In a World of Reversed Chastity, I’m Surrounded by a Clingy Older Woman, a Walking Red Flag, and an Exhausted Office Lady - 8

Chapter 8: The Languid Older Woman Falling Deeper and Deeper

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Today was Saturday, a day off. After Shiki-san invited me out to dinner yesterday, I went home and, just in case, checked to make sure nothing had been stolen. It seemed my eyes hadn’t been clouded after all. Shinonome-san hadn’t taken anything from my place. She had even eaten the leftovers from last night’s dinner and washed the dishes. The only thing missing was the note I had left behind, but it would’ve been thrown away anyway, so she probably disposed of it for me to save me the trouble.

She really is a kind person.

Thinking that, I finished breakfast and looked at the time. It was a little past ten. I figured it was about time, so I left my apartment and pressed the intercom of the room next door. The reason I was visiting Shinonome-san was, of course, to get my spare key back.

After waiting a few seconds, I heard her voice.

“Yeees. Who is it?”

Maybe she had just woken up, since her voice through the intercom sounded slightly sleepy.

“Um, it’s me. Shirasu from next door.”

“…Shirasu-kun!? J-Just wait a little bit.”

I waited for several minutes. Then, with a click, the door opened and Shinonome-san came out.

“Good morning, Shinonome-san.”

“G-Good morning, Shirasu-kun.”

She must have just woken up. Her eyes were still a bit drowsy, but as always, she was beautiful.

“S-So, what’s up? Why are you here so early in the morning?”

“I came to get my spare key back. Sorry for coming by so early.”

When I said that, Shinonome-san shook her head in a fluster.

“N-No. Don’t apologize, Shirasu-kun. It’s my fault too for not returning the key last night. Just wait a second.”

With that, she hurried back into her room.

I could hear restless thumping noises from inside. Along with concern over whether she was okay, a suspicion slowly grew inside me. Could it be that… Shinonome-san’s room was messy? Just to get a single key, she was making that much noise inside. I couldn’t help but feel like it must be somewhat cluttered.

As I was thinking that, the door opened again.

“S-Sorry to keep you waiting. Here. And thank you for the other day.”

Slightly out of breath, Shinonome-san handed back the key.

“You’re welcome. …Um…”

“W-What is it, Shirasu-kun?”

After hesitating over whether I should ask or not, I decided it might be a little rude, but I asked anyway.

“Shinonome-san, is your room maybe… so busy from work that you haven’t been able to clean it much?”

“-!! W-Why would you think that?”

She turned her face away, her eyes darting about, refusing to meet mine.

“I heard a lot of thumping noises inside just from you going to get the key.”

“Ah—um… maybe just a little. Maybe it’s a little messy?”

She pressed her fingers together and said that cutely, but in other words, her room was indeed messy.

“…It might be meddling, but may I clean it for you?”

“Eh!? Y-You’re going to clean my room, Shirasu-kun?”

“Yes. Is that not okay?”

I stared into her eyes. As if resigning herself, she finally met my gaze.

“Y-You might be disappointed.”

“I won’t.”

“Y-You might start to hate me and not even want to see my face.”

“It’s impossible that I’d ever not want to see my beautiful neighbor’s face.”

“-!! Don’t say things like that! Honestly, Shirasu-kun, you really—!!”

I told her my opinion honestly and somehow got scolded for it, but in the end, which was it? When I kept staring at her, she finally nodded as if giving up.

“…Onee-san loses. Okay. Please clean my room, Shirasu-kun.”

“Yes!! Leave it to me.”

Since she agreed, I immediately stepped into her room. I wondered how bad it would be, but it was cleaner than I had imagined. What I had pictured was a nightmare room with garbage and rotting trash scattered everywhere, but that wasn’t the case. There were a few garbage bags that hadn’t been taken out, but that was about it. Rather than trash, there were clothes, various items, and what looked like sheets of musical score paper scattered around.

Oh, this was nothing. It wouldn’t take long, and I was used to this because of my little sister Hina. If anything, Hina’s room was messier, so this was easy.

“H-Hey, it’s messy, right? S-Sorry, Shirasu-kun.”

“No, this won’t even take an hour. Ah, I don’t really understand these sheet music and papers, so could you separate out the ones you need?”

“Eh? O-Okay.”

“Alright, let’s start cleaning.”

And so we began tidying up. At one point, we came across Shinonome-san’s underwear lying out, which created an extremely awkward atmosphere, but overall, things went smoothly. Shinonome-san finished sorting and joined in midway, so in about an hour, the room was completely cleaned.

“A-Amazing. It’s like the first day I moved in. Thank you, Shirasu-kun.”

“Not at all. I did it because I wanted to.”

She lowered her head apologetically as she said that, but there was still something I wanted to say.

“Shinonome-san.”

“…W-What is it?”

