Volume 5 Chapter 1

Chapter edited by: Kashima

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♥

I’m Ayako Katsuragi, 3X years old.

It’s been 10 years since I started taking care of my late sister’s daughter after she and her husband passed away in an accident.

I spent my days thinking about how happy I’d be if my daughter married our neighbor, Takkun, in the future… but one day all of a sudden, he confessed to me.

He said he liked me, not my daughter.

That was unexpected.

I was completely perplexed.

It came out of the blue.

…Huh? It’s antiquated? Do younger kids not use this expression anymore?! Using it screams Showa era?! Uwaaaa. I didn’t say anything, just forget what I said!

Let’s get back to the main topic before I went on a tangent.

Anyways, after his confession, our relationship changed completely.

It changed drastically.

We couldn’t keep being simply neighbors anymore.

After that, we went through so many things together that it’d be impossible for me to explain in just a few words… until I finally realized my own feelings.

I like him.

I love Takkun.

Not as a son or as a younger brother, but as a member of the opposite sex.

Once I accepted my own feelings, things moved forward without a hitch… It’s what I’d like to say, but things were still complicated in the end, but despite that…

It’s been 3 months since Takkun confessed.

And now I’m dating him.

At 3X years old, he’s the first boyfriend I’ve had.

I was so happy and embarrassed that I didn’t know what to do.

I couldn’t help but feel excited.

If I was that happy with just dates, what would happen now that we were starting to go out…?!

I was nervous and excited, but suddenly, our relationship was met with a big obstacle.

“Starting next month… would you like to work in Tokyo?”

Oinomori-san, my boss, proposed that to me.

It was a proposal to live in Tokyo for 3 months and fully participate in an anime adaptation of a novel I’m in charge of.

It wasn’t an order, so I could have refused.

But… I ended up accepting.

I thought it was a good opportunity to improve my abilities as an editor, and more than anything, I wanted to see the animation of the novel I’ve worked on from the very beginning.

However, going to Tokyo meant I would be separated from Takkun.

Although it was just 3 months, we would have a long-distance relationship right when we started dating.

I couldn’t believe that we couldn’t be together when we were supposed to be having our happiest moments together!

I was caught between a rock and a hard place, but Takkun encouraged me to do it.

He supported my dream and my determination.

He happily told me to go.

Ayako Katsuragi.

Takumi Aterazawa.

Our relationship which should have started as a long distance relationship…

September.

Inside an apartment prepared by Oinomori-san for me in Tokyo.

The apartment had a bedroom, living room, dining room and a kitchen.

It was more than enough space for a single person.

It would be a luxury to ask for more than this in Tokyo.

It was a monotone apartment, with nothing more than the minimum amount of furniture needed.

This apartment used to belong to Oinomori-san. Apparently, she used to rent it to acquaintances and the TV and refrigerator that were still here probably belonged to the previous tenants. She told me that I was free to use them, and if I didn’t need to, I could just throw them out.

The suitcase I had brought with me sat on the corner of the bedroom.

Since I was going to live here for 3 months, I needed a certain amount of daily necessities, so I had brought a lot of things. The rest of my belongings would arrive by mail another day.

However, there was another suitcase in the room.

It was almost fully black, so it was probably used mostly by men.

Yes.

It was Takkun’s.

Right now… he was in this very same apartment.

He was sitting in front of me at the other side of the table.

My dear boyfriend, with whom I was planning to have a long-distance relationship, was right in front of me for some reason.

Today.

It was Takkun who greeted me when I arrived to this apartment.

It’s so sad that we’re going to be separated for 3 months… Haah… If only Takkun would show up after I open this door… I was having such delusions, but then he really showed up.

No way!

Am I hallucinating from wanting to see him that badly?!

Or… Did God grant me my wish?

Things like that.

I thought a lot of things in an instant, but all of that was probably wrong.

Takkun, who was standing there, wasn’t a hallucination, but the real one, and it wasn’t God who had granted me my wish.

Rather than a benevolent God… I felt this was probably the work of a person who was more akin to an evil god.

Just a moment ago, he came out and greeted me, saying something like this:

 —I’m extremely sorry for not telling you until today… but I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to. I had to keep it a secret from you… That was the condition Oinomori-san gave me.

 — Uhm… Where to start… Well… basically…

 — I’ll live with you starting today.

“A-An internship?”

When I ended up listening to the entire story, I couldn’t help but raise my voice.

Takkun looked deflated and apologetic.

