Chapter 156: What Do You Like About Hayasaka Ai?
In the taxi.
Sakurai and the white-haired Onee-san Hayasa-nyan sat together in the back seat.
After giving the address to the driver—
The car began to slowly roll forward.
"Nyan~ nyannyannyan~" Hayasaka Ai was singing and meowing at the same time.
Sakurai had never heard the song before, because in truth, she was just drunk and making noise—the melody was kind of catchy though.
She passed out after just one drink—clearly, someone with that kind of constitution shouldn't be going to bars. Good thing he was there; otherwise, the consequences were unthinkable.
Judging by the way she entered the bar earlier, it was probably her first time.
Combined with today's superpower, maybe this was also a sign of good luck?
Wandering the streets and randomly meeting a white-haired Onee-san who nyannyan like a cat, and now she's drunk, and next, she's going to sleep over at his place.
In a situation like this, anything happening during the night wouldn't be surprising.
"Little Brother~ what's your name? Tell Onee-san, nyan~" Hayasaka Ai gently shook her head, the black mask on her face nearly falling off from her movement. Even earlier when drinking, she hadn't taken it off.
"We probably don't have any connection, right? So forget the name." Sakurai didn't want to be clung to by this strange girl.
"Nya?" Hayasaka Ai tilted her head, thought for a few seconds, then said, "Little Brother, you can call Onee-san 'Cat-onee-san', nyan~."
"Cat." Sakurai didn't like calling strangers 'Onee-san.'
"…Nyaaaaa~" Hayasaka Ai yawned. "So sleepy, nyan~"
ᓚ₍^- .-^₎ -ᶻ 𝗓 Z
As soon as she said that, she lay her head down sideways on Sakurai's lap.
The taxi wasn't that spacious—there wasn't really anywhere to dodge to.
Sakurai didn't try to avoid her either.
She gave him a strangely familiar feeling.
...
By the time she woke up again, they were already in front of Sakurai Saki's apartment in Setagaya Ward. After paying the fare, he helped the cat-girl out of the car.
She seemed to be a lot more sober now.
"Little Brother, you brought Onee-san home like this—won't your girlfriend be mad if she finds out, nyan~?"
"She's very understanding," Sakurai Saki replied, and he wasn't lying.
On the surface, Hayasaka Ai was quite generous. Last time she even let Sakurai Saki take Fujiwara Chika to the infirmary.
As for whether she was secretly jealous behind his back—Sakurai Saki had no idea.
"What a sweet relationship~" Hayasaka Ai asked, "What do you like about her?"
/ᐠ,,≖⩊≖,,マ
This question—Sakurai Saki had been asked once before.
He thought for a moment, then remembered who it was.
It was that love rival, Herthaka-kun.
But Sakurai didn't care about that rival anymore. That guy couldn't take Hayasaka Ai from him—Sakurai was confident of that.
But this time, the person asking was different.
It was a girl. And not just that, a girl he had just met.
Somehow, it felt easier to share things with her.
Sakurai Saki really wanted to talk about his relationship with someone, but if it were someone too close, he'd get so embarrassed he couldn't say a word.
"I like everything. There's nothing I don't like." Sakurai said as he helped the still-somewhat-drunk "Cat-onee-san" up the stairs.
"The moon is so beautiful, nyan~" "Cat-onee-san" looked up at the moon in the sky.
"No one uses sappy lines like that anymore these days." Sakurai chuckled.
That famous quote from Natsume Souseki might've been romantic twenty years ago.
"'I like everything' and all that nyan-nyan nonsense... sounds so half-hearted, nyan~" "Cat" mumbled.
As she said that, she even pulled her mask down slightly and blew a breath into Sakurai's face.
It carried the scent of alcohol, mixed with the fresh notes of mojito.
"The first time I met her was at the base of the classroom building," Sakurai Saki began to reminisce.
...
A year ago, two months after the start of the school year.
Sakurai Saki was planning to stop by a small supermarket near the cafeteria to buy some bread. Having just moved to Tokyo, he didn't want to make his mother spend more money, so lately he'd been trying to earn a bit himself through a part-time job.
