It was like any other Wednesday morning, with the end of summer break slowly but steadily approaching. I matched my alarm clock with the time Ayase-san would usually wake up, and succeeded in getting up in time. It was barely 6:30am, and I was as tired as could be.
When I walked into the living room, Ayase-san was already preparing breakfast. Upon seeing Ayase-san working like that, I was entranced for a moment.
"Good morning. Ayase-san."
"Asamura-kun. You're up early today, huh?" She turned around for a moment and gave me a brief response.
"I figured today would be busy after all." I said and sat down in my seat.
Tap tap… tap. Ayase-san's hand cutting the carrots suddenly stopped, and she turned around with a somewhat worried tone of voice.
"Busy? We only switched shifts, right? Or did you have other plans today, Asamura-kun?"
"Ah. No, no, no."
She must have been worried that I actually had different plans today but ignored them all for the sake of going to the pool with her, I guess.
"Really?"
"I swear. I had no plans whatsoever today. If I hadn't finished my homework yet, this would have been the day for me to work on it, but I've already gotten that over and done with."
"So then…"
Why are you up?—She probably meant to ask as she looked at me quizzically. Well, it made sense that she wouldn't know. This is a problem only a loner guy like me would have.
"I don't have a swimsuit."
"…What about the one for gym class?"
"I chose baseball over swimming, since my friend preferred that."
"Ahh, I see."
"He went on and on about some kind of morals that it would be a waste if we always agreed with each other." I remembered the face Maru had made back then and sighed.
Summer gym classes are generally chosen by the students, and I had to choose between pool swimming lessons or a ball game. Still, even if I had taken swimming classes and bought the swimsuit for that, it would have been pretty lame to wear that outside of school. You might think I'm being a little too picky about it, but there has to be some kind of dress code when going to the pool with popular people in my class, right?
"Ahaha, you're exaggerating too much. So you're going to buy one later, huh?"
"Yeah, I need to buy one. Luckily, our shift ends at 6pm, so I have plenty of time to buy one later."
Normally I would have a full shift ending only at night, but today it's only half of a usual shift, because this would have been my shift tomorrow.
"So you're going after work?"
"I have to. When I looked into it, I saw that the store selling swimsuits only opens up at 11am, and that's the earliest."
"I see… so you couldn't fit it in between."
"It would be cutting it too close, and I want to avoid that."
The store manager told us to do our work properly today after all, so I definitely do not want to end up late today of all days. If I walked into a store at 11am, I might be able to make it out at 12 if I don't hesitate much or lose my way… which I don't have any confidence in.
"Is it that confusing to buy a swimsuit? …Oh yeah, you don't really have much interest in fashion, do you?"
I nodded with a sour expression. That's absolutely correct. Fashion and all that surrounds it just don't jive with me. I don't know any basics about how to choose clothes. Why do they have so many different types of them? How are they different? Are they like book genres? I can already see myself being absolutely lost with a wide arrangement in front of me. How am I even supposed to ask for help?
I bet I'd just waste my time being lost or hesitating, so I at least want to take my time instead of rushing myself in order to not be late. Not to mention that I also need to prepare for tomorrow. Going with fellow classmates to the pool during summer break might not seem like that big of a deal, but it'd be troublesome if I realized I was missing things once I was there.
Also, I told Ayase-san that I didn't have any plans for the day, but since I didn't think I would have any shift today, I also need to get some laundry done in the morning.
"I see, got it. Ah, that reminds me. I got the schedule for tomorrow from Maaya."
"Alright."
"I'll send it to you later."
"Thanks."
Of course, Narasaka-san contacted me and invited me yesterday. I just waited to confirm it because of the possibility that the whole shift changing wouldn't work out. I can't say no right after agreeing after all. Right after we got the permission from the store manager, Ayase-san contacted her, and it took around a minute to get a response. That's Narasaka-san for you.
As we made small talk back and forth like that, my old man woke up at around 7am. He took a detour to the bathroom and then came to greet us in the living room.
"Morning, Saki-chan. Oh, Yuuta as well? Now that's a rare sight."
"Morning."
"Yeah, morning."
He made his way to his seat. I stood up and prepared a rice bowl and served him some rice, but my old man made a dejected expression. Yeah, yeah. You must have wanted Ayase-san to serve you the rice. I get it. She's taking care of the miso soup, so put up with it for now.
"Here you go."
"Thanks a lot, Saki-chan."
"You're welcome."
In most cases, Ayase-san's morning menu is a simple recipe that doesn't take much time to make. Today it was tofu with spinach and boiled greens. The tofu was at the top, with ginger and flaked bonito below it and some cut onion sprinkled on top. So she adds soy sauce to that, huh? I had no idea about this until recently, but apparently there are a lot of onion varieties to season the tofu with. Ayase-san told me these are called green onions.
When I looked up onions you'd put on tofu online, I found tons of onion types, including green onions, welsh onions, small onions, chives, and even thin green onion shoots. I was left confused as to what I would even use if I made tofu on my own. Anyway, today it seems to be green onions. Along with that were three grilled potatoes, which she put on a blue plate and put in front of my old man.
"I'll get your share done in a second, Asamura-kun."
"No need to rush. My old man has to leave soon after all."