“…Yes,” he nodded.

“So, basically, Takkun… You’re going to work as an intern in Tokyo?”

“…That’s the plan.”

I was baffled.

Internship.

In simple terms, it’s a system in which a person works temporarily inside a business’ organization.

The definition varies per country, but in Japan it’s usually referred to as a training work experience for university students.

It’s a system of working in a business during a period of time determined as part of job searching.

That’s an internship.

Uwaa, this brings back so many memories.

When I was a university student, I was hesitating on doing it or not. I wanted to, but… I ended up not doing it since it was too complicated.

“I’ve been thinking for some time about doing an internship during my third year,” Takkun started to talk little by little. “I thought about having an internship to get some social experience before job searching in the future. Working as an intern is something you can only do while you’re studying at a university after all. So, since I’m not in my third year, I started searching.”

“I-I expected no less of you, Takkun…”

He’s very well prepared.

It’s not as if he’s trying to force himself to do it, but he’s actually taking the steps necessary to prepare for his future.

He’s very different from me, who didn’t do an internship because I thought it was a pain.

“No, it’s nothing special. I only had to vaguely look for one.” Said Takkun modestly. “But I couldn’t find a place that met my criteria within the area, therefore… I asked Oinomori-san.”

“…”

From what I heard, it looks like Takkun and Oinomori-san have been in touch frequently for some time.

They exchanged their contact information when Oinomori-san came to my house before summer vacation.

The 3 of us ate sushi and then I accepted her provocation and wore Miu’s uniform… no wait, there’s no need to remember that. Let’s just bury that memory forever.

Anyways, since then, the two of them have been sending messages and calling each other regularly.

At the beginning, it was just Oinomori-san making fun of him because of his relationship with me, but little by little, she started talking about Takkun’s future and career.

…Maybe it’s normal that as a girlfriend, I would be jealous about the fact that he was communicating with another woman in secret, but honestly, I didn’t feel that way at all.

Because all of that happened before we started dating… and more than that, because that other woman was Oinomori-san.

I think she was the one who forced him to get in touch with her… and I can also understand why he consulted with her about his career.

It was just like a university student consulting with a graduate.

Yumemi Oinomori-san is the perfect person to consult about those things.

After making such a big impact in an important editorial, she left the company to fund her own. She’s a woman brimming with personality who is still active at the forefront as a talented executive.

I think that her experiences and opinions about jobs are very educational. She also gives a lot of conferences for university students.

As a member of society, I respect her a lot.

As a human being, not so much.

“I thought I had no possibilities of finding something else, and more than consulting with her, I was just complaining… but then Oinomori-san found me a place to do my internship in a flash.”

“Oh…”

A superhuman movement as usual.

“The company is directed by an acquaintance of Oinomori-san, and this year, they’re starting an internship program. But her condition was…”

“D-Don’t tell me…” I expressed my conjecture. “Her condition was that you would live with me…?”

“…Yes,” he nodded apologetically. “When we talked about the internship, I heard her mention proposing a transfer to you… So she suggested that we live together.”

Apparently, Takkun had found out about my transfer to Tokyo before me.

Looks like an entire conspiracy was happening around me for quite some time without my knowledge.

“Of course, I refused at first! At the time, we hadn’t started dating yet, and I thought it was absolutely impossible to make that choice without your consent first, but…”

He spoke quickly, but his voice gradually became calmer.

“In the end, even if it was just 3 months, I’d feel too lonely without you, Ayako-san.”

“Takkun…”

“Besides, Oinomori-san told me that if I refused, she’d take you to host clubs and boys bars everywhere after you started living in Tokyo.”

“She said what?!”

What the hell?!

She was threatening him with that?!

“G-Geez~~. She’s still as insensitive as ever! You too, Takkun. I would never go to places like that, you know?”

“I know, but… I-I was simply wondering what would happen in the unlikely case that you accepted. Oinomori-san didn’t stop saying things like ‘The more naïve and innocent they are, the more addicted they become once they get hooked up,’ which made me even more anxious.”

It looks like Takkun was led astray by her words.

Oinomori-san’s way with words is as amazing as ever.

How many times has she done the same thing to me?

“I was really worried, what if you got hooked up with a host, and then got into debt, and saw yourself being forced to work in a suspicious shop?”

“What kind of delirious thoughts are you having now?!”

His delirious thoughts were 3 times deeper and worse than I expected!

Look at how much anxiety you’ve given this poor man, Oinomori-san!

