Chapter 19: When you save and say you’re going, you won’t be here for a while.

“Onii-chan, give me the rest of the comic.”

“Here you go.”

　I handed the rest of the manga to Kusunoki, who was lying on the sofa and reaching for it.

“Thank you.”

　I don’t mind, but you’re being too lazy, you know.

　Since the day I met Kusunoki, I’ve been coming to her house every day. In the end, I went along with Kusunoki’s suggestion.

“Well, Onii-chan, why don’t you lend them to me? In exchange, you can stay here anytime you want.””

“…… Another strange proposal.”

　What were you thinking?

“As I said before, I’ve been doing nothing but learning and haven’t done much reading manga or playing games. Now that I’m free, I’d like to try my hand at it, but I don’t have much money.”

“Is that why you want to borrow from me?”

Yes. I can’t afford entertainment. Onii-chan will have a place to spend his time, win-win, right?”

“Apart from that, my room is good enough for me… I mean, let’s question the idea of a man coming into your house.”

　Don’t you feel threatened?

“You can f**k me if you want. I’m interested in that too, that’s why I was trying to get laid.”

“That’s right…”

　I’m not going to mess with the problem. I might get caught. I think it’s dangerous to enter the house of a girl who lives alone.

“That’s sweet of you. I thought you didn’t trust people.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. We just met today. But if you’re going to get into comic books and video games, you’re going to want someone to talk to, someone to play with right?”

“Well, absolutely.”

　You can have fun by yourself, but you will have a different kind of fun if you have a partner. This is especially true for games. These days, there is no shortage of people to play with because of online games, but playing in the same space is also a different kind of fun. I’ve been playing alone for a while now.

“But no matter how much I want someone to play with, I don’t have the option of making up with my ex-friends. A-n-d…”

　Kusunoki deliberately broke off her words for a moment.

“Don’t you think it would be nice for betrayed people to spend some time nursing each other’s wounds?”

　She said this with a flimsy smile.

Today, I brought some manga from home, and Kusunoki was immediately absorbed in reading them. I brought a manga with a certain number of volumes, but I think I may have made a mistake. At this rate, I’ll probably read the whole thing in one sitting.

(I don’t know how I feel about that, but…)

　I can’t say this strongly, because when I read a new manga or novel, I read it all in one sitting. There were a few times when I went to school without enough sleep.

　As I thought about this, I looked at the clock and saw that it was time to get ready for dinner. I put a bookmark in the novel I was reading and put it on the desk. Now, what should I make?

“Dinner’s ready.”

“I’ll eat it after I finished this.”

“I used to say something similar to that.”

　When I was a kid, I used to annoy my parents by saying “I’ll go after I save” if I was playing a game, or “I’ll go after I finish reading” if I was reading a comic book.

(This is still going to take time.)

　I know from experience that people in that state never come quickly. So I guess I’ll just eat first. My dinner will get cold, but I deserve it. I started eating without waiting for Kusunoki.

“The food is cold…”

“It’s self-service to heat it up.”

　Kusunoki came in a while after I had finished eating, took a bite and muttered to herself. I’m busy reading my novel.

“Okay.”

　Kusunoki said and threw the cold dinner into the microwave. Kusunoki knew that she was in the wrong, but she was honest. She didn’t complain that I could have waited for her.

“It’s my fault, of course I’m not going to complain. I’m sorry I let it get cold when you made it for me.”

“I don’t care. You can eat it whenever you want.”

　There’s nothing to think about when the food I cooked gets cold. If I had to do all the washing up, I would have thought to eat it quickly, but if she did the cleaning up, I wouldn’t complain.

　Some people think it’s important to eat together, but I’m in the camp that says each person should eat when they want. Why do some people in the world feel the need to do everything together? Isn’t it fine?

　As I sat on the sofa reading a novel for a while, Kusunoki, who had finished washing the dishes, came over, laid down on the sofa, and started reading a manga with my lap as a pillow.

“Oi.”

“Hmm?”

“…… Haa”

　I wanted to say something like, “You’re in my way,” or “Don’t lie down right after eating,” but I only let out a sigh.

　(It’s her house, so I’ll let her do what she wants…)

　I looked down at the novel in my hand.

“Is it that late already?”

　I looked at the clock and saw that it was around 10pm.

“What do you say, Onii-chan, are you staying over?”

“No, I’m going home.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, good night.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Good night.”

　We parted easily, assuming that we would meet again tomorrow as a matter of course.

　It’s only been a few days since we met, but I feel much more relaxed. We don’t have to worry about anything else, we don’t have to adjust to each other, we can just be together.

　This is just the right amount of comfort for those of us who have been betrayed.

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