you’re so useless..”

Himeji-san said as she gave a relaxed expression.

Great. It seems that she’s willing to forgive me for saying that at the wrong time. She’s really kind. I should repay her expectations and make a nice dinner.

Oh yeah, I can make an apple pie as dessert to go with the paella. Let’s put a large amount of apples in the pie and add cinnamon to it, add a nice apricot jam to the top lightly and bake it until it’s slightly charred. It’ll definitely be delicious. Un, that’s not bad.

As I wondered about all those things, Himeji-san continues,

“Then, I’ll make dessert. I won’t allow you to say that!”

“..Ma, maybe..”

“Why are you talking with a kansai accent?”

“No no no, I should do everything from the preparing to the cooking and everything after that to make up for all the trouble I cause! No, please allow me do so!”

I’m sorry to Himeji-san about this, but thanks to how I barged into the changing room accidentally, I managed to ensure an excuse of me being able to make dinner safely.

☆

We safely passed the trial of dinner, and we had already washed the plates (in the end, Himeji-san did help me out with that). Right now, it’s past 8pm, and Himeji-san and I are in my room, at the table with our books and stationery laid out.

“Then, let’s start studying, Akihisa-kun.”

“Yeah..”

That’s right, studying.

Looks like Himeji-san has been studying and revising her homework here every day. Nee-san actually gave such an unreasonable order ‘in that case, Aki-kun, study with her’ the moment she heard that. Of course, I have no right to refuse, and since Himeji-san said ‘let’s do our best’ as she agreed heartily to that, so things ended up like this.

“Eh, where should we start studying from? Are there any subjects you’re good at, Akihisa-kun?”

“None at all.”

“Let’s study them all then.”

“I want to study Japanese history!”

“I understand. Let’s focus on Japanese History, we’ll focus less on the other subjects.”

You’re not going to stop with studying all the subjects?

“Hi, Himeji-san! There won’t be enough time, right?’

“Don’t worry, you can study a lot in 4 hours.”

“4 hours!?”

Wait a sec! Is there some special exam tomorrow?

“I couldn’t study during the day, so I have to study hard at night.”

Himeji-san said calmly as if it’s something minor. Let, let me check with her again.

“Well..Himeji-san, do you know?”

“Un? Know what?”

“There’s only 24 hours per day.”

“I don’t think there are many high school students who don’t know this..”

No no no! That’s not what I’m trying to say! What I want to say is that there’s only 24 hours a day, but using 4 hours to study is really a waste!

“Then, let’s begin, Akihisa-kun.”

“..”

Himeji-san is completely motivated. She’s serious!

“Himeji-san, don’t you feel tired? We’ve walked so much in the day, and you can’t sleep well on a futon you’re not used to, right?”

“Well..I’m a little tired..”

“Right, that’s right!”

“That’s why I have to hurry up and study before I fall asleep.”

Not good. We’re thinking differently here.

I know Himeji-san is working hard, but I didn’t know that she was so passionate about studying. No wonder her grades are outstanding.

“Ah, before we study ahead, let’s check our answers of the homework from two days ago.”

Hoho, the answers of the homework..

“Huh? Akihisa-kun, you still haven’t done your homework?”

Of course I haven’t! But if I answer this proudly, Himeji-san will be angry with me, so I have to find an excuse.

“Ah, erm..well, I left my English-Japanese dictionary in school!”

“The homework was maths.”

“..”

I really have no way to make an excuse that’s convincing.

“Really, Akihisa-kun..good thing I checked first.”

“Aha..hahaha..”

“If there’s anything you don’t know, I’ll teach you. Do your best.”

“Okay..”

Himeji-san flips open the textbook and instruct me on the topics included in this assignment. Ugh..there’s a lot of them..

“There are example questions here. You will be fine if you answer them according to how it is done.”

Himeji-san pointed at the boxed portion on the textbook as she said. Can’t be helped then. Since Himeji-san is teaching me so seriously, I’ll try to work hard then!

I roll my sleeves up and start to solve the questions.

To be honest, the homework’s far more than what I can handle, but thanks to Himeji-san teaching me, I can still barely solve the questions.

While I’m doing my homework—

Gok gok.

A knock can be heard on the door.

“Please come in.”

Himeji-san answered, and the door opened. Nee-san appears from behind.