Bento meals were honestly expensive and a hassle to prepare. Grabbing a few pieces of bread for lunch was more economical, and dinner at his part-time job was even free.
"This is such a pain. Only getting five or six hours of sleep a day—there's no way I can keep doing this job."
The voice that caught his attention came from a hidden corner around a bend.
Sakurai Saki walked over with an expressionless face and glanced at the person inside.
A student uniform, blonde hair tied into a ponytail slanting to the left—that was his classmate, name... Hayasaka Ai.
The flashy gyaru of the class, quite popular.
Sakurai Saki didn't care about any of that. At school, there was no one he paid attention to. More accurately, he wasn't interested in anything around him.
If someone annoyed him, he'd just crush them—that was it. As for gossip behind his back, he didn't give a damn. An Esper doesn't concern himself with the opinions of insects.
When Hayasaka noticed Sakurai——
"Sakurai-san? What a coincidence, running into you here again." Hayasaka Ai immediately tucked away the tired expression from earlier and returned to being the cheerful, lively girl.
"Hayasaka-san? Good afternoon." Sakurai stopped walking.
"Good afternoon. Are you going to lunch, Sakurai-san?"
"Umu."
"Then you'd better hurry. The bread's going to be sold out soon."
"Alright. Thanks for the reminder."
"No problem."
...
At the apartment, outside Sakurai Saki's place.
"…After that, we gradually got closer."
"Cat-onee-san" had a face full of question marks after hearing the story.
Hayasa-nyan: /ᐠ ಠ_ಠマ
What the hell is this guy talking about!?
Their first meeting a year ago—okay, the first half sounded pretty accurate, but the second half of the conversation? It actually went like this——
[Me: Sakurai-san, what a coincidence! We're meeting again!
Sakurai: Who the hell are you? Are we close or something?
Me: We're classmates! Sakurai-san, don't you recognize me?
Sakurai: Can you not be so familiar? What's wrong with you?
Me: Sakurai-san, that's really mean! (covers face and cries)
Sakurai: What, are you sick? Muttering and complaining to yourself here—if you're not sick, what are you?
Me: You're the one who's sick! Say that again if you dare!
Sakurai: Dumbass.]
And after saying that last line, he just walked off.
A textbook emotionless robot of a man!
"I heard her complaining, and I just couldn't leave her be. After that, I started talking with her more to help her mentally. I told her not to stress about work too much, and to stop doubting herself. Before long, we became close."
"Cat-onee-san" rolled her eyes hard.
/ᐠ ˵¬_¬˵マ
'Mental therapy!?'
Just thinking about it made "Cat-onee-san" want to force her main body to break up with this guy immediately.
Close? Well, sure, they were close… but only in the physical sense!
And besides, when she hit him—he hit back! That's right! Even when a girl hit him, he'd respond without hesitation! No mercy, no letting it slide!
He even once called himself a "gender equality supporter"!
Lord Kazuma: ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
As Sakurai recounted the story, he unlocked the door and led "Cat-onee-san" into the rented apartment.
They took off their shoes at the entryway.
"As for what I like about her... I guess it's as countless as the stars in the sky." Sakurai Saki said gently.
"This is Tokyo, you can't even see stars at night, nyan~."
Sakurai turned to look at Cat-onee-san. "That's okay."
"All I need to do is look into her eyes."
"Nya-ni?"
"Did you know? There really are stars in her eyes. Just by staring into those eyes, I realize how deeply I've fallen for her."
Sakurai glanced into the girl's eyes, his voice soft:
"It's kind of funny—you and she have the same eye color. A deep ocean blue that's impossible to forget once you've seen it."
Sakurai waited a few seconds and noticed the white-haired Onee-san in front of him had lowered her head.
"Eh? Why aren't you saying anything?"
"No... it's nothing, nyan."
Hayasa-nyan: (,,¬﹏¬,,)
Just keep confessing like that. I can take it, nyan~!
Hayasa-nyan inside: (∩˃ω˂∩) ♡♡♡