Chapter 26: Separate Bedrooms

「Intruuudingー!」

「You're quite rude.」

Don't look around at someone else's house so much. The sound of three people's footsteps vibrates the floor.

「Kasugai, living alone?」

「...Ahh, for the time being. Living alone.」

「I see.」

Did she look at the total number of shoes?

Michikusa narrows her unreadable eyes while toddling around. She could even look like an elementary schooler.

Her golden hair sways.

She's like a long-haired cat.

I opened the door.

Immediately, the heat that had accumulated in the room flies out and I grimace reflexively.

I speak to Orimoto in an unfriendly manner.

「For now, cool off in the living room.」

「Yes~! Leader, understood, sir!」

「Yeah yeah, I'm the leader, leader.」

Thinking a perfunctory response might be correct, I replied with emotionless words of agreement.

「I'll turn on the AC now.」

「...Hou hou, this is the living room.」

「I said stop looking around so much!」

「Ouch, don't hit me!」

First, I showed them to the living room.

When I turn the air conditioning up high, the beautiful girl combo goes "guden~" and sinks into the sofa.

They looked pretty silly.

If you wait just a few minutes, such is the power of civilization's tools.

The room transforms into a cool space.

「Coming back to life~, the best~!」

「...Good feeling.」

Orimoto spreads both hands and sinks into the sofa, and Michikusa politely and quietly bathes in the cool air.

The cold air drove out the heat.

It feels good on my flushed body.

「Hey hey, can I ask something?」

When I was preparing tea and cups in the kitchen, Orimoto's flat voice echoed in the living room.

When I looked, she had raised her body.

She's staring straight at me.

Wait, why am I the one preparing tea? If I just let them drink it themselves, it wouldn't be such trouble.

「Somehow, it's really empty. I can't feel any atmosphere of living here...」

「Inori agrees. ──Few things.」

One of the reasons I didn't want to invite them.

This house is just a place to sleep. There are no memories or anything, so belongings are infinitely close to zero.

(...No, originally there were some.)

Remembering would be pointless.

There's no need to tell Orimoto and Michikusa.

I clear my throat to take control.

「Look at me. Do I look like the type to carry around a bunch of stuff? I said I'm living alone.」

「Uh-uh, you'd throw things away mercilessly.」

「That's the answer. That's all.」

Orimoto seemed unconvinced, but she probably doesn't intend to intrude that far into family circumstances.

The one who wasn't convinced was rather──

「...In such a big house? That's strange.」

「Now Inori, Kasugai-kun has his own circumstances.」

「Mm? Inori has various circumstances.」

「Mm~, that's true.」

I placed the cups and tea on a tray and set them on the table. I won't pry. I have no obligation.

People each have numerous circumstances.

Stepping in takes courage.

「Tea, drink it. I'm going back to my room.」

「Eh? Let's have the victory party here!」

「Are you stupid? I'm already tired.」

While saying that, I reached for the cup noodles piled near the kitchen and──stopped moving.

I was about to boil water.

...It was my usual habit.

(I was about to eat in my room... crap.)

Bold. Rough. But Orimoto, who's surprisingly sharp in trivial ways, couldn't possibly miss that series of actions.

「Could it be, you only eat that?」

Orimoto's gaze is on the clear vinyl bag. A lump of containers I'd been accumulating meaning to throw away.

Damn. I didn't hide this either?

It's a pitiful mountain of cup noodles.

「Kasugai.」

「Kasugai-kun?」

The two voices attack me. Is it my imagination that there's a somewhat piercing atmosphere?

「W-What?」

「Kasugai-kun, that mountain, what is it?」

「It doesn't matter "What is it?" ...No.」

It's completely an interrogating tone.

I rapidly work out a plan.

「Emergency food. Yes, emergency food.」

「You're going to eat emergency food now??」

「Kasugai, now isn't an emergency.」

Logical statements fly from both of them. This is that, it was a flow leading to being scolded.

I give another big cough.

「Don't nitpick people's lifestyles.」

「Clean and simple. Openly accepting it.」

Michikusa strikes a "yare yare" pose.

「It's not nitpicking, I'm worried! Since you were always eating bread, I kneew it!」

Orimoto puffs out her cheeks.

「If your nutrition gets unbalanced, it's no good, you know? Unhealthy! Could Kasugai-kun's constant bad mood be... don't tell me.」

「Oi, I've been in a bad mood since way back.」

「That's also questionable in its own way...!」

Orimoto jumps up from the sofa and pokes my chest with her finger. It's stronger than expected and I was shaken.

