After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 39: The Reason I Ended Up Broke

Chapter 39: The Reason I Ended Up Broke

I was helping Sakuya unpack her things.

As I watched her neatly put cosmetics and other items into a basket where they’d be easy to reach, a question suddenly popped into my head, and I blurted it out.

“Sakuya, when did you start wearing makeup?”

Somehow, without me really noticing, Sakuya had started putting on makeup more often. At school it was light, but on weekends she went all out—you could definitely tell.

“I started dabbling a little in sixth grade. I wasn’t really interested at first, but Aunt kept saying, ‘You must be getting curious about makeup soon, right?’ and taught me all sorts of things.”

“I see.”

“Since Dad’s a man, there were things he just couldn’t handle, and Aunt taught me so much. I’m truly grateful to her…”

“Man, you and Mom really are close, huh.”

That was the moment I said it.

Sakuya suddenly remembered something and looked at me.

“By the way, Aunt was mad that you still haven’t called. She said you promised at least twice a week, so keep it.”

“…Well, you know, there’s the time difference and stuff. I feel bad bothering her…”

“No excuses.”

“Yes, ma’am… I think right now should be fine. Mind if I call her?”

“Go ahead.”

I took out my phone to call Mom.

As soon as the call connected—

“Teru-kun? I told you at least twice a week without fail, didn’t I?”

Mom scolded me in a voice that carried a hint of anger. Feeling guilty, I apologized straight away instead of making excuses.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on…”

“You always try to skip the moment I don’t call first. Anyway, how are things over there?”

“Nothing unusual. Oh, but starting today Sakuya’s staying with me. Uncle must have told you, right?”

“Yes, I heard. Well, that’s how it is. Get along with Sakuya, okay?”

“Yeah, the awkwardness is gone now, so we’re fine.”

When I said that, Mom must have sensed a lot already.

She spoke to me in a voice that sounded somehow relieved.

“You two were keeping such a typical teenage distance for a while…”

“So you noticed?”

“Of course—I’m your mother. I was honestly worried you might have a big fight and stop talking altogether…”

“I see.”

“Oh, right, right. While you’re living together, let Sakuya manage your bankbook.”

“W-why?”

“It’s punishment for the boy who almost starved despite all the money I send him.”

As I thought, Mom was still angry that I’d run out of money.

“But seriously, you think a proper young lady like Sakuya can handle money?”

“She can. Her father, Satoru, is rich, but he believes it’s bad for her to lack common sense, so he’s raised her properly.”

“Right.”

Sakuya always figures out the other person’s sense of money and adjusts perfectly to match them.

“Anyway, that’s how it is. Hand the bankbook over to her.”

“Ugh… okay.”

“I could always make sending receipts mandatory anytime, you know. If you don’t want that, reflect properly.”

Yeah, Mom’s kind deep down.

That’s exactly why I end up doing bad things, thinking she’ll forgive me anyway.

I really need to fix this habit soon.

After that, I talked with Mom about all sorts of things for a while longer.

※

I finished the call with Mom.

The moment I hung up, Sakuya held out her hand in front of me.

“What’s with the hand?”

“Playing dumb won’t work. Hand it over.”

“…Do I really have to?”

“Yes.”

“…Fine.”

“You totally weren’t going to give it unless I said something, were you?”

Reluctantly, I opened the dial safe where I keep valuables and—since Mom had also told me to update it at least once a month—took out the paper bankbook and gave it to Sakuya.

“I never thought Mom would seriously say, ‘Maybe I’ll let Sakuya-chan manage it…’”

Even though I get a decent allowance, I still ended up broke.

Of course Mom’s trust in me had vanished.

Since Sakuya and I had been spending a lot of time together lately, Mom decided Sakuya should handle my bankbook.

Sakuya, a proper young lady yet perfectly in touch with ordinary values, flipped through the book I handed her and made a face like she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“You get this much allowance and still almost starved?”

“T-that’s because…”

“You get plenty, so put some into savings. You withdrew everything again this month. What on earth are you spending it on?”

“W-well, this month my favorite VTuber had her anniversary goods come out…”

“Fine, goods are one thing. But you’re not going to tell me you sent superchats too, right?”

I had sent a small amount during the anniversary stream because I wanted to feel part of the celebration.

Sakuya saw the guilty look on my face and hit me with a sigh and pure logic.

“Sigh… Don’t you think that kind of thing should be done with money you earned yourself?”

“No, no, it was only a thousand yen! It was just for the anniversary stream, I wanted to send a little celebration too, and I’ve never done it any other time.”

“Hmm, barely acceptable, I guess.”

“Are you my mom or what…”

“You think you can talk to me like that?”

Who do you think holds the purse strings now?

Sakuya gave a wicked little smile.

“Yes, ma’am, sorry…”

“By the way, what kind of streamer do you like?”

“Uh, that’s…”

“I’m the one managing your bankbook. If you withdraw money without permission, I’ll tell Aunt immediately.”

Resisting had clearly been a mistake.

I didn’t want to show her, but I took out my phone and reluctantly showed Sakuya my favorite VTuber’s channel.

“I thought since you mentioned anniversary streams and goods it would be someone bigger, but she only has thirty thousand subscribers.”

“It ends up costing more per item, but there are places that’ll make acrylic stands, T-shirts, mugs, whatever, individually once you send the art. And thirty thousand isn’t actually small—unless they’re backed by a company, that’s pretty top-tier.”

I was desperately explaining when Sakuya started playing an archive of my oshi’s stream.

“…Hmm. So you like sporty-looking girls, huh.”

Stop.

Having it analyzed so calmly is seriously embarrassing—please stop.

Tears in my eyes, I snatched my phone back from Sakuya.