(Yare yare.)
Saiki walked to the balcony, hands resting on the railing. A gentle breeze brushed across his face.
(Why did she make that kind of expression? Seriously, if she doesn't say anything in a situation like this, how is anyone supposed to help her? Wait—no, I don't have any reason to help her either. Even though our relationship is a bit closer, something like this…)
Saiki turned to look at the neighboring balcony of Shiina Mahiru's room—it was neatly organized but had very few things placed there.
On his side, though, there were still a few potted flowers, apparently taken care of by Shiina Mahiru.
Saiki raised an eyebrow and sighed.
(What's wrong with me? My goal has already been achieved. I didn't have to do anything, didn't have to say a word—Shiina-san is planning to leave on her own. This has nothing to do with me!)
That's what Saiki thought, but whenever the image of Shiina Mahiru's conflicted and pained expression appeared in his mind, he felt a little irritated.
(What is this irritated feeling? This level of irritation is the same as coming home hungry, opening the fridge, and finding it empty!)
(Hm… no, it's more like lining up forever to buy limited-edition coffee jelly, and right when it's my turn, it's sold out!)
(Ah~ no, that's not it either. It's like when other kids save their New Year's pocket money, save and save, and when they finally want to use it, Mom says it's all spent!)
(꒪⌓꒪)
Saiki scratched his hair.
(That doesn't seem right either.)
(Yare yare, troublesome, really troublesome, seriously troublesome.)
Saiki clicked his tongue, picked up his phone, scrolled through his contacts, found "Grandpa" in the family list, and dialed.
"Beep… beep… click." The call connected.
A deep, resonant voice came from the other end.
"Hello! Is that Kusuo?"
[Yeah, it's me. It's Kusuo. Long time no see, Grandpa.]
There was two seconds of silence on the other end before the voice spoke again.
"What do you mean long time no see? Ever since you moved out, we haven't seen each other at all!
You never call on your own either. Who knows what you've been busy with. What made you finally call Grandpa!"
Saiki asked with concern.
[Nothing much. I just called, didn't I? By the way, have you eaten?]
"You're only asking now?"
After a moment of silence, the voice came again.
"Hmph! I ate."
[What'd you have!]
"Nothing special, just something simple. Rice, grilled steak, pasta, Peking duck, shrimp, oh, and those recently imported hairy crabs…"
(That's really "just something simple," huh, Gran—dpa!)
Saiki's mouth twitched as he continued asking.
[Was it good?]
The other end fell silent again. After ten seconds, just as Saiki was about to ask if he'd have dessert for dinner,
Grandpa's voice came through.
"Alright, enough. Kusuo, is there something you need? Asking me all these questions—you ran into some trouble again, right? I can tell just from hearing you."
(As expected of Grandpa—so sharp.)
The corner of Saiki's mouth curved slightly. He walked to the edge of the balcony where the flowers were, leaned against it, and touched the petals.
[No, just one thing I wanted to tell you, Grandpa…]
...
When Saiki came back in from the balcony, he saw that the food was already prepared and set on the dining table. Shiina Mahiru had taken off her apron and was smiling at Saiki. "Saiki-kun, perfect timing. I was just about to call you. It's ready—it's the tonkatsu you said you wanted!"
Saiki noticed Shiina Mahiru's eyes were a little red on one side but didn't pay it much mind. He nodded, went to the table, and sat down.
[Hm. Itadakimasu.]
Shiina Mahiru sat beside him, picked up her bowl and chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!"
"Mmm~ so good. How's the taste, Saiki-kun?"
[Hm, delicious.]
The two ate just like usual, as if nothing had happened, calmly finishing the meal.
After dinner.
Saiki went to the fridge, took out two coffee jellies, sat back on the sofa, and leisurely ate them.
"Eating that right after a meal isn't great, you know."
[It's fine. Post-dinner dessert, right?]
Shiina Mahiru sat beside him in silence for a while.
