Chapter 28: The Cohabitation Continues

「Is that outfit okay, Michikusa?」

「Inori, no problem. Only action matters.」

「......Don't trip.」

「Leave it to me.」

Even though it was still morning, the asphalt was already radiating heat like a scorched iron plate.

It was a cloudless clear day.

「Inori, are you really going in that outfit?」

「Of course I am. It's much easier than the yukata.」

「...Well, that's true, but?」

Swaying, dragging.

If I were to add sound effects, it would be like that.

Michikusa's outfit was──a jersey.

Both sleeves and hem are excessively long.

They were things I used long ago, but even so, the length catastrophically doesn't fit Michikusa's frame.

「In the end, it's not geta after all...」

「Shoes loose, but less painful than geta.」

「Then... is that okay...?」

Despite my warning that there wasn't a size that would fit, Michikusa selected my shoes.

A golden-haired beautiful girl in a men's jersey and shoes.

An unbalanced combination.

「It totally doesn't suit her at all, does it...」

「Can't be helped. They're all mine.」

Orimoto was also surprised by Michikusa's choice. After all, she'd been fixed in yukata and geta until now.

Lending clothes to Michikus every day would be difficult, especially with Orimoto's family watching──

「Kasugai. Clothes will get dirty. Sorry.」

「I don't really care. I don't wear them anyway.」

「Mm, then Inori won't care either.」

Still, it should have been possible if she'd tried.

...Clothes disappearing, floating, becoming invisible day after day would have surprised people, but still.

And so, thinking at least shoes would work, I judged, but that too was abandoned due to size differences.

And now Michikusa in my clothes and jersey.

There was Michikusa's own reasoning behind this.

『Kasugai is outside the rules. If I borrow clothes and shoes, we might find a clue to the solution.』

Saying that, she deliberately changed.

Wearing my clothes instead of a yukata.

A jersey with an annoyingly tacky English print that looks like something a middle schooler would like.

Looking at it, I feel a slight sense of shame.

「And you're in your uniform.」

「Of course. It'd be embarrassing to wear them.」

「...By that logic, what about Michikusa?」

「Well, Inori is, you know?」

That might actually work as an explanation.

Michikusa Inori is certainly Michikusa Inori.

「Geez, what kind of logic is that?」

「You kind of want to accept it, don't you?」

Orimoto chuckles. Michikusa, advancing with small steps, really is like a growing child.

The jersey drags along the ground.

It's obviously getting more scratched and dirty, but as I told Michikusa, I don't care. I can't wear it.

It's too small for me now.

It's a jersey I don't even remember when I bought it. Getting it dirty isn't something to object to.

「Wapu, whoa.」

「Told you so. You'll trip.」

「...Kasugai, that helped.」

Her foot caught on the fabric and she almost stumbled, so I forcefully pulled up Michikusa's arm. ──She was light.

Too light. Is she really a high school student?

I almost doubt it.

「Want to go back and change into the yukata?」

「That's a hassle. It's hot, and the verification isn't complete yet.」

「Then don't trip.」

「Am I being worried about…?」

I let out a small "Ha" laugh.

「I feel like I'm looking after a neighborhood kid.」

「Kasugai-kun, in the world, that's called worrying.」

「Wha... No way.」

Orimoto poked my shoulder with her finger.

I felt like I was being made fun of.

I release Michikusa's arm that I'd been gripping. Then, while swaying her excess sleeves, she speaks.

「Same with Suzuka. You watch closely.」

「That's not it, you two are just dangerous.」

「That's called watching closely.」

I responded with a click of my tongue.

─────

To state the conclusion first. The key wasn't found.

We might have been thinking too lightly about it. The key wasn't Orimoto's "personal belonging" to begin with.

In other words. That means.

That means──it was within the reset's scope.

I realized this fact when I was drenched in sweat, desperately parting through wild grass.

I'm getting used to being exposed to public attention.

To think I could withstand people's gazes.

「...The key, is at Suzuka's house──?」

「...Yeah. That's possible. It is.」

「Probably, it's not here anymore.」

Michikusa's murmur hits the mark.

When she puts it that way, she's right.

「How did you usually handle it?」

「...Usually I keep it in my uniform pocket. It never returned to its original position...!」

The pattern isn't visible.

I even wonder if there's no pattern at all.

An unpleasant feeling and irritation flicker across my mind, like someone is making arbitrary changes repeatedly.

It happens occasionally. This sensation.

「This is such a pain already. Tell me exactly what gets reset and what doesn't.」

「If I knew that, I wouldn't be struggling.」

For example, things in pockets when sleeping don't return. Or in this case, they do return.

Michikusa let out a small sigh.

I feel like we're being made to take the long way around.

Orimoto, Michikusa, and reluctantly myself too. We're all trying various things, but the mystery runs too deep.

