After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 37-38.1

Chapter 37: Another One

Sato had come to my house with a box of sweets in hand.

Her parents had told her to bring them as a thank-you for all the help during the study sessions.

As I took the box of sweets at the front door, I said to her,

“Why don’t you come in for some tea while you’re here? I’ve got snacks now anyway.”

I had not done anything to deserve sweets, and just accepting them felt a bit off.

I showed her the freshly received box and invited her in for tea.

“In that case, I won’t hold back. If I go home, my little brother will just make me give him piggyback rides anyway…”

“Piggyback rides? That sounds like quite the fun routine.”

“It’s not fun at all. It gets surprisingly tiring being the horse. But if I don’t do it, he throws a fit, so it’s really a hassle.”

“He’s four, right?”

“He’s a total wild child, and every day is hell…”

We chatted idly as I let Sato into the house.

I guided her to the living room, but…

“Why don’t you sniff it first, Sakuya?”

“N-No, Mizutani said she wanted to steal it first, so you go ahead.”

Mizutani and Sakuya were shoving my underwear back and forth between them.

It was a little embarrassing, but it looked entertaining, so when I did not stop them from trying to steal my underwear, they ended up digging it out from the laundry pile and could not stop.

And they had been doing this for a while now.

“If neither of you wants it, I’ll take it then.”

Sato casually snatched the underwear they had been pushing at each other.

“So Sato’s got a bit of an interest in guys’ underwear too?”

“Of course.”

She was so unabashed.

I had thought Mizutani was the one who dug through the laundry, but apparently…

“Did you go rummaging through the laundry pile the other day?”

“Oh, yeah. I dug up the underwear and buried it again, so I thought no one noticed, but you did, huh?”

Sato was in on it too.

Wait, was this just how girls were? My image of girls started to waver.

At that point, I figured it was time to get it back, so I tried to take the underwear from Sato’s hand, but…

“S-Sato? Why won’t you let go?”

“Because I want it.”

“No, no, I can’t give it away.”

“But you didn’t stop them when they were shoving the underwear back and forth. That means you basically gave up ownership of it. So, it’s mine now.”

Sato refused to let go of my underwear.

It seemed she was not just a closet perv but a full-on one.

“Isn’t it weird for a girl to want a guy’s underwear?”

“It’s pretty normal, actually. Come on, guys want girls’ underwear too, right?”

“Seriously, what are you even going to do with it…?”

I said in disbelief, and Sato declared boldly,

“I’ll sniff it first. Then after that… oh, that’s getting embarrassing, so I can’t say more. Well, if you really insist, I could tell you.”

Sato looked prim and proper with her short hair and glasses.

But apparently, she was the least prim of the bunch.

※

After I finally wrested the underwear back from Sato.

We sat drinking tea with the sweets she had brought.

We were chatting animatedly about summer vacation plans when Mizutani asked Sato,

“By the way, I’ve got plans to go to the pool with Teruaki, but since it’s a good chance, why don’t you and Sakuya come too?”

“Is that okay? It’s your chance to be alone together.”

“Yeah, Chieri’s right—it’d be a waste.”

“No, no, it’d be more fun going with everyone. Well, being alone with Teruaki would be fun in its own way too, I bet.”

She had invited me along when she and Sakuya decided to go swimsuit shopping.

That way of pulling everyone into fun stuff was one of Mizutani’s good points.

“I think that sounds good too.”

Because right now, I had no intention of dating Mizutani.

It might sound arrogant, but a one-on-one pool date would probably get her hopes up even more.

“Teruaki seems like he wants to get along with everyone for now anyway. No point in pushing too hard.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Teruaki’s surprisingly guarded.”

“Uh-huh, totally.”

The two who had been at each other’s throats before were now hitting it off.

Sakuya watched the scene and muttered to me quietly,

“…You’re headed for the same fate as Uncle.”

Hey, don’t say something scary like that…

I would push people away when I needed to, right?

Especially once fall rolled around and I had to get serious about my future path.

“S-So, when should we go to the pool?”

“I’ve got a ton of assignments, but no summer cram plans, so I’m free pretty much anytime!”

“Me too.”

“Me as well. Well, once Obon starts, the pool will be a crowded nightmare, so if we can, before or after would be better.”

We dove into a full discussion about when to hit the pool.

—

Chapter 38.1: If You’re Prepared, You’ll Have No Worries

Two days had passed since summer vacation began.

Today marked the start of Sakuya living at my house.

Over the past few days, new furniture like a bed and shelves had arrived almost daily, so Sakuya’s new life could get off to a smooth start without any shortages.

Still, who would have thought I’d end up living with Sakuya…

As a high school student at a prep school, she’d probably nag me every day to study, which left me in a strangely uncomfortable mood just thinking about it.

Anyway, she said she was on her way, so…

Click.

The sound of the front door key turning came from the entrance.

When I stepped into the hallway, there she was, of course…

“That’s rare. Coming out to the entrance to greet me like this.”

There stood Sakuya, who was starting to live at my house today.

And it seemed my unusual greeting had served a purpose.

“If you have any luggage, I was thinking I could help carry it. That said, that’s quite a large suitcase.”

I replied to Sakuya, who had appeared pulling a big carry-on case.

“I’m going to live here for a month, after all. I need clothes and all sorts of things, right? Well, I’m already regretting that I should have just shipped it if it was going to be this much baggage.”

“Alright, the place to take that is upstairs, right?”

“Yes, if you wouldn’t mind.”