Ch.37Chapter 6. Solitude (1)

Ikeda was standing behind Kaneko, peeking her head out from the side of her arm.

Her narrowed eyes staring at us showed she was being extremely cautious.

She reminded me of a wary cat, which was a bit cute, but since she seemed quite serious, I couldn’t laugh.

“…Who is this?”

Ikeda asked with an incredibly cautious voice.

Wait… wasn’t she extremely excited about getting a new club member just from overhearing something?

She even fought with Kaneko over it.

Why such a difference in attitude?

I looked at Yamashita standing beside me.

Her expression was as emotionless as usual. I couldn’t tell what emotions she might be hiding underneath. Yamashita was more sensitive than she appeared.

Her face was pale. She was wearing makeup, but it wasn’t heavy.

Of course, to Ikeda’s eyes—a modest literary girl type who apparently never wore makeup—even that light makeup might have looked like a delinquent characteristic.

…Delinquent, huh.

Is that term used in Japan too? In Japan, they say “yankee,” don’t they?

I don’t know about 20 years later, but for this time period, that’s probably the right expression.

Anyway, if you described Yamashita’s appearance piece by piece, she hardly had any elements of what you’d call a delinquent or yankee.

She was pretty, slightly interested in her appearance, had nice hair, a decent figure, and her skirt was a bit short, but this was a light novel world, and all things considered, it made you think, “Is she really that bad?”

But when you looked at Yuu Yamashita as a whole, she somehow gave off that… in Japanese terms, “upper school caste” kind of vibe.

Actually, if I’m being honest, she didn’t seem to be at the very top. Miura’s group had many friends, but they gave off the impression that they only hung out with their own circle.

Well, anyway.

I thought it was because of Fukuda, and because of Miura at the center of that group, that she appeared that way by contrast and emphasis, but Ikeda seemed to see it differently.

“This is our classmate…”

As I said that while looking up at Yamashita,

“…Yamashita Yuu.”

Yamashita stated her name. That’s right. She stated her name. Not introduced herself.

I wonder what she was like at the beginning of the semester? Usually, teachers make everyone introduce themselves on the first day of school—that’s the standard practice. Well, not in my country, so it’s not “my standard practice,” but it’s a scene that invariably appears in light novels or manga set in schools.

Did she just say “Yamashita Yuu” and sit down then too?

…Come to think of it, there wasn’t really any way to stop someone if they did that.

“She’s a friend from my class.”

“Kut-chan’s friend?”

Kaneko asked.

“…Kut-chan?”

“Oh, it’s the nickname I gave you.”

Seeing Yamashita mumble, Kaneko explained with a smile.

“…”

Leaving Yamashita momentarily speechless, Kaneko forcibly grabbed Ikeda from behind her and placed her in front.

“Come on, Izumi. She’s greeting you. As the literature club president, you should respond. Didn’t you say the more members, the better?”

“Ah, wait, Kaoru! Now that the club won’t be disbanded, it’s fine! We don’t need to accept new members!”

“Tsk tsk. The more members you have, the more likely the literature club will continue after you graduate, right? You should be happy as the president!”

Kaneko seemed very pleased that she could tease Ikeda.

…But why is she calling Ikeda by her first name, Izumi? With her habit of giving nicknames, shouldn’t it be “Iz-chan”?

Ikeda, who had been grabbed by both shoulders and pushed forward, was trembling so much that even I felt sorry for her. She put her hands on her hips.

“Y-yes, I’m the literature club president!”

“…”

Yamashita looked at me with an expression that seemed to ask what she was supposed to do.

Hmm… Yes, this doesn’t really suit you. Though being with me doesn’t really suit you either.

“Um, well…”

Ikeda’s gaze darted around.

“P-perhaps, did you come to join?”

“No.”

“I-I see.”

Ikeda’s face turned bright red, and she quickly hid behind Kaneko again.

“Well… so you’re Yamashita.”

Kaneko said, looking at Yamashita.

“What brings you here?”

Feeling it was unnecessary to keep standing, I went to my usual seat and sat down.

Then I picked up a dorayaki.

“Well…”

Yamashita looked at me again.

After thinking for a moment, I handed the dorayaki to Yamashita.

Yamashita seemed a bit surprised, but took the dorayaki I offered.

“Ah, right, sit down, sit down.”

Kaneko said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Ikeda did the same, though she sat closer to Kaneko than usual.

Yamashita followed Kaneko and Ikeda and sat down. Next to me.

Seeing me unwrap the dorayaki with a nonchalant expression, Yamashita hesitantly unwrapped hers.

She seemed to wonder if this was okay, but there was already someone in the literature club who freely used the club’s food and facilities despite not being a member.

“So, may I ask why you brought your friend today?”

It seems this person hasn’t heard the rumors yet.

Well, that’s fine. I’d prefer if she hadn’t heard them.

“That’s…”

I started to explain but hesitated for a moment.

Should I say it’s because we’re living together?

To explain our commute today, both of us skipped breakfast.

