"I see… Has it been rough on both of you?" Shimamura-san asked.
"No, not really. We've been managing ourselves fine these days without them. I can even say for certainty that we can take care of ourselves without them."
"I'm sure you wouldn't be able to. Where would you get your expenses?"
"…That's actually a good point."
The only source of money we have are the ones being sent to us by Mom and Dad. Even though our communication's cut off, every two to three months, they'd send 100,000 yen for us to split, which would make it 50,000. I wouldn't really say that 50,000 yen is something that a high school student would normally get their hands on. The only reason I thought of why they send so much money to us is to compensate for the time that we didn't get with them. I appreciate it though, since even though both me and Yuumi don't really spend the money, we can use it for our daily necessities.
"But then again, we could just apply for a part-time job," I said, scratching my head at my previous.
"That could work. Though you probably wouldn't want that, would you?"
I can't deny that. Yuumi isn't the stamina type of person and can get tired pretty quickly. Meanwhile, me here can just do things pretty normally. But that's the problem.
While I could get a part-time job, that leaves the risk of spending our quality time together. And although our connection can somewhat get cut off for just about three hours, I wouldn't want that.
Because of our parent's departure, we've been left alone to fend for ourselves, like I said earlier. That's where I come in; we need to fend for ourselves together, so if I wasn't with her sooner after school ends, I'd just leave her alone. I'm the only person that can keep her company, so cutting a bit of time wouldn't be good for both me and Yuumi.
We kept walking and walking. The streets were only illuminated by the lights, and the previous sun that shone high and mighty in the sky was nowhere to be found. The stars, although barely recognizable, were the ones that replaced the sky.
There were also smells that came from other people's houses. All sorts of food kept going through my nose. Considering it was nighttime, everyone must've been preparing dinner to eat to end the day.
After a bit, I saw Shimamura-san's house in the distance. After a bit, we reached the gate.
"Well, thanks again for carrying Akito back to the house," she said.
"No problem. He practically weighed almost nothing, so this much wasn't that big of a burden. Though you should probably make sure you can handle him if this sort of situation happens again."
"I'll keep that in mind. I can carry him for this small distance, so I can take care of him from here."
When she attempted to take Akito-kun from my back, trying to carry him herself, the front door of their house suddenly opened, and out came an older woman. She didn't appear to be Shimamura-san's mother, and she didn't look like the right age to be Akito-kun's mother.
"Don't worry, I know this town like the back of my hand!" she shouted behind her. "I'll find Ayacchi in a bit, so don't start dinner…?"
The moment she saw both me and Shimamura-san, she turned her back on us, ran inside, and then started shouting:
"Mom, Auntie! Ayacchi is with a guy!"
"Wha─ Hey!" Shimamura-san shouted, opening the gate and running after her.
***
"It's great to see you visiting our house again, Yuuji," Shimamura-san's mother said as she gave me tea. "Thank you for bringing Akito-kun home with her. We're really thankful. We don't have any cookies right now because of the little ones, so you're gonna have to do with this."
"It's fine. I like tea."
I was in the household of the Shimamura family like I had been a few days ago. This time, though, instead of Shimamura-san's room, I was in the living room.
I only knew two people in this household, and that is Shimamura-san and her mother. Her mom and I see each other quite frequently in the convenience store near here, because she works part-time there.
It seems like the male of the family was gone. Shimamura-san's father was working overnight, and her uncle was out cold from drinking too much. There were other ones as well, which were cousins, but some of them were sleeping in the bedroom of Shimamura-san's parents. They tired themselves out from playing.
After Shimamura-san ran after her older cousin, Akira, her mom saw me as she was closing the door, and invited me in. I did go to Shimamura-san's room, but only to drop off Akito-kun in her bedroom. Shimamura-san was also pretty tired after she tried explaining something to the older cousin, so she's resting with Akito-kun.
"It would've been a problem, too!" Shimamura-san's aunt said. "Ayase has always had problems trying to lift her little cousins. I'm surprised she's very athletic, at least."
Well, she did beat one of the Three Deadly Beauties.
There were three people in the living room with me. There was the mother, the aunt, and the older cousin.
"I am curious, though," the older cousin asked. "Both of those little ones always stay up every dinner, and they usually dominate the entire table. They seem to be pretty tired right now, which is surprising. What did you do?"
"Oh, well, I invited them to a picnic."
I explained what I did with Shimamura-san and the little one. Remembering it now, it did feel quite unusual having dinner with someone you barely even know. Actually, I'm surprised that I got to visit her family despite that fact.
"No wonder why they're out cold. Seems like I'll be the one dominating the table tonight!" the older cousin said, puffing her chest out.
"Hah! I may be old, but don't underestimate your mother!" the Shimamura aunt said, puffing her own chest out.
"Well, I was expecting the the little ones to be up and eat dinner with us, but now that they're all knocked out and resting, there's too much food… I don't think both of you would be able to finish it all yourselves."
This was certainly unusual. This family was somewhat of a heavy eater, yet I haven't seen a single person being chubby at all. It's interesting to see a family with strong metabolism. Even the Shimamura aunt, despite her age, still seemed to look fit and proper, and same goes for both the cousin and the mother. You couldn't even tell their ages properly.