If we had school today, Ayase-san and I should be getting ready to leave soon as well, but thankfully that's not the case.
"Sorry about that." My old man commented while munching on the food. He quickly finished his breakfast.
At around half past 7am, he left the house, and I put his dishes into the dishwasher. Almost like they had switched on purpose, Akiko-san came home at around 8am. Since she had her breakfast before coming home, she went straight to the bedroom. It was the same usual morning routine ever since Akiko-san and Ayase-san moved in together with us. It reminded me of the routine back when we were in the middle of our school term.
Since summer break is about to end, I should start getting back into the groove that I had going before. After I helped clean up the dining room, I went back to my room and checked over our plans for tomorrow, namely Narasaka-san's LINE message that Ayase-san relayed to me. It was one large paragraph with the detailed plans, almost like she was a grade school teacher making sure the children knew the program. Maybe she wrote all of this when she was on the trip that Ayase-san mentioned? I guess Narasaka-san goes all out even when she's playing, huh"
'Since Maaya went out of her way to plan all of this, make sure to read it carefully.'
That was the message she added at the very end. Despite not wanting to go at first, now that she's decided on it, she's sure being positive about it. It's exactly as Akiko-san said.
—She was a troublesome child. Begging for ice cream, wanting to go to the pool, complaining if I didn't comply…
Feeling that maybe Ayase-san finally had regained some of her old desire to have fun, I found myself becoming happy as well.
A bit before noon, we stepped out of the house and arrived at our work with enough time left before the shift would start.
"Alright! Let's rock this today, Ayase-san."
"Yes, let's do our best, Asamura-san."
The second we walked inside, Ayase-san changed the way she addressed me. It seems like she's even more motivated now to not betray the store manager's trust. Right after starting our shift, Ayase-san and I were tasked with the cash register. That's probably the most stressful job when working at a bookstore. Especially for people like me who are more on the asocial side of things, and aren't too comfortable with speaking with random people. But it's my job, so I have to do it.
Once I had a bit of time free from the cash register, I used it to fold some book covers. I used cardboard as backing paper to cut it, folded it from top to bottom, and left an opening for the book. Since every book is of a different thickness, I have to be mindful that it still fits inside depending on how I fold it. On top of that, I can't give a customer a book with book covers that I have to redo.
There was a time where I folded both the right and left side, and because the book was limited, I had to use a lot of covers, and it took a lot of time. I got scolded for it in the end. Ayase-san never went through that. Just as Yomiuri-senpai said, she's far more talented than I.
That day, we also had to clean the office and changing rooms. And oddly enough, now that it's a day with a lot of work, Yomiuri-senpai is taking the day off. She's not doing this on purpose, is she? I mean, I originally had the day off today as well, so I can't complain.
"I guess all that's left is to throw out the trash."
"I'll do that."
"No, I've got some trash myself, so I'll do it."
Right as I tried to step out of the office, the manager came in.
"Ohh, it's all clean now. Yup, good work today, you two." He praised us.
I knew that it was just proper manners on his end, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy it. It was the candy to the previous whip. As I figured, this store manager knows how to move people.
"Thank you very much." Ayase-san showed a grin.
At 6pm flat, Ayase-san and I stepped out of the bookstore.
"Alright, I'll be buying a swimsuit now. Sadly, I can't walk you home today."
"It's still only 6pm, so there's no need for that."
"Right, then you go home without me."
"Asamura-kun, where are you planning on buying your swimsuit?"
I told her the name of the department store where I was planning to go.
"Over there, huh? Let me go with you." She said, which confused me.
"Why?"
"It's a store that sells clothes for women as well, so I'm buying one myself. I tried mine on yesterday, but it didn't quite fit me anymore, so I thought I might as well get a new one." She said and started walking on ahead.
I hurried and followed after her. Are we going to buy swimsuits together? My inexperienced and fragile imagination caused me to only picture a man and a woman shopping for swimsuits together if they're an actual couple. I know that this is nothing but total prejudice, but what other reason would there be to go there together? I can't think of any.
We'd feel tense as we talk with each other about swimsuits and such across the cubicle, only to fall victim to an odd trouble you'd only find in novels or manga. Nah, there's no way that'd happen. However, what if I was misinformed, and it was totally normal and accepted that siblings like us would shop for swimsuits together? When I looked at Ayase-san's sideways profile, which looked as calm as ever, I felt like that conclusion might not be too far from the truth.
If we actually go shopping for swimsuits together, what kind of face should I make, and what sort of attitude should I keep up? We're not too far from the department store, so I'm not sure if I can actually prepare my heart and mind before then…
In the end, everything I just said was all for nothing. As was the case for most department stores, the area for women's clothes was on the lower floor, and the area for men's clothes was up above. By the escalator, Ayase-san stepped on with one foot and turned towards me.
"Anyway, let's split up here. If we finish shopping at the same time, we can meet up at the entrance. If not, we'll just go home separately."
"…Understood."
Yeah, that makes sense. That's how things in the real world work. Let me state it right here. A brother has no need to tag along for his little sister's swimsuit shopping trip… I think. And, of course, it took me more than an hour to pick out my swimsuit. As I thought, going here after work was the correct choice.