30 minutes later:
As soon as Mashira left the floor, Akari went straight into her room and hadn't come out. I guess she was really pissed about having to share a room. Of course, she was pissed—who would want to share a room with someone they barely know? We used to know each other years ago, but we're not kids anymore. She's a girl, and she wouldn't want a boy casually hanging around in her space. But now she has to.
Anyway, I need a nap. I'm tired from today's journey. I was heading to my room when Akari opened her door, and the first thing she saw was me.
— "I really need to see your face every day and night for the next six months?" she said, looking at me annoyed.
— "Unfortunately, yes," I said.
— "I also don't trust you to just live with you," she said.
— "No one trusts someone they've basically just met," I replied.
— "And I don't like you either," she said.
— "No one likes someone they've just met…" Before I could finish,
— "What Are you just agreeing to everything I say?" she asked, annoyed and loudly.
— "What do you expect me to say?" I asked.
— "Fix this!" she demanded.
— "Fix what?" I asked, confused about what she wanted me to fix.
She sighed before saying,
— "I need to stay in this apartment, so make this house comfortable for both of us to live in."
— "So what do we do about it?" I asked, curious how she planned to fix it.
— "We need to do it," she said, looking at me with those eyes I couldn't quite understand.
— "Do what?" I said, kind of shocked by what she meant.
--- "We have to do it" She said again looking at me with those eyes I can't understand what they thrive
I make a step back actually shocked and afraid of what she means before saying
--- "What the hell do you want us to do" I said
— "We need to make some rules to live in this house comfortably," she said.
— "Uh... huh?" I reacted.
— "Yeah, rules! Wait—what did you think I was talking about?" When she realized what she said, her face turned red. She quickly covered it, then said again,
— "Why the hell did you think of something else? You're creeping me out!"
— "You could've just said we needed rules without making this much drama," I said in defense.
— "Now I made drama? All of you boys are so messed up," she said.
— "Whatever, just tell me what you're going to do to fix it," I said.
— "Yes… your stupidity made me so lost I almost forgot about that!!" she said.
I smirked in annoyance but didn't say anything.
— "So I decided to make some house rules so we can both stay comfortably for the next six months," she said.
I thought for a second about the rules. I figured I should just agree, whatever they might be. I didn't want to get in her way. No Shinomiya would do that.
— "Okay, tell me the rules," I replied.
— "First, we both have separate rooms. Neither of us will take a single step into the other's room," she said.
— "I agree—don't come into my room," I said.
— "You're the one I should warn more about this. You're a boy," she said.
— "You'd have to kill me to make me go into your room," I said.
— "I don't know about that, but I'll definitely kill you if you take a step in it," she said.
She sighed before speaking again:
— "Second, we both won't be home in the mornings because of college... Wait, do you even go to college?" she asked.
— "Of course, that's the main reason I came to Tokyo," I said.
— "Your purpose isn't really my concern! Just tell me, do you go to college or not?"
She said, crossing her arms in a nonchalant tone.
Her heartless reply kind of got to me, but I didn't react. I sighed before saying,
— "Yes, I do."
— "That means we're both outside during the daytime, but we will never leave the house together."
So basically, she wants us to be strangers.
— "Fair enough. So one of us always has to leave first, right?" I asked.
— "That's correct!" she said.
— "Um... sorry to disappoint you, but we only have one key," I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
— "You better be kidding me," she said.
— "Sorry to disappoint you again, but I'm not kidding," I said.
She stomped her foot on the floor.
— "Why the hell does this crappy house only have one key? Well, it doesn't matter. We'll duplicate it," she said.
— "Sorry to disappoint you again—"
— "What is it now??" she replied, annoyed.
— "You can't afford it—not right now," I said.
— "How much is it to duplicate a key?" she asked.
— "About a thousand yen," I said.
— "I actually can't afford it right now," she said.
— "Then come up with something, Miss Rule Maker," I said.
She made an annoyed face when I gave her that nickname, but then said,
— "Yeah, sure." After a second of thinking, she said,
— "Yeah, whoever leaves first gives the key to Uncle Mashira. Easy solution." She crossed her arms, looking proud of herself for coming up with it.
— "Mashira's always at home, but what if he isn't someday?" I asked.
— "We'll think about it later," she said.
— "We need to be ready for worst-case scenarios," I said.
— "If you're that worried about it, then come up with something," she said.
— "Calling the last person is the only solution," I said.
Is he trying to get my phone number? Well, no, it doesn't look like it, but he's still a boy.
— "Can't you come up with something else?" she asked.
— "You can change your phone number after we duplicate the key. Until then, I think that's the only solution," I said.
The words coming out of my mouth felt so real. How could a boy be so truthful? I trust him… She sighed before saying,
— "Okay, I trust you. We'll go with that, but don't call me intentionally. We'll only call each other for the key. Just the key!"
— "You don't need to worry about it. I promise I won't call you, even if the world turns upside down," I said.
— "So these are the rules for now. I'll add more rules based on your behavior," she said.
— "What kind of person do you think I am?" I asked.
— "You boys are all the same! All fall under the same category," she said, annoyed.
— "Whatever you think," I said.
— "Anyways, I wasted a lot of breath talking to you. I need some peace of mind." After saying this, when she was about to leave, her stomach made a sound like brrrrr. She immediately looked at me, embarrassed.
— "Hey, did you hear that sound?" I asked, still confused about where it came from.
— "You heard it—don't make fun of me," she said.
— "Make fun of you? I don't understand," I said.
Maybe he actually didn't know that it came from my stomach, Akari thought, before saying,
— "No, no, it's nothing! I also wonder where that sound came from?"
— "God knows... Anyway, are you hungry?" I asked.
This question made Akari angry as hell—her temperature peaked before she said,
— "You did hear it, you little—ugh!" She quickly ran to her room and slammed the door.
— "What the hell did I even hear?? Maybe she doesn't like people giving her food. Uh, whatever. Let's just go to bed. I'm too tired, and tomorrow is my first day at college…"
But one thing Kazuma doesn't know is that this night is going to be pretty long…