After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 34: The Ieyiri Residence (Part 1)

Chapter 34: The Ieyiri Residence (Part 1)

I had come to Sakuya’s house—or rather, Uncle’s house—for the first time in a while.

It was a large wooden single-story home not too far from the station, with a pond and a storehouse in the garden, giving it a real sense of history.

I was sprawled out on the living room sofa, fiddling lazily with my smartphone.

“You’re really making yourself at home, aren’t you?”

“I used to come over all the time in elementary school to snag snacks, so why would I be nervous?”

Sakuya’s house always received all sorts of gifts for the summer and winter solstice—jellies, juices, fruits, you name it.

That was why I used to show up so often to get some.

“We still get them now, and we can’t eat it all anyway, so feel free to take as much as you want.”

“My allowance just got cut, so that’s a lifesaver.”

“You say it’s cut, but the original amount was so huge that you’re still fine. Anyway, Dad won’t be home for a while, so just relax however you like. I’m going to my room to review for the tests, so call me if anything comes up.”

With that, Sakuya started to leave.

She had gotten nearly perfect scores on the tests, yet she was diligently reviewing to solidify her knowledge—talk about dedicated.

“Can I join you?”

“Oh, that’s unusual.”

“I studied way harder than usual this time, so I want to make sure I don’t forget what I learned.”

“In that case, you’re more than welcome. Though in your case, you had a lot of wrong answers, so maybe I should help you review those spots too…”

It really felt sisterly when Sakuya offered to help so straightforwardly like this.

Wait, wouldn’t my real sister do the same?

As all sorts of thoughts ran through my head, Sakuya spoke to me while I lay on the sofa.

“Come on, let’s go. It’s hard to study at the living room table, right?”

“I can go into your room?”

“When Aunt comes to check if my room is messy and I have to report back, she wanders into your room whenever she wants. It would be way too convenient for her to tell you not to enter mine.”

“Yeah, that’s so characteristically proper of you, Sakuya.”

I headed to Sakuya’s room to review the tests.

Her room, which I was entering after a long time, had been redecorated: the childish curtains were now in more mature colors, and the desk and bed were brand-new ones I had never seen before.

And what surprised me most was…

“This place smells amazing.”

Sakuya’s room had a lovely floral scent.

“I’d love to say it’s nothing special, but I’ve put a lot of thought into it, so I’m thrilled you noticed.”

“Thought into what?”

“You know how I hate strong smells? That’s why I’ve gone for this soft, gentle aroma. I’ve experimented endlessly with the placement of the aroma diffuser, the direction of the air flow, and the intensity of the scent source to get it just right.”

She really seemed obsessed, and if I asked more, we’d be here forever.

As I pulled out my stationery and test papers from my bag, I said,

“Anyway, there’s a math problem from the test where I couldn’t figure out the approach—could you explain it?”

“Yeah, this time there were a lot of problems that made it tricky to know which formula to use.”

“Exactly, the more I read them, the more I wondered which one to apply.”

“So, which one should I start with?”

“This one, please.”

“Ah, that. You use the formula from question 20, plus one other.”

I started having Sakuya teach me the problems I couldn’t solve on the test.

She explained them kindly and thoroughly, but I still couldn’t quite grasp it.

“I don’t get it. My brain just won’t connect why it works that way…”

“It’s not like we’re cramming before a test—we have time now. Take it slow and think through it step by step. When I first tackled this type, I had no idea why it turned out like that either.”

“…Still, you’re seriously smart, Sakuya. What was your rank this time?”

“First overall. Third in Japanese history and English, first in everything else.”

It was infuriating how perfect she was.

After all, she had told me it was just a lack of study time holding her back, but she had definitely studied less than I did for this exam.

“By the way, Mizutani looked like she bombed this test hard. She went pale just looking at the rankings sheet.”

“That’s inevitable for someone in club activities, isn’t it? But you know, from what I saw, I think Mizutani’s about to have a breakthrough.”

“Ah, yeah, I get that. Kids who push hard in clubs have amazing drive, so once they focus on studying, their grades skyrocket.”

“Mizutani seems like she comes from a pretty well-off family too, so if she starts going to cram school or a tutor, her scores will shoot up in no time.”

Cram school, huh. I needed to start by winter.

Mom and Dad had basically threatened me: since I’d been selfish and stayed in Japan, I had to aim for a top university.

“Are you planning to go to cram school, Sakuya?”

“Yeah, starting this fall. Studying on your own versus getting help from someone makes a huge difference in efficiency. Our school says you can aim for top universities without it, but the classes are at a level where that’s… optimistic, to say the least.”

Even Sakuya looked a bit down about losing her free time.

I ended up asking her,

“My place is closer to that famous cram school—why not come over to my house? You’re already hanging out there a ton anyway.”

“That does sound like a solid option.”

“Right?”

It wasn’t like we were prepping for an exam, so there was no harm in taking it slow like this.

As we reviewed the tests, weaving in idle chit-chat, something suddenly popped into my head, and I said it out loud.

“By the way, where’d you hide the stolen panties?”

I asked where Sakuya had stashed the panties she stole.

She made a face like she had bitten into a bitter bug and said to me,

“Could you not dig up my black history?”

“Come on, it’s just bugging me. Last time you said you were leaving them hidden in your room, so I’ve been wondering where.”

“You’re hopeless when it comes to tact.”

Even as she said that, Sakuya opened her clothing drawer, dug deep into the back, and pulled out my underwear in a Ziploc bag, handing it over.

“Sorry for taking them without asking. Here, you can have them back.”

I took them, thinking I didn’t really need them anymore.

Then, with a somewhat pleased look, Sakuya told me,

“Oh, right—actually, the other day, I saw something in the laundry room.”

“Hm?”

It felt like the start of an intriguing story, so my interest spiked instantly.

Emboldened, Sakuya kept going.

“The day of the study session, I was washing my hands at the sink in the laundry room when I spotted it. Your underwear was placed on top of the laundry basket there, visible like that. At the time, I didn’t think much and just figured, with Mizutani and Chieri around, you should hide it… so I buried it out of sight. But thinking back, doesn’t that seem off?”

“What does?”

“You hide your underwear out of consideration for Mizutani, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much. So, that means…”

“Exactly—either Mizutani or Chieri probably got curious about your underwear and dug through the laundry pile!”

Someone might have rifled through my used underwear.

Sakuya, who had once stolen my underwear out of her own curiosity, seemed thrilled to have found a potential accomplice and explained it to me smugly.

“They’re at that age. Of course they’d be curious about the scent of a guy’s used underwear, right?”

She said it like it was perfectly normal for a girl to take an interest in a boy’s used underwear, puffing out her chest proudly.

That childish side of her felt oddly endearing somehow, and I ended up laughing.