Chapter 38: Invited to the Beautiful Junior Manager’s House.

“…Eh? The Shirayuki house?”

Takumi found himself asking for clarification. It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard her.

“Yes! To celebrate your promotion, Mom and I put all our seaweed into making a feast! Come on, let’s go!”

Kana began tugging forcefully on Takumi’s arm. He was nearly dragged out of his own home before he hurriedly resisted.

“Wait, wait a second, Kana.”

“…Are you saying it’s a nuisance?”

“Of course not. I’m incredibly happy. But I have to change. I can’t go over there in my loungewear.”

“I’m sure Mom wouldn’t mind at all.”

“I mind. Also, sorry. I was so surprised I didn’t have the presence of mind to point out the ‘seaweed’ thing.”

Takumi tried to retreat quickly into his room—

“…Why are you following me?”

“What? You caught me… already?!”

“You’re in high spirits today.”

Leaving Kana to her little one-woman show, he tried to duck into his bedroom, but she took up a position behind him with even greater speed.

“Kana?”

“Well, as a penalty for not calling out my joke earlier, I’ve decided that Takumi-senpai must endure the sentence of having a beautiful girl watch him change.”

Takumi paused to think. What was the correct way to handle this?

(Honestly, Kana isn’t the type of girl who’d actually try to watch me change… Let’s go with this.)

“Fine. Understood.”

“…Huh?”

As Takumi swung the door wide open, Kana froze, her mouth hanging open.

“It’s a penalty, right? I accept it.”

Takumi reached for the buttons of his shirt.

“W-Wha?! E-Excuse me!”

Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson, Kana fled like a startled rabbit. Takumi couldn’t hold it back; he clutched his stomach and doubled over in laughter.

Ultimately, from the moment they left his apartment until they arrived at her house, she didn’t stop pummeling him with playful “poka-poka” strikes.

***

“Excuse me for the intrusion.”

“Welcome, Takumi-kun.”

Takumi was greeted by Ran’s gentle smile and a table laden with numerous dishes of colorful ingredients.

“Whoa…!”

He couldn’t help but let out a voice of genuine admiration.

“How is it? We went a bit grand with the spread, didn’t we?”

“Yes… I’m sorry you went to all this trouble for me.”

“Takumi-kun. Not ‘I’m sorry,’ but…?”

“…Thank you very much.”

“Good boy.”

Ran gave a radiant smile. The way the corners of her eyes curved into gentle, narrow arcs when she laughed made her the spitting image of Kana. Or rather, chronologically speaking, one should say that Kana was the spitting image of Ran.

“Quick, Senpai! Over here!”

Kana scurried toward the dining table and pulled out a chair, presumably for Takumi.

“Thanks. But before that, could I borrow the washroom? I touched the elevator buttons and such.”

“Oh, of course.”

“…Senpai, I’m feeling incredibly embarrassed right now.”

“I’m actually, quite seriously sorry about that.”

(I guess she won’t mention the ‘Splash Harassment’ in front of her mom,) Takumi thought with a mental wry smile.

“You’re just too impatient, dear. Takumi-kun, don’t you worry about her.”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

After Takumi finished washing his hands and gargling, the three of them took their seats. Kana and Ran sat side-by-side, while Takumi sat directly across from Kana.

“Well then, to celebrate Senpai’s promotion to the second string—”

“““Itadakimasu!”””

He wanted to dig in immediately, but to avoid being rude, Takumi made a conscious effort to move his chopsticks slowly. The side dishes and soup had already been portioned out, with only the main courses served on large platters.

Takumi started with a small, handmade hamburger steak.

“This hamburger steak is delicious.”

“I’m glad. I made quite a lot, so please, eat your fill.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Though he wasn’t a heavy eater by nature, Takumi was still a male high school athlete. He was hungry.

“Ah, this meat and vegetable stir-fry is great too.”

“Really?!”

Kana had a particularly large reaction.

“Did you make this, Shirayuki-san?”

“I did! Today was the first time in about five years that I actually seasoned something properly!”

“This girl is usually so haphazard with her cooking,” Ran added with a wry smile.

“Yes, I heard about that before.”

“Mom does everything so perfectly, I wonder why I’m such a klutz?”

“If you don’t know, nobody does.”

At Ran’s retort, Kana let out a cackle. “That’s true.”

“Ran-san, do you usually measure things out strictly?”

“I do. Well, it’s not that precise, but still.”

“She even measures the miso properly. Oh, Senpai, try the miso soup. This miso soup is unreal—totally ‘Osako-level’!”

“Really? Then, let’s have a taste.”

