'Then it's a deal.' Inohara smiled sweetly. 'By the way, is Miss Nozawa at home?'
'A high school Cultural Festival?!' I nearly jumped for joy, confirming with Kusanagi repeatedly that the Cultural Festival she mentioned was the 'Cultural Festival' I had in mind.
Segments of Cultural Festivals often appear in Japanese anime. Before coming to Japan, I used to long for them and fantasize about participating in a high school Cultural Festival. However, since my age was well beyond that, I thought I'd never have the chance. I never expected to experience it in this lifetime.
Would it cost money? Participating once shouldn't be too expensive, right?
I donated all the wages the bookstore gave me during this period to a fundraising foundation for heart disease relief. That woman named Kanzaki—I hope she can undergo surgery one day; it's the most help I can offer.
I hope she can hold her younger sister's hand and walk openly in the sunlight, possessing both a healthy body and love.
'You look as excited as a child (kodomo),' Kusanagi found my reaction amusing, her eyebrows raised slightly. 'Do you like Cultural Festivals that much?'
'Yes!' I nodded vigorously. It wasn't just liking; it was pure longing. In anime or movies, there are always scenes of the heroine wearing a kimono and walking through a fair. There might even be fireworks in the night sky, and she'd be holding a bright red candy apple, taking a bite with the person she likes. Just thinking about it was romantic.
Right, besides the stalls, there should be performances at the Cultural Festival. Every class puts on a show, ranging from Cinderella and Prince Charming to school-wide concerts. Realizing a possibility, my pupils began to shake with excitement. Does this mean I can see Kusanagi and the others perform live?!
Perhaps the smile on my face was too excited, as Kusanagi had to admit that they were indeed going to perform at the Cultural Festival, singing the band's hit song.
'I know, Ready-made's hit song is called [Usseewa], right!'
I stomped my feet in excitement, so happy. I've never heard a live performance before. At this moment, my anticipation was about to fly out of my mouth. It's Kusanagi singing, she's the one singing! I never dreamed I'd get to hear the stage version!
This song already has 999+ comments on the platform. I've saved and listened to it many times; I love it so much that I even secretly set it as my favorite song.
Kusanagi was a bit surprised, asking meaningfully, 'How do you know?'
How did I know? Not only did I take secret photos of Kusanagi, but I also secretly downloaded and saved her songs, even smiling while listening to them.
'...' Cold sweat broke out instantly. Kusanagi must never find out about this.
'Of course, I heard it from Momozawa. How else would I know? It's not like I search for your songs online.'
I spoke confidently, though I was too guilty to meet her gaze.
Having listened to the song so many times in secret, my affection for it was obvious. I absolutely couldn't let Kusanagi know that I was acting a bit like a creep.
'So that's how it is.' The girl revealed her mischievous canine teeth, calmly glancing at my phone.'So Miss Nozawa has never heard my songs before.'
That familiar, ill-intentioned look—she definitely wants to go through my phone!
'Yeah! Never heard them!' I nervously grabbed my phone. 'And I haven't searched for them either! No! Definitely not!'
Kusanagi's pupils were dark and bright, her gaze burning as she looked at me, the delight in her eyes very apparent. She didn't expose me, but simply put down the guitar on her shoulder and crossed her arms thoughtfully.'So Miss Nozawa hasn't heard my songs and hasn't searched for them online, yet she knows my hit song. Hmm.'
'...' My weak protest was so feeble it was practically a confession.
I turned my head away in embarrassment, wanting to die.
The girl's slender, pale frame shook with laughter.
'Understood. Then I invite you to come and hear us perform. However, we'll be rehearsing at home tonight until very late, so I might have to trouble you to make some food.'
Is she giving me a way out?
'Then I'll head out now to prepare dinner in advance.' Rehearsing at home was a good choice; I could hear their songs early. I was really looking forward to it. Also, I had to skip this topic quickly, or I'd fear letting the cat out of the bag.
Hearing this, the girl walked to the entryway. After putting on her shoes, she straightened her back, looking clean and elegant. 'I'll go with you.'
Maybe she wants to help out to host her friends? That's quite thoughtful.
'Oh, okay. Let's go then.'
'Mm, okay.'
Kusanagi opened a parasol. She didn't hate the sun, but she was frail and always carried an umbrella with her. Her excessively pale skin looked almost translucent under the parasol.
This was the first time Kusanagi had gone shopping with me. Wanting to specifically prepare dinner to host her friends was a bit cute.
I haven't seen her cook yet. I wonder if her clumsiness will blow up the kitchen?
Walking down the street with me, the edge of her umbrella kept brushing against my head. I turned my head away, annoyed by the disturbance.