And then.

I received a call during that moment of turmoil.

I was in the middle of an important conversation, so I thought about ignoring the call, but when I saw that the caller was the root of all evil, I changed my mind.

“…Could you excuse me for a minute?”

After excusing myself, I stood up from my seat.

I went into the western style room next to the living room and closed the sliding door.

And when I answered the phone…

“Yo, Katsuragi-kun.”

I heard Oinomori-san’s cheerful voice.

I could picture her smiling from ear to ear.

She had called me a little before going into the apartment, but… It looked like she somehow had timed the next call.

Right as I had heard something surprising.

“Fufu, so? Did you like my surprise?”

“…I’m very thankful.”

“Hahaha, you’re very welcome.”

I tried to sound sarcastic, but it looks like she didn’t get it.

“…You’ve done something outrageous again. Not only did you get me involved in this, you also got Takkun involved… We’re not your toys.”

“I don’t like how you say it. I don’t remember doing anything to be met with this kind of hostility, in fact, you should be thankful,” she said in a carefree tone. “You can do the work you wanted to do in Tokyo. Aterazawa-kun can do the internship he wanted to do. And as a couple, you can avoid the travesty of a long-distance relationship right as you start dating. I’m very happy that my plan… I mean, that my surprise was a success. I think this is the best result, the one where everyone is happy.”

“That’s…”

I felt as if I was being manipulated.

T-That was close…!

For a moment, I thought ‘She’s right, everyone is happy like this’…!

“For starters, the apartment is mine. You and your boyfriend can enjoy living together in an urban condominium without having to pay a single yen for it, right? I think you should be more thankful to me.”

“…I-It’s not that I’m not thankful… But that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want without permission.”

“Well, I may have certainly gone too far this time, but…”

When I frantically complained, Oinomori-san lowered her tone.

“But I want you to understand. I didn’t have any bad intentions in mind… Well, I can’t say I didn’t have them, but at least not completely, I did all of this because I felt sorry about your relationship, I think.”

“…”

“From the moment it was decided that KimiOsa was getting an anime adaptation, I was thinking about having you live in Tokyo for a while. I was wondering how I could make it more fun… No, I mean, more beneficial to you… And then Aterazawa-kun asked me for advice about his internship.”

“…So you got the idea of us living together?”

“Exactly!” Said Oinomori-san with a smug face.

I couldn’t see her because it was a phone call, but I can definitely tell she’s making that face.

“I didn’t know if it was going to work because there were many factors out of my control, but in the end it worked wonderfully. Besides, you started dating at the perfect time.”

“T-That’s too irresponsible…! What would you have done if we hadn’t started dating?!”

The cohabitation plan started with Takkun’s internship.

In other words, the plan was set in motion before our relationship started.

We started going out just one week ago.

“We were supposed to live together even if we weren’t a couple?!”

“That would have also been fun actually,” said Oinomori-san calmly. “If you kept beating around the bush with the more than friends, less than lovers thing, I thought it would have been a good idea to force you two to live together. After all, sooner or later, you would start dating, so it was just a matter of time.”

S-Stop assuming things on your own…!

Although, well, I guess that if seen from the outside, it’s possible that people would only think ‘Why aren’t they dating yet?’… but we had our own drama to go through!

“L-Let’s say you’re right and that I think it’s fine for us to live together. It’s certainly beneficial for us, but… then why didn’t you just tell me?”

After all, that’s what bothered me the most.

That she planned all of this without telling me.

“Even though it’s something so important, you excluded me and involved Takkun in your prank… That’s in very poor taste. How do you think I felt when I made the choice of coming to Tokyo?”

“That’s the whole point,” said Oinomori-san suddenly with a dry voice.

“Point?”

“Your feelings, your decision, that’s exactly what I was looking for. You aren’t thinking that I prepared all of this just to surprise you, right?”

“…”

“If you had known beforehand about the cohabitation, that Aterazawa-kun was going to live with you in Tokyo, it would have been much easier to come to Tokyo, right?”

“…”

That… may be true.

I was assigned to Tokyo alone.

For me, it was an opportunity to do the work I wanted to do.

I was worried about Miu… and also about Takkun.

It was hard to be in a long-distance relationship with my boyfriend, who I had just started dating.

But despite that… I made a choice.

I was going to do the work I wanted to.

I won’t be a woman who disregards her job for love.