Normally, I would buy a cheap bread at a nearby convenience store, but it seemed a bit awkward to buy the same bread for Yamashita. But making her pay for her own food seemed… well…

Since I was letting her stay with me, it didn’t particularly bother my conscience, but it would feel strange if Yamashita ate good bread while I ate cheap bread.

Fortunately, or perhaps I should say fortunately, Yamashita said she doesn’t usually eat breakfast. It didn’t seem like she was saying that out of consideration for me. When Yamashita woke up, she could barely open her eyes.

Well, it was much earlier than usual for her.

Though I hadn’t heard the story, I suspected that normally Miho-san, whom I saw yesterday, would wake her up.

I pushed the awakened Yamashita into the bathroom, folded the futon, and after Yamashita came out of the bathroom, I washed up too.

Thankfully, it didn’t take an hour to change clothes.

The reason we got up early was to walk to the station.

Both of us, still half-asleep, staggered to the station and took the crowded train to Tamachi Station. It was fortunate that we didn’t have to transfer.

For Yamashita, who had lived in Minato Ward her whole life, it must have been a very, very long journey.

The fact that she didn’t say she wanted to go back home after all that suggests her resolve when she ran away was stronger than I thought.

For reference, we didn’t eat lunch together. I stuck to my usual style—eating in the club room with Yuuki.

During that lunch break, Yamashita must have told Miura and Fukuda where she was staying.

“Please take care of Yuu.”

Miura held my hand tightly and said that.

She seemed to have a lot more she wanted to say, but she held back and didn’t pour it all out.

But at the same time, she looked somewhat relieved. Perhaps she was glad that I had someone to stay with.

“Living at a friend’s house~ Hmm…”

Fukuda started to say something but quickly closed her mouth and fell into thought. She probably thought it would be fun and exciting when she only heard about me living alone, but she had seen Kagami in person too.

There’s bound to be a difference in how people view someone who’s independent enough to live alone versus someone who’s escaping their parents’ abuse.

But even so, she couldn’t completely hide her expression that showed she was a bit envious.

After all, Fukuda was still a teenage girl.

Anyway, that’s how it was.

We’ll probably continue going together like this for a while, but Yamashita and I might end up going home at different times. Today is our first day commuting together since we started living together, but by Wednesday, I’ll have to go to my part-time job.

“We’re going home together.”

Finding it tedious to explain all those details, I just said that.

“Is that so?”

Kaneko shrugged. She didn’t seem to notice any secret in my answer.

We were silent for a moment.

Yamashita and I were putting small pieces of dorayaki in our mouths and chewing, Ikeda was glancing at Yamashita while pretending to read a book, and Kaneko was rummaging through her bag.

“Ah, right!”

Then Kaneko clapped her hands together and smiled brightly at me as if she had remembered something she’d forgotten, but quickly closed her mouth.

Judging by how her gaze shifted to Yamashita, it seemed to be something difficult to share in front of her.

It’s probably about the track team. Maybe the people who beat us up didn’t come to school. For her, it was good news, but not something to discuss in front of a stranger.

Yamashita was involved in that too, and I wonder how Kaneko would react if she found out that those track team seniors tried to beat me up, or that they had their boyfriends do terrible things to Yamashita.

…Kaneko was someone who had beaten up her seniors because of what they did to her juniors. I feel like something terrible might happen if she found out, so it’s better not to talk about it in front of her.

Fortunately, Yamashita didn’t seem very interested. Her personality of not interfering much in other people’s affairs as long as they didn’t cross the line became an advantage here.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Kaneko said quietly to me.

I nodded slightly.

As the literature club’s characteristic silence settled in the room again,

*slide*

The door opened, and this time Yuuki came in.

Yuuki, who arrived slightly later than usual, perhaps after doing some cleaning, looked a bit surprised when she saw Yamashita sitting next to me.

…Come to think of it, I never called Yuuki in the end.

Of course, Yuuki doesn’t know that Yamashita is staying at my house.

“Hello, Yamashita.”

“You’re friends with Yuuki too?”

“…We’re in adjacent classes.”

Yuuki nodded at Kaneko’s question.

“I see.”

Kaneko replied and continued rummaging through her bag, finally pulling out a book.

It was an occult magazine.

…Didn’t she say her junior had returned?

“Did you think I’d give up on creating an occult club?”

Noticing my puzzled look, Kaneko said.

Kaneko showed me her finger and said,

“If anything, it’s been proven that another world exists! Of course we need to investigate it!”

“…”

Hearing that, Yuuki, who couldn’t sit next to me and had to sit across from Kaneko, put her hand on her forehead.

That’s right. Even without Kaneko trying to investigate, there are families in this country with a long history of fighting yokai for hundreds of years.

“Occult club?”

Yamashita reacted.

“Yes!”

Wait a second.

“Since we confirmed the existence of the underworld last time!”

I glanced at Yuuki.

Judging by her slightly open mouth, she also seemed to think we needed to stop whatever Kaneko was about to say.

Ikeda was looking at Kaneko with an expression that asked what she was talking about, and Yamashita was staring at Kaneko.

“We confirmed it with the Kokkuri-san game, right?”

“…”

Kaneko winked at me.