Stealing a glance, I didn't see the top of her dark, shiny head, but rather the parasol that almost poked my eye out.
...The parasol was quite an eyesore right now. Besides, I wasn't even covered by it; the scorching sun was roasting me, and the back of my neck felt very hot.
'Give me the umbrella.' I snatched the umbrella from her hand. Holding an umbrella is something a tall person should do; she should just stay obediently under it.
To my surprise, Kusanagi didn't get angry after I suddenly grabbed the umbrella. Seeing me hold the umbrella high, covering both of us in the shade, she submissively complied.
Her eyes were cast down, and light fell on her long, black eyelashes, which quivered slightly.
We walked, one tall and one short. It would take another ten minutes to reach the nearest supermarket. Worried she wasn't covered by the sun, I kept leaning toward her, my shoulder occasionally brushing against hers. Her shoulders were thin and narrow, and leaning against mine, they felt brittle and frail. Why is she still so thin? It would be nice if she could gain some weight.
'Are you getting sun?' I asked her, my right arm reaching around her back to hold the umbrella as high as possible.
I was already very careful, but I still accidentally touched her narrow back. Kusanagi visibly paused, her back stiffening.
'Uh, sorry. I'll be more careful.' I held the umbrella even higher.
Kusanagi lowered her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She didn't speak, but her ears turned a silent, deep red.
I naturally sensed something was off and was stunned myself. Now that we were sharing an umbrella and I was softly asking if she was in the sun, it seemed a bit like... a boyfriend and girlfriend?
Now I didn't dare to speak either, only feeling the sun getting hotter and hotter.
Maybe I should give the umbrella back to her and let her hold it herself. No, that would be weird. Who walks right next to someone while getting roasted by the sun? It's normal for two girls to share an umbrella!
Is being this close also normal...?
The destination was finally in sight. As we both walked into the supermarket, we both let out a nearly inaudible sigh of relief.
The supermarket's air conditioning was very refreshing, but that restless heat in my heart was faintly burning. I quickly busied myself picking out ingredients, trying my best to dispel that inexplicable impulse.
'Do we need to buy this much beef?' Kusanagi followed me, her tone somewhat helpless.
'Huh?' I looked closely—when did I put so much beef in the shopping basket?
I had to put them back one by one. Beef is so expensive; where did I get the nerve to take so much? Did I see the sales lady's daggers? Customers who take a lot and then don't check out are the most annoying.
Today's budget was only 5,000 yen, which was money I'd saved up. If I went over, I'd be eating dirt this month. Kusanagi likes fish and shrimp, so those were essential. I'd been wanting beef for a long time, but with the budget being tight, I had to say goodbye to it.
Kusanagi rarely came to this kind of fresh food supermarket, so she looked around curiously. She suddenly saw me calculating the bill with a frown, and a hint of suspicion flashed in her dark pupils.
She walked up to me and asked casually, 'What's your monthly salary for your part-time job?'
'About 50,000 yen.' My mind was full of calculations, so I answered her subconsciously.
This figure was much lower than she had imagined. Her gaze darkened. 'Let me ask you again, what's 200 minus 15?'
What kind of question is that? Testing my IQ? Although puzzled, I still answered hesitantly, 'It's 185.'
The girl quickly threw out another question: 'How much do you have left in your savings?'
'About 1.95 million yen...' I was dazed, only later realizing she was tricking me into revealing information.
'In other words, you haven't touched Mr. Kuroki's money at all these past few months. You've been using your own salary, and aside from spending a bit on cooking for me, you haven't touched a cent of the rest. Is that it?' The girl was aggressive, seemingly angry.
'Why are you suddenly asking this?' I replied softly, sensing Kusanagi's face darken instantly.
I had spent a little of Mr. Kuroki's money, but most of it was kept aside. Usually, Kusanagi didn't eat much, so I could afford it.
'Are you supporting me?' The girl was incredulous, her expression a mix of anger and speechlessness.
Always carrying bags of groceries, specifically rushing for the supermarket's promotion times, having no extracurricular activities... After being in Tokyo for so long, I'd only been to Senso-ji Temple once and nowhere else. I thought after getting that money, I wouldn't have to eat cold rice balls anymore, but I didn't expect things to be even more strained than before.
Support her? How could I afford to support her on this salary? It was a bit embarrassing. I pondered her words a few times and felt something was off.
Support her? That's something parents or a husband should do.
I'm not really supporting her, right? I just prioritize what she likes to eat, take care of daily life, and do some laundry. After all, I'm an adult; these things are expected.
They're just ordinary things in daily life. I'm willing to spend my own money on her.
Why? Is it because I don't want to owe anyone, or do I have some inexplicable concern for her?
