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The year-end was drawing near.
"Being like this, it really feels like the end of the year, doesn't it?" Komachi said, her voice completely relaxed as she had her feet tucked into the kotatsu. There were only a few days left in the year. This year had been full of changes, starting with my university entrance exams.
I had successfully passed my preferred university and started living alone for the first time in Tokyo to attend it. It hadn't been a full year yet, but university life had passed in the blink of an eye.
"Yeah, it has."
For me, ending such an eventful year meant relaxing at home. After getting used to living alone, spending time with familyâor rather, just my sister and meâfelt especially precious. Or so it was supposed to be.
"Senpai~"
For some reason, my junior from high school was with us, sharing the kotatsu at my house.
"Could you get me a mandarin orange? And peel it for me while you're at it."
"No, do it yourself..."
"I can't~ Kar-kun is here."
Kamukura was curled up on Isshiki's belly, which was sprawled out. You're a bit too comfortable, aren't you...?
"It's fine, Big Brother, just peel it for her. And for Komachi too."
"You two..."
Apparently, they had become close through student council and service club activities, and judging by how comfortable Isshiki was, it wasn't her first time visiting our house.
She was here in place of our parents, who had gone on a year-end trip, saying, "Hooray for the holidays!" But shouldn't Isshiki be spending time with her own family?
"Just to ask, is your family okay with this?" I asked as I peeled a mandarin orange. Isshiki stroked Kamakura on her belly and replied,
"It's totally fine. Even if it's an overnight stay, it's like a countdown festival, isn't it?"
"I wish you wouldn't just make my house into a festival venue..."
Besides, I only heard about Isshiki staying over after I had already come home.
Well, it's fine, I mumbled to myself, when Komachi suddenly got out of the kotatsu.
"Alright, I think I'll go take a bath now."
What...? I had just finished peeling the mandarin orange for Komachi... Komachi, oblivious to my gaze, walked briskly out of the living room.
"Here, it's peeled."
"Okay~ Thank you~"
As Isshiki sat up, Kamakura, who had been on her belly, immediately settled onto Komachi's cushion. Yeah, human warmth is nice, isn't it?
"Senpai."
While I was thinking foolish thoughts like, I want to enjoy Komachi's lingering warmth, not just her scent! and tearing apart a mandarin orange, Isshiki suddenly spoke.
"How's university? Is it fun?"
I couldn't answer that question immediately, but of course, Isshiki Iroha was a prospective student. She probably wanted to envision a vibrant university life to boost her motivation.
"Well, it's completely different from high school, so I don't know if I'd say it's 'fun,' but... A lot of people do things on their own, so in that sense, it's pretty laid-back."
"Oh, really...? But there are lots of welcome parties and joint parties, right?"
"Who do you think I am...? No, there aren't. Not at all."
"But what about making a fresh start in university and going wild?"
"Listen... Do I look like I've made a fresh start at university and am enjoying university life right now?"
"No, not at all."
Hey, Iroha! Think a little! Think about it before you deny it! And yet, you still end up denying it.
Isshiki suddenly put on a serious face and continued to question me.
"...So, have you gotten a girlfriend?"
"Were you even listening to what I just said? There's no way."
"Right~"
Hearing my answer, Isshiki replied with an incredibly bright smile. Is my loneliness really that enjoyable to you?
"You really do have a nice personality, don't you..."
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you insulting my personality? Aren't you putting your own awful personality on a shelf?"
"You're right, I can't argue, but your way of putting it is too harsh..."
My eyes are bad, and my personality is bad, and I thought about making my body odor bad too, just to hit a "bad" hat-trick, but I got sad just thinking about it, so I stopped.
But it's strange; even though she's completely denying my personality, this exchange feels somewhat comfortable. Conversations with Isshiki have a kind of nostalgic warmth.
"Senpai, in your opinion,"
Isshiki dropped her smile, and her gaze seemed to grow more serious. Her eyes implicitly told me to answer seriously.
"Huh?"
"Would you prefer a more feminine, devoted type of girl?"
