We arrived home, and as I headed towards the living room, she followed behind me. I walked through the living room door and turned on the light, and the familiar sight calmed me down. Meanwhile, she was surprised by the sudden brightness and stared at the light illuminating the room. She began to look curiously around the furniture and appliances that were now visible in every corner of the room.
Now that she was no longer interested in me, I relaxed my shoulders, but at the same time, I felt extremely tired. To take a breather, I headed to the kitchen fridge to get some snack candy, a favorite snack I made myself. When I opened the refrigerator, I found that the tortoise shell candy, poured into an aluminum mold, wrapped around about one-third of the toothpick handle and had cooled and hardened. I peeled the candy off the aluminum plate and popped it into my mouth. It tasted like nothing more than sugar dissolved in water, but today it tasted sweeter than usual—that's how much my exhausted brain craved sugar.
"Cherry! I brought some of your mother's clothes. Will they fit her?"
When my grandpa came down from the second floor, he brought a white dress that my mother had worn before she passed away when I was in junior high school. I remembered my mother wearing that dress and felt nostalgic. I picked up the toothpick handle and took the candy out of my mouth, and just as I was about to say, "It's probably okay," my sugar-fueled brain noticed a problem.
"I wonder... it might look okay, but... how do I put it on?"
Upon hearing my words, my grandpa's face looked like he had been struck by lightning.
"Well, now that you mention it, I suppose that's true... there's only me and Cherry in this house..."
"Even though I'm old, I'm still a man, and I can't make a young girl I've never met change her clothes."
"I guess I should not be making her change clothes too..."
There was silence between me and my grandpa. But I couldn't just leave her like this, wearing only a windbreaker and a blanket. At that moment, I realized I had no choice but to call the police and have them deal with the situation.
The intercom at the front door rang. "Who could that be at a time like this...?"
With a sigh, I looked at the camera footage and saw a familiar face asking a question in a familiar tone.
"What are you doing out here this late?"
"Ahh! Your adorable childhood friend came to visit you, and yet you say something like that?"
"That's not the time for that right now."
"Oh, you were busy? Sorry! My mom sent me some sweets from overseas, so I thought I'd share some with you, Cherry!"
"No, I'm the one who was rude to you. I'm going now."
I went to the entrance and opened the door to find a beautiful girl with long black hair.
"Sorry for the disturbance ! Here you go.
She usually speaks clearly, but suddenly her words became unclear. Her eyes were not on me, but on the spot behind me. To find out why she was at a loss for words, I turned around to look behind me.
--There was a girl wearing only a windbreaker and holding a white flower in her hand.
"Wha-! Don't come to me now!"
"Cherry... who is that girl? And that outfit... what's going on?"
My childhood friend's face twisted in confusion.
"No way! There's a reason for this!"
Being a childhood friend, it was only natural that she would have doubts. A girl she had never seen before, dressed in a provocative outfit, turned up at the house of a childhood friend—a man who had been with her since they were little and who now lived with his grandfather.
You probably also know that she was wearing my windbreaker. If someone looked at her like this, I'd appear to be some pervert making a naked girl wear only my jacket, and I'd probably think the same if I were in her position.
That's right! I'm sure if I let my grandpa explain , she'll understand!
"Wait! I'll call grandpa and explain the situation to you!"
"Ah... yes..."
I told my childhood friend, who was frozen in place, and hurried over to my grandpa in the living room.
"Cherry! There seems to be some commotion. What's going on?"
Before I could speak, grandpa appeared, holding a white dress open in both hands.
And then I realized...
--It's finished.