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
"Beef, sushi boat, sukiyaki. This and this, I want it all, and the tuna, the most expensive one."
The young girl stood by, giving orders. With a mere gesture of her slender, fair hand, the store clerk would eagerly rush to present the items, and in no time, the entire shopping basket was filled.
"Respected customer, everything has been packed for you. Please turn left ahead to check out." The clerk was incredibly enthusiastic, but seeing those two overflowing baskets, my jaw nearly dropped in shock.
So much! And she only picked the most! Expensive! Ones! In just this short while, I felt like I was going to die of shock.
"Miss Kusanagi, isn't this a bit excessive?!" This had to be at least several tens of thousands of yen; it had already exceeded today's budget by several times! Was there any need to buy a sushi boat? Just one of those cost 5,000 yen!
"I like to eat them. Miss Nozawa, can you buy them for me?" She acted completely out of character, gently swaying my arm, her glistening gaze like water, appearing soft and obedient.
It was clearly an act. And she was acting way too well. Damn it...
"Is that okay? Hmm?" The young girl intensified her offensive, her usually cold, clear voice now tinged with sweetness.
The female clerk smiled in a professional yet warm manner. "That will be 48,000 yen in total. You can scan the PayPal code here, or pay in cash."
...As long as she likes it, I can buy her anything.
The young girl tilted her head, smiling wickedly. She had successfully hunted me down using her beautiful exterior.
48,000 yen, game over. On the way back, I drifted along as if I had lost half my soul.
A huge chunk of Mr. Kuroki's money had been spent. How many part-time jobs would I have to work to make that up!
Kusanagi didn't care at all; the tips of her black hair curled and swayed happily.
"You really like eating beef?"
"Ah, yes," I said. "Beef is a high-quality protein, it doesn't make you gain weight, and eating it makes you stronger."
Likes eating beef. Noted.
"Besides beef, what else do you like? What do you like to drink, what color do you like, what's your zodiac sign?" The young girl's eyes were bright and dark.
This topic jumped around really fast. Why was she suddenly asking these things?
"I know you like drinking beer," the young girl chimed in, "and eating barbecue."
These hobbies sounded like a man's. My head started to ache vaguely. Was I really that unrefined in Kusanagi's eyes?
"I prefer tempura, as well as ramen and sushi. I like white, because doctors' white coats are white, and angels are also white."
"I like black." Kusanagi stretched out her hands, the pitch-black, cool nail polish on her fingers gleaming brightly.
"I know you like black." I had long known she liked black—the black guitar, the black nail polish, the spotless black hair, yet her skin was as fair as jade, setting off a stark contrast of black and white.
"Black can dye white into black," the young girl said in a light, airy tone. "White is too weak; it's a color that's easily captured."
What kind of dangerous statement was that?
Once white is dyed black, it becomes one with the black and can never return to white.
It only takes a single drop of black for white to be tainted.
Tainted. My face suddenly flushed a strange red. What kind of nonsense was this?!
Remembering that she had also asked about my favorite zodiac sign, I coughed lightly and immediately changed the subject. "I like Aries. I once had my fortune told, and it said my other half would be an Aries, the best match for my sign."
I was born in November, a Scorpio. This was the truth, and coincidentally, I didn't have a single Aries among my friends or relatives, and I had long forgotten the zodiac sign of the person I had dated before.
"Aries?"
"Mm, right, I like Aries the most." I even made sure to repeat it.
The young girl went eerily quiet for a moment. She said softly, "I am an Aries."
"..." I quickly looked away, and Kusanagi tacitly turned her head away as well; the two of us fell into an awkward silence.
It was so awkward that my toes were curling; I was practically digging a hole to hide in. How was this any different from sexually harassing someone on the spot?
...So Kusanagi was an Aries?
I felt my head and stomach ache in knots. I really wanted to perform a cranial nerve block surgery on myself to forget everything that had just happened.
We continued walking in silence until we passed a fruit and dessert shop, where Kusanagi stopped.
"Do you like strawberries?" She glanced at me.
"...They're alright." My gaze drifted uncertainly.
"What about watermelon?"
"I super... like it." My will began to waver unsteadily. Don't you know how expensive fruit is in Japan? Nozawa, wake up!
"What a coincidence, I like them too. Buy it all for me." The young girl's thick eyelashes curved into an evil crescent, and she grabbed my hand and walked inside.
I stumbled as she pulled me along. This young lady had forgotten her own request in the blink of an eye. What happened to not holding hands?
The sensation from her palm was cool and smooth. She picked through the fruit happily, talking non-stop to the clerk, forgetting to let go of my hand.