That question was a bit difficult to answer immediately. As someone who aims to be a full-time househusband in the future, I'm fully prepared to be devoted, but if I said that, I'd probably just be told to answer seriously.
"I don't have a particular desire for that, but... well, it'd be helpful if someone made me food. Cooking for myself is pretty troublesome."
"Heh~"
Isshiki, who had asked the question herself, responded with a drawn-out voice that showed absolutely no interest. What is with her...?
"Which university are you applying to, Isshiki?"
"Well, I am~"
I realized I had never asked her before, and her answer was a university with a higher deviation score than mine. It was a university I had considered when choosing my own, so I remembered the name well.
"...You're pretty smart, aren't you?"
"Ugh, what's with that tone? Are you provoking me?"
Saying that, Isshiki kicked my leg under the kotatsu. It didn't hurt at all, and her slightly pouting face was cute, so I wished she'd stop.
"I need to be able to pass easily, you know."
"Hmph..."
I thought she had successfully served as student council president, but it turns out she had become a "high-consciousness" girl somewhere along the way. While it might be rude to say it's surprising, it's not impossible.
"So, if I pass, then..."
Isshiki stopped there and smiled at me. For some reason, it was incredibly fleeting. She spoke with a smile that seemed to hold a prayer.
"Please show me around Tokyo, okay?"
I was speechless at an expression I had never seen before. But then again, I didn't have many answers.
"Eh..."
"Geez, why do you have to be so unwilling?"
Her unwilling voice and exasperated expression. That felt like me, and that felt like Isshiki.
I wished that next year, after her exams were safely over, we could continue this kind of exchange. I thought about that.
â---------
A few years later, on New Year's Eve.
"Wow, we finally bought one, didn't we?" Iroha, my junior from my student days and now my wife, said as she tucked her feet into the newly purchased kotatsu.
"I wasn't planning on buying one, though."
Every Japanese person knows the comfort of a kotatsu. And once you put your feet in, everything becomes a hassle, and your laziness increases by 50% compared to usual. I had no intention of buying one because it didn't match our Western-style living room, but I couldn't bear the recent cold and finally gave in.
"Senpai,"
Iroha called me by the same name she always had, even after we were married, and turned to me, beckoning.
"My back is cold."
"...Alright."
What those words implied was immediately clear due to our long relationship. I sat behind Iroha, as if to hug her, and tucked my feet into the kotatsu. In this position, only my knees fit, so my back was cold.
"Oh, now we don't need the heater, do we?"
"My back is cold, though..."
Warmed by the kotatsu and me, Iroha swayed her upper body, in a good mood. She probably heard my grumbling, but it didn't seem to register.
"It feels nostalgic, somehow."
"What does?"
"Being in the kotatsu with you like this. Come to think of it, that day was also New Year's Eve."
Now that she mentioned it, something like that did happen in the past. It was one of many memories from when we were just a senior and a junior. I never thought in a million years what would happen in this world. I never thought I'd become so infatuated with Iroha.
"Iroha,"
When I called out to her, Iroha tilted her head, saying, "Hmm?"
"When did you start liking me?"
"Are you asking me that, expecting me to answer?"
Accompanying her counter-question was her familiar, devilishly charming smile. She was as calculating as ever, and ridiculously cute. Every time I thought about that, I truly realized how much I loved this person.
"Isn't 'until when' more important than 'since when'?"
"Eh... what kind of scary thing are you saying...?"
Will I be abandoned someday...? As such a playful thought floated through my mind, Iroha squeezed my hand tightly.
"Senpai,"
Iroha mumbled, gently squeezing the back of my hand. After firmly checking my body temperature, she leaned against me and said,
"Now my lips are cold."
Her upward gaze made me feel as if my consciousness and everything else would be sucked in. And so, even after we were married, I was always at Iroha's mercy, completely infatuated. But that was a good thing.
"You get cold easily, Iroha..."
So I murmured such a silly thing. And then, I gently warmed Iroha's lips.