"Dinner is in the fridge. No long baths. Use the leftover bathwater for the laundry. Also, cleaning is limited to one hour a day!"
With those final instructions, I headed out.
Akari’s house was roughly two stations away. In the countryside, walking that distance would take over an hour, but in Tokyo, it was only about thirty minutes. Since the early autumn weather was so pleasant, I decided I might as well walk the whole way.
Fortunately, I had plenty of time to spare.
"Good morning."
"Megu!"
"Gyah!"
The moment I arrived, the owner of the house gave me a rather rough welcome. Akari lunged at me, and the impact actually hurt a little.
"Seriously, Akari, don't startle me like that."
"Oh, come on. Is there anything left about us that could possibly be a surprise?"
"You literally just surprised me."
"Why? I was waiting right here in seiza for twenty minutes before you arrived!"
"Are you a loyal dog or something?"
After graduating high school, we’d both moved to Tokyo and drifted apart for a while, but lately, we’d finally started hanging out again. It felt like Akari’s physical affection had become even more intense than before.
"Sorry. My legs fell asleep."
"Are you an idiot?"
Left with no other choice, I gave Akari a princess carry and hauled her into the living room. Come to think of it, Akari had always been slender in high school, but she seemed to have filled out in all the right places lately.
Feeling a sudden surge of irritation, I tossed her onto the bed. Akari blinked in confusion, her eyes wide as she tried to process being thrown.
"Eh? Wait, what?"
While she sat there flustered, I took a look around the room for the first time in a while.
...Oh, this is bad.
Lately, thanks to the man I was living with, I felt like my own personality was becoming increasingly nitpicky.
"Akari, are you actually cleaning this place?"
I ran my finger along the top of the TV. A thin layer of white dust clung to my skin.
"I mean, I do it pretty regularly..."
"I see."
"...Megu?"
"Akari."
"Y-Yes?!"
"You must never, ever let Yamamoto into this room."
I didn't think Akari was lying about her cleaning habits. It was just that if Yamamoto saw this place, he’d probably give it a failing grade. The 'Yamamoto Eye' was truly as petty and insidious as a nagging mother-in-law. The only thing better about him than a mother-in-law was that he’d never actually complain; he’d just start cleaning everything himself without being asked.
"Okay. If you say so, Megu."
Akari nodded with a serious look in her eyes.
...Wait. Did I just snap a romantic flag between Yamamoto and Akari in a place where Yamamoto wasn't even present?
As a slight sense of guilt washed over me, I realized the girl on the bed was smirking at me.
"What?"
"Megu, since when did you get so possessive?"
"I-It’s not like that!"
I’d created a complete misunderstanding.
Well, the part about me being possessive wasn't exactly a misunderstanding. But this specific instance definitely was.
Of course, no matter how much I protested, Akari didn't believe a word of it. She just kept smirking, giving me half-hearted replies like, "Right, right," and "Yeah, I get it."
When I finally snapped and pinched her cheek to make her stop, she just laughed happily for some reason. Come to think of it, we used to play around like this all the time in high school. Maybe Akari was feeling nostalgic, just like I was.
"...We still have a little more time before the call with the other two," Akari said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Let’s just chat for a bit, Megu."
"Sure."
We smiled at each other, just like the old days, waiting for the time to pass.