Bonus Short Stories

Side: Maki

Maki’s mornings started early thanks to her kitten, Snoozy. He was smart for his age and would put his front paws on her face to rouse her with the sun. Once she was awake, he’d stop and sit down in front of her.

“Good morning, Snoozy...”

Maki smiled at the kitten as soon as she opened her eyes. Snoozy had only recently started waking her up like this. It had surprised her at first. She wasn’t used to having someone wake her, so knowing she’d grown accustomed to it from a cat put a grin on her face.

“Meow!” Snoozy let out a satisfied cry now that he had Maki’s attention. He then spun around and headed for the kitchen.

“Heehee,” Maki giggled when she saw this. She then quietly got up, careful not to disturb Shizuka, and followed after him.

“Meow!” Snoozy was sitting by the kitchen sink, in front of his water bowl and empty food dish.

“Yes, yes,” said Maki. “Just a moment.”

Since Snoozy wasn’t drinking water, it was clear that he wasn’t thirsty. Instead, his business was with the food dish. Maki pulled a cardboard box from the cupboard, and from it came the dry, rustling sound of its contents. Snoozy’s eyes lit up when he heard the noise.

“Meow!”

“Hold on a little, Snoozy.”

“Meow!”

Snoozy restlessly began to rub against Maki’s leg. She’d nearly stepped on him a couple of times by accident in the beginning, but she was used to this behavior now too. She dipped a plastic cup into the box and pulled it back out half full with brown lumps the size of her pinkie nails. This was the prize Snoozy was after.

“Meow!”

He ran back to the empty bowl and sat down again. He was clever, and he trusted Maki not to tease him with food.

“Here you go,” she said. “Eat up.”

“Meow!”

Once Maki filled the bowl, Snoozy became so invested in eating that he seemed to forget she even existed. Maki, meanwhile, was just happy that he was eating healthily.

“Heehee.”

Watching Snoozy eat had long become part of Maki’s own breakfast routine.

Side: Shizuka

There was now a hole large enough for a person to pass through in the wall between rooms 105 and 106. Since it was the result of an accident, Shizuka wasn’t especially angry about it. The other day, Koutarou had even fixed it up some by installing a wooden frame so it would look nicer. Today, however, Shizuka was pensively staring at it.

“What’s the matter, Landlord-san? You got a scary look on your face,” Koutarou said in passing.

“Thanks for noticing, Satomi-kun... But couldn’t you find a nicer way to say that?”

“Okay, um... You look like you’re worried about something, Landlord-san. It’s a shame not to see you smiling.”

“That’s more like it! You can’t talk to just any girl like that though, you hear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, what were we talking about...? Oh, right, the hole in the wall,” Shizuka said, pointing at it.

Koutarou turned to look at it himself. “Is something wrong with the job we did?” he asked, cocking his head.

The hole had been squared off with a wooden frame that was neatly painted and finely polished. Koutarou had done the former, and the latter was Shizuka’s handiwork.

“I’m not talking about the frame,” she said. “I’m talking about the hole itself.”

“What about it?”

“We’ve got a curtain hanging over it, but I don’t know that I like it.”

That was what had been on Shizuka’s mind. The curtain functioned as a door to protect Koutarou’s and Nalfa’s privacy. It served its purpose, but it bothered her from an interior design perspective.

“What do you mean?” Koutarou asked.

“The blue curtain suits your place, but not Nalfa-san’s,” she explained.

“Oh, so that’s it.”

Koutarou and Nalfa had rather different decor in their apartments. His was minimal while hers was on the cute side. That was why Shizuka felt the curtain clashed.

“That’s extremely kind of you, but you don’t need to be so considerate of me,” Nalfa said with a smile and took a sip of tea. Since it was snack time, she’d come over to room 106.

“I won’t hear of it, Nalfa-san. That kind of thoughtlessness can make a girl miserable, you know?” Shizuka pressed Nalfa with a most serious look on her face.

“I see...”

Overwhelmed by the strange pressure Shizuka was exuding, Nalfa faltered. Seeing this, Koutarou decided to throw her a lifeline.

“I’m not hung up on the curtain personally, so we can pick out something the two of you like more,” he offered.

Yet, for some reason, Nalfa was the one who put her foot down this time. “But yours has to be blue, Koutarou-sama! It can’t be anything else!” she cried.

“I see...”

Koutarou now found himself faltering. Nalfa was rarely this intense. He really did think it was a shame not to see her smiling, just like Shizuka earlier.

“That’s right! You get it, Nalfa-san,” Shizuka piped up.

