After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 17: Thaw (Part 1)

Chapter 17: Thaw (Part 1)

It was getting late, so I told everyone I’d handle the cleanup myself.

After saying that, I sent Shizuru home.

I spoke to Sakuya, who stayed behind to help me clean up.

“You can head home too, Sakuya.”

“Let me help with this much. Besides, when I told Dad I’d be late because we were making takoyaki at your place, he said to make sure I help with the cleanup.”

“If that’s the case, I guess there’s no helping it. By the way, did you have that much fun hanging out with Shizuru?”

While wiping down the table, I asked Sakuya.

She answered, looking a bit shy.

“It’s my first time having a female friend who teases like that. My friends before were mostly quiet, so hanging out with someone like Shizuru feels fresh and really fun.”

“I get it. It’s really fun being around Shizuru, right?”

“So… what do you actually think of Shizuru, Teruaki?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you interested in her as a girl? You two seem so close and have so much fun together. It wouldn’t be surprising if you were into her.”

“Uh… well…”

I couldn’t quite put it into words.

Seeing me struggle, Sakuya muttered softly.

“…Do you like her?”

Wow, she really went straight for it.

I gave her a wry smile and answered.

“I don’t think I like her yet.”

Hanging out with Shizuru is fun, she’s cute, and sometimes my heart skips a beat.

There are moments when I think it’d be nice to date her, but I’ve never strongly felt like I absolutely want her to be my girlfriend.

That’s why I thought I didn’t like her yet.

“‘Yet’ means there’s a chance you might like her, right?”

“Well, I’m a high school guy, so yeah. What about you, Sakuya? Is there anyone you like or are curious about?”

I asked casually, but Sakuya’s face turned sour, as if to say, ‘Why should I tell you?’

“Are you picking a fight?”

“I was just curious… don’t glare at me like that…”

“You know there’s no guy around me, yet you deliberately ask if I like or am curious about some guy? That felt like a mean jab.”

I knew there wasn’t any guy in Sakuya’s life.

Of course, asking her that despite knowing it could come off as teasing.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it as a jab or to mess with you. It just crossed my mind, so I asked.”

“…Fine. Sorry for glaring at you like that.”

“So, are you even interested in romance, Sakuya?”

“I’m interested enough. Being alone forever would be so lonely I’d want to cry.”

Sakuya’s kind of a clingy person, isn’t she?

When Shizuru and I were about to go to the convenience store, she tagged along as if to say, ‘Don’t leave me behind.’

“You’re pretty clingy and a bit of a mama’s girl. If you got a boyfriend, I bet you’d be super affectionate, Sakuya.”

“…Yeah, I’d probably be really clingy.”

“Like how?”

“Getting lots of compliments, taking baths together… wait, why are you making me spill all this?!”

Sakuya shot me an annoyed look.

To make up for it, I decided to share something.

“By the way, I’m the type who likes to pamper.”

“…Is that you hitting on me?”

“No, not at all? You told me you’re the type to want pampering, so I thought I’d share my side too.”

I clarified that it wasn’t a move on her.

Sakuya giggled.

“Hehe, right. No way you’d like me, Teruaki.”

“But seriously, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? You and me talking so comfortably like this.”

“Until recently, we were fighting over the tiniest things, and it was just awful…”

“So why are we getting along so well now?”

Lately, Sakuya and I had been getting along, and our fights had drastically reduced.

I was wondering why things changed so suddenly when Sakuya muttered, looking a bit awkward.

“I realized something.”

As if a weight had been lifted, Sakuya started talking with a brighter expression.

“I hated you, Teruaki, for causing trouble for Mom. But I realized I was hating you more than necessary.”

I was someone she hated for causing Mom trouble.

But her hatred had been excessive.

Recently, Sakuya had come to realize that.

“How did you figure out you were hating me more than necessary?”

“Thanks to Shizuru. When I saw you with her, I thought, ‘Our usual interactions are so different.’”

“I’m not quite getting it. Can you explain a bit more?”

I didn’t fully understand what she meant, so I asked for more details.

“When you talk with Shizuru, you seem happy, but when you talk with me, you seem annoyed. The difference was so stark.”

“And how did that make you feel?”

“…I thought, ‘I want to talk with Teruaki normally like that too.’”

Sakuya said with a bitter smile, her face tinged with regret.

We used to fight a lot back in the day.

But at some point, our fights went from light and playful to heavy and tense.

And so, we stopped talking normally. No, we couldn’t talk normally.

Sakuya realized that wasn’t good, that she didn’t like it, and started thinking about why things had turned out this way.

“So when you thought about why we couldn’t talk normally, you realized you were hating me too much?”

“Exactly. I realized I was treating you like an enemy too much. So I decided to stop that and try being kinder. That’s why we haven’t been fighting lately.”

“Honestly, you’re way easier to deal with now, so that really helps.”

“Oh, and don’t get the wrong idea. I only stopped hating you excessively. If you’re planning to cause trouble for Mom, I’ll still scold you when needed.”

Sakuya made it clear she wasn’t going soft on me, just that she’d stopped hating me more than necessary.

“…Please go easy on me.”

“That’s a tall order. I’ll scold you properly when it’s needed, so be ready. But unlike before, I won’t call you ‘trash’ or ‘scum’ or tell you to ‘die,’ okay?”

“Right…”

“…We got into some weird talk, didn’t we? Come on, let’s finish cleaning up.”

Sakuya said to wrap up the chit-chat and focus on finishing the takoyaki party cleanup.

But before we got too focused on cleaning, I had to say something.

“I’m the one who messed up. You don’t scold me for no reason, Sakuya, but I got sulky and glared at you over the smallest things. Sorry…”

Sakuya had been hating me more than necessary.

But I was probably doing the same.

That’s why I couldn’t help but apologize to her.