Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330656338883634/episodes/16817330656383696597
“I’m sorry. I had sex with another guy.”
After a class at campus.
I wondered what was going on because my girlfriend, who I had been dating since high school, called me out of the blue, and that was the first thing she said to me.
She goes to a nearby university, and it seems that she and a senior student in the same circle had been getting along well for a while.
And the other day, he finally took her home and slept with her.
“Let’s break up.”
“Yeah, let’s break up.”
The happy times as a couple came to an abrupt end.
☆
After breaking up with my girlfriend, I, Kusuhara Itsuki, went to a pub and drank as much beer as I could.
Before thinking about anger or sadness, I just wanted to forget about it.
I wanted to erase everything from my memory.
On the way home after dark, it was raining heavily.
The cold rain in early autumn cooled my drunken head in no time.
It ruined my drunkenness.
Fortunately, I had a folding umbrella with me, so I walked with it.
It was only a few minutes away from my apartment when I met someone.
A silver-haired woman was leaning against the corner of the street, sitting on her knees.
It was dark, so I couldn’t be sure, but for some reason she seemed to be wearing something like a maid’s uniform.
Was it a cosplay? In a place like this?
Her eyes were open, but it was hard to tell where she was looking. They were cloudy, as if they had lost their light.
Instinctively, I thought to myself that this is someone I shouldn’t get involved with.
“Um…..are you all right?”
Before I knew it, I was holding an umbrella over the maid’s head and calling out to her.
I think it was because she looked lonely, like an abandoned cat.
“Yeah……thank you very much.”
The maid looked at me, then noticed the presence of the umbrella.
“It’s all right. I’m just lost on the street.”
“I don’t think that’s what you call being all right.”
“Is it? It’s just that I’ve been having an affair with someone’s husband, and his wife kicked me out?”
“……A-adultery?”
The maid gives a giggle and a shady smile.
“I’m joking. In truth, it was just a lay off. A young and lovely new maid has arrived, so they don’t need me anymore. What a cheapskate, even though he’s rich. It’s a hard world we live in.”
The maid who spoke self-deprecatingly seemed to have a real feeling for what she was saying, so I didn’t think it was a lie.
“Are you a real maid?”
“A former one, sir.”
If we are to believe her story, she is a stray maid who was abandoned by her master.
“How did a former maid end up here?”
“I was a stay-at-home employee, so I didn’t have a home to go back to.”
“Any family or friends?”
“None.”
The maid replies in a heartbeat.
Well, she wouldn’t be here if she had a place to go…….
“Then would you like to come to my house anyway?”
“……Why?”
“If you don’t, you’ll die here.”
It’s not quite cold, but it’s cold enough. You can freeze to death with a little time to spare.
“I don’t care if I die.”
“What are you talking about? There’s no point in dying.”
I became a little angry and my words became more forceful.
“Anyway, please take a hot bath at my house. I’ll dry your maid uniform for you.”
I took the maid’s hand. And surprisingly, she stands up by herself.
“Can you move?”
“Well, somehow. Humans are surprisingly strong.”
“Surprisingly strong, surprisingly fragile.”
You don’t break easily, but at the drop of a hat, you fall apart. Relationships that were supposed to be connected at heart, everything.
I put my umbrella under my arm and started walking slowly.
“You’re very kind, aren’t you?”
The maid whispers to me.
“You have the same look as me.”
“………….”
The upset that rushed through me suddenly.
It felt like a gap in my heart had been poked.
“Do you need me?”
“…..I guess so. Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, it would be a bad feeling if you were to die.”
“I see.”
The palm of her hand, which had been pulled by me, was now tightly gripped back.
“That’s…good for you.”
Her voice was much softer than before, and seemed to be filled with relief.