As someone who’s involved in the entertainment business, I wanted to put my all into my work…

“There’s no need to say that making anime is a lot of work. It’s a huge project that involves a lot of different industries. If the editor in charge of the original work is involved, that person will inevitably be placed at the center of the project. I don’t want such an important job to be done incompetently.” She spoke eloquently. “I didn’t want you to come to Tokyo with that frivolous mentality because you would be living with your boyfriend. I wanted you to have your mind set. For example, I wanted a strong and passionate determination that made you feel as if you wanted to do this work, even if it meant living at a distance from your dear boyfriend.”

“…You were testing me?”

“That’s right. But… I believed in you,” said Oinomori-san, this time in a soft tone. “I know Ayako Katsuragi… She’s an irredeemable beginner in love, but she isn’t a pathetic woman that would let a man ruin her job.”

“…”

“As long as you have those feelings when you made the choice to live by yourself, I thought that you wouldn’t be careless with your work, not even in the middle of an exciting event like living with your boyfriend. You easily met my expectations. I’m very satisfied. During the next 3 months, work hard, maintain a happy relationship, and enjoy a satisfactory cohabitation life.”

The voice call ended with a voice that sounded really satisfied, just like she said.

I held my head.

Hmm…

I feel really weird.

I wonder what this feeling is.

In the end, I think I’ve been played like a fiddle.

Seriously… This is so unfair, Oinomori-san.

I’m pretty sure that she only wanted to surprise me and make fun of me, but she justified it pleasantly with a plausible reason.

She really has a way with words.

Had she been born in a different era, she could have become an instigator that would have led the people into a revolution.

“…Haah.”

With an indescribable feeling, I came out of the western style room and returned to the living room.

Then, Takkun, who was sat down waiting for me, stood up and looked at me.

“That call… was it Oinomori-san?”

“Y-Yes. I wanted to complain about a lot of things, but in the end, she ended up persuading me.”

“…I-I see.”

Takkun still looked apologetic.

“Uhm, Ayako-san,” he said. “As I thought… you’re angry, right?”

“…Huh?”

“For proceeding with the whole cohabitation idea without telling you… It doesn’t matter that I had to keep it a secret, I’m really sorry for having decided on something so important without your consent.”

“That’s… T-Takkun, you don’t need to apologize for that. This is all Oinomori-san’s fault.”

“But I was her accomplice.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m not mad at you.”

I refused it in a hurry because I couldn’t bear to see his grim face, but…

“…That’s a lie.” After a brief pause, I continued. “Actually… I’m a little angry.”

“Huh…?”

“Because you knew about all this from the beginning, didn’t you? That we would be living together in September. That we wouldn’t start a long-distance relationship, but that we would be living under the same roof.”

“Y-Yes.”

“In that case… How did you feel when we were flirting around during the entire week?!” I yelled.

I couldn’t help but yell.

Several events from last week were spinning around in my head.

“How did I feel… you ask?”

“I thought we were going to have a long-distance relationship in September… I thought we were going to be separated soon… That’s why, well… I turned off my limiter and flirted without any self-control…!”

A week ago.

The day I told Takkun I was transferring to Tokyo.

—… There’s only one week left until I leave for Tokyo… But until then… I want to flirt with you as much as possible, Takkun,.

I ended up saying something like that.

I said something so embarrassing that I want to die when I remember it…!

Because.

I thought that it wasn’t the time to put up a front.

That there was no need to be shy.

I wanted the remaining time to be as wonderful as possible.

And in fact, just as I said, we spent an entire week… flirting.

We had a deep intimacy, as if to compensate for the 3 months we wouldn’t see each other.

I honestly… did some very embarrassing things.

I threw away my pride as an adult woman and let myself be spoiled as a little girl.

It was a now or never situation.

I thought that the it was okay to behave as some shameless couple because of our limited time before our relationship became a long-distance one… But.

“But, you knew all this time… I feel like an idiot for not knowing anything and getting excited by myself…!”

“A-Ayako-san…”

“Uuh… I bet that you were laughing in your mind, weren’t you?!”

“I-I wasn’t laughing!”

“You’re lying!”

“I’m not.”

Takkun put up excuses in a panic.

“Why would I laugh? I was happy that you appreciated our time together… I’m really sorry. I felt so guilty that I was about to tell you about the cohabitation. But I had a deal with Oinomori-san… Besides.”

“Besides?”

“…The Ayako-san who was doing everything possible to flirt with me was really cute.”

