Until now, we had a routine where our communication would break at night and reconnect in the morning. I never even considered the possibility of meeting at night, and to this day, I still wonder if this is reality.
“You know, there’s something I haven’t told Ippei.”
“Is it something you’re hiding?”
“No, no, there’s nothing left for me to hide from you.”
“Hehe! Then what is it?”
“Well, actually, I have a cat, and I was wondering if you’re okay with animals.”
Yes, my only family at home is Kuro. Kuro has heard a lot about Ippei from me, but maybe Ippei isn’t comfortable around animals.
“Wow!! You have a cat!?”
“Aren’t you uncomfortable with it?”
“Nope! I actually love them! What color is it?”
“Then I’m relieved. It’s a completely black kitty.”
“A black kitty!… I’m looking forward to meeting them!”
I was happy, feeling like you’d accepted my family. In our space, it’s not just me but also Kuro, who will surely comfort you. If Kuro accepts you too, that would be perfect.
With Ippei now having gained entry to my and Kuro’s space, he then posed a question to me.
“Yuta-san, do you cook for yourself?”
“Mm, hardly ever, since I’m alone…”
“So, do you usually rely on bentos?”
“You catch on quick, that’s right. And beer.”
“You can drink alcohol!!”
“Yeah, I love it. How about Ippei?”
“I don’t usually drink much, but in this position, there are social obligations, so I can handle some alcohol.”
“Well, then, how about we drink together tonight?”
“That sounds good! Let’s drink! …Oh, and…”
“Hm? And?”
As we made plans to share drinks and I felt content with just spending enjoyable time, you anticipated further and warmed my heart, delighting me.
“You have bentos every day, right…?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Yeah, making one just for myself seems like a hassle.”
“Pc atja mjrf, ew… kbeiv la yf bxjs lo P mbbxfv abvjs…?”
“Let…!? Pr, lr atja jigluta…!?”
“P-P vbc’a xcbk lo la’ii rela sbeg ajraf, Teaj-rjc, yea… lo la’r bxjs klat sbe.”
P kjr tjqqs… ufcelcfis tjqqs. Lbk wjcs sfjgr tjr la yffc rlcmf rbwfbcf’r tbwf-mbbxfv wfji abemtfv atfrf ilqr? Vlcmf Esb’r mbbxlcu, tbk wjcs sfjgr tjr la yffc rlcmf P’nf fjafc j wfji wjvf ys rbwfbcf P agerafv?
If you’re the one fulfilling it, then anything should taste delicious. And it’s bound to make me happy.
“…I’m so happy… Ah, thank you…”
“Hehe! Despite appearances, I’m actually quite good at cooking! Are there any foods you can’t eat, Yuta-san?”
“…Anything except raw tomatoes…”
I just couldn’t eat tomatoes, no matter what. That texture, that slimy feeling inside, and the taste—my taste buds just couldn’t handle it. But oddly enough, I could tolerate them when they were cooked or in ketchup.
“Haha! Got it! Well then, shall we go shopping before heading back?”
“Yeah, let’s do that. How about… A-Mart, where we first met?”
“…Yeah, that sounds good! A-Mart is fine with me!”
A-Mart, where we first met. We met with various emotions and fell in love at first sight with each other in the parking lot of A-Mart.
We were heading towards the parking lot of A-Mart, where we had such a miraculous encounter. I held Ippei’s hand tightly as we continued down the road into the sunset.
“Whenever I come here, it’s always cool…”
“It’s way too hot outside… Haa… It’s so refreshing here.”
After arriving at A-Mart, we were supposed to be soothed by the car’s air conditioning, but we were quickly overwhelmed by the heat outside and found solace in A-Mart’s air conditioning.
“Ippei, come to think of it, what are you making for dinner?”
“Well, I thought I’d match it with Yuta-san’s drink, but he always drinks beer, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“If it’s okay with you, how about white wine today?”
Wine, huh… I don’t usually drink much when I’m alone, and the truth is, I can’t even finish a bottle by myself. Plus, for some reason, I tend to get bad hangovers if I drink too much.
