Chapter 154 – The color seen in an Instance

The day after they reached home, the first thing they did was to clean up.

Amane felt so tired upon reaching home, and let it be. The house was full of dust two weeks after it was vacated, not much, but it would be better for him to clean up as much as possible since Mahiru would be staying.

Thus, Amane started cleaning the house using the tricks Mahiru taught him. On a side note, it appeared Mahiru too was cleaning her own house, so Amane was putting up a solo fight.

Thanks to her, he could maintain the cleanliness of his house, though he might not be considered adept at it. You do not have to spend much effort if you do this studiously. You will expend much time effort because you let it pile up. It was as she said.

He abided by her advise, and a simple cleanup was all it took to tidy the house.

There was some dust on the furniture, and it did not take him much time.

He deftly wiped away the dust on the furniture, vacuumed it away, wiped the windows, and looked at the time.

It was past 3pm.

The supermarket he frequented often held their discount sales starting at 4pm. It was about time for him to leave.

Now that I think of it, I’ve become quite the housemaker.

He had to visit the supermarket as he had cleared out his fridge before they returned home, and there was no ingredient for dinner. He managed his breakfast and lunch with cup ramen and frozen food, but not for dinner.

Amane was to buy the ingredients, and share half the cost. It was normal to think of spending less…but still a little strange a high school boy to think of food expenses.

He chuckled at this change in him. In any case, he had to change his slightly dirty clothes, so he went to his room.

“…Hm?”

Amane was headed to the supermarket with thoughts on his mind, only to spot a familiar looking light colored hair.

He instinctively turned around, and naturally, found only a back facing him. The hair was not as long as Mahiru, and he was a different gender to begin with. It was rare to see such natural hair color.

So he pondered about the rare encounter as he entered the supermarket. He was putting the dinner ingredients into the basket, “Eh?” only to be met with a familiar voice behind me.

“It’s rare to see you here.”

“Ah, Kuju?”

It was the boy who he was acquainted with during the cavalry battle thanks to Kadowaki, and like Amane, he too had a basket on his elbow.

To wit, he had candy and sweets in his basket, stuff more typical of a high school boy’s purchase than Amane.

“You stay around here, Fujimiya?”

“Yeah. I don’t remember you staying around here though, Kuju…”

“Just staying over at a friend’s place, so I’m out shopping. Wait…dinner?”

“Yep, ingredients for dinner.”

It was obvious on first glance that Amane had stuff that would never be mistaken as tidbits, like raw chicken, carrots, milk and tofu.

“Speaking of which, you’re living alone? That’s really amazing.”

“Well, I rely on Mahiru for my meals though…”

“…I think you mentioned that…that’s an amazing life you’re living.”

“Yeah. I’m always grateful for Mahiru all this while.”

Amane’s food intake would probably be in disarray if not for Mahiru. He could at least tidy up the house, but he was bad at cooking.

Without her, he would not have this lifestyle to speak of.

I really got to thank her, Amane muttered with a wry smile, and Kuju sighed hard.

“But well, seriously…you’re heads over heels for her, you know?”

“Yeah. Same goes for Mahiru.”

“You sound very confident.”

“I know she really loves me.”

Amane was never confident of Mahiru’s feelings towards him before they started dating, but it was different at this point. He knew she treasured and loved him lots, and understood that her earnest wish was to stay by his side.

He realized that he was not thinking too much, but that it was a fact. This was proof enough that Amane gained self-confidence.

This time, it was Kuju who showed a wry smile at Amane’s deft answer.

“Well, it’s great that you have confidence, much better than when you two were playing tango even though you two obviously had feelings.”

“How harsh.”

“It’s obvious that she liked you. Well, it’s got nothing to me, but I guess it’s best for you two to be happy.”

Kuju shrugged. Amane understood it was praise completely from him, and smiled.

“…Well, Yuuta accepted this, so I guess it’s a happy ending.”

“Hm?”

“Ah, nothing. I’ll go pay up then.”

Why Kadowaki? Amane wondered,  but Kuju hurried off before he could ask. Though curious, Amane turned around, and slipped the dinner ingredients into the basket, as recorded on the phone.

#JusticeForKadowaki