Following Kana’s recommendation—which paid homage to the legendary high school soccer meme, “Osako is freaking unreal”—Takumi picked up the bowl of miso soup.

The moment the liquid touched his tongue—

“…!”

He froze, his eyes wide.

—Huh? Takumi-senpai stopped moving.

Since she had recommended it with such confidence, Kana initially thought he had simply frozen because it was so delicious. However, she quickly noticed something was wrong.

“S-Senpai?! Why are you crying?!”

“…Eh?”

Takumi reached up to his eyes, his own gaze widening. He hadn’t even realized that tears were streaming down his face.

“W-Was it really that bad?!”

Ran covered her mouth, looking shocked. Takumi hurriedly shook his head.

“N-No, it’s delicious! It’s just… it tastes exactly like the soup my mother, who passed away when I was little, used to make…”

Takumi pressed his hand to the bridge of his nose. It wasn’t that he had consciously remembered the taste all this time. The moment he drank it, the flavor had suddenly resurrected. Not just a memory, but the emotions of the days when the three of them lived happily together as a family.

They’re celebrating for me. Don’t cry—.

No matter how much he told himself that, the tears wouldn’t stop so easily.

***

Ultimately, Takumi continued to weep for several minutes. He gripped the towel Ran had given him on his lap and bowed his head.

“I’m sorry. You were kind enough to celebrate for me, and I’ve gone and made the atmosphere so gloomy…”

“It’s fine. Besides, we have someone here who’s crying even harder than you are.”

Ran looked to her side with a half-exasperated expression.

There was Kana, sobbing and wailing even more than Takumi. This was, in fact, one of the reasons he hadn’t stayed in his own tears for too long.

“Honestly… why are you the one bawling like that?”

“Because… because…!”

Kana wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, let out a hiccup, and sobbed.

“Shirayuki-san, are you okay?”

“Ugh… S-Sorry… I’m the one who ended up crying…!”

“No, it actually made me feel a bit better. It’s like you cried enough for the both of us. Thank you.”

When Takumi offered his thanks, Kana’s tears intensified. In the end, the celebration only resumed after another ten minutes had passed.

***

By the time she stopped crying, Kana’s face was as red as a boiled octopus, but she regained her usual rhythm as the meal progressed.

“Still, living alone as a high schooler is quite impressive,” Ran said in a thoughtful tone.

“Not at all. I’m just a total parasite on my parents right now.”

“Even so, balancing studies and club activities with cleaning, laundry, and cooking for yourself must be exhausting.”

“Right? I definitely couldn’t do it,” Kana said.

“You should try a little harder yourself.”

“Yeees.”

“Honestly, she’s only good at giving answers…”

Ran sighed at Kana, who had raised her hand like an elementary schooler to reply.

“I’ve heard that some girls around high school age stop talking to their parents altogether, but you two are really close, aren’t you?”

“Fufu, she grew up to be a good girl!”

“Hey, don’t get cocky.”

“Ow.”

Ran gently tapped the head of the thumb-upping Kana. Her face wore an affectionate smile that said, ‘This girl is hopeless.’

“But well, yes. She hasn’t really hit a rebellious phase yet. Though she doesn’t study.”

“I-I do the bare minimum!”

“If you did the bare minimum, you wouldn’t be getting failing grades.”

“Ah, Mom. This is the last hamburger steak. Want it?”

“Prioritize the guest over trying to get on my good side.”

“Good point! Here, Senpai.”

“Thanks, Shirayuki-san.”

Takumi accepted it without hesitation. He had wondered if he should decline, but he felt Ran would be happier if he just ate it. And simply put, it was so good he really did want another one.

***

“If you’re ever in the mood, feel free to come over and eat again. Or rather, you should come over to make up for all the times you’ve treated Kana.”

As she saw Takumi off, Ran smiled mischievously.

“Yes, thank you very much. It was delicious! And, um…”

“Yes?”

Takumi hesitated for a moment.

“…If it’s alright, would you mind teaching me how to make that miso soup sometime?”

After widening her eyes in surprise, Ran gave a gentle smile and nodded.

“Yes, of course. However, my lessons are strict, you know? Be prepared.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

With a final bow and a “Gochisousama-deshita,” Takumi took his leave of the Shirayuki residence. For some reason, Kana followed him out.

“Ah, you can stop here.”

“No, I’m going to go to your house for just a little bit, Senpai.”

“Eh?”

Takumi looked at Ran as if seeking permission. She clasped her hands together in a gesture of apology. “I’m sorry, she insisted she had to go.”

If her parent had given permission, Takumi had no reason to refuse her.