Episode 13 – Lonely child 2 Arisa’s point of view

I put down my phone and immediately hugged the girl whose voice I heard.

“Shizuku! I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Kyaa! Mouu”

The height difference between us is about 10 centimeters, so when I covered her with my hands, Shizuku’s body was completely buried in my arms.
I was so happy to see my childhood friend and best friend, Otsuki Shizuku, come to see me.

“I missed you because you didn’t come home with me today.”
“I’m sorry, Arisa.”

“Muu. I’ll forgive you if you comfort me.”
“I’ve prepared Arisa’s favorite curry today, so let’s eat it together.“

“Yay!”

I love the curry that Shizuku makes!　
Shizuku smiled and stepped toward the kitchen.
I decided to take my time and wait for my favorite dish to be ready.

“You’re lying on the couch again. Your uniform is all wrinkled.”
“Because …… I was bored.”

“Did you wash your hands properly? You have to rinse your hands and gargle.”　
“Yes~, Mommy.”

“I’m always ready to raise a child.”

I’m usually very strict at school, but at home I’m very lenient with Shizuku.
She is my best friend and my dearest childhood friend. She is the girl I trust the most outside of my relatives.
She is kind, cute, and a really awesome girl who can do anything.

“Leave the uniform there, I’ll iron it later, wait do not take it off here! …… Arisa, are you getting bigger again?”
“Hmmm~, it looks like it.”

“I’m going to have to go back to the store to buy more lingerie. Shall we go shopping next Saturday and Sunday?”
“Yes!”

Aah~ I really can rely on Shizuku. ……
I’m not sure if it’s just that I’m too lazy.

There is a reason why Shizuku has been so helpful to me.
When my brother left home for high school, I was left on my own, and I had a big mess in my kitchen, trying to cook for myself.
I was hopeless at doing laundry and cleaning, so Shizuku, who lived next door, volunteered to help me out.
She had always been a caring person, but she said she couldn’t watch me alone because she felt I was too dangerous.
So, after discussing it with my parents, we decided to hire Shizuku as a housekeeper.
Shizuku also wanted to have a part-time job to earn money when she entered high school, so it was a perfect match of interests.
Shizuku will now be responsible for general housework on weekends and three meals on weekdays.
It sounds like a lot of work with schoolwork and a part-time job, but Shizuku told me that on weekdays there is a separate housekeeper, so the load other than cooking is not so heavy.

I could smell the good smell of curry in the air.
Curry is often said to be the taste of home, but in my case, Shizuku’s curry will definitely be forever imprinted in my brain.

“On my way home today, I ran into Kokoro. We were walking home together, and it just happened.”
“How is she?”

“Same as ever. She seems to be absorbed in her club activities.”
“I see. If only Kokoro and we had gone to the same school, the three of us could have had dinner together like in the old days.”

I was a childhood friend of Shizuku and Kokoro, and we were together until we graduated from junior high school.
But Kokoro, who was a gifted swimmer, went to the same school as my brother, a strong swimming school.
We are now in high school, so I feel that it is inevitable that we will eventually grow apart.
But I still feel lonely because neither Shizuku nor I have many friends.
I sat down on a chair at the dining table when I heard a voice saying, “Curry is ready.”

“I’m fine as long as she’s doing well. But lately I’ve been a little worried because she hasn’t been sending me as many messages as she used to.”
“It’s …….”

“My message box is filled with Arisa’s messages, so I don’t feel lonely. By the way.”

Shizuku puts a bowl of curry in front of me.
It smells really good, I could eat a lot of it!　
Ah, but I have pancakes in my stomach, so even if I could eat it, it would probably be three cups.
Shizuku stopped with the bowl in front of her. I looked up at her and she was still smiling.

“You said the two of you were going home together, but who did you go home with today?”
“Ugh!”

I said something unnecessary. I was so happy to see her, but I couldn’t keep quiet about it.