“The bathroom’s filled with hot water. If you don’t mind, you can take a bath.”

I instinctively look over at the clock, and find that it’s already 11. I was grumbling a lot just now, but it seemed that I was rather focused just now.

“Thank you, Akira-san. Akihisa-kun, do you want to..”

“I’m only left with these. I’ll have a bath later once I’m done. You can have a bath first, Himeji-san.”

“Really? I won’t mind then.”

Himeji-san leaves the room.

Then, since she has basically taught me everything, I’ll do my best within my abilities then.

—Taking on the homework—

“Akihisa-kun, the bathroom’s empty.”

Himeji-san’s voice could be heard from behind.

“Okay, I’m done here too.”

I close my textbook and stretch my back. Fuu..it’s really tiring to deal with a subject I’m not good at. But speaking of which, I’m basically bad at every subject.

I move my shoulders and stand up to prepare my change of clothes. Alright, time to bath, time to bath.

Klak, the sound of the door opening behind me echoed.

“It’s good that you finished your work.”

“Un, that’s thanks to you, Himeji-san. Thank you ver—”

At this point, the words suddenly stopped in my mouth.

“Un? What is it?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing at all!”

“???”

Himeji-san tilted her head and gave a puzzled look. As she just bathed, her face was flushed red, and she’s in her pajamas. Un..well, pajamas have the charm that will make anyone defenseless.

Himeji-san undid her hair as the rabbit hairclip she normally wears was in her hand.

Ah, speaking of which, I forgot,

“Ah, Himeji-san, here. For you.”

I took out something I forgot from my shirt pocket and put it in Himeji-san’s hand.

“Eh? This is..”

“You wanted this today, right?”

The thing I handed over to Himeji-san was the rabbit strap she wanted to get from the crane game in the shopping center. I wanted to surprise her after that, so I went away from her to take that strap first.

“..”

“? Himeji-san?”

She stares at the rabbit strap.

“The snow rabbit..Akihisa-kun gave me..”

Himeji-san muttered.

Snow rabbit? If I have to say it, I feel that’s more like a cat rabbit.

“What’s wrong, Himeji-san? Did you bath too much?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing!”

Then, did she mix up the cat rabbit and the snow rabbit? Himeji-san’s rather ditzy too, so it’s possible for her to make such a mistake.

“Thank you, Akihisa-kun.”

“Eh, this thing isn’t so expensive for a need to do that.”

Himeji-san bowed to thank me, and that caused me to panic.

That’s because this isn’t something big, and I only got it in one try.

“I’ll treasure this well too.”

Even so, Himeji-san said with a happy look. I feel that giving her this gift is worth it after seeing her being so happy.

But I’m somewhat embarrassed as well. Better leave for now.

“I’ll go and bathe then.”

“Un, take your time.”

Himeji-san and I cross each other as if it were a swap while I leave the room for the bathroom.

Perhaps it was because I felt nervous when I was with her that I couldn’t help but sigh loudly the moment I sat in the bathtub.

(Feels strange for some reason..)

My mind start to have this thought while I’m in the bathtub.

Himeji-san and I have known each other since young, but there didn’t seem to be any interactions between us before this year, and even so, she’s living in the same house as me now.

(..Which one is more natural?)

Becoming friends and not talking to each other.

A classmate who I only got to know better in the past half year, now living in my house.

(Un..I really don’t know.)

After knowing each other better, I started to see the hidden side of Himeji-san recently, like how she’s unexpectedly determined to win, and how she’s determined to persist until the end once she decides or something.

On the other hand, regarding primary school, there are only two things I have an impression on Himeji-san. The first is that her body was weaker than now.

(And the other thing is..)

As I was thinking about this, my mind started to feel fuzzy. Not good. Looks like I soaked in for too long too.

I stand up from the bathtub, take a shower, and walk out of the bathroom. I wipe my body, put on shorts and T-shirt and use the towel to wipe my hair on the corridor. I’ll skip the hair drying as I find it troublesome.

“Fuaa..so sleepy..”

Maybe it’s because I soaked in for so long that a sleepy feeling struck me. It was really intense today, and I’m tired because I ran around, so it’s to be expected that I want to sleep now.

Speaking of which, is Himeji-san still studying?

“Or is she asleep?”

Himeji-san doesn’t have much health, and this house is unfamiliar to her, so the fatigue she built up might be more than mine by a lot.