But you must have had a reason for choosing wine. If that’s the case, I won’t trample on your feelings. After all, it’s not like I can’t drink at all.
“Yeah, that sounds good. I don’t drink much when I’m alone, so it’s a nice change.”
“I’m glad you can drink! Let’s go with white wine then!”
“If that’s not enough, I have beer stocked at home too, so we can drink together.”
“Yes! Thank you so much!…Oh! Um, do you happen to have a toaster for baking bread at home?”
I wondered what he was asking for, but some single men living alone don’t even have a toaster at home. Did he anticipate that and ask the question?
“Huh? I have one because I have toast for breakfast every day.”
“Oh, you have bread for breakfast! I have rice!”
“It’s easy to eat, and it doesn’t take much time.”
“What’s that? How cute!”
“What!? W-well, don’t make fun of me…”
“Haha! I wasn’t! Just imagining it, I genuinely thought it was cute!”
You casually utter words that tickle my heart.
With each innocent word you speak, not only am I filled with happiness, but I wonder if you can feel my heart warming and squeezing with embarrassment. You’re so cunningly cute, it’s almost unfair.
“Well, whatever.”
“Haha, you’re not very straightforward, are you?”
“Shut up.”
“Now, we need to pick up everything we need! …This, and this… Yeah, we’ll need this too…”
We were walking ahead of me while pushing the cart. Ippei goes from the vegetable section to the seafood section, picking up various ingredients and placing them in the basket one after another.
Onions, shimeji mushrooms, and large boiled shrimp. And then cheese, olive oil, powdered basil, milk… Wait, this seems like it’s going to be something amazing. And… Despite saying you didn’t like them, you pick up one tomato…
“Hey, you’re buying so much…”
“Haha! It’s okay, I’ll use everything!”
“I-I see… and…?”
“It’s tomatoes, right?”
“How did you know?”
“You tend to notice things you dislike, and even though you said you dislike tomatoes, you still picked one up… That kind of feeling?”
“Alright, alright, I won’t say anything else.”
You see through everything. Your actions always seem to be one step ahead, something I should learn from. Yet, your actions show that you’re thinking about me behind the scenes, and that’s just unbearably cute.
“You hit the nail on the head.”
“Yeah, you’re unbeatable.”
“Thank you very much!”
“You’re welcome… or am I?”
“Haha! I think that’s fine. Well then, now that we have everything, shall we go to the checkout?”
With Ippei’s words, we settled the bill and left the memorable A-Mart. But even though all we did was go shopping, why do I feel so happy?
In a normal relationship, this would be completely ordinary, but for us right now, everything feels extraordinary.
Still, if you’re enjoying this space… and this moment, from the bottom of your heart, then I’m happy too, in my own way.
***
…On the way home
“…Hey, are you sure about this?”
“Of course! It’s my way of thanking you for spending the day like this, so please don’t worry about it.”
We bought various ingredients and even a slightly expensive white wine. Despite the considerable amount we spent on these items, Ippei didn’t let me pay a single cent and instead settled the bill with a credit card of a color I’d never seen before.
That color signifies elite status to some extent, but it also represents the amount of work and responsibility entrusted to you. Yet, it’s also a position that I could never hope to reach.
“I feel kind of bad…”
“Haha! Look, Yuta-san is smiling, right?”
“Well, I am smiling.”
“Oh, come on! …I might get scolded for saying this, but I really don’t care about money.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“…Because at this moment, in this space, you can’t buy it with money…”
“Ippei…”
At first, your words sounded a bit sarcastic. I won’t lie. But then your next words pierced deeply into my heart.
You’re right… At this moment, this space can’t be bought with money. And we’ll have to return to our usual lives as if nothing happened.
No matter how much money we spend, this space alone cannot be sustained by money alone. Still, I want to cherish the fact that you continue to think of me.
“Haha! Let’s stop talking about money already!”
“Yeah, then… thanks?”
“You’re welcome! Yuta-san? Look forward to dinner, okay?”
“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ippei nodded with a beaming smile at my words.
I couldn’t help but smile too, as we headed home to where Kuro awaited, under the now darkened night sky.
