My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 34

To have a slightly late lunch, Yukina and I returned to my room.

I made instant ramen for both of us to keep things simple, and we quickly finished eating.

Around 3 PM, we returned to Yukina’s room and resumed cleaning.

However, the living room was already so clean that it was almost unrecognizable. Since it wasn’t a complete room makeover, just sorting through what to keep or discard, it didn’t take too long.

“At least from now on, try to keep clothes with clothes, magazines with magazines, and trash with trash. That way, it’ll be easier to clean up next time.”

“Does that mean you’ll help me again?”

“No, I’m saying this because I can imagine how hard it is for your mom.”

“Why are you worrying about my mom? Worry about me instead.”

…What is this girl saying about her kind mother who helps clean her room? If she were like my mom, who barely does anything, it would be one thing, but she’s cleaning up that messy room! Show some respect!

“…Well, whatever. So, the living room is clean now, but what about the bathroom? Is it dirty?”

“The bathroom is fine.”

“Then that leaves just your room, Yukina, but—”

Of course, I can’t go in there.

Yukina has already been in my room, but it’s different for me to go into hers. I’d get nervous.

“M-My room is fine. I keep it clean!”

“Is that so? Then, I guess we’re done here.”

It took longer than expected, but Sunday isn’t over yet. I can go home and relax a bit.

“Alright, I’m heading ho—”

Just as I was about to leave the living room, Yukina screamed and clung to my back.

“Kyahhhh!”

“H-Hey, what are you doing all of a sudden?”

Caught off guard, my heart started racing.

Y-Yukina, who never lets anyone touch her easily, is clinging to me herself…

“I-It’s here!”

“W-What is!?”

“The enemy!”

I looked in the direction Yukina was pointing and saw a shiny black object scuttling around on the clean living room floor.

Ugh, gross!

It must have been hiding somewhere, and now that the room is clean, it came out. It’s a cockroach, and I couldn’t help but feel repulsed.

“H-Hurry up and do something!”

Yukina trembled behind me.

In situations like this, a cool protagonist would protect the weak heroine, but I’m not that brave.

“L-Leave it to me!”

I answered confidently, but I had no idea how to deal with it.

The best option would be to chase it to the entrance and get it outside… but that’s hard. It would definitely hide somewhere before reaching the entrance!

There was only one thing I could do.

I pulled out the cockroach spray I had bought just in case something like this happened. I aimed it at the cockroach and sprayed it vigorously.

“W-Wait! Are you really going to kill it here?”

“Be quiet! Be grateful I’m not squashing it!”

I must not have been thinking straight. I kept spraying frantically, and the cockroach weakly twitched on the floor.

“S-So… what are you going to do with that?”

Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far.

What do I do now…?

“You handle it, Yusuke. I don’t want to touch it.”

“I get it…”

I carefully used a trash bag to pick up the cockroach and left Yukina’s room. Then, I went outside and threw it into some bushes near the apartment.

“Clean up the floor.”

When I got back, Yukina ordered me to clean the floor that had been sprayed.

“I know… I’m the one who did it, after all.”

I went back to my room, got a towel I hadn’t used, wet it, and returned to wipe the floor. Thanks to the spray, the area I cleaned was oddly shiny.

It was past 7 PM by the time everything was finally done.

“Finally finished…”

“Good job. Thanks for all the hard work.”

The weak Yukina who had been so scared of the cockroach was gone. Now that her room was clean and the cockroach was gone, she was in a great mood.

“I’m heading home now. I need to relax.”

Just as I was about to leave, I heard a loud growling sound.

I turned around to see Yukina with an awkward smile on her face.

“…Sigh. I was thinking of ordering pizza… want to eat with me?”

As soon as I said that, Yukina’s face lit up, and she enthusiastically nodded while saying, “I’ll eat!”

“Alright, I’ll order it right away—”

“Wait a minute.”

Yukina and I are now in my room.

We could have eaten in Yukina’s room, but since it was just cleaned, I didn’t want to mess it up again so soon, so I invited her to mine.

“We’re getting cola for drinks!”

“I know.”

I gave them my address and order over the phone, and we waited for the pizza to arrive.

While waiting, Yukina and I sat in silence, each playing with our phones.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Earlier, you clung to me, but was that really okay?”

I brought up the fact that Yukina had clung to my back earlier, just as a topic of conversation.

But Yukina seemed troubled by it, quickly looking up and trembling.

“I-It’s fine!”

“But, you said only one person could touch you, right? And, the other day, Miyuki-san patted your head. How do you explain that?”

“M-Miyuki-senpai is also fine. And family or people of the same gender are okay.”

That means the range of exceptions is pretty wide…

And if I’m included, does that mean Yukina thinks I’m a girl?

If that’s the case, a lot of things start to make sense. Well, I don’t like the idea of being seen as a girl, but if she treats me like one, then it’s understandable why she’s okay with touching me or letting me into her room.

“…I’m a guy, you know?”

“I know that!”

Good… she still sees me as a guy. But Yukina’s behavior is still pretty questionable.

“Then you shouldn’t be touching me.”

“Y-Yusuke is an exception! You’re in a special category!”

A special category…?

What does she mean by that?

Does being a childhood friend give me a special status?

“What do you mean by ‘special category’…?”

“You really should have realized it by now… You’re so dense.”

Yukina looked sad as she lowered her gaze.

Even though she said that, I still didn’t understand… Dense about what?

“The one person I’m talking about is—”

Yukina seemed to have made up her mind, looking determined as she began to speak.

But at that moment, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, the pizza’s here. I’ll get it.”

“Y-You better hurry up and go!”

Yukina snapped, almost in anger.

After that, we ate the pizza, and Yukina kept alternating between looking happy and then suddenly pouting… repeating this strange behavior over and over.