I stood in front of the door, being careful not to disturb her.

Then, the sight of Himeji-san studying seriously appeared in front of me.

The thing I thought of just now suddenly appeared in my mind.

The other impression she gave me was,

(—She works harder than anyone.)

That was the impression I had of Himeji-san during primary school.

Of course, I don’t have the time to talk about this. However, Himeji-san actually wasn’t the kind of person who could study well. The reason why she’s able to get top-class grades in the promotional school Fumitzuki Gakuen has to be because she continues to work hard.

“Ah, Akihisa-kun, you’re done bathing.”

Himeji-san noticed me and lifted her face.

“Ah..”

And she stared at my face blankly.

“Un? What is it?”

“Nothing. It’s just that I find it rare for you to comb your fringe back, Akihisa-kun.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Un, it looks refreshing.”

“Speaking of which, it’s refreshing to see you like this, Himeji-san.”

“Ah..maybe.”

To add on, she looks rather bewitching right now as the pajamas is very thin and the collar is very loose..

“Oh yeah, Akihisa-kun. Since you’re done with your homework, how about we check the answers?”

“Un, I was planning to do so in the first place.”

But instead of checking answers, it’s more like correcting my mistakes.

“I’ll sit here then.”

Himeji-san takes her book to sit beside me, probably because it’s not a good reading position,

“Color is emptiness..emptiness is color..”

“What’s wrong, Akihisa-kun?”

“It’s nothing. This is just something of a chant that will seal off my sight, hearing, touch and smell to focus.”

“How are you going to study hard with only tastes?”

Humans can’t control their own senses at will..

Leaving aside this, we started to check each other’s answers. Or rather, just as I predicted, the problems I solved have lots of errors.

Himeji-san corrected the parts I was wrong at one after another, and I again try to solve them.

“Himeji-san, this is—”

“..(Nods).”

Looking over, I see Himeji-san dozing off there.

“....Mu, muu....”

Looks like she’s definitely tired. I’ll let her sleep like this. She’s in her pajamas, and I can carry her to the bed. It’ll be pitiful if I wake her up.

With that thought, I put my pen aside and get up.

However..

“I’ll end up touching Himeji-san like this in this situation..”

Is this really alright? Is carrying a girl who’s defenseless with thin pajamas and putting her on the bed allowed?

“No no no, I’m not having illicit thoughts, and I don’t intend to do anything vulgar. Such a minor thing should be alright..”

I breathe in and out several times and shake my head. I then cautious reach my hands towards Himeji-san.

At this moment, Himeji-san suddenly opens her eyes in a dazed manner.

“Nu? Mnn..”

“Ah, Hi, Himeji-san. That’s it for today. You should be sleeping now, okay?”

“Ah, okay. That’s..right..”

Himeji-san is all sleepy as she’s already getting ready to sleep.

“Are you alright, Himeji-san? Can you go to bed yourself?”

“Uun..”

She rubs her eyes, giving a sleepy response.

“I’ll be happy if you can bring me over..”

After that, Himeji-san opened her arms wide to give a hugging pose. Are you kidding me?

“Oo-o-okay! Please allow your subject Yoshii Akihisa to carry—”

“That’s enough, Aki-kun.”

“..Un?”

But just when I was about to reach my hands out, I hear a sheer cold voice.

“Nee-san will help Mizuki-san get to bed. As for you, Aki-kun, go there..”

“Yes.”

“—And think of how to write your will.”

“YOU’RE NOT GOING ASK ME WHAT HAPPENED!?’

Nee-san carried the sleepy Himeji-san away from my room.

Really..looks like this is going to be a long night..

☆

The next day.

“Yoshii, come over.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“This is the homework you handed in. All the answers are correct. Please do it again.”

“Hold on a second, sensei. Your Japanese is really weird.”

“What I mean is that copying other people’s work doesn’t count.”

“Ehhh!? That’s not true! I really wrote it on my own!”

“Don’t lie! You, who won’t normally hand in your homework, just handed in your homework all of a sudden with all the questions answered correctly. There has to be a limit to weirdness here!”

“Hold on a moment! This is..but now that you mention it, sensei, it really is weird.”

“Good that you understand.”

“But it’s not like this! There're many reasons..”

In the end, I’m forced to spend 15 minutes answering the questions before the teacher would even believe me.