After escorting Shizuku home to her house, I finally trekked all the way back to my house which took about 20 minutes.
I opened the front door and turned on the lights inside the otherwise-desolate house.
My parents were on a business trip overseas, so it's only me living in this house right now.
It's a bit lonely living by yourself, but I've been managing.
I went up the stairs to my room, threw my bookbag on the ground and laid down on my bed with a loud thump.
Today was a day where I had to exert an extra amount of energy as a result of the new transfer student's appearance.
Shizuku Shirakawa, what a familiar name...
I feel like I've heard the name somewhere before, but it's not clicking for me right now.
It also feels like I've seen her somewhere before too...
Perhaps I saw her in a modeling magazine in the past?
I wouldn't doubt if that actually happened, her silver-colored hair is exotic and eye-catching.
Thinking back on it, didn't that person I played with in the past also have an exotic-colored hair color?
Shit, I made such a grand promise of marrying her yet I can't seem to remember what she looks like at all.
Maybe it was the pain of separation that caused me to shut off my memory of her appearance...
That's... quite pitiful of me...
"What's up with all of this doom and gloom?" A gentle voice reached out to me. "You really should turn on the lights in your room if you're going to be in there."
Changing my attention to the doorway of my room, Sakura was standing there with her hands on her hips while pouting immensely.
While I had turned on all of the lights inside of my house, it seems that I unconsciously kept the light of my room off in order to brood in the dark.
"Sorry, I just needed to get in some thinking," I laughed. "I've been practicing my brooding in order to become a vengeful vigilante of the night. Maybe I should choose a bat as my superhero symbol?"
Sakura didn't seem too pleased with my attempt at a joke. "You? As a vigilante? Yeah right, you can't even cook for yourself!"
"Um, miss. Excuse me! I can cook for myself! Although, it might not taste that good..." My voice trailed off near the end, which showed Sakura how confident I was about my cooking skills.
I didn't really need to fake it in front of her since Sakura already knew, but I was not exactly the most skilled at cooking.
Making something edible was definitely possible for me, but making something tasty was out of my realm of expertise.
I'm not sure how, but most of the dishes I cook tend to come out too bland or way too overseasoned.
To be honest, that's the one skill that I had inherited from my mother that I wish I hadn't.
My mother was also an abysmal cook, so it was up to my dad to cook the meals for the family.
Now as for why Sakura was here, there was a very good reason.
Since my parents were out on a trip overseas, that basically left me to fend for myself in regards to what I eat.
After about a week of convenience store food, Sakura saw my frail figure and immediately put a stop to my reckless eating habits.
She declared that the content of my meals needed to be improved upon.
As a rest of that declaration, Sakura took control of my meals and would come over regularly to cook me a nice and hot meal.
"We'll be having hotpot tonight, so please go ahead and get cleaned up right now," Sakura instructed me.
I tilted my head to the side to signify my confusion. "Hotpot? What's the occasion?"
Typically, hotpot would only be eaten during the winter or on very special occasions.
We were still in the summer season, so eating hotpot felt quite odd during this time.
"The special occasion is our joyous return to school. Here's to a new semester!" Sakura gave me a pat on the back with a gentle smile.
Sakura's small hand felt out of place on my broad back, but it didn't feel bad at all.
The warmth from her hand was being transmitted to me. Her kind feelings were surely being understood by me.
"Sakura..." I began to say.
"Hm?" She quizzically asked.
"Thanks." I replied.
My gratitude for her was immense, but I didn't know how to effectively express it to her.
For all the things she's done for me, I could thank her for hours and still not be done.
That's why I decided to just go with the standard way of thanking people.
It was only one word, but I tried to emphasize my feelings as much as possible.
Luckily, it seemed to work as evident by Sakura's elated expression.
"No problem," she smiled. "I'll always be here for you, so rely on me when you need to, okay?"
Ah, it seemed like she knew that I was in the dumps earlier.
Then that means... This whole charade was all a part of her plan.
I really can't win against this girl, can I?
"Yep, I'll try my best to rely on you when the situation calls for it," I replied.
"Good answer," Sakura giggled.
After that, Sakura and I had dinner like usual and she went home after we had finished cleaning the dishes and doing our homework.
Such was a normal day in the average life of Haruto Renzaki.