Is she saying she’ll keep the secret?

I immediately lost interest in Kaneko and focused on my dorayaki.

Yuuki sighed deeply, and Ikeda shook her head before focusing on her book again.

Yamashita also seemed to have lost interest instantly. Well, of course—who would seriously believe in Kokkuri-san?

“What? You’re ignoring me!?”

Kaneko was indignant, but unfortunately, no one showed any further interest in the occult club that day.

*

After the strange joint club activity in the literature club ended, on the way home—

As usual, Kaneko and Ikeda waved goodbye to us and went home—

The path to the station was shared by me, Yuuki, and Yamashita.

Well, this isn’t a combination I could call “as always.” I’ve walked home with both of them before, but usually it’s just Yuuki beside me, or Yamashita with Miura and Fukuda.

“Um, by the way…”

Yuuki was the first to speak.

The rain was pattering down, but not so heavily that we couldn’t hear each other despite the distance between our umbrellas.

“May I ask why you two are going home together?”

Yuuki asked cautiously.

Her attitude seemed particularly careful since she brought this up after we reached the train station.

It meant she had been thinking hard about it all the way here before finally asking.

“…”

I looked at Yamashita. After a long pause, she finally nodded.

“Yamashita is… staying at my place for a while.”

Yuuki’s mouth fell open.

“So we’re going in the same direction.”

“Uh, wait a minute.”

Yuuki said.

“So… why?”

“…It’s nothing to worry about.”

Of course, from Yamashita’s perspective, it was something to worry about, but at least from my perspective, it wasn’t. It’s not like Yamashita was threatening me to let her stay at my place.

“Something came up that made it necessary.”

Yuuki looked back and forth between me and Yamashita.

Then, with a stiff face, she said,

“…Hey, Kurosawa.”

Hearing Yuuki’s words, I closed my eyes for a moment.

Somehow, I felt I knew what was coming next.

“Can I come to your house today?”

Yes, I thought so.

In terms of how long we’ve known each other, I’ve actually known Yamashita longer than Yuuki.

But in terms of how well we know each other, Yuuki is a bit deeper.

Of course, I happened to learn about Yamashita’s family situation on Sunday, but that’s different. The way Yamashita’s father treated me was completely different from how Yuuki’s grandfather treated me.

While Yuuki’s grandfather treated me almost like his real granddaughter, Mr. Yamashita was somewhat businesslike. There was a sense that he pitied me, though.

Of course, I think Yuuki would have tried to help even if we weren’t that close.

“…I’m not being bullied.”

Even as I said it, I felt it wasn’t very convincing.

Just two days ago, I showed her how badly I was abused by my “mother,” and then made the bizarre claim that “I’ll be fine if I don’t do anything wrong.” To anyone, it would sound like a self-defense mechanism of a child who had been gaslighted all her life.

Yuuki knows me, but she doesn’t know Yamashita.

I looked at Yamashita.

She was slightly frowning. Did it seem like Yuuki was suddenly interfering with me?

Maybe she was upset because she could clearly see she was being misunderstood.

“…The furniture in my house came from Yuuki’s place.”

So I told Yamashita.

Yamashita looked at me with a slightly surprised expression, then looked at Yuuki.

Yuuki was proudly puffing out her chest.

“Yuuki, I’m sorry but—”

I also enjoy when Yuuki visits. There has never been a bad experience when Yuuki or her family came to my house.

But still, thinking about Yamashita and Yuuki being in the same house—

“Let’s have shabu-shabu for dinner tonight.”

“…”

I stopped what I was saying and closed my mouth.

“Don’t you need a portable burner? Even if you only use it at home, it’s good to have one. It’s surprisingly versatile. You can’t go out to eat meat every time you want it, right?”

Yuuki spoke eloquently, as if she had been thinking about this all along.

“We can get meat from the nearby butcher shop, and the ingredients are simpler than you think. I often prepare meals at home. What do you think? I’m sure both of you will be satisfied.”

I made eye contact with Yamashita.

Indeed, there was only curry to eat at home. I did buy different flavors, but I avoided the expensive ones and mostly bought reasonably priced ones. Even if we rotated flavors, we’d probably get tired of them soon.

I was starting to think about looking into other instant foods.

…But still.

Can I invite a guest who’s suspicious of another guest who’s already staying at my house?

“Okay.”

Why not?

If it were a stranger, that would be one thing, but when Yuuki is offering to buy meat, it would be ungracious not to offer the place.

When I gave permission so easily, Yamashita looked at me.

Well.

You’ll enjoy the meat too, won’t you? Otherwise, we’ll really be repeating curry-cup noodles-curry-cup noodles every day.

I guarantee you, Yamashita probably can’t cook. She didn’t even seem to think about cooking when she was at my house on Sunday.

“Are you staying overnight?”

“I’ll think about that.”

“We might not have enough bedding.”

“Let’s think about it on the subway. It takes an hour anyway.”

Yamashita looked at us in disbelief as we casually conversed, but she didn’t object.

Well, she’s the one staying with me after all.

Anyway, thanks to Yuuki, the way home was a bit more lively than the morning commute.