I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I was too astonished.
"Sister?" I questioned as if I had misheard.
"Yes, why?"
"Because this is my house." Deep down, even though I had understood well, I still hoped that I was mistaken and had misunderstood. I hoped that out of the blue she would say she was joking. But that didn't happen.
"So we'll be neighbors. Interesting situation," said the boy, vaguely thoughtful.
"NOT AT ALL," I said irritated, raising my voice.
The whole situation full of coincidences was truly incredible. Only at that moment did a very important and simple thing come to mind: we hadn't introduced ourselves yet.
Setting aside the previous day at the hospital, today, having spent the entire day together, we had never considered it. Perhaps this happened because ours was an "insignificant" relationship that gave neither of us reason to call the other by name.
"Excuse me, could you tell me your name?" Given the situation, I decided to ask him without hesitation.
"Ah yes, how clumsy of me, we never introduced ourselves. I'm Nakagawa Yuto."
They had the same surname, so they really were brother and sister. However, even if I had known before, I would never have thought of such a combination. There are many people who have the same surname even if they are not related.
"And you?" he asked me.
"Maeda Ayame."
"Well, I see you already know each other," Nakagawa-san said, surprised.
"Your aunt and I had just met and were getting to know each other."
"That's true. In fact, I had an idea. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight?" the aunt asked the two boys. "And you also get along with her brother," she said, looking at me.
"'Get along' doesn't seem like the correct term, but I want to know more about Nakagawa-san."
"How sour we are. Don't I fit into the category of people you want to know? I'm much nicer than this," Yuto-kun said regretfully.
"Darn, if this is your baseline level, I dare not imagine what the evolution must be."
"But to avoid confusion between me and my sister, you can call me by my first name."
"Yes, it would be better. You can also call me by my first name," Chika-san confirmed.
"Okay. You too, Chika-san, you can call me by my first name," I said.
"And can I?" Yuto-kun asked me.
"Okay, but only because I call you by your first name, and it would sound strange if I were the only one doing it. But don't overdo the familiarity."
"It's still better than nothing."
"Come on, let's go up and start preparing food for tonight," said the aunt. So we all climbed the stairs and entered our apartment.
We started to set up everything we needed to have dinner together. While the aunt was preparing the food, I set the table.
"I want to help too. It's my way of thanking you for the invitation!" the girl exclaimed before starting to help the aunt with dinner preparations.
"I also want to do something. Tell me what I can do," Yuto-kun said.
"You could help Ayame set the table," the aunt suggested.
"Sure."
"That's great. But could you first show me where the bathroom is? I'd like to wash my hands."
"It's down the hallway." But he never returned from the bathroom, and I ended up setting the table alone, without his help. I saw this as rude behavior, not so much towards me as towards my aunt who had hosted him. Moreover, he had offered himself as a helper, I didn't understand why he had disappeared.
I went to check the bathroom to see if something had happened, but the bathroom door was open and the light was off, so he wasn't there.
However, I noticed a light coming from under the door of the room opposite. The problem was, that was my room.
He couldn't really have gone into my room to snoop around. No sane person would think of entering someone else's room, especially a girl's, without their permission. I pushed the door forward and entered the room to check. I found him sitting on the bed, looking at the bookshelf.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?" I shouted a moment later, angry.
He jumped up in fright. "I'm sorry, I was looking for the bathroom, but I accidentally ended up in your room and saw the books. You know, we have more or less the same tastes. Most of the books here, I have them too."
"Really?"
"Yes. Just a few days ago I bought the latest release in this series. Ironically, before we moved, someone else gave me one for the trip."
The last volume of that series had been released a few weeks ago, but I didn't want to spend money to buy it and it hadn't been uploaded on any website yet.
Chika-san told me that morning, while I was helping her collect the books, that her brother and I had very similar tastes, only I didn't yet know who he was. He didn't look like someone who read similar books. Not that they were excessively complicated, but they were usually romance or dramatic stories, books that few boys liked to read.
"To make amends, I'll give it to you."
He really wanted to buy me over with the book! He was convinced that by doing so, I would forgive him and not be too upset about the gesture.
I'm not someone who can be easily bought, and I certainly didn't want to let him win, but…
"Okay. Let's say if you give it to me, I'm willing to forgive you for entering a girl's room without her permission."
… I wanted that book too much.
"Dinner is ready, everyone." My aunt called from the kitchen. The five of us sat down at the table and began to eat.
"There's one thing Chika-san and I were wondering about. How did you two already know each other?" My aunt asked, curious.
Indeed, I knew it might look strange from the outside. Two neighbors who had already met within less than twenty-four hours of one of them moving in was a bit too coincidental. The certain thing was that I could never reveal the real reason for our encounter. For my aunt, the accident had just been a great misfortune.
If his sister had known the whole story, she would never have asked this question.
She probably didn't know the whole truth either. I had to answer in some way, even if it meant lying.