"Um…"
Saiki finished the coffee jelly in two bites, turned to look at Shiina Mahiru—who had once again scooted incredibly close to him on the sofa—and asked with a rare smile.
[What's up?]
When Shiina Mahiru saw Saiki's smile, she unconsciously clenched her teeth again, desperately suppressing the bitterness rising in her chest.
"I…"
She had originally planned to just rip the bandage off and say it quickly, but the moment she saw Saiki's smile, memories flooded back. The words she wanted to say stopped dead, repeatedly filled with a bitterness like a hard-to-swallow bitter fruit.
Shiina Mahiru [What's wrong with me? Just say it directly—just say you're leaving, that you'll see each other less from now on. To Saiki-kun, you're just an ordinary classmate and neighbor anyway.]
Shiina Mahiru kept reminding herself, but the moment she thought about really not being able to see Saiki anymore, a sense of powerlessness and despair welled up inside her—extremely painful, feeling hollow.
It was as if after touching sunlight and feeling warmth, a black curtain wrapped around her, an acidic taste surging up, suppressing the pain.
"…"
Shiina Mahiru clenched her hands tightly. [No, I don't want to not see Saiki anymore. I don't, I don't… but]
Shiina Mahiru looked at Saiki with reddened eyes, as if trying to etch his appearance completely into her memory. "I can't keep cooking for you here anymore…"
[Okay. That wasn't really reasonable to begin with anyway.]
"No… it's not that, it's…"
"Beep… beep…"
Her phone vibrated. Shiina Mahiru picked it up, saw an unknown number, and was about to hang up.
[Go ahead and take the call.]
Saiki turned his head, turned on the TV, and said casually.
Shiina Mahiru nodded, walked to the kitchen, and answered.
"Moshi moshi…"
From the other end came a middle-aged woman's voice.
"Um, hello. Are you Miss Shiina Mahiru?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"Tokyo Governor Koizumi Yuriko. You're the young lady of the Shiina family, correct?"
Shiina Mahiru's eyes dimmed. "Not anymore."
"Mm, then I've got the right person. Our boss specifically asked me to take care of you. You're now classified as a student in need, selected for sponsorship. From now until you graduate university and can support yourself independently, we will provide full support.
School expenses, don't worry—we'll cover them. We'll also transfer 100,000 yen to you regularly."
(Yare yare, 100,000 yen. Nice. My monthly allowance has never even been that much.)
Saiki felt a tiny bit of envy.
❓
Shiina Mahiru was still stunned, staring at the distinctive phone number on her screen, almost suspecting it was a scam.
"Um, may I ask who your boss is?"
"Our boss is Mr. Sai… Saito."
(Mr. Saito is amazing! Mr. Saito is the best!)
"Don't ask too much more. Rest assured—we've already coordinated everything. Also, this number…"
"..."
After hanging up.
She had received two calls—one from Koizumi Yuriko just now, and the other was a number she searched for on her phone that belonged to some prefectural company in Tokyo.
After a moment of silence, Shiina Mahiru returned to her previous spot and looked at Saiki.
Before Shiina Mahiru could say anything, Saiki handed her a coffee jelly.
[Here. You look a lot better than earlier. Anything else you want to say?]
Shiina Mahiru took the coffee jelly. Suddenly her throat felt tight, her lips bit down hard, her voice choked up, as if something was about to burst.
[Hey! You're not going to cry, are you? Wait…]
Before Saiki could finish, Shiina Mahiru's eyes welled up with a layer of bitter mist. Her body threw itself onto Saiki.
Tears burst out like a string called "lychee" snapping in her mind.
"Mm… uuuu~"
[She cried after all~]
Saiki's mouth twitched. He sighed.
(Whatever. Just this once, I'll let it slide.)
Recalling how the pendant girl clinging tightly to him had been hesitating earlier, imagining hurting herself.
Saiki looked at Shiina Mahiru's slightly swollen eyes and gave a helpless smile.
[Yare yare…]
...