"Hello"
"Good morning"
"Morning Keana, you need something?"
"So, is it okay if I bring Izumi along?"
"It's okay, more is better, but who is Izumi?"
"Don't act like you don't know, Turumi."
"I know him, but is he not an introvert?
"Well, he is trying to change—"
"Whatever, anything else?"
"No"
"Okay, then. Bye"
I called Tsurumi to let her know that Izumi was joining us. Since I still had a little time before our meeting, I made the decision to study.
When there was only an hour and a half left, I called my brother and told him to start getting ready, and I started getting ready as well.
Unlike other females I didn't like wasting my time on dressing so it took me only twenty minutes to get ready. I applied minimal makeup and paired a light-colored t-shirt with blur jeans.
After getting ready, I left my room and went to Izumi's room to see if he was ready.
"Izumi, you ready? Let's leave—"
"Ok"
He got up from his chair as though he was prepared to go.
"...At least put on some jeans"
"Is this not a nice outfit?"
"You appear to be someone who has not left their house in years."
"Is that bad?"
I considered telling him to change, but I was not the type of person who would feel self-conscious simply because I was out in public with him dressed that way.
"Are you serious? Wear something else."
"Something else?"
He cocked his head to indicate that he did not comprehend what I was saying.
"Sigh"
I went over to the drawer where he kept his clothes and selected a pair of jeans and a shirt.
"Here"
As I was about to pass him the clothes, I noticed that he had taken off all of his clothes and was only wearing boxers.
"Thanks"
He thanked me and put on the shirt I had given him, but his boxers had my full attention.
"I-I am going downstairs, come down when you are ready."
When I saw him like that, I felt embarrassed and my heart raced, so I bolted from the room as fast as I could.
"Huff, huff, what is wrong with him?"
I sat near the door for a few minutes, thinking about his box—what happened in his room. A few minutes later, he walked down, looking slightly better.
After coming over, he sat beside me and began putting on Mom's sandals. Wait, what?
"...why are you wearing mom's sandals?"
"Hm? These are for Mom?"
He said that in a tone that made it obvious he did not understand it, which surprised me.
"which ones belong to me?"
"That one"
"Oh."
Seeing him like that made me feel bad for him, so even though I wanted to say something, I refrained.
"Izumi, I feel sorry for you."
"Ok"
I was aware that withdrawing from society and avoiding conversation could have a minor effect on your brain, but I had no idea it could also lead to people becoming this stupid.
Next, we departed from the residence and made our way to the train station. He simply followed me as we walked to the station, not saying anything.
The station was quite crowded because it was a holiday. I noticed Izumi, who did not like crowds, was fine and seemed excited.
"Where're we going?"
"We live near City T, isn't it obvious?"
"Oh"
We boarded the train when it arrived, but due to the large crowd, we didn't get any seats.
Our destination was approximately twenty minutes away, and it appeared that we would need to stand the entire distance.
"Looks like we won't get any seats"
I moved close to his ears and muttered.
"Hmm"
As we got closer to the city, the number of people on the train increased, and I started to feel strange, as usual.
Since my school was in the city, I had to travel there every day. However, I always felt strange when I entered the city and it took me some time to get over it.
The reason could be the weird smile that people in the city had on their faces, or it could be the environment that is different from where I live.
I checked my surroundings and noticed that the majority of them had that weird smile.
Perhaps because of my summer vacation, I was out of the habit of seeing this surrounding. I felt a little scared, so I moved a little closer to Izumi.
A ringing voice appeared inside the train, indicating that there would be an announcement.
"Good afternoon, passengers. If you feel like you are constantly being watched and have a tingling sensation around your neck that is not caused by a medical condition, you should contact an exorcist right away. These could be signs of a demon attempting to possess you, and the longer you wait, the more the demon will take control and the more difficult it will be to exorcise."
After the announcement I checked my surroundings again, and everyone still had the same expression with that strange smile. The reason could be that these types of announcements were fairly common.
After a few minutes, another ringing sound appeared.
"Our Next destination is T city. Enjoy yourself in the city, and remember to be happy, because demons are drawn to people with negative emotions."
It was an announcement to tell us that the station is approaching.
Every time I heard this announcement on my way to school, I would remember why my mother always encourages me to be happy, and today was no different.
"See, this is why mom always tells us to be happy."
I thought I would tell Izumi this because he had changed and would listen to me now, unlike before when we did not talk at all.
"Hmm"
He looked at me after saying that, and for some reason, it appeared like something was bothering him.
"Izumi, are you okay?"
"Too tight."
"Hm?"
I looked up at my hands, which were firmly wrapped around his midsection.
My attention was absorbed in other things, so I honestly did not realize how tightly I was holding him.
"S-sorry"
I put my hands away from him and then took a small step back, putting some space between us. I turned to face him to see if I had upset him, and when it appeared that I hadn't, I was a little relieved.
"Rika"
"Hm"
"Why is everyone looking at us?"