I looked down at her hand. Her fingertips were tucked into my palm, and the back of her hand was smooth and delicate. Unlike the hands of an average girl, hers were long and large, enough to even wrap around my entire palm.
It was probably better not to remind her.
On this midsummer night, perhaps the deep blue sky had been burned through by sparks flying from the sun, creating countless tiny holes that leaked out a bit of transparent light, appearing especially bright at night.
It was quite bright outside, shining on my face.
Buying fruit, 8,000 yen, game over.
Kusanagi was happier than ever. She helped cut the watermelon, sliced it into pieces, arranged them on a pure white ceramic plate, and after setting it on the dining table, she hummed a song and ran over to wash the strawberries carefully.
Since she was happy, no amount of money was too much to spend. This money was originally prepared for her, anyway. Although Mr. Kuroki had instructed me not to be extravagant and wasteful, this shouldn't count, right?
Whenever this girl smiled, I was willing to buy her anything! Never mind watermelon, I'd even buy her the sun.
I was worried she might cut her hand, so I kept glancing at her from the corner of my eye. Only when I saw she had finished cutting it successfully did I feel relieved enough to prepare the ingredients.
The workload for tonight's meal was huge. In order not to waste the ingredients bought with such a large sum of money, I even pulled up cooking videos to learn on the spot, starting from marinating the seasoning.
Kusanagi picked up a strawberry from the running water, removed the soft green leaves, washed it, and tasted one. The sweet, refreshing, and tart flavor of the strawberry instantly filled her entire mouth.
The young girl couldn't help but eat another one.
"The strawberries are very sweet. You should have one too."
"Okay, I'll have one in a bit—" Before I could even finish responding, she blocked my mouth with the strawberry in her hand.
The strawberry was small, and her knuckles inevitably brushed against my upper lip. The touch of her cool, damp fingers lasted only a moment before she quickly pulled them back.
Holding the strawberry, she fed me one with a cold, detached expression. She seemed completely indifferent to the detail of accidentally touching my lips and turned to go to the living room to watch TV, though the strawberry she was holding was a bit unsteady.
Mmm, it really was very sweet.
As I ate, I wondered: was the cool, soft sensation on my lips her fingertips or the strawberry? Perhaps it was both.
"Finally, mission accomplished!"
An hour later, all the fish bones from the table full of luxurious seafood had been removed with tweezers. Today, I had unlocked a new skill: using seafood to train the precision of my surgical knife skills! In the future, when I perform actual operations, they will surely be even more perfect!
Hearing a knock at the door, Kusanagi strode forward with her long legs. "They're here."
She walked over in her white socks, paused upon seeing who it was, and frowned. "Why are you the only one here?"
Standing at the door was a tall young girl with a classic, delicate oval face and apricot-colored hair cascading down softly. She wore a bold and sultry crop top that highlighted her excellent, slender figure, clearly showing signs of having been carefully dressed up.
It was Inohara.
"Kyoko and Momozawa said they were delayed by something and will be here in a little while."
"Oh, okay." Kusanagi took out a pair of slippers and handed them to her, looking at her crop top with hesitation.
Inohara tossed her long hair, leaned in close to Kusanagi from above, and asked with a hint of allure in her voice, "Does this outfit look good?"
"Why are you suddenly dressed like this?"
Kusanagi's gaze swept over Inohara's exposed shoulders and fair, flat abdomen. It wasn't that it didn't look good, but why would she dress like this to come to her house?
"If you don't like it, I'll change right now."
"Do whatever you want."
Inohara seemed exceptionally familiar with Kusanagi's home. She headed upstairs with practiced ease, not even greeting me in the kitchen, and walked straight toward Kusanagi's room.
Inohara was by herself, and she was dressed so beautifully—a high school student dressed so sexily and sultry.
It was completely different from the way she looked when I first met her; her aloof demeanor now carried a hint of charming allure.
I looked at Kusanagi in confusion. The young girl spread her hands in helplessness. "Kyoko and Momozawa suddenly said they couldn't make it, so we can't rehearse tonight."
"Then let's eat first; there's so much food." I glanced at the clock; it was almost past dinner time. "Did Inohara go upstairs?"
Kusanagi touched the bridge of her nose awkwardly. "Uh, she said she wanted to change her clothes."
She dressed so beautifully on purpose, so why did she want to change?
Just as I was puzzled, Inohara came down wearing a loose white tank top. She was only wearing underwear underneath. Although the baggy tank top was wide, it clung intimately to her skin, revealing the alluring curves of her waist and hips from the side.
The first time I heard Kusanagi sing on the balcony, she was wearing this very same white tank top. Intimate apparel is a very private and personal thing; Kusanagi had even bitten me twice because of it.
I stared blankly for a few seconds.
Was their relationship really this close?