Stay Over Boy’s Side ②
“This cake is delicious”
“Right? Furthermore, it’s great because it isn’t that expensive either”
After finishing dinner, we are eating the cake Renya brought. I took the shortcake, but it is not too sweet, so it goes well with black tea.
“Or rather, the black tea is delicious……if I have to choose, I would say I am more of a coffee person, but this is seriously delicious”
“I am honoured to have your praise. Would you like to have a second serving?”
“I would, I would!”
It makes me very happy since the way to make black tea is something I reproduce from somehow recollecting what I heard when my father was still alive, and going through trial and error. I do also feel that I am still lacking since my father’s black tea in my memories is even more delicious though.
“By the way, where are they selling these cakes?”
“Nn? It’s difficult to describe where the shop is in words, so I’ll share the location details later. Are you going to buy it as a present for Nakamatsu-san?”
“Yes. I was thinking that Yae would like it as well”
I want to share delicious things amongst the two of us after all. Let’s try the chocolate cake or something next time. I wonder if they have Mont Blanc? Yae loves it, so it would be great if they have it.
“……what is the matter?”
“Er, are you guys really not dating?”
“Isn’t that what we said. Do you not even remember something like that?”
“I’m not convinced with what you say……”
Renya looks over here with a disgruntled expression, but I do not understand why. I wonder if he does not believe that we are not dating.
After that, as we continued with our idle chit-chat, the clock’s needle pointed 11. Time flies when you are having fun huh.
“Please wait while I enter the bath”
“Ah, can I study Kazunari’s room then?”
“Sure. Please do not mess the place up, alright”
“Ou! ……I wonder where the ‘mufufu1‘ books are?”
“Did you say something?”
“No, nothing!”
Renya was muttering something softly; I wonder what it was. He sent me off with a vibrant smile when I was about to head to the bath after leading him to my room. It is suspicious, so let’s get out quicker than usual.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
“What are you doing……”
“Eh, I was wondering if there are any dubious books in the gap under the bed……Kazunari!?”
“Is that so……”
I cut short my bath and return to the room, and the figure of Renya desperately peeking under the bed while illuminating it using his smartphone’s light was over there. He said dubious books, but to begin with, we are still 17 years old, and more importantly
“Do you think I will own those kinds of books when I have Yae?”
“Indeed. Rather, I know Kazunari doesn’t mean anything by it, but that way of saying it will give birth to misunderstandings, you know?”
“Why?”
“Ahー, no, it’s nothing”
If I buy such a book, and it gets exposed, I will no longer be able to live with Yae. Furthermore, there is no way I can do something that might upset Yae, right.
“Can I have you move out of the way slightly? I am going to lay out the futon2”
“My bad, my bad. You have a futon as well even though you have a bed huh”
“It is for when my mother is here. I am sorry, but please sleep in the futon”
“Okay, okay”
I say and lay out the futon that I placed at the corner of the room in advance. I usually stash it inside the closet, but I took it out beforehand.
“Let’s sleep then, shall we. I am going to turn off the light”
I say and turn off the room’s light after brushing my teeth, and the surroundings become a world of darkness, devoid of even the moonlight. I closed my eyes about to go to sleep, but I was spoken to by Renya.
“Hey, Kazunari”
“What is the matter?”
“Although you wouldn’t tell me previously, can I ask why you’re cohabiting?”
“Sure”
“No huh, I suppose so……sure!?”
I sense Renya suddenly springing up from the futon in surprise. Well, he is going to be surprised if I easily agree to something that I refused previously.
“Yes. I got permission from Yae beforehand this time around. Of course, with the promise that you will not tell anybody”
“I promise”
“Alright then, let’s talk about it. The biggest, and only reason, that Yae and I are living together. It is because Yae is incapable of any and all housework”
“Huh?”
Renya probably wants to say, ‘why because of just that’. However, Renya’s image of being unable to do housework is distinctively different from Yae’s.
“First, culinary. There exist no other heat besides high heat for Yae. Also, teaspoons do not exist either. Everything is in tablespoons. She confuses sugar and salt, or worse, confuses vinegar and mirin3. Undercooked meat is also a given”
“O, oh”
“Next, the laundry. She tries to wash clothes that bleed with white clothes. She nonchalantly tries to put hand-wash laundry into the washing machine. She confuses where to pour the detergent and fabric softener. How much hardship do you think Yae’s Okaa-san and I went through until Yae can wash her underwear by herself”
“Erm, Kazunari-san? You’re scaring me a little, you know?”
Those days were really tough. I am a man after all, so I cannot be looking at Yae’s underwear. That is why I sat her down and thoroughly drove the knowledge into her. I left all the practical work to Yae’s Okaa-san though.
“And then cleaning. She sucks in weird things and causes the vacuum cleaner to break down. If she starts tidying up, for some reason, it ends up even messier than before. And to finish it off, the person herself does not feel like doing it either”
“Ye, yes”
“Now then, can you let a girl like this live by herself?”
“It’s impossible”
“However, she needs to live alone for her to attend high school. Over there, there is just a classmate boy who can do housework and is almost the same academically living together with her. It cannot be helped for them to rely on that child, right!”
“And that boy is Kazunari”
“Yes. This is the reason Yae and I are living under the same roof”
I ended up getting slightly agitated. Renya is completely taken aback; I said a little bit too much huh……I did not exaggerate at all though……
“I am convinced if that is the truth”
“It is nothing but the truth. You cannot tell that to anybody, alright”
“Nobody will believe even if I tell them something like this……or rather, you had been living together since before high school huh?”
“Let’s talk about that next then, shall we”
Like this, the night grew later. It is the first time I invited a friend and stay over at my house, but it was very fun.