“Wha…”

“I couldn’t imagine you being so spoiled… Ayako-san, I’m surprised that you’re the kind of person to be extremely affectionate when you’re in a relationship.”

“~~~~~?!”

“You fed me as if it was something normal. And also… you asked me to carry you in my arms or back, and that I walk you around the house for no reason at all.”

“…N-Nooo~~~~!”

That’s so embarrassing!

I’m so embarrassed I could drop dead right now!

What the heck was I doing?!

You let yourself go too much just because you wouldn’t see him for 3 months, past me!

“Y-You’re wrong. It’s not like that… That was just because…”

“It was a great week for me, since I could enjoy the new Ayako-san. And above all, your appearance when you were only wearing an apron was so good that it has become a core memory to me.”

Ignoring me entirely, Takkun continued with an expression of euphoria. Those words stirred me up.

Yes, I remember.

The last day of our flirting week, in other words, yesterday.

I invited Takkun to my house… and I was only wearing an apron!

Because it was the last time!

Because it was the last day!

I wanted to do something that would have a great impact on Takkun so he wouldn’t cheat on me while we were separated… So I came up with the naked apron idea.

Since that was the only thing I could come up with, I had no choice.

Well, of course, I wasn’t really naked. I was wearing an apron over my underwear, and it looked like I was naked from the front. But although it was a ‘fake naked apron,’ it was still really embarrassing.

If I showed him such an embarrassing look, I didn’t know what face to make if I met him the next day. But since I wasn’t going to see him, even if I wanted to, it was okay to get carried away a little. That’s the kind of mentality I had when I made such a bold move.

And then… We met!

We met yesterday and today!

“~~! F-Forget about it! Erase the image of me in a naked apron from your memory right now!”

“That’s impossible… I can’t forget such a wonderful memory, even if I wanted to.”

“But it’s not wonderful! It’s nothing but an embarrassing memory! …Ah, by the way, Takkun… Did you take pictures of that?!”

When I remembered something important, he quickly looked somewhere else.

“I told you I was embarrassed and that you definitely shouldn’t take pictures, but you didn’t stop saying, ‘I won’t be able to see you starting tomorrow, so I want one last memory from you’.”

“T-That’s…”

“I let you take that special picture you wanted because it looked like you were about to cry…”

“…Uhm.”

“But, Takkun… You knew we would see each other today, didn’t you?”

“…I’m sorry.”

I stared at him, interrogated him and he bowed his head as if he had given up.

“I really wanted to have a picture of you in an apron, so I couldn’t help it…”

“I knew it…! Geez, Takkun, you’re terrible!”

I got close to his chest and started to hit it.

“Delete it! Delete it right now!”

“That’s so heartless… I was thinking about making it a lifelong treasure of mine.”

“You don’t have to treasure that! Delete it right now!”

“But… I have a backup copy at my parents’ house, so it doesn’t make much sense to delete it now…”

“You made a backup copy?”

“I have backup copies of all of the pictures I have of you. I’ve stored them both in the cloud and my hard drive… Besides, I also have a printed album as insurance in case the devices ever break down.”

“What’s with all that preparation?!”

Do my photos have some historical importance that needs to be preserved?!

Is my embarrassment going to be passed down for generations to come?!

After that, I tried complaining while I kept hitting his chest, but…

“…Uuh, geez… Takkun, you idiot…”

I stopped hitting him and buried my face in his chest.

“I… felt really lonely when we had to separate.”

“Ayako-san…”

“I thought you felt the same… I can’t believe that you were the only one who knew about the cohabitation and were looking forward to it all this time.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

While he was apologizing, Takkun carefully put his arm around my back.

And softly embraced me.

“As an apology for making you feel lonely, I’ll be next to you all the time starting today.”

“…Yes.”

It’s not like I wasn’t thinking, but when I came to, I found myself nodding and moving my arms to reply to his embrace.

Oh…

I’m so simple.

I should be angrier than I am. Maybe I should direct my wrath firmly against the two people who gave me this hellish surprise, especially against Oinomori-san, and resent them for some time.

But the flames of my wrath kept getting smaller, and another flame became bigger in exchange.

Suddenly, we were going to live together.

I would be with him day and night.

We would be together for 3 months.

My heart was so full of excitement, confusion and nervousness that it didn’t have any space left for wrath, and I felt like it was about to burst.

If I could somehow describe this inexplicable beating in my chest, it would be… Like a combination of all my excitement and nervousness into a single sensation in-between.

I couldn’t help but be excited that our life together was about to start.

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