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

Chapter 6: Shizuru Mizutani (Part 6)

Due to being short on cash, days continued in which I could eat almost nothing but rice.

By the way, today’s dinner consisted only of a salted rice ball and shredded cabbage that I had bought for 99 yen per head.

I held onto my feelings strongly while shedding tears.

“Four more days… In four more days, this life of just a salted rice ball and a little side dish will end…”

I tried to get through the remaining days with strong resolve.

That was when it happened.

A message from Mom arrived on my smartphone.

‘I’ve decided to delay this month’s allowance by about 10 days. I’ve been sending you a reasonably generous amount until now, so you should be fine. I told you clearly when you started living alone to save any extra money, so it should be okay, right? But if you really need money, please contact me. However, in that case… you understand, don’t you?’

My vision went completely white.

Upon seeing the businesslike message from Mom overseas, I collapsed to my knees.

She was a parent who fundamentally did not want to leave me alone in Japan.

Of course, she would come up with all sorts of reasons to take me overseas.

“It’s over.”

Shizuru had said she could lend me an additional 1,000 yen or so.

However, even if I relied on that, surviving the extra 10 days would be impossible.

I thought about doing day labor jobs, but as a minor, I could not prepare parental consent forms.

Selling items on a flea market app would also be difficult without an adult ID.

I even considered selling something I owned cheaply to an acquaintance, but I did not want to do that to a friend.

Ah, this time might really be hopeless.

I was tired of this hungry lifestyle, so maybe I should just give in and beg my parents…

It was at that moment when I was about to give up.

As usual today, Shizuru came over to take a shower.

“Yahoo~ I came to borrow it again today! Oh? You seem kind of down?”

Shizuru noticed my somewhat dejected posture and showed concern for me.

I clung to Shizuru.

“I got a message that my allowance will be delayed…”

“Eh, that’s bad.”

“She deliberately delays it by two weeks to check if I’m managing my money properly.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s the allowance, but I receive more than the average amount. So, if I’m living properly, I should have money left over, and it should be fine even if the allowance is delayed by 10 days or so, right? That’s the idea.”

I was anxious about whether I had explained it well, but it seemed the story had gotten through properly.

Shizuru poked my cheek with a wry smile and teased me.

“You’re getting so much allowance, yet you’re acting spoiled and on the verge of starving to death? Isn’t that too much of a failure of a guy?”

She had hit a sore spot, and I had nothing to say.

It was entirely my fault for getting carried away and buying a new game console.

And so, as I was being scolded as a failure of a guy, I apologized to Shizuru.

“Anyway, take care.”

“Huh?”

“After all, begging my parents is the only way left for me to survive. If I say something like I’m going to starve to death because I have no money, she’ll say she can’t let me live alone and take me overseas. So, this is goodbye.”

“What about my showers!?”

Isn’t it awful that her worry about whether she can take showers comes before worrying about me?

I almost thought that, but Shizuru said it jokingly and showed concern for my worry.

“By the way, do you have anyone else besides me you could borrow money from?”

“No. Or rather, now that I think about it, borrowing money from friends doesn’t feel great, so I don’t want to borrow more…”

Actually, Shizuru was the first friend from whom I had properly borrowed money.

That was why I had come to understand something.

Borrowing money from friends brings an immense sense of guilt.

Even so, what should I really do…

“By the way, why don’t you use a flea market app?”

“Well, I’m a minor…”

“Eh? You can list items on Mercari even as a minor, you know?”

“…For real?”

It seemed I had misunderstood how flea market apps worked.

Shizuru looked at me and gave a wry smile.

“Ahaha… Why didn’t I tell you sooner that you could use Mercari, Teruaki?…”

I had thought all along that I could not list items on Mercari because I was a minor.

It turned out that was just my misconception.

“What was the point of all my efforts these past few days…”

A sense of emptiness filled my chest.

I had a fair number of games at home that would likely sell quickly.

I asked Shizuru to teach me how to use Mercari.

※

With guidance from Shizuru, I listed the games I had at home on Mercari.

I received advice that listing them cheaper than the market price would make them sell quickly, and sure enough, the games I listed right away were bid on.

And so, I went to the convenience store to ship the sold games.

Now, all that remained was to wait for the buyer to receive the items and complete the transaction.

I hoped the transaction would complete smoothly soon, and as I returned home from the convenience store, I opened the door to the living room.

“Suu, suu…”

In the living room, Shizuru, whom I had asked to watch the house, was sleeping comfortably on the sofa.

Seeing Shizuru sleeping defenselessly, I spoke to her.

“Shizuru, thanks for watching the house.”

I thought about watching over her for a bit without waking her.

However, I was a healthy high school boy, after all.

Before I could reach the impure thought that any healthy high school boy might have—like peeking under her uniform skirt—I took the initiative.

“…Nnh? …Did I fall asleep?”

“Yeah, you were sleeping soundly.”