She glares at me lightly.

She really was a meddlesome woman.

「Kasugai-kun, can you cook?」

「...If I try, at minimum. Probably, maybe.」

「Geez~! I'm worried!」

Orimoto opens the refrigerator.

Didn't anyone teach you not to open other people's refrigerators? ...Well, stopping her would probably be useless anyway.

I think Orimoto is that kind of woman.

「Nothing's here. No way.」

「There's also the part about not feeling motivated.」

Only beverages are in the refrigerator. Sometimes sweets and such mix in on a whim.

「...Orimoto, Orimoto??」

「Fu, fufu. Fufufu. Kasugai, kun?」

「O-Oi! That's scary!」

Orimoto stands up. I can see the form of a hannya behind her. Could she put out this much intimidation?

Orimoto taps my shoulder.

「Wait here.」

All I could do was nod.

─────

Time-wise, about a quarter hour.

When night's curtain had grown thick. Orimoto returned with vegetables and rice stuffed in a carrier bag.

「No no, where did you get this...」

「I plundered──or rather, recovered what was sleeping at home. Effective use, you know.」

Orimoto rolls up her sleeves in the kitchen.

She washes her hands. That sound of water strangely lingers in my ears.

...This girl is seriously planning to cook.

「At this rate, Kasugai-kun will become a Cup Ramen Alien. Be careful.」

「What's that, sounds like a monster.」

「Anyway, leave it to me!」

Orimoto ties her hair back tightly.

I caught a glimpse of her nape.

「Ah, Inori, help me~?」

「Aye aye sir. ...Was sleeping a little.」

「Michikusa, can you cook?」

It's a bit rude, but I had arbitrarily judged Michikusa to be on my side.

She has sharp, penetrating viewpoints.

But there are many gaps too.

「Kasugai looked down on Inori. Inori is good at cooking.」

「Yes~, Kasugai-kun losesー!」

「...I see.」

Cooking is already a done deal. There's no room for my will to interfere. In other words, I'm declared surplus.

I reluctantly move away from the kitchen and sink into the sofa. Then sleepiness naturally showed its face.

Come to think of it, I was moving around all day today.

Unable to resist, I gently closed my eyes.

In my ears, the uneven comedy duo of Orimoto and Michikusa were tackling cooking with practiced ease as if fitting together perfectly.

"You guys don't even need food" would be boorish.

(...Nostalgic? ...Idiot.)

─────

I was awakened by a fragrance tickling my nose. I open my eyes and stretch.

Dishes were lined up.

「Morning, Kasugai-kun. It just finished.」

「...A-Ah. Sorry, I fell asleep.」

「Uh-uh, I'm the one who made you tired.」

I raise my body and sit in a chair for the table. Steam rises, a "meal" for the first time in a long while.

White rice, miso soup, salad, and side dishes.

There's nothing particularly unusual in the menu. But I was captivated by the homey lineup.

My stomach's depths throbbed.

My stomach rumbled loudly.

Without teasing, Orimoto smiles. Michikusa, who had apparently been washing her hands, sat down in front of me on the left.

「Here, Kasugai-kun, chopsticks.」

「...Ou.」

Orimoto smoothly holds them out to me.

They were handed over as if natural.

Reflexively, I ended up receiving the chopsticks without thinking, and internally I could only smile wryly at myself.

「Kasugai-kun and Inori, put your hands together──」

Itadakimasu.

Three voices overlap.

Nostalgia seeps through.

So I fall silent.

I put white rice in my mouth. The grains are firm and the heat passes down my throat. My stomach rumbled again.

I gulp down the miso soup.

I don't feel like making cynical remarks.

I voiced my impression as is.

「...Delicious.」

「Fufun~, right, right!」

「Inori is confident too.」

Orimoto shows a full smile, and Michikusa is calm as always. Again, polar opposites in reaction.

「Eat more, okay?」

「Made too much, have seconds too.」

「Idiots, I can't fit that much in my stomach.」

If there are leftovers, I'll just consume them tomorrow.

The miso soup with good dashi.

Warmth spreads gently. The freshness of the salad too, you can't get this from cup noodles.

「Once in a while at least, try making something. Just cup noodles is bland, right?」

Orimoto smiles triumphantly.