“I absolutely cannot relent on this matter!” Nalfa insisted.

“That’s what’s been puzzling me, honestly,” Shizuka admitted with a nod.

In fact, that was the real crux of the matter she’d been debating internally: what kind of curtain would be appropriate to hang between a boy’s room and a girl’s room?

“Why not use a two-sided curtain?” Koutarou asked.

It was a rather simple idea—they could just make a curtain with a different fabric on each side. The girls, however, refused to accept it.

“No! That would ruin its splendor!” Nalfa shouted.

“See? You just don’t understand how girls feel, Satomi-kun!” Shizuka followed suit.

“Huh...” he relented.

Women really are too complicated... How in the world do you manage this, Mackenzie?!

Now that the girls had set their sights on Koutarou, Kenji was the only person he could turn to for help... But without his best friend there, Koutarou would be stuck suffering the girls’ onslaught alone for some time.

Side: Yurika

Yurika’s favorite Kanto seaweed-flavored instant noodles were seventy-eight yen a package. They’d first hit shelves a year ago, and she’d picked them up because she enjoyed the taste for the price. That held true even now, as evidenced by the five packets in her shopping basket.

“Like, didn’t you finish off paying off your debt?” Sanae asked curiously.

“Sanae-chan! Shhh!”

“Don’t worry. Koutarou’s stuck in the sports drink corner right now.”

Even with Sanae’s assurance, Yurika couldn’t help glancing over to make sure of it for herself. She desperately wanted to keep Koutarou from learning of her financial situation at all costs.

“My debt may be gone, sure, but...” she mumbled.

“So why do you keep buying the cheap instant noodles? You could buy these nicer ones instead. You know, the kind that moved you to tears that one time?”

Sanae wanted to know why Yurika was still living like she was dirt poor even though she wasn’t anymore. She understood that Yurika didn’t want Koutarou to know the truth, but she couldn’t understand why Yurika’s diet hadn’t changed.

“You’re being too naive, Sanae-chan!” Yurika objected with a surprisingly serious expression. She had her left hand on her hip as she waved her right in the air.

“What do you mean?” Sanae asked.

“Money can disappear on you in the blink of an eye. You never know a mistake might cost you.”

“That’s eerily convincing coming from you...”

“I can’t even begin to tell you the wretched despair of buying a manga you don’t like in bulk!” Yurika cried, pale-faced as she recalled her past horror.

She’d once bought the entirety of a popular series that turned out not to be to her tastes. She’d then rushed to a used bookstore to offload it, but since it was in such wide circulation, it didn’t sell for much. It was a huge loss for both her and her wallet. So even with her finances stabilized now, she wasn’t about to let her guard down again.

“I buy books one at a time, though,” said Sanae.

“Don’t you want to know what happens next?” asked Yurika.

“Sure I do, but I like going to the bookstore with Koutarou.”

Sanae didn’t just enjoy manga; she loved the whole book-buying experience. She’d been getting a small allowance from Koutarou ever since she was a ghost, and she loved going shopping with him to spend it. Swinging by the bookstore on the way home after school and reading manga together was one of her favorite pastimes.

“That sounds great...” sighed Yurika.

“Then you should give it a try,” suggested Sanae.

“Unlike you, Sanae-chan, Satomi-san and I don’t have the same tastes.”

Sanae read all kinds of manga, whereas Yurika had very girly tastes. There was no way that she and Koutarou would enjoy the same kind of series.

“Then why not do it with ramen? Instead of buying a pack here and there, you can buy a box with Koutarou. Then you can make it together and everything.”

“Hmmmmm...”

Yurika pondered this plan. Instead of buying a little at a time, she could buy a whole box and ask Koutarou to carry it. As thanks for the favor, she could even offer to treat him to some. It was sounding better and better to her.

“What are you thinking about so hard, Yurika?” asked Koutarou, appearing with a basket full of sports drinks. “Did you find some new instant noodles?”

“Hwah?!” Hearing his voice all of a sudden made Yurika jump. She was too surprised to give a proper answer.

“Welcome back, Koutarou. Yurika and I were just talking about how she should buy in bulk instead,” Sanae said for her, making sure to leave out the parts Yurika wouldn’t have wanted her to share.

“You’d probably save money that way, yeah.”

“But carrying a whole box would be heavy. Come on, Yurika, just ask him to do it for you.”

“U-Um, would you mind?”

“Sure. It’s no big deal.”

“Th-Thank you, Satomi-san!”

In the end, Yurika got exactly what she wanted. But she wasn’t the only one who demonstrated growth that day; later, she’d quietly thank Sanae for everything she’d done.