ch01-ch20 · 013-ch12

Chapter 12

He started driving the compact car with Tia in the passenger seat, and she immediately started making a huge fuss. Apparently, cars were a novelty to her.

But she was seriously carrying on like a little kid, so Toru honestly found it annoying.

"I mean, you were just riding in Sadoyama-san's car earlier. How come the second you get in mine you start flipping out?"

"Well, that Sadoyama? — was it? That guy was super tense the whole time. If I'd been sure he was an ally or on our side, I wouldn't have minded loosening up a little."

"You were plenty friendly with the Anthem girls, though."

"Well, I'm nice to girls I saved from the brink of death."

"You don't seem to be that way with me though, Toru," Tia remarked.

Called out on it, he thought about it again — and decided he probably wasn't NOT being nice.

Too much trouble to argue the point, though.

Anyway, it was about a fifteen-minute drive from Sugai Dungeon to Toru's rundown apartment. Normally he'd stop at the 24-hour supermarket along the way to pick up groceries, but he was honestly too exhausted to bother, so he headed straight back to the apartment.

He parked the compact car in his contracted parking space, let Tia out, and headed up to the second floor of the apartment building.

Sitting in front of his door was a cat beast-person girl.

"Huh? A beast-person kid."

Tia, walking behind Toru, peeked around and spotted the cat beast-person girl. Noticing them, the cat girl looked up at Toru — then shifted her gaze to Tia and scowled.

"So instead of coming home, you're bringing a woman back."

Her voice was slightly low for a child. Her name was Mika Sharyi Sonoyama — a girl from the single-mother household living in the apartment next to Toru's.

"A lot happened. Have you eaten?"

"I haven't. I have money. Mom doesn't know you haven't come home yet. You've got a woman with you — should I go home?"

"It's fine. She'll be back around two, right?"

"Probably. Unless she's passed out drunk."

"Um... is she someone you know?"

Tia, apparently unable to hold back any longer, hovered with a big question mark on her face. For some reason, Mika shot Tia a glare and then flat-out ignored her, so Toru had no choice but to explain.

"Uh... this cat brat is Mika. Lives next door. Her parent comes home late, so she kills time at my place a lot. When her mom gets back, she heads home on her own. And this blonde is Tia. Long story short, she's like a ghost haunting me."

"I don't get it."

"You really should stop half-assing your explanations, you know."

For some reason, he caught flak from both of them — but figuring a detailed explanation wouldn't change anything anyway, Toru didn't bother elaborating.

Anyway, he stuck the key in the door and turned it, opening the gates to his 1LDK castle.

The cat girl and the holy sword spirit exchanged a brief glance, then stepped inside Toru's place. He'd been a little worried, but Tia properly took her shoes off.

Anyway — home.

Feeling like he'd never get back up if he sat down on the floor or the bed, Toru dumped the magic core and dragon scale in a pile for now, then headed to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

Since his life basically consisted of commuting between work and home, Toru didn't own a rice cooker. He cooked rice in a pot at the start of each week, divided it into single portions, and froze them.

"...Something simple should be fine. Mika, sorry, but can you thaw rice for three?"

He handed the tupperware containers from the freezer to the cat beast-person girl, and with practiced ease, she tossed them into the microwave, set it to defrost mode, and hit the button.

On the table he used as a dining table, he lined up his stainless steel tumbler, Mika's mug, and a glass cup he happened to have on hand, then poured milk into each.

"I'm making food, so drink that for now. ...You're gonna eat, right?"

He asked Tia, who had leaned the holy sword against the wall but couldn't figure out where to settle in someone else's home and was standing around looking out of place.

"Well, if it's served, I'll eat it. By the way, what should I do?"

"Keep Mika company. Mika, you keep Tia company too."

"Ehