[Warning 15+]
Part One~She Only Acts Like Her Old Self When She's with Me... Wait, Hold Up!~Chapter 24Why?
Everything finally clicked into place for Hayato.
The disguise, the convenience store bentos, the frozen food, the dark house, this living room, and the fact that Haruki was an only child...
Come to think of it, everything in Haruki's room—the games, the manga, the dioramas—was basically stuff meant for killing time by herself.
"U-Um, Hayato, look, this is... ...it's just, you know. It's like... ...um, I mean... ...it's just..."
Realizing she'd been caught with her guard down, Haruki's eyes darted around, and she started waving her hands frantically, stuttering over her words to try and play it off.
Thinking back, Hayato had never run into anyone else but Haruki in this house. He hadn't even felt the presence of another soul. There was no doubt about it—Haruki had been all alone in this house for years.
And yet, even now, Haruki forced a smile, trying to act like everything was cool and that she was totally fine.
For Hayato, that whole thing was just...
Completely,
Utterly,
Unacceptable.
Hayato was incredibly pissed off at himself for not noticing it sooner.
"…We're going, Haruki."
"Wait, hang on, Hayato! Going where?! Wait a sec…"
Hayato shut off the stove where the water was boiling and grabbed Haruki's arm by force.
To Haruki, Hayato looked like he was absolutely fuming. She tried to speak up, but her voice just kept getting smaller and smaller until it trailed off completely.
"Big Bro, Haru-chan, what's wrong?"
Haruki's initial shout must've been way too loud, because Himeko came down to see what the heck was going on.
What Himeko saw was Hayato pulling Haruki along by the arm. Her big bro was basically dragging their beautiful childhood friend off somewhere by force.
Himeko was about to say something, but she stopped dead when she saw Hayato's face.
Hayato's expression was incredibly intense, with a look of pure determination that made it clear he wasn't going to listen to a word anyone said. But Himeko knew that when her big bro looked like that, it meant Hayato was doing something for someone else's sake, and that he was someone you could truly count on.
"Himeko, we're hitting the supermarket, then heading back home."
"Got it. I'll go pack our stuff."
"W-Wait, Hime-chan too?!"
Without a clue as to what was happening, Haruki let herself be led away by the childhood friend siblings, who clearly weren't taking "no" for an answer.
Haruki had no idea why things had turned out like this.
Still, Haruki could tell they were doing this because they cared about her, and strangely enough, it didn't feel bad at all.
"Um, could I at least change my clothes first...?"
"Let's just go in our uniforms, okay?"
"Oh... ...okay."
By the way, Haruki's request to change into her casual clothes was shut down instantly by Himeko, who was wearing a terrifyingly huge smile.
◇◇◇
A ten-story family-style apartment building located a short distance from Haruki's house.
In the kitchen of Haruki's childhood friend's place on the sixth floor, the groceries they'd just picked up at the supermarket were all lined up.
"Um... ...uh..."
Haruki, having been dragged there by force by Hayato and Himeko, still couldn't wrap her head around what was going on.
"I'm gonna start mincing the veggies, so Himeko, you grate the garlic and ginger."
"Roger that! Haru-chan, can you get the bowls and seasoning out?"
"Eh, sure... ...wait, where do you guys keep 'em?"
Haruki got the gist of what they were doing. She knew it was for dinner.
But why it'd turned into this and what exactly they were making still hadn't really clicked for Haruki.
Haruki just did whatever Hayato and Himeko told her to do and helped out with the prep.
(Man, Hayato really knows his way around a kitchen...)
It was Haruki's first time seeing Hayato cook, but even to an amateur like her, his movements were super efficient. It was obvious he was a pro at this. Haruki found that a little strange.
Despite what was going through Haruki's head, the cooking kept moving along.
They took ground pork and mixed in chopped chives, cabbage, napa cabbage, green onions, and shiitake mushrooms, then seasoned it all with grated garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and soy sauce. They kneaded it all together to make the filling.
And once the round flour wrappers were brought out, Haruki finally figured out what was on the menu.
"Gyoza? Isn't this like, way too much, though?"
"It's kind of a pain to make, so I figured we'd make as much as we can while we've got the extra hands, then freeze the rest."
"Aha, so you're making your guest work for it?"
"Only 'cause it's you, Haruki."
"Because it's me... ...heh, I see."
The three of them put their heads down and got to work wrapping the gyoza filling.
Haruki struggled a bit at first, but like the star student she is, she nailed the technique and started cranking out perfect potstickers, leaving Hayato totally impressed.
Meanwhile, Himeko was the only one mass-producing these distorted-looking gyoza "art pieces."
"Hime-chan... ...yikes..."
"Sh-Shut up! I'm good because Big Bro cooks for me, though!"
"I mean, I don't think it'd hurt for you to know how to make 'em..."
Even so, Himeko didn't stop her gyoza-making spree. All three of them had smiles on their faces, and you could tell they were having a blast making this meal together.
Then, they laid the finished gyoza on a hot, oiled frying pan and steam-fried them with a flour-water mix until they had those beautiful, crispy "wings."
Once they set the table with rice, miso soup, and the overnight-pickled eggplant they'd gotten from Mitake Minamo the other day, dinner was officially served.
"Whoa...!"
Looking at the spread in the dining room, Haruki let out a gasp of awe. A feeling of excitement she couldn't quite put into words started bubbling up in her chest.
"Let's ea~t! ...Ow, hot! Big Bro, water!"
"What are you even doing, Himeko... ...anyway, aren't you gonna eat, Haruki?"
"Oh, yeah. Let's eat."
Himeko was making a scene about how hot the food was, while Hayato acted all "good grief" and got her some water.
Haruki popped a gyoza into her mouth while watching the two of them.
"It's scorching, but man, it's good."
It was incredibly delicious, and it tasted somehow nostalgic. It was a special kind of flavor.
Come to think of it, sitting around a dinner table like this with other people was something Haruki hadn't done in a really long time.
Their chopsticks kept moving, and before they knew it, the mountain of gyoza on the massive platter was almost gone, turning into a total tug-of-war between Haruki and Himeko.
"Eat your rice too, the rice!"
"But Haru-chan is eating like a beast!"
"Mmph, mmm~~!"
Dinner rolled on with all that silly, childish back-and-forth. Haruki could feel not just her stomach, but her whole heart getting filled up.
(Man, I get it now. I was way more emotionally drained than I thought...)
That's exactly why Hayato brought Haruki here.
But since Hayato didn't know the right words to say, he just chose to sit Haruki down at a dinner table like this. "What a clumsy boy," she thought with a smirk. Suddenly, she realized tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes.
Hayato saw the look on Haruki's face and, looking kinda awkward, he scratched his head aggressively before speaking up.
"So, uh... ...usually it's just me and Himeko for dinner. So, I mean, if you're cool with it, why don't you just have dinner over here at our place from now on?"
"…Huh?"
For a second, Haruki didn't even process what Hayato'd just said.
Everything started racing through Haruki's mind—like, "Where's Hayato and Himeko's family? Or, "Oh, so that's why he's such a pro at cooking."
But in the end, the only thing that slipped out was a straight-up question.
"Why?"
Haruki couldn't wrap her head around why Hayato was doing so much for her. She was totally thrown off by the kindness he was showing.
For someone like Haruki, who was used to people acting nice only because they had some hidden agenda or gross ulterior motives, this was beyond confusing.
Haruki had her own baggage, too. Things she couldn't talk about. She knew Hayato had to be curious.
And yet, without asking for anything or demanding answers, Hayato'd just said that and reached out to Haruki... ...She just couldn't understand why he'd go that far.
"I mean, it's 'cause it's you, Haruki... 'cause we're... ...friends, right?"
"…Oh."
And yet, the reason Hayato gave was just that simple—and that's exactly why it hit Haruki so hard. The tears that'd been welling up finally spilled over and rolled down her cheeks.
"I see, so it's 'cause it's me, huh?"
"…Yeah."
"I guess I owe you one for this too, Hayato?"
"You don't owe me anything."
"Then, it's a promise."
"…Fine."
Hayato acted all blunt and standoffish, while Haruki flashed a mischievous grin as they locked pinkies.
They both had things they couldn't talk about. But even without words, something had definitely been communicated between them.
"Man, you two are as close as ever..."
Himeko watched the two of them with a look of disbelief, but there was a hint of envy in her eyes.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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