After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 29: The Tsundere Phase Arrives?

Chapter 29: The Tsundere Phase Arrives?

I was having a study session with Sakuya and Sato.

It was almost one o’clock when my stomach growled.

It seemed audible to everyone around, and as Sakuya put her pen away in its case, she said,

“Shall we make it lunchtime soon?”

That made sense, so I stopped studying too.

Then, just to check, I asked Sato.

“You’re going to eat too, right, Sato?”

“I was wondering what to do about lunch, but is this the pattern where you treat me?”

“Well, I can only offer something simple. Sakuya brought some somen noodles, so maybe we should go with that…”

“Somen sounds great. I love it. Do we have green onions and ginger?”

“Ah, for ginger, I think we have the tube kind.”

“I want to enjoy it deliciously, so I’ll dash to the supermarket to buy the condiments!”

Sato said that and stood up.

It was impressive that she would go out into the hot outdoors just for condiments.

No, that wasn’t it.

“You don’t have to go buy them out of some sense of obligation to not feel bad about being treated.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s bad to just get treated to somen for free, so I’ll go buy the condiments to make up for it! Wasn’t that what you said?”

“I just want fresh green onions and ginger, that’s all. I don’t feel bad about being treated at all. Teruaki doesn’t look like a poor struggling student to me.”

Oh, she really just wanted the condiments…

I’d misunderstood, and it was kind of embarrassing.

While thinking that, I took a 500-yen coin out of my wallet as payment for the condiments.

“Use this to buy them. Condiments are something we’ll use too anyway.”

“Now that I think about it, it really isn’t right to take somen for free. I’ll pay for the condiments out of my allowance, so it’s fine.”

“Just take it. Teruaki gets a lot of living expenses, so something like this doesn’t hurt at all.”

“No, I don’t want to seem stingy about money, so I won’t take it. Well then, I’ll dash to the nearby supermarket to buy green onions and ginger!”

With that, Sato headed to the supermarket with just her wallet and phone.

I spoke to Sakuya, who was filling a pot with water in the kitchen.

“How close are you and Sato, really?”

“You saw it in the hallway. Chieri and I are close enough to tease each other mercilessly.”

“Yeah, that kind of thing definitely requires a certain level of closeness.”

“Even so, I was really surprised that I’d end up getting along with Chieri like this…”

“I never imagined that asking her lightly if she wanted to come over to our place would lead to us getting this close.”

Even now, I still couldn’t quite believe that Sato and I had become friends.

As I thought that, Sakuya muttered softly.

“More like, when did you raise Chieri’s affection level?”

“It was when we almost got roped into the cultural festival executive committee. When she looked so reluctant, and I raised my hand saying, ‘Ah, I’ll do it,’ that apparently made her heart flutter.”

“…Ah, that time. Yeah, I get why that would make her heart flutter. Oh, how long do we boil the somen for?”

Sakuya asked while holding the somen that had come in a paulownia box as a midyear gift.

“There’s nothing else for sides, and one bundle per person seems a bit skimpy… Maybe we should boil about six bundles?”

“…Even for Chieri and me, two bundles each would be too much.”

“Then, about five bundles?”

“Yeah. Well, the water’s boiling, but shall we wait until Chieri gets back to boil them?”

We decided to wait for Sato, who had gone to buy the condiments.

A brief silence fell, but Sakuya muttered softly, looking a little awkward.

“…Do you think I like you a lot, Teruaki?”

She was asking about what Sato had said in the hallway.

I gave a wry smile, realizing she was still bothered by it, and told Sakuya,

“I think you do like me a lot. Today, you even came to check if I was studying properly.”

“…Y-yeah.”

“Even if Mom asked you to, the fact that you end up taking care of me anyway… Well, that’s just how it is, right?”

“I-I’m not like that with you or anything, Teruaki…”

Sakuya fidgeted, looking embarrassed.

I chuckled at her.

“It’s not something to get that embarrassed about.”

“I know, but it’s embarrassing…”

“Yeah. Before, if someone asked me if I liked Sakuya, I’d say something like I didn’t. But lately, I realized something.”

“What?”

“Sure, there are times when I think you’re annoying. But saying ‘I don’t like you’ to a girl who takes care of me this much… Wouldn’t that just make me a pretty awful guy?”

…Maybe I got a bit too serious there. It was starting to feel embarrassing in a normal way.

As I gave a wry smile, Sakuya wrung her hands and complained to me in a whiny tone.

“Don’t suddenly act all grown-up… Hiding your embarrassment by desperately saying you don’t like me or whatever is so childish, and now it’s making me embarrassed too…”

“Sorry.”

“Well, maybe it’s about time to stop with the weird embarrassment and acting childish…”

Sakuya wore a somewhat resigned expression.

Then, after taking a light breath to steady herself, Sakuya looked me in the eye and told me with a wry smile.

“Like Chieri said, I probably do like you a lot, Teruaki.”

Yeah, I know.

Otherwise, you wouldn’t bother coming to check if I’m studying properly.