Thirty minutes later, Asanagi came in wearing a hoodie, hat, jeans, and sneakers, the same outfit she wore back when we went to the arcade the other day.
It was the second time I'd seen her dressed this way, but this girl really looked good in everything.
"Yo."
"Yo, welcome. I've ordered more food for you, you don't mind the usual right?"
"Mhm, thanks. Oh, right, your mom called me a while ago. She gave me the okay to beat you senseless if you try to lay your hands on me."
"She said that? And she called herself my mom?"
Well, I wouldn't make the same mistake this time, so everything would be alright.
I called her here when she was sleepy, so she might just fall asleep here again, but this time I'll make sure to wake her up.
…Of course I won't try to do anything weird when she's sleeping. Not like I have the guts to do so.
"Hey, Maehara."
"Hm? What's up?"
"No~thing. I just got the urge to call your name."
"What's up with that?"
"Hehe…"
Ever since I let her in, Asanagi had been looking at me while grinning suspiciously. She did nothing more than that, but this was her way of teasing me. That phone call I made earlier really riled her up, huh?
At this rate, she might keep doing this for a while.
Damn, I knew I shouldn't have called her.
My cheeks grew hotter by the second.
"Hmm hmmm ~"
Ignoring my feelings, Asanagi was humming while preparing dishes and glasses that she would use. She was in a good mood.
I wonder what made her so happy?
"Alright, let's start working. Have you converted the image to mosaic art?"
"Ah, yeah, I only converted it though, I haven't made any adjustments to it."
I brought a chair from the living room and we started working side by side.
"Maehara, scoot over a little…"
"Hm? A-ah…"
The space was small, so we had to huddle up close to each other. Her face was so close to mine, but this wasn't the time to be mindful about that kind of thing.
"…Hey, Asanagi…"
"Mm?"
"I know this place is cramped but, do you really have to cling to me like this?"
"Huh? I'm not clinging to you, stop imagining things."
"Then, why are you hugging my arm?"
"Why are you fussing so much when I'm giving you a little bit of service?"
"I don't need it."
"Really? Then, give me three thousands for the hug, also for breaking my heart."
"That's a ripoff."
I guess she chose physical contact as a viable way of teasing me today.
I told her to stop hugging my arm because it got in the way of our work.
"Maehara, what color should we use for this part over here? Black? Red?"
"Black is too dark to put in there… Red is too bright… Maybe a darker shade of red or even purple would fit…"
"Would Dr. Pepper color fit? No one's selling Dr. Pepper around here though… Maybe we should order it online and ask Yagisawa-sensei to pay for it… Yeah, let's do that."
"Right. Do it then."
"Are you making me do it, hm, Maehara?"
"Who else should do it? Anyway, we should refrain from buying anything unless we have no other choice. Well, I know a way to get more cans, so don't worry about not having enough."
"A way only Maehara, the loner, knows… No way! Is it through the black market?!"
"Black market my butt. Anyway, it should be here soon…"
"Huh?"
Even someone like me had a few connections you know?
Time to prove my worth.
The intercom rang at that moment.
"Hello, Pizza Rocket here ~"
"Thank you, here's the money."
"Thank you for your patronage ~"
The one who came was the part-timer delivery lady who came to deliver our pizza.
I didn't know her name, but she was the person who always delivered my orders.
"Um, excuse me, may I ask about something else? It's unrelated to my order though."
"Huh?"
After that, I negotiated with the delivery lady to let me pick up a few dozen empty cans from the store.
Even though the pizza shop was a chain store, they had a wider variety of drinks and side dishes than normal stores, so I was sure that there would be empty cans with the color that we needed. And that hunch of mine was correct.
"Nom… I guess that solved the empty cans problem. Ah, lemme have that chicken."
"Oi! You! Well, anyway, we still need to go to the Home Center and get the other things we need. I'm taking that Hash Brown."
"Hey! Didn't your mom teach you to not take other people's possession?"
"Didn't your mom teach YOU to not take other people's possession?"
"What are you on about? Are you implying that I took someone else's possession?"
"You're not a politician, stop playing dumb."
Asanagi and I ate our food while stealing each other's side dishes.
Of course this would normally be considered bad manners, but we stopped caring about manners a long time ago.