Michikusa was also nodding slightly.

Not bad. Too not bad.

(That's why I avoided it.)

Too ordinary, too natural. Because I couldn't stand that dazzle.

「...Yeah. Once in a while might be good.」

I muttered that, and to escape the gazes directed at me from the two, I shoveled down white rice.

─────

I was in my own room fiddling with my smartphone.

I just finished exchanging messages.

A knock suddenly echoed in the room.

「—Kasugai-kun, can I come inー?」

When I give my permission, the door opens reservedly. Her hair and neck are faintly damp, her face flushed.

「Thanks for the bath. ...It's the first time in a while I could soak slowly. At home, I can't relax.」

「Because you don't know who'll come home.」

「Really. It's troubling.」

Orimoto's eyebrows bend,

「Cooking too. I can't do it at home... Being able to stand in the kitchen with Inori was pretty fun!」

「Well, it was fairly delicious.」

「So condescending, geez.」

Orimoto laughs.

Then she rolls up her sleeve.

「Sleepwear too. Thanks.」

「I just lent you hand-me-downs from family.」

The size doesn't match at all but I'm not accepting complaints. I raise one eyebrow and ask.

「Where's Michikusa?」

「That girl takes long baths.」

「I see. Your room is at the end of the hallway. Futons are in the closet, sleep quietly.」

I said that and dropped my gaze to my smartphone. But Orimoto doesn't leave at all. ...What.

When I turn my gaze, it meets hers.

「What, if you're done then get out.」

「...The bookmark, you're using it.」

「Yeah. It's convenient to use.」

I pick up the book by my pillow. As a library committee member, I'm not bad at reading. Rather, I like it.

Books have that person's life written in them.

Reading never runs out of discoveries.

「I'm happy maybe.」

「Normally you'd use something you received.」

「Should I make another one for you?」

「That's a good proposal.」

When I said that, Orimoto's face lit up. The scent of shampoo fills the room.

Orimoto continues speaking quietly.

「I'm glad it was Kasugai-kun after all.」

「Ah? What do you mean, you're glad it was me?」

「The one who saved me.」

Orimoto sits on the bed.

「Sera would be number one. Not me.」

「Maybe. Mmm, it's hard to explain!」

「Don't snap back. ...Mm?」

I suddenly felt a gaze and turned my head.

Beyond the door Orimoto had forgotten to close.

Michikusa stifling a yawn. She's wearing the sleepwear loosely, dragging it.

She looks like she might trip and fall.

「Kasugai, Suzuka. Suspicious atmosphere?」

「T-This is different! Inori, don't say weird things!」

「But, you're that close.」

「W-We're not closeー!」

Orimoto moved away as told. Then she stood up and embraced Michikusa.

O-Ohh... brute force.

「Suzuka, let go. Getting dizzy.」

「Kasugai-kun, excuse me~!」

The door is closed.

It was like a typhoon.

As for the sleepwear I lent them, apparently by morning it will return to its original place, I was told.

「What a noisy girls.」

I'd heard from them during dinner.

About the timing of resets. Actually, it seems to occur just before waking up.

Waking up coincides with clothes returning.

For example, even if they borrow sleepwear, the moment they wake up, those clothes return to their original position.

Waking = world correction, you could say.

The detailed conditions are still obscure as a whole, but regarding clothes, this is certain information.

「...Really like a convenient narrative.」

It was an unpleasant feeling, like the world revolved around someone's ideals, coiled deep at the foundation all along.

Orimoto is in her school uniform. Michikusa in her yukata.

Dirt acquired during the day becomes clean.

It's a strange phenomenon, but it's already too late now. Deliberately going to peek would give off pervert vibes, so it's NG.

「Well, makes sense.」

Changing clothes temporarily is possible.

...But continuously borrowing their clothes unsuspiciously would have been difficult.

Naturally, it settles into a fixed uniform and yukata.

Orimoto told me that during dinner.

Come to think of it, what about shoes? When she wakes up, is Michikusa in geta, or barefoot?

Orimoto is in someone's loafers.

If so──tomorrow.

...No point worrying about it.

(We'll just do what we can, one thing at a time.)

When we assume being rejected by Sera as the trigger for disappearance, there's a difference between Orimoto and Michikusa.

Orimoto was recognized until evening.

Michikusa disappeared instantly.

This difference just raises question marks. I don't understand difficult things. We'll just search for answers.