After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls

Chapter 28: Outburst

It was Sunday today.

Exams were approaching, so I had been gearing up to study with determination from the morning when a message from Sato arrived on my smartphone.

“My little brother is so noisy that I can’t concentrate on studying. Would it be okay if I came over to your house to study, Teruaki-kun?”

That worked out perfectly. I had been thinking that studying alone might lead to slacking off, so I was about to invite her to have a study session if she was up for it.

I typed “Sure, that sounds good” and hit send…

And just like that, Sato showed up at my house right away.

“Excuse me for intruding… I’m sorry to ask so suddenly today.”

Sato appeared in a simple yet cute outfit of a blouse and skirt.

I welcomed her into the living room and, as if to say it must have been hot outside, pulled some chilled tea from the fridge and offered it to her.

“There’s no library nearby, and cafes and family restaurants ban studying, so there really aren’t any good places to study.”

“Around here, the only spot for studying might be karaoke, but that costs a fair bit of money, so it’s kind of a waste.”

“Yeah, exactly. Well then, shall we get started on studying right away…?”

“Yes.”

We were just about to begin our exam prep when it happened.

I heard the sound of a key turning in the front door, followed by footsteps heading straight for the living room…

“You’re probably not studying anyway, so I came to keep an eye on you.”

Sakuya said that as she opened the door and stepped into the living room.

She glanced at me first, then noticed Sato beside me and looked surprised.

Sato, seeing her like that, said with a straight face,

“Sakuya, you’re unexpectedly into Teruaki-kun, aren’t you? Even though you pretend to be total strangers who aren’t even relatives at school.”

Sakuya shot Sato a look as if she had just bitten into a bitter bug, then turned to me.

“You brought another girl home, huh? And this time, it’s my friend.”

“She said she wanted to study without her little brother bothering her, so I suggested she come over here, and she actually showed up, so what could I do?”

“Seriously, you’re already getting close with Mizutani, and now you’re making moves on another girl? That’s just plain not okay.”

“Well, I admit we’re getting close, but we’re not fully there yet, so it should be fine.”

Sakuya made a face like she had to concede that point, then turned to Sato and said,

“So, a study session at Teruaki’s house, right?”

“Exactly. I wanted to study without my little brother interrupting, so I fled to Teruaki’s place.”

“…Well, that’s a smart move.”

“By the way, about that earlier thing you brushed off so smoothly—despite pretending to be strangers at school, are you and Teruaki-kun actually pretty close, Sakuya?”

Sato pressed the attack, not letting her off the hook.

Sakuya looked guilty and muttered under her breath,

“…Yeah, we are.”

Sato, undaunted by Sakuya’s demeanor, pushed forward boldly.

“The way you check up on whether he’s studying shows that you really like Teruaki-kun quite a bit, doesn’t it, Sakuya?”

“It’s not like that. Though saying so doesn’t make it convincing at all… Well, I suppose it’s true that I like him to some extent. More to the point, what do you plan to do with that information?”

“Huh? Aren’t you just curious about how close you two are?”

“Anyway, since Chieri’s here, I guess I’m in the way, so maybe I should head home…”

Sakuya set down a small bag that seemed to contain some souvenirs and started to leave.

Sato called out to stop her.

“Why don’t you join us to study since you’re already here, Sakuya?”

“She went out of her way to come to my house, so how about it? You’re probably carrying study materials anyway because you planned to watch over my studying while doing your own, right?”

“…Well, yes. Though I was going to say that, are you okay with it, Chieri?”

“Oh, you mean that? Like, since we finally had a chance to be alone together, aren’t you thinking something like, ‘Don’t get in the way, you idiot!’? If that’s it, don’t worry. I do like Teruaki-kun, sure, but it’s not like I’m head over heels or anything.”

“I-I see… Teruaki. Let’s talk over here for a bit.”

Sato had declared it with her breasts puffed out confidently, so Sakuya grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out into the hallway.

Once we were alone in the hallway without Sato, Sakuya furrowed her brows at me and asked,

“No matter how you look at it, she seems pretty into you.”

“Yeah, Sato apparently likes me more than I thought.”

“…Well, from what I’ve seen, it’s still at the ‘more than expected’ stage, I suppose.”

“So, there’s no point overthinking it—I’m just treating her normally. Besides, she came all this way just to check on my studying, so I feel bad about that.”

“I-It’s not like I had nothing better to do, so don’t worry about it. But still, you know… Wouldn’t it have been nice to tell me that you’d gotten close with one of my good friends?”

Sakuya said that to me with a somewhat sullen expression.

Then, Sato appeared silently from behind us like a shadow and said to Sakuya,

“This is jealousy, right? You’re panicking because it looks like I’m stealing Teruaki-kun away.”

Sato teased her with a straight face.

Sakuya started grumbling at length.

“Teruaki’s like a little brother to me, so I’m just concerned, that’s all. Honestly, who would get jealous…?”

Sato, watching Sakuya like that, declared boldly,

“You said ‘to some extent’ earlier, but actually, you really like Teruaki-kun a lot, don’t you, Sakuya?”

“…I don’t like him that much.”

“Even if he’s family, you wouldn’t bother coming over to check on his studying unless you liked him. And right now, you’re even dragging him out to the hallway to grill him about his relationship with me?”

“I-I’m just looking after him because Aunt asked me to!”

Sato kept teasing Sakuya.

And to drive the point home, she deliberately clung tightly to my arm.

“So, it wouldn’t be a problem if Teruaki-kun and I did something like this, right?”

H-Hey, Sato!?

The soft sensation made me jump and fluster in surprise.

Sakuya, seeing Sato wrapped around my arm, looked somewhat displeased and snapped in a slightly sharper tone,

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my Teruaki like that in such a casual way!”

Sakuya said that and yanked Sato off my arm.

I was left dumbfounded by Sakuya’s blatant display of jealousy.

Sato, looking smug, said to her,

“See? You totally love Teruaki-kun, don’t you?”