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Chapter 34: Cleaning with my Fiancée

TL: lime
ED: Spynine01

After Christmas, New Year’s is next.

There are so many things that keep us busy in Japanese culture.

I heard somewhere that in the U.S., Christmas is celebrated for 12 days from December 25 to January 6, but in Japan, after Christmas, we are already in the New Year’s mood.

I’m amazed at how quickly Japan changes, and almost laugh at the fact that I’m already in the shopping district in front of the station in the morning, buying tools for New Year’s Eve cleaning.

We all put ourselves on the back burner once in a while.

As I thought about this, I pulled the scarf that Shiori gave me for Christmas close to my mouth as a cold wind blew.

I don’t usually wear a muffler, but since it was given to me as a gift, it would be a shame not to wear it even once, so I put it on.

It feels very good.

I wondered to myself why I had never worn a scarf before.

I wish I had encountered this feeling of wearing a scarf sooner. This scarf will be my buddy every winter.

♢

“I’m home.”

I put the plastic bag containing cleaning tools that I held in my right hand on the dining room table.

“Welcome back.”

In the living room, Shiori was cleaning the windows wearing a cute cat triangle hood and an apron.

I don’t know when she bought it, but she said that “action begins with form”.

Shiori stopped cleaning the window for a moment and rushed over to me.

“I bought some baking soda to help you clean.”

Shiori looked at the powdered baking soda and said happily, “This is it.”

“And rags, sponges, deodorant――”

“Yeah. It’s perfect.

Shiori nodded as she looked at the cleaning tools on the dining room table.

“――But.”

“What?”

“I think we don’t need to do that much since Shiori usually keeps the place clean, right?”

That’s right.

I don’t mind cleaning myself, so I’d say I’m a tidy person―― if not a clean person.

But ever since Shiori’s arrival, she vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, and did the laundry almost every day.

She does this on a regular basis, so it’s not as dirty as it looks to the eye.

But after my statement, she said, “Come here.” in an unconvincing voice, and took me to the dark matter production kitchen.

“Look here.”

Shiori points to the stove area.

“Isn’t this――the dregs of dark matter?”

“Yes, the dregs of dark matter――what’s the dark matter?”

Shiori made a flippant comment with a barb.

The suddenness of the situation made it hard to comprehend the current situation, and even though the room was supposed to be warm, it was strangely cold.

“A-Ahem.”

Shiori cleared her throat.

“I’ve been serving decent food lately.”

She was a little embarrassed to say it, probably because her flippant comment had slipped spectacularly.

“T…-That’s right, yeah. It’s getting less and less dark matter-like, isn’t it?”

I’ll never mention what I just said to her ever again. I’m afraid of what might happen later if I did.

Perhaps sensing my mood, Shiori looked relieved and made a slightly smug face at me.

“It’ll only become dark matter whenever I get serious.”

“Why! Why is it that when you get serious, it becomes dark matter all of sudden!――I mean, why can you come out with a proper dish only when you are NOT serious?”

“Lazy.”

“Lazy――I don’t care! It’s okay to be lazy because you make it for me every day. If it makes things a little easier for Shiori, then so be it.”

I said to her, shaking my head up and down like in a rock band.

“Today’s Kojiro is kind.”

“You mean ‘always’, right?”

“Un. Gross, as usual.”

“That’s terrible of you!”

Shiori took out some baking soda and used it on the stains on the stove, saying, “You can use this to get rid of those gross and terrible stains like Kojiro…”.

I wanted to say a few words to her, but seeing how hard she was working to remove the stains, I stopped myself.

“Now, this, that, and that, and――Pon¹ Sfx for something appearing magically.”

The stove became clean despite the words she said.

“Oh! It’s clean!”

As brand as new! ――Okay, it’s not as good as new, but the obvious stains you could see are gone.

“Do you think washing Kojiro with baking soda will purify him?”

“I’m not a bad soul!

♢

“――Phewー… Wouldn’t it be perfect if we went this far everyday?”

The living room――shining, shining―― was sparkly, like it had a light effect bestowed upon it.

As I wiped the sweat from my forehead, Shiori brushed her fingers across the shelf and then looked at her own fingers.

“Not enough.”