There seems to be an unmanageable darkness.

「What happened to me and Inori becoming invisible is also──」

「No, I've narrowed that one down.」

「Eh, really?! Kasugai-kun!」

I answer "Yeah" briefly.

「The timing matches up. I don't know the details, but being rejected by Sera is probably the reason.」

「...Could it be, Keiichi is the mastermind?」

「That's not confirmed, thought.」

But he's suspicious enough. He's a man who deserves to be suspected. ...But Orimoto can't see that.

I recall something from quite a while ago now.

Orimoto had launched assaults on Sera and whispered curse-like attacks in his ear. But he showed no reaction to any of them.

It was impossible to get through that.

Then──Sera is uninvolved?

The timing coincided too much to conclude that. If it were just Orimoto, maybe, but Michikusa is the same.

Even if he isn't the mastermind, there's "something" going on.

I think it's natural to consider that.

「So there's a reason Keiichi wants to make us disappear, is that it? ...Like he hates us, or something.」

「Ahh, so annoying. Don't get all depressed.」

「I-I'm not depressed, but...」

Orimoto visibly deflates.

Right, this girl is such a crybaby.

「It's not decided that Sera is the culprit. Besides, he never showed any signs of hating you guys.」

「That's true. Inori was liked.」

「...You're pretty confident about that.」

「It's a fact.」

Observing calmly from the sidelines, they're women who were interested in the same man. Rivals, so to speak.

And yet they manage to be best friends.

Either their personalities are completely bent toward pure goodness, or Sera's steering was excellent.

I can't really believe it's the latter.

I'm lacking in romantic experience.

And I'm also insensitive to people's subtleties.

Still, when the feelings directed at him are so clear, isn't it wrong not to come to a conclusion?

Was there a reason he couldn't?

「Well, our direction is set.」

──Back to the main topic.

The key Orimoto dropped yesterday.

If searching doesn't find it──we should have suspected the possibility that it "returned home".

Anyway, the next action is decided. I make a suggestion to the two girls while wiping my sweat.

I clap my hands together with a small "pon".

「We've got no choice but to go to Orimoto's house.」

─────

Getting to the front of the house was smooth.

But that's where we hit a dead end.

Stuck in front of the silent gate.

The Orimoto residence was a general two-story house. It's smaller than my house, but still more than sufficient.

An ordinary, common house.

Looking up, there's a room with closed curtains. Her former room turned into storage, or a family member's room?

「......It won't open.」

Orimoto murmured in a small voice. It's obvious, but the front door remains locked.

The parking space was empty.

「Well, figures. In this dangerous world, how many houses leave their front doors unlocked?」

「Then why did we come to my house?」

Orimoto plasters a questioning look on her face.

「──The moment your parents come home, you slip in through the gap. Then check if the key is there.」

「That's surprisingly brute force! Eh, are you serious?」

I had been thinking about it since last night, but,

「That's all I could come up with.」

「Ehhh~?!」

Orimoto blurted out her surprise at full force. Her voice carries well. I don't dislike that quality.

「If nothing else, I'll help mediate.」

「Then, we wait for Suzuka's parents.」

Orimoto's movement suddenly stopped without warning. As if she'd just realized an awkward fact.

「...…Ah... that's right.」

Suddenly, she's stumbling over her words.

「......Ehm, I have bad news.」

At Orimoto's words, I break into a cold sweat. A bad feeling instantly races through my entire body.

What is this woman going to say?

「My parents... probably won't be coming home.」

「Wait, hold on. That's not funny as a joke.」

「...I happened to overhear it a while back.」

Orimoto presses her fingertips together.

Apparently, they're away for a family gathering in a distant place.

「Suzuka, that information is late.」

「Yeah, way too late. I want to punch you.」

「...Sorry, really.」

I put my hand to my forehead.

I groan from the heat and the endless sense of futility.

The afternoon residential area continues to echo with nothing but cicada cries. The sky was mercilessly blue.

「...This is problematic.」

「...Break in?」

「Don't say dangerous things. I considered it too.」

「Joke. That's a last resort.」

「Both of you?!?」

Orimoto dramatically retorts at the exchange between Michikusa and me. There's a smile there of both resignation and relief.

This is... an unexpected pattern.

The lost key would somehow be found, Orimoto and Michikusa would return to their original place, and I would regain my peace.

That was the only flow I had in mind.

「When are your parents coming back?」

「Not exactly sure, but Friday of next week at the latest.」

「...So that's... about a week, huh.」

I calculate in my head.

I was already mentally exhausted from just one day, and now I have to let these two stay at my house for several more days...?

「Let's establish a few rules.」

「Rules...?」

An anxious color seeps into Orimoto's eyes.

There was only one answer available to us.

A bitter choice.

Temporary continuation of cohabitation.

「One, be quiet in the mornings──」