In the supermarket, Saiki Kusuo stood in the snack section staring at the coffee jelly with an extremely serious expression.
[What should I do? Should I buy it? But…]
The sign said: Limited-time coffee jelly, buy one get one free, one set per person.
[Yare yare, seriously, why is it limited to one per person? Don't they know how to do marketing in this supermarket?!]
At that moment, Saiki still hadn't noticed the girl with flaxen hair who had already come up beside him. She tilted her head in puzzlement and looked at him. "Saiki-kun, you look like you're really struggling. Do you need my help?"
[…?]
Saiki turned his head and saw Shiina Mahiru standing right next to him. He instinctively refused.
[No… no need… right?]
Saiki hesitated a little. Although he and this classmate, who had been nicknamed "Angel Lady" by everyone in class within just one month of school starting, were neighbors and former fiancée, they had almost no real connection. Even though they went home after school every day, he rarely saw her, probably no more than three times total.
Suddenly asking her for help like this felt a bit embarrassing.
"If you feel too shy about it, then how about you help me with something in return?"
[No problem at all.]
Saiki picked up the coffee jelly in front of him, his eyes softening with happiness as he said,
[Then I'll have to trouble you, Shiina-san.]
(Good, now I can get four servings of coffee jelly.)
"Then please follow me."
[Okay!]
Saiki put the coffee jelly back down, pushed the cart, and followed Shiina Mahiru to the seasoning aisle in the kitchen section.
"Let me see…"
"Light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce, bread crumbs, cooking wine, salt…" Shiina Mahiru picked out the ingredients one by one.
"Hmm, this should be about enough. Next…" Shiina Mahiru walked up to the seasoning shelf and looked at the large bottle of soy sauce in front of her: buy one get one free, one per person.
"Alright, this is it. Saiki-kun, could you please help me buy one?"
(So the soy sauce has the same limit here too.)
[OK, no problem.]
Shiina Mahiru glanced at the coffee jelly and seasonings in Saiki's cart. "Saiki-kun, are you cooking for yourself too?"
Saiki looked at the few seasonings in his own cart. [Something like that. I live alone, after all, though my cooking skills are pretty average.]
This was basically all the money he had left for the month, but it was fine. Once exams were over, money would come from home.
"That's surprising. Boys your age usually don't cook much, especially you, Saiki-kun, who looks…" [not like someone who would cook at all.]
"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Realizing she had said something wrong, Shiina Mahiru covered her mouth and apologized.
(Well, sorry for not looking like someone who cooks.)
[It's fine.]
While paying at the checkout, Shiina Mahiru kept looking at Saiki Kusuo.
(Yare yare, why does she keep staring at me… Whatever, it's probably just my imagination. There's no way she knows I'm the ex-fiancé who called off the engagement. Even if she did know, it wouldn't change anything. Hmph.)
Shiina Mahiru [What a surprise. I used to be Saiki-kun's fiancée.]
Saiki: …
(So you did know!)
Of course Shiina Mahiru knew. She had heard about it before. She only recently found out she had a fiancé, and she was very opposed to the idea.
She hated this kind of thing: families arranging marriages behind the scenes for their own benefit, deciding other people's lives without any regard for their feelings.
After all, her own parents had no feelings for each other, barely cared about her after she was born, and when she heard that her so-called fiancé had called off the engagement because he didn't want a loveless marriage, she became a little curious about this ex-fiancé of hers.
She didn't know that it was just a random excuse Saiki had come up with. Saiki simply hated the idea of an arranged marriage, and because of his own circumstances, he might never fall in love with anyone in this lifetime.
During this first month of school, she had observed Saiki many times.
Shiina Mahiru [Saiki-kun is a very strange person. The people around him at school are all kinds of weird too. Did he really call off the engagement just for his own sake?]
(Well, sorry, but yeah, I'm just that kind of weird person.)
After Shiina Mahiru finished paying, she pulled the eco-bag off the counter. The moment the bag left the counter's support point, the girl was thrown off balance by its weight, stumbled, and nearly fell.
(Seriously, is it really that heavy?)
Then, barely managing to hold the bags with both hands, she walked unsteadily toward Saiki.
Even though the bags were properly packed and tied, carrying them all the way back to the apartment like this would definitely be exhausting.
The distance from the convenience store to the apartment wasn't particularly close, but it wasn't far either.
But letting her carry them back alone like this would almost certainly lead to some kind of accident along the way.
Shiina Mahiru stubbornly lifted the bags, glanced at Saiki, and then started walking forward alone with the plastic bags, struggling step by step. …
(Saying "help me" would kill you or something?)
[I'll help you. Consider it thanks for earlier.]
Saiki directly reached out and took one of the bags from Shiina Mahiru.
Shiina Mahiru looked at the bag being taken and stubbornly said, "No need. I can handle it by myself, really."
[Alright then.]
With that, Saiki put the bag back and handed it to Shiina Mahiru.
Shiina Mahiru: ʕ(ⓛ–ⓛ)ʔ
Shiina Mahiru [He actually gave it back.]
(Didn't you say that yourself?)
But since Shiina Mahiru was the one who insisted on taking it back, now that it had been returned, how could she possibly ask for help again?
Saiki Kusuo and Shiina Mahiru walked home one in front of the other like that. Shiina Mahiru struggled forward step by step in the lead, while the one behind carried only one bag and casually ate coffee jelly with his other hand, looking completely relaxed.
Shiina Mahiru glanced back at Saiki Kusuo. [Damn it, why am I so angry about this?]
(Yare yare, if you had just let me help earlier, it would've been fine. After all, I'm the kind of person who can't refuse a girl's request. But since you specifically told me not to take it, how could I just grab it anyway? I can't go against a lady's wishes.)
At last, the two of them reached the front of the apartment building. Looking at the elevator in front of her, Shiina Mahiru felt a great sense of accomplishment.
She finally saw hope, but something seemed a little off. The two of them walked up to a wooden sign in front.
The sign read: Elevator under maintenance. Temporarily out of service for the next few days. Residents, please use the stairs.
Saiki glanced at it and headed toward the staircase.
[Well then, see you later, Shiina-san. I'm heading up first.]
"Ah!! I…"
Shiina Mahiru looked at Saiki Kusuo's back, gritted her teeth, and stubbornly started climbing the stairs with both bags. But accidents always happen so suddenly—her foot slipped.
Shiina Mahiru instinctively closed her eyes, then suddenly felt herself being pulled up.
When Shiina Mahiru opened her eyes, she found herself leaning against Saiki Kusuo.
[Yare yare, why are you so stubborn? You should know what you can and can't do.]
Shiina Mahiru blushed and said, "Thank you."
[So what are you planning to do now?]
Shiina Mahiru looked at Saiki Kusuo in front of her. Her tone unconsciously softened, her head lowered as she fidgeted with her fingers and said, "Please… help me."
Saiki Kusuo reached out his hand.
[Yare yare, what a pain.]