"You're the one who asked to live here?" I said in confusion, looking at the mystery girl as she sat on the couch before us, a shy expression on her face as she fidgeted in place.
"Y-yeah, I hope it's not too much trouble—seeing how short notice it was—" she murmured.
Both Okane and I exchanged puzzled glances. My mom didn't tell me anything about a new offer. I was rather suspicious, but if I let an offer like this slip by and she was telling the truth, Mom might just kill me—
"Where were you staying before this?" I asked. The girl looked to the side as though she was ashamed of something, her fingers twirling together and her lips quivering.
"W-well—you see, I didn't have a place to stay, so until today I just slept on the alleyway floors."
I facepalmed, a small grunt of frustration escaping my lips. This poor girl, how could I possibly tell her to wait now?
"Oh no," she murmured, seeing my expression and giving a soft frown. "Did I arrive too late? Did someone already take the spot?"
"N-no, it's fine, it's just—"
"It's okay, I'll just find that one slab of stone again—it was comfier than the others—" she sighed, standing up and making her way to the door.
I looked at Okane, and she walked up ahead, blocking the girl in her path.
"It's fine! You can stay," Okane reassured. The girl turned to me, a confused expression on her face.
"Please, I don't want to bother you if it's too much trouble—" she muttered, trying to reach for the door that Okane constantly blocked. Does she WANT to go to the streets again?
"Seriously—It's fine." I sighed, the girl's hands falling on the straps of her purse, with a huge smile.
"R-really?"
I nodded reluctantly as she jumped for joy, throwing her arms around Okane in the spur of the moment.
"Thank you!"
Should you really be thanking us? You probably already paid for this place. Oh well, I hope you get your money's worth.
"This is so annoying!" Okane groaned on the couch later that day, swiping through her phone idly. It's like she's glued to that thing. She should go outside once in a while, touch the grass, smell the roses. Not like me though, I'm not as attached to mine.
Ring_Ring_
I picked up my phone almost immediately to see who it was.
"Taida! I didn't say this, but there's someone who was supposed to make their way over there today," I heard my mom on the other line.
"Yeah, yeah," I sighed, leaning back against the couch as I spoke. "They're already here. You know, you should tell me these things sooner—"
"Yeah, I know, I know."
"Haru, look at this!" Okane shouted, shoving the phone in my face to show me something. I grunted as I tried to lean away.
"H-hey, I'm on the phone!"
"Just look!"
I took a closer look at what she was referencing, eyes gliding across the phone as I read softly to myself.
"Todoroko would like to celebrate its 12th anniversary. To do so, streamers under the Todoroko contract will partake in a live-streaming game event—" My eyes looked up at her with a confused look.
"Ok, and?"
"AND!" She continued, typing away at her phone before showing me another image, this one of a girl with curly blonde hair with the dress and attitude of a snob with blue eyes to match. Go figure.
"Still waiting for the dots to connect here—" I sighed at her words, leaning back against the chair as she continued to ramble on and on.
"Okay, so long story short! We both started the streaming thing at the same time," she started.
"Uh-huh," I nodded, listening to what she had to say.
"We were close friends at the time, so we just did this for the lols, you know, the funnies?" she continued.
"Right—"
"Then she got really big, like really popular," she stretched her arms wide apart as she spoke.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah! And with it, her ego got big too, and we slowly started to drift apart. She would leave me on read all the time! Like—just say you hate me at that point, right?" She looked at me, expecting me to agree with her.
"Totally."
"And on her latest stream, she made fun of me and my follower count—" she muttered, crossing her arms and pouting like a child.
"So I'm entering this to hopefully get her back and wipe that smug smile off her face!"
"Yas queen—"
"And I need your help to do it—" she declared, scrolling on her phone once more.
"Wait, why me?!" I asked, confused about what I could possibly do to help her in this situation.
"You're like—an otaku, neet or something—"
"That's—wow, that's how you think of me?" That somewhat hurt a little bit—
"It doesn't matter! What does matter is that I need your help!" She grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes intently. "Will you do it?"
I looked down at her with a disappointed glance, a soft sigh escaping my lips as I pulled my hand away.
"Look, I'm the guy who listens to tea, not stirs the pot. If you need help and it doesn't concern me, you should ask someone else."
"Really? Not even if a really cute gamer girl asks you for help? You wouldn't even consider?" she pleaded, her eyes filled with crocodile tears.
I scoffed at her words, a small smile playing on my lips.
"What's that for?" she snapped, hitting my arm, her eyes lighting up as though an idea came to mind.
"Oh, I know. What if I pay you?" she asked me, digging into her pockets to pull out four thousand yen. "You help me and this is yours!"
I looked at the money as she waved it teasingly in her hand, beckoning my gaze as she moved the bills around in the air.
"Do you really think I'm the type of guy to be bought over with money?" I asked, looking her in the eyes.
"Yes, I do—" She said bluntly as she kept waving the yen that I soon claimed within my own hands.
"Well, you're absolutely right," I grinned from ear to ear, pocketing my earnings and stretching my hand out to her for a firm handshake.
"Pleasure doing business with you."