“Today. I had time, so I invited Kogure-kun out. I asked him what he meant by getting close to Shizuku.”
“Eh?! Did you really do it? Mouu? You talked to him about it and called him out the same day.”
“If somebody’s going to hurt Shizuku, the sooner the better.”
“Well….. But the fact that you went home together means that Kogure-kun wasn’t harmed.”

“That’s …… true.”
“I told you so. I told you he wasn’t a bad person.”

Kogure-kun, huh?
A boy in the same class. I had the impression that he was an airy schoolboy until I met him.
He is neither poison nor medicine, he is insignificant. But …… I felt very comfortable talking with him.

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad.”
“Eh?　Heee, you’re going to say it outright. But it’s very unusual for Arisa, who hates boys, to want to go home with him.”
“That’s what Kokoro told me too.”

I am wary of boys who like me.
I’ve had a number of guys, dozens, maybe even more than three digits, look at me in a disgusting way and I’m not sure I can trust them.

To be honest, I am interested in love as much as anyone else. I read all the romance manga that Shizuku has, and sometimes I wish I could fall in love like them.
But I have never been in love. Well, maybe it’s because boys outside of my relatives come in with warnings.
To be honest, I don’t think it is necessary to fall in love in high school. Only a few guys and girls get married in high school.
So, it is enough to fall in love when you are a college student or, to be honest, when you are a working adult.
I am confident in my family background and looks, to my own self-praise. I can choose a better man when I grow up.

But I wonder why I was able to be so open-minded with Kogure-kun.
I thought I would never allow myself to be so careless with boys. ……
I guess I was relieved because he likes Shizuku and I know he doesn’t like me.

“I guess he’s not really a bad guy since Arisa is so willing to forgive him. I also thought he was talking to me for Arisa at first, but he didn’t seem to be.”
“I thought about that, too.”

Until now, there have not been any men who have messed around with Shizuku.
The whole purpose was to use them to lure me out of my good friend’s life.

So I’ve been giving legitimate sanction to any man who tries to involve Shizuku. …… Kogure seemed to be having a hard time with me.

“I was annoyed that I felt like I was being underestimated at the end.”
“Eh?”
“It’s nothing. The reason why he talked to Shizuku was on a whim. But she’s the cutest girl in the world, so maybe he liked her.”
“Mouu! The only people who can say that are Arisa and Kokoro. If you compare me to you two,”

Kogure can’t tell Shizuku that he has feelings for her just yet.
First of all, the two of them need to make their relationship more than friends. Because …….
I heard a beeping sound from my phone. I looked over there and saw that I had received a message.

“Oni, Aah, It was from Shizuru.”
“Eh, Shizuru san!?”

Shizuku’s expression brightened up.
Oh, she is so adorable. I love Shizuku with such a teasing expression on her face.
He is my older brother and lives in a dormitory so of course he rarely comes home.
All three of us have known each other for a long time, and even from a younger sister’s point of view,……, my brother is probably extremely popular.
There are no students at our school who can match my brother.
The only person who can match him in height and appearance is Hirasawa Reo. I looked at the message from my brother.

“Shizuru, he’s coming by my house tomorrow. Shall I invite him for dinner?”
“I see! Fufu, then Then… I have to make delicious rice. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Shizuru-san.”

Shizuku blushed and put her hand on her chest.
She has always been in love with him. But that love is too dangerous.
I have to do it fast, I have to do it fast. …… If I don’t do it soon, Shizuku will find out.
If she finds out, the bond between our three childhood friends may be broken.
I have to fire him up to prevent that from happening.
There were still unread messages on the line.
Come to think of it, I was in the middle of a line with Kogure-kun. I could confirm only one line.

Kogure Ryouma: “Attached is the recipe for caramel sauce on pancakes. Please eat it with Otsuki-san if you like.”

“Hey, Shizuku.”
“What?”
“I have something I want to eat tomorrow morning.”

I have to do my best to fire up …… Kogure-kun and try to sway Shizuku’s emotions.

“Pancakes! Also, I want chicken katsu for dinner.”

–

–

If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate 🙂 Thank you in advance !

https://ko-fi.com/dasuitl

https://saweria.co/dasuitl