thoughts. However, as I was thinking about my plans for the future, he ran back here again, grabbed my hand and forced the umbrella into my hand. Of course, I tried stopping him. But he already ran away, and it didn't seem like I'd be able to catch up to him. So, I just shouted:
"Wait! Why did you give this to me!?"
But when I finished my sentence, he was already out of my sight. He has successfully forced me to give him a favor. After all, if someone were to help me, I'd like to help them back. Plus, when he finds out that we are neighbours, that meeting might be awkward if I still have a debt to him.
'I guess I'll help him out if something happens.' I thought. I'm not so heartless that I won't repay a favor to someone… even if it is forced. I'll probably just give him some fruits to return the favor… but fruits are very expensive… Whatever, I guess, I'll figure it out later.
It was the perfect decision. Because the very next day…
---
I saw Inoue-san with a cold, trying to open his door. Thinking that this was a perfect way to repay the favor, I decided that I'd cook something for him while I let him rest. So, I came to him and asked if I could take care of him.
He asked if I was worried that he might try to do something to me, but I am very sure that he won't do anything of the sorts. After all, I am the most popular girl in school, and if he does something bad to me, I could probably ruin his social life.
I explained this to him, and as I was explaining this to him. I saw sweat come out from his forehead. It seems like the intimidation work as he let me inside his house. And the very moment I stepped into his house, one thought immediately came to my mind.
It's messy.
His house was a mess. Paper were scattered around everywhere and stacks of books were also scattered around. I cleaned his place and asked him to stay on the couch. After cleaning up most of the mess he has made, I decided it was finally time to cook something up.
After opening his fridge, I saw unfamiliar ingredients and was confused. Most ingredients here inside the fridge are unknown to me. I'm guessing that Inoue-san saw my confusion and decided to cook the food himself. I said that he should just stall still in the couch but he said that he'd rather die from his cold than eat bad food…
With this one sentence, I was completely shut up. Our positions have somehow switched and now he is the one cooking for me…
He made some carbonara, and it was really tasty, after the meal I quickly left his house as I remembered:
'Wait… He was the one who took care of me!'
---
A few days have passed, and it is Monday. After coming to the convenience store and buying my cup ramen supply for the entire week, I went back home. But as I was passing by Inoue-san's house, I saw him. And it seemed like he also saw me and the bag I was holding.
After seeing the insides of my bag. He stopped me by holding my arms and asked me why I bought so many cup noodles.
I was left in a bind because I actually did want to eat dinner with him... after all, the food he made yesterday is very delicious. But on the other hand, he may be doing this with some kind of motive in mind. But Inoue-san was keen on this and realised what I was thinking, so he quickly denied my thoughts.
I was still skeptical about him and was about to decline.
But instead of giving up, he said that he won't be able to sleep well if his neighbour, which has the title 'The Prettiest Girl In The School" only ate cup noodles for dinner. I still wanted to refuse, but when he said that if I don't want to eat with him, he'll just put the food into a lunchbox and give it to me. I finally gave in and decided to eat with him.
I mean, he's probably just being nice. And I already knew that he wasn't a bad guy. So I didn't want to bother him any further, so I just decided to eat dinner with him.
He cooked Hamburger Steak and Salad for our dinner. While we were eating dinner, he asked me why I was not eating the salad. And during this conversation, I accidentally let a bit of my emotion out and raised my voice. He just laughed a little, and said that I should eat it because I looked malnourished.
Well... he was right, but I was surprised by the fact that he could notice it.
After our conversation about the vegetables, I ate the salad with a pout on my face. His teasing stopped after I ate the salad.
We then ate quietly afterwards, and I left after finishing dinner.
As I was waling towards my apartment complex, I thought:
Eating with him was pretty fun.