It might just be me, but the food always tasted better whenever we did this.
"Thanks for the food ~ Well, now that we've filled our stomachs…"
"We continue our work?"
"Nope. It's time to play a game."
"Not the answer I expected, but sure, let's do this."
There were still some things that we needed to work on, but I could handle them by myself.
Anyway, I felt glad that Asanagi came today… I hated to admit it, but embarrassing myself over the phone was well worth it.
"…There! An opening!"
"Wha?! Oh no!"
I was going to beat the living hell out of her like usual, but she managed to snatch a win from me because of my carelessness.
"Alright, let's go! I beat Maehara in his serious mode!"
"Don't get cocky! You were just lucky!"
The moment I let my guard down, Asanagi made short work of me.
"Asanagi, rematch!"
"Oh? Hehehe… Fine, I'll let you meet your maker once again."
"You're getting carried away… I'll beat you next time, just you wait."
"Hah! I'll be the one who wins next time! Two wins in a row, let's do this!"
Of course, I managed to keep my dignity after that. I didn't let her win a single time. But this girl had gotten even better than the last time she played with Amami-san.
I guess she had been practicing really hard since then.
She didn't have Amami-san's monstrous talent, but she had the tenacity to make up for that through pure effort.
That was the virtue of the girl named Asanagi Umi, always working hard on everything she set her mind on.
"Haah… Today was pretty fun… We have some time left, what do you want to do, Asanagi? Play another round or maybe watch a movie? It had been a while since we did that."
"Ah? …Mmm ~ Right…"
"Huh? Asanagi?"
When I turned my gaze toward her, she leaned on my shoulder, controller in hand. She looked sleepy.
Near the end of our matches, she had been stumbling, I thought she was just distracted by something, but apparently she just had reached her limit.
"Do you want to sleep?"
"Ah, yeah… I'm feeling kinda tired right now…" *Yawn*
"Okay then, take it easy and take the couch. I'll wake you up later."
"Mhm… Lend me your blanket…"
"Fine."
I took my blanket and put it on Asanagi, who was lying on the couch.
"Hehe… This blanket feels warm… It's chilly, the warmth feels perfect…"
She was wrapped in the blanket from her neck to her toes, only her face was exposed. She looked like a bagworm. Also, the blanket was a cheap one. I didn't understand why she looked so happy covering herself with that blanket, but whatever, as long as she's happy.
"Then, I'll wake you up in thirty minutes. I'm gonna work–"
"Maehara, wait a second."
I was about to get up from the couch to finish my work, but Asanagi grabbed the hem of my shirt.
Isn't she supposed to be sleepy? Why is her grip so strong?
"…Let go of me and sleep…"
"Stay here with me."
"And why should I do that?"
"Just stay here"
"Jeez, whatever."
I gave up and sat down on the sofa.
Well, I was the one who made her come here today, so I guess I should take responsibility and spoil her a little.
"Hehehe… Thank you, Maehara… You're so sweet today."
"What is it all of the sudden? I'm not giving you a single yen even if you flatter me like that."
"I don't need your money, being with you like this… is enough for me…"
"I don't understand what you are talking about, but sure…"
"Hey, hold my hand?"
"Three thousand yen."
"That's a ripoff."
"I just used your card against you."
"Jerk."
Our conversation went like this, but in the end, I still held her hands tightly.
I don't know why I'm doing this. Loneliness? Maybe I just want someone's warmth? I don't know.
Is this even something that normal friends do?
I questioned it, but when I saw her face, I stopped thinking about it.
A warm feeling enveloped my chest. I wondered what it was?
At that moment, the intercom rang.
"Huh? Maehara, you got a guest?"
"Ah, yeah. I don't know who it is… Maybe the delivery lady forgot something? I'll check it out, wait a second."
I let go of her hand, walked toward the intercom, and pressed the button.
Living in an apartment like this, sometimes someone got the wrong address or a suspicious person just rang the intercom randomly. That was why if the one who rang it was a random person, it would be okay for me to ignore them.
"Good evening, Maki-kun! Sorry to bother you this late."
"Ah…"
When I saw her through the camera, my mind went blank for a second.
Why did she come here? Her timing couldn't be worse.
"Amami-san…"
"I'm sorry, Maki-kun… Umi is also here, right?"