"But still," Shimamura-san's mom said. "We really can't thank you enough for this. How about you eat here for a bit? As a way of saying thanks."
"Oh, I couldn't," I replied. "And besides, even if I could, I'm still too full."
That picnic really did a count on my stomach. Despite not having eaten lunch on the weekdays because of Shimamura-san taking it, this weekend surely was something. My stomach was feeling stuffed. Our family wasn't much of an eater except for Yuumi.
However…
"…Actually, can I have some to go?" I asked. "I have a feeling my sister is going to be hungry when I get home."
"Ah, Yuumi-chan, right?" she asked. "She also often comes to my work. You can take as many as you like. I also have a feeling that the picnic you had with your sister was rather unsatisfying."
I couldn't tell if it was a woman's intuition or a mother's instinct, but either way, it sure is crazy that they can specify a lot of things based on observation alone. Yuumi, despite having packed quite the amount of lunch, probably wouldn't be satisfied, adding the fact that Shimamura-san and Akiro-kun ate there with us.
Shimamura-san's mother went to the kitchen to fetch the dinner, and the aunt followed after her. Meanwhile, while waiting, I felt someone staring at me. Looking in their direction, I saw a small girl who is just about Akito-kun's age. She was peeking through the door.
"Oh, Aki-chan!" the cousin said towards the girl. "You're already up? Come greet our guest before he leaves."
Meekly, the girl walked towards the older cousin, ran up and then sat beside her while still hiding her face, staring at me.
"Nee-chan, who is he?" the girl asked the cousin.
"Him? He's…" The cousin contemplated for a bit before turning to me. "Come to think of it, Auntie called you Yuuji, which makes you Yuu-kun, but what's your last name?"
So we were already going on a first-name basis and nicknames.
"It's Akamatsu. My name is Yuuji Akamatsu," I answered. "What was your name again? I'm pretty sure Akari, which makes you Akicchi."
"Ooh, Yuu-kun, you're bold!"
I said that sarcastically, but she seemed to take it seriously, so I guess I'm sticking with Akicchi. Calling her Shimamura-san's older cousin seems like a pain and a mouthful at the same time, so this wouldn't seem to be bad."
"My name is Ayaka…," she muttered. "Um, are you maybe the character from Kuma's new series?"
"Kuma?"
If I remember correctly, that's Senpai-san's pen name. Senpai-san is Ayane Matsumoto, who is the president of the Acting Club and one of the Three Deadly Beauties.
"You read Kuma's new series? I'm impressed!" Akicchi said, hugging Ayaka-chan. "There's not many people that are bound to the soul by books, especially light novels, so having a sibling into it really does make it feel special."
Apparently, they're both really big fans of Kuma. Not only that, but both of them might even be otaku.
"What's the name of the series?" I asked. "I might know the title."
"It's Hugs and Headpats," Akicchi answered. "The protagonist's name is Yuuji Kuroki, and he's got only three years to live, so he spends his time comforting other people, specifically giving them hugs or headpats. Come to think of it, you both do share the same name. I'm surprised you remembered the name, Aki-chan."
That somehow sounds exactly like me. Besides the fact that I started comforting people three years ago, Yuuji—which also happens to be my name—and comforting other people, which happens to be the thing I swore myself to do, fits all the description of me.
"…Well, I actually might be Yuuji," I answered vaguely.
"There's no way! It's true you both have the same name, but Yuuji is a fictional character, unlike you, Yuu-kun!"
"…Nee-chan, he might be telling the truth," Ayaka-chan said seriously. "He doesn't seem to be the type to lie. I can see it in him."
"Uh, thanks?"
The kid suddenly turned from meek to analytic. She sounded like some sort of scientist or professor or whatever, and she seemed to have outmatched my intellect, but only for a bit.
"Well, the only reason I'm saying this is quite strange," I said. "I personally know Kuma myself, so…"
"Ahaha! What a funny guy you are!" Akicchi laughed it out. "…You're serious, aren't you?"
Suddenly, the Shimamura mother came out with four stacked lunch boxes in a plastic bag. That amount was probably enough to feed four people, or two if both of them were hungry.
"Here you go," she said as she handed it to me. "I'm pretty sure you live close by, so it should still be warm by the time you get home."
"I appreciate the offer, but this is a little too much. I don't think even Yuumi would─"
"She can finish it. This is her we're talking about," she said as she gave me a reassuring smile.
"…I'll take your word for it, ma'am."
After gulping down the last bit of tea from my cup, I stood up and headed for the front door. But just as I was going to leave, Ayaka-chan clung to my sleeve.
"…Can you visit us again?" she said meekly.
"You're welcome here anytime, Yuu-kun," Akicchi added. "Both of our schools are closed for the rest of the week next week for some reason, so you can use your time to visit anytime."
I patted Ayaka-chan on the head.
"I'll try. If I have the chance, I'll even invite Kuma here, so you better be prepared."
Ayaka-chan's eyes lit up, but her face still looked meek. She slowly softened her hands to let go of me and then waved her hand as I exited the house.
"Bye-bye, Nii-san."