Just like before, I stared into her eyes. She seemed to realize that and looked nervous about what I might say.

“Please eat more healthy food. It’s all supermarket boxed meals, isn’t it? You’re not getting any vegetables.”

What I pointed to was the garbage bags filled mostly with plastic containers. The day before yesterday…

『I’ve only been eating boxed meals loaded with additives.』

She had said that, but I hadn’t thought she was really living on nothing but those.

“…It just became a hassle. And work’s been busy, you know?”

She tried to make excuses, but I wasn’t letting it slide.

“…Shinonome-san.”

“W-What is it?”

“Do you have any plans to go out for lunch?”

“N-No?”

When I heard that, I smiled.

“Then let’s go.”

“G-Go? Go where?”

“Hm…? To my room, of course. You don’t have cooking tools in your place. Come on, let’s go.”

Before she could pile on excuses, I took her hand and led her to my apartment. Her cheeks turned bright red.

“M-My h-hand. My hand? Sh-Shirasu-kun’s hand is s-so—”

She was so flustered she couldn’t speak properly. I sat her down and quickly started cooking. It didn’t even take several tens of minutes before I finished and set the dishes on the table.

“Alright, let’s eat.”

“Eh? I-Is that okay?”

“Of course. I made it for you, Shinonome-san. Well then, let’s eat.”

“L-Let’s eat.”

She still looked slightly confused, but when she picked up her chopsticks and brought the food to her mouth, her face softened.

“I-It’s delicious. Just like I thought, your cooking is delicious, Shirasu-kun.”

“Is that so? I’m glad.”

Watching her eat so happily, I continued eating too. We both ate quietly, chewing away. When she finished and set her chopsticks down, she looked at me with flushed cheeks.

“Th-Thank you for the meal. It was delicious.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Seeing her bowl completely empty, I couldn’t help but smile.

“U-Um, you know. Thank you for cleaning my room today and for the food. Thank you for everything.”

“No, no. If you’re feeling better, Shinonome-san, that’s enough.”

When I replied that way, her cheeks flushed even more. But gradually, her expression grew anxious, and she asked me.

“Shirasu-kun. Um…”

“Yes?”

“W-Why are you doing all this for me? We only met once before that day, and I’m not worth this much. A-And I don’t even have money now because I quit my job. S-So…”

Her voice grew quieter and quieter, and by the end, it sounded tearful. I couldn’t quite catch the last part, but was she misunderstanding something badly? Did she think I was helping her for money? Like some kind of scam?

I set down my chopsticks and looked into her uneasy eyes.

“Shino-… Yua-san.”

“…Eh? M-My first name?”

“The reason I’m being kind to you like this, Yua-san, is because there’s a reason.”

When I said that, she swallowed nervously and looked at me anxiously. Why had I cleaned and cooked for someone I had only met the day before yesterday? Part of it was because I had finally gotten close to my neighbor. But the biggest reason was that when I met her that day, she had given off an air like she might disappear somewhere.

I didn’t feel that from her now, and maybe I had just misunderstood and she hadn’t been thinking of harming herself, but I didn’t want that to be true. I wanted to get close to Shinonome-san. So if her room was messy, I thought cleaning it might lift her gloomy mood even a little. That’ was why I cleaned it and cooked for her.

But I couldn’t exactly say, “Because you looked like you might hurt yourself.” So instead, I said to her.

“Because I wanted to get closer to a beautiful and lovely person like you, Yua-san.”

I answered with a serious expression. Her face turned incomparably redder than before.

“B-Beauti—b-beautiful? M-Me?”

“Hm…? Yes.”

“D-Don’t I look slutty? Like I might have some disease?”

She suddenly said that, and I was shocked.

Slutty? A disease?

…I could only assume something had happened in her past. Who on earth had said something so horrible? Even though Yua-san was this beautiful and adorable…

“That’s not true at all. I sincerely think you’re a beautiful person. Not just on the outside, but inside too.”

I smiled so she wouldn’t make that sad face. Then Yua-san lowered her head, clutched her chest, and her body jerked.

“A-Are you okay?”

Thinking she might be crying, I stood up and approached her to gently rub her back. She began trembling even more, eventually almost convulsing.

“Y-Yua-san. A-Are you okay? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

When I asked that, Yua-san lifted her face. It was a mess of emotions, ruining her beautiful features.

“Sh-Shirasu-kun. D-Don’t. Don’t touch me.”

“Eh? O-Okay. I understand.”

“Just… just give me a little time.”

She stood up, her legs shaking violently as she forced them to move. She left my apartment and went back to her own room. Did I say something wrong?

When she came back, I should apologize.

That was what I thought. But she never returned to my apartment that day.

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T/N: You know what, this misunderstanding is actually logical. Even I wouldn’t think she was trembling because she was ‘coming’…. In fact, no normal person would jump to that conclusion!!