When I Started a Food Delivery Part-Time Job, I Ended up Being Invited to the Home of a Gloomy, Clumsy Beautiful Girl - Chapter 9: Ayame

Chapter 9: Ayame

About an hour after Yuki returned home.

It was already past ten at night.

The intercom buzzed, and after letting the person through at the entrance, someone who had just stepped out of the elevator approached with hurried, clomping footsteps.

“—Hiyori! Are you okay!?”

The moment the door opened, the one who shouted that with a worried face was—

“I’m fine, Ayame.”

“So… what about that Aizawa guy?”

“He just left.”

“I-I see…”

“Come in.”

“…All right.”

The one who finally let out a sigh of relief and showed a look of ease was Shido Ayame.

She was the only friend Hiyori truly trusted with her heart.

Golden twintails that reached down to her waist. A refined face that somehow looked foreign. She possessed both energy and vibrancy, and her presence was truly fitting for someone by Hiyori’s side.

“Wha… what!?”

The moment Ayame stepped into the living room, she widened her eyes.

What spread out before her was a scene where the room, which should have been overflowing with stuff as always, had been cleaned up to a surprisingly spotless state.

“Aizawa… cleaned it up for me.”

“Hey! What did you do about your underwear!?”

“Only on the first day… he saw it.”

“What the hell are you doing, seriously!?”

Ayame let out a sigh with a dumbfounded face while lightly tapping Hiyori’s head.

(The Hiyori who absolutely never let a guy into her home… why? Can that Aizawa guy really be trusted…?)

It was precisely because Ayame had been by Hiyori’s side since middle school that strong caution had welled up in her.

Thanks to her looks, Hiyori seemed to have a wide circle of friends, but the only one she had ever hung out with privately was Ayame. That was why she understood Hiyori’s circumstances and heart so well.

“Ayame, had you just finished work?”

“Yeah. There was prep for tomorrow, you know. —Anyway, I’m going to take a bath first.”

“…Okay.”

—Plop. A droplet of condensation from the ceiling fell into the bathtub.

In the spacious, luxurious bathroom’s tub, the two of them soaked side by side.

“Hey, you really weren’t attacked or anything, right? Bringing a guy straight into your home like that isn’t sane, you know. Depending on the details, I… might have to seriously scold you, Hiyori.”

“…I’m okay. Aizawa is really kind. Today… Mom got mad at me for being fat… it hurt, so I called him.”

“To Kokonochi-san…? Well, I could tell you were down, but explain from the start how it even turned into calling him to your home.”

Hiyori began to talk bit by bit about her encounter with Yuki.

How he had come by chance for a UberMeats delivery. How he had seen the disastrous state of the room. How she had placed a designated request with him to keep the secret—

“…I see. So that’s how it went down. But still, you can’t let him into your home.”

“But… if I let him get away like that, he might spill everything.”

“Sure, if someone saw you pigging out during lunch break, your image might crumble. But your usual appearance looks slim, so I think a lot of people wouldn’t mind.”

“Mom said… what if it gets spread on SNS…”

“That’s true. You’re selling an image as a cool, sophisticated model. If word got out that you eat like a pig… yeah, it might clash for sure.”

She just could not stop when it came to eating.

Everything else, she kept in strict check as a model, for her mother’s sake.

And the one who had supported her heart from behind the scenes was none other than Ayame.

“It’s always such a hassle carrying a ton of food for lunch, you know.”

“…I wonder if Aizawa could help out too.”

“Hey! You’re relying on him too much! You can’t trust him yet. Until I check him out, absolutely keep your personal space guarded.”

“How much?”

“Five meters!”

“Today, I hugged Aizawa.”

“Wh-what did you say!?”

Ayame clutched her head and slumped forward against the edge of the tub.

She had just driven the point home, and already they were at zero distance.

“You know, guys are beasts! You could get attacked at any moment!”

“Aizawa… when he saw my panties, he might have been a little excited.”

“See! I knew it!!”

“Panties panties panties panties… heh heh heh heh…”

Ayame imagined some guy she did not know clutching Hiyori’s panties and grinning sleazily.

“It’s dangerous! Looks like I have to check out that Aizawa guy myself after all!”

Ayame stood up vigorously and struck a triumphant pose with a sharp snap.

To protect the utterly oblivious Hiyori from the clutches of wild beasts—

After getting out of the bath, Ayame carefully dried Hiyori’s hair with the blow dryer, and then they went to bed together.

They pushed the scattered clothes on the bedroom floor to one side and lay down side by side on the queen-size bed.

“Today… you’re not going to touch? You always used to touch my boobs.”

“T-Today we were having a serious talk… so I wasn’t in the mood for that.”

“If you want to touch, it’s okay.”

“Mmph…”

Hiyori pressed her chest against Ayame’s face, enveloping it.

“Ahh~ this is so soothing… You’re slim but tall, Hiyori, so getting hugged like this makes me feel safe.”

“I feel the same… Ayame is warm and comfortable.”

That night, Hiyori was able to forget her loneliness by nestling close to Ayame.

But—for some reason. Deep in her heart, she wished it was Yuki by her side instead of Ayame.

For some reason, in front of him, she could bare her true self honestly and feel at peace.

“Suu… suu…”

After a while, as she felt the warmth of Ayame’s sleeping breaths starting beside her, Hiyori murmured softly.

“…I wonder if being hugged by Aizawa… would make me feel as safe as with Ayame.”