"Well... by cha..." I was about to make up an explanation when Yuto-kun, sitting across from me, briefly caught my eye and began to speak, his deep voice overlapping mine.
"We happened to meet today at a mobile phone shop."
His response only confirmed my hypothesis: His sister didn't know the truth either, and given his quick response, he didn't want her to find out either.
"Ah, so you ended up buying a new phone?" My aunt asked me.
"No, because someone started making a fuss and we got kicked out of the shop." I said, shooting a resentful glance at Yuto-kun.
"I knew you would blame me." He noted calmly, playing with a fork.
"So, your phone broke? That's why you weren't answering the calls." Chika-san said to her brother.
"Yes." He simply replied.
"Don't worry, I have a couple of old phones you can have. Ayame-san, take it as an apology for my brother's behavior."
"As if she didn't start running around in the store herself." Yuto-kun muttered.
"And for school? What do you plan to do?" my aunt asked Yuto-kun.
"I was going to enroll in the same school as my cousin who lives in town, but since it's too far from home, I've decided to enroll in the school nearby."
That day just kept surprising me. This was the umpteenth discovery I made that day...
"You enrolled in the same school as me?" I asked in surprise.
"Oh, given the proximity, I suspected you might attend the same school. Guess we'll be going to school together in the mornings. I expect you to welcome me well at school," he said, chuckling.
"I can't believe it!"
The dinner continued calmly as we talked about this and that to get to know each other a bit better. As for me, I kept mulling over the day's news and coincidences.
At the end of the evening, after we finished dinner and said our goodbyes, Yuto-kun and Chika-san went to their apartment. My aunt and I were finishing cleaning up the kitchen when she suddenly turned to me.
"Aunt, what's wrong?" I asked, seeing that she wasn't talking.
"We had a nice evening," she said.
"True, it's been a while since we've had this kind of vitality at home. But I know you, it's not just that."
"It's just that you have a hard time interacting with other people, especially those your age. I felt relieved seeing you talk animatedly with Yuto-kun, even though you don't get along very well. Go on, go take a bath, I'll handle things here."
Only once immersed in the bathtub did I begin to relax. I thought back to my aunt's words and how I couldn't even give an effective explanation for my behavior. Usually, I would have thought twice before acting so lively with others, yet this time it came naturally.
Strangely, I found myself being more lively with Yuto-kun, whom I liked less than his sister. Additionally, now, besides having him as a neighbor, I would also see him at school.
Despite this series of situations that led us to get to know each other, I certainly wouldn't change my lifestyle. Not that I loved being alone, but I had learned not to trust others much, and I preferred to continue this way until I graduated.
His company was also draining. For one reason or another, we always ended up touching on sensitive issues or exchanging jibes, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He didn't seem like a bad person, but as I've said, being too lively and noisy, he wasn't exactly one of the people I would have preferred. Plus, every time I saw his face, I remembered the conversation we had at the hospital. Perhaps that's why it came naturally to me to be a bit on the defensive in his presence.
However, I must admit that during dinner, I felt a joy that I hadn't felt at home for a while. Not that I didn't have fun with my aunt, but excluding Hiro, who was a child, it was just me and her left.
My aunt's lifestyle is peculiar. She is always working and barely has time for the family; the little free time she has, she uses it to rest. Usually, she leaves the house early in the morning and returns late at night. She came home earlier today, probably because she wanted to see how I was after the accident.
Now that I think about it, I haven't felt such vitality since... since... my family... well, it's better to talk about this later.
Soaking in the hot water, I thought back on everything that had happened, and after recalling everything, I only then noticed a major flaw that, with all the twists and turns of that day, I hadn't paid much attention to. If the two siblings had moved only today and Chika-san had come here for the first time this morning, how did Yuto-kun end up here the day before, that is, the day of the accident?
Perhaps there was an explanation but, since it wasn't my business, I decided to set aside my observation.
-Meanwhile, at Yuto and Chika's house-
I was sitting at the kitchen table when I heard my sister's voice.
"Yuto, I found the phones. Let's see if they turn on." She also sat down on a chair nearby. I tried to turn them on to see if they worked and both started without too much trouble.
"Perfect. You take one and we'll give the other to Ayame."
"Okay. I'll give it to her when I go to school next week."
"Excited about this new start? Try to get along with your classmates. If something isn't going well, don't get involved like you did at your old school. I don't want you to get into trouble." She said smiling at me.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
"Alright. Just try not to overdo it."
"Okay, now I'm going to take a bath and then go to bed." I said yawning.
"Oh listen. I didn't bring it up at the table. I don't know what kind of relationship you have with Ayame-san, although from your squabbles it seems to me that you enjoy her company. I wanted to ask you if by chance you told her the real reason why we moved, or if you intend to talk to her about it. I worry about you, you've never had many friends and I'd like you to have someone your age to talk to."
"No, and I don't think I will tell her. I don't want this to be known or become a burden to others."