"Oops, I almost forgot."
I needed to put out some underwear. Otherwise, I'd be walking around
with nothing but a towel on after bathing. That may have been acceptable
before, but not anymore.
Was that kind of thing okay if you were real siblings? No. No way.
Right?
I slipped into the tub when it was about half-filled, waiting blankly for
the hot water to climb up the surface of my skin. I turned off the faucet
when it was up to my shoulders.
The hot water stung a little. The June rain seemed to have chilled my
entire body. I sighed—I sounded exhausted. The heat of the bath made my
thoughts fuzzy as I remembered Ayase's request.
She wanted a part-time job that paid well. Since she'd agreed to cook
for me, I had to find her something to keep up my end of our deal.
I recalled how she'd said she liked to give a lot when it came to give-
and-take. Now that I knew that, I couldn't let her pamper me. I felt the
same way she did. So I had to find her a job.
"Hmm…"
As I thought about it, I slapped the water's surface with the palm of my
hand for no particular reason. In today's world, maybe it was better to start
a business than to be an employee. It had said on the cover of one of the
books I'd picked out that you made better money hiring than you did being
hired.
In that case, maybe becoming a YouTuber or delivering food for
Uber…? …No, that wasn't the answer. I needed to calm down and think.
As a student, I didn't know the first thing about starting a business.
There was too much I needed to learn. Maru was right. You had to
understand the mechanisms of society and how to do business…which I
knew nothing about. Finding a high-paying part-time job was starting to
seem impossible.
But in that case, I couldn't ask Ayase to continue cooking my meals. It
wouldn't be fair. We'd have to start taking turns.
That said, I didn't have her skills. I conjured up a hazy image of her
wearing an apron over her school uniform. She looked cute— No, not
cute. It didn't turn me on; it just…suited her. Yeah, that was it.
She pulled up her long hair and tied it at the nape of her neck, her gaze
straight ahead. Then she tugged once on the loose end of the hair tie where
it lay on her shoulder. And the next thing you knew, she was chopping away on the cutting board.
Her practiced motions were proof that this was something she had done
repeatedly. She must have. She had probably been cooking for years, while
I bought ready-made meals at convenience stores or ordered delivery. And
I was pretty sure it hadn't been for her own benefit.
My dad had no idea how to cook, so he didn't mind that I was the
same. But Akiko wasn't like that. It was easy to see from the food she had
prepared on our first day together that she had tried to feed her daughter as
many homemade meals as possible. That wasn't to say one way was better
than the other; that was just the kind of person she was. I wouldn't have
minded at all if Akiko didn't cook.
But as a result, if Ayase had always ordered food when Akiko wasn't
home, I presume her mother would have done anything to cook for her. To
ensure her busy mom wouldn't feel compelled to do that, Ayase had to be
able to cook when she wasn't there. That must have been why she'd
learned. That's what I thought, anyway, and I was probably right. It was
simply a matter of observation and thought. If you kept doing that, you
could figure out a lot about someone. But of course, you had to have a
reason to think about such things.
"Armor…huh."
Ayase had been fighting while I had been running away.
"I'd really like to find her that high-paying gig…"
My mind had gone back to the subject of jobs, but no brilliant ideas
came to mind. I was thinking so hard that my head was heating up. I felt
dizzy.
I left the tub, shampooed the stickiness from the rain out of my hair,
washed my body, and exited the bathroom. I checked the washing machine
and saw that the spin cycle was done, and it was now in dry mode. It was a
little noisy, but there was nothing I could do about that. Besides, it wasn't
so late that I needed to start worrying about annoying the neighbors.
I put on some light cotton indoor clothes and decided to stop worrying
for the time being. The cool air flowing into the hall from the living room
air conditioner felt good against my hot skin. It brightened my mood, and I
started humming as I headed toward it. It was then that I finally realized I
hadn't turned on the air conditioner.
Two girls were standing in the living room, and they turned to look at
me. It was Ayase and…Narasaka?
Why were they here?
My mind went blank momentarily; then I realized… Dang it! I'd
forgotten I was living with a stepsister and started humming to myself…!
Embarrassment hit me like an invading army, and I couldn't even put
up a fight. My face grew hot. I could tell I was flushing from ear to ear.
Narasaka was there, too—a total stranger. She had definitely seen—or
rather, heard me. Ugh. I could die a hundred times from embarrassment
alone. What the heck should I do? I was numb down to my toes, and I
couldn't move.
Narasaka's mouth hung open. Her lips were frozen in an "oh" shape.
"Sorry," Ayase said, inching toward me and whispering, "Maaya
wanted to see my new home. I meant to warn you, but I don't have your
contact info."
So she wasn't able to reach me.
She folded her hands together in apology, which was unusual. Perhaps
she felt more relaxed with her friend around.
After looking stunned for a moment, Narasaka went back to smiling
like always.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "You must be the big brother Saki's been
telling me about! So it is you—Yuuta Asamura from the next class over!"
She was full of energy.
"Hey, do you know who I am?" she continued. "Has Saki told you
about me?"
"Uh…yeah." What was I supposed to say? "She told me you two were
friendly."
I figured a neutral response was a safe bet, though I thought I saw a
brief change in Narasaka's eyes when she heard me.
"Oh, 'friendly,' huh?" she said in a quiet voice. I may have been
mistaken, since I was only reading her lips, but her face looked almost
serious…maybe a little troubled. Ayase probably didn't notice, since she
had come over to me and had her back to Narasaka.
But the other girl's clouded expression was gone in an instant. It might
sound stupid to phrase it like this, but her face brightened like a flower in
full bloom.
"Yeah! We're good buddies!" she said. "So I hope we can get along,
too, Asamura!"
"Uh…sure. Same to you. Were the two of you okay in the rain, by the
way?"
It was still pouring outside. I wouldn't call it a storm, but the wind was blowing, and the raindrops were falling at an angle against the window.
"We were fine!" Narasaka said. "We both had umbrellas!"
"I see."
"Saki said she'd forgotten hers, but she found it."
"It was at the bottom of my bag," said Ayase.
So that's how she'd explained it. I was glad it wasn't too obviously a
man's umbrella.
"Ooh, you scatterbrain!" Narasaka exclaimed.
"I start experiencing psychogenic vertigo when you say things like
that," Ayase shot back.
"You're using big words again! Does anyone even talk like that these
days?"
"Huh? Is it weird?"
"Yeah! But it's okay."
Narasaka leaped onto the couch, sending her skirt fluttering. Ayase
sighed at her bad manners.
"Maaya. Your underwear is showing."
"Oh!"
Panicking, Narasaka jumped up and straightened her skirt, then glared
at me suspiciously. No, Narasaka, I didn't see anything. The angle wasn't
right.
"Saki, this place is dangerous," she said.
"What're you talking about?" Ayase asked.
"There's a guy here!"
"I suppose Asamura doesn't look much like a girl."
"He's a guy. A male!"
"So what?"
"What're you going to do?! You can't walk around in your underwear
after taking a bath!"
"I don't walk around in my underwear. Is that what you do?"
"Of course not. I'm a lady."
For some reason, Narasaka sounded really proud as she said this.
"But hey, Saki?"
"Wh-what?"
"It's nice to hear you talk to me so casually."
"…!"
Ayase quickly turned away, but it was too late for that now. She'd been
caught totally off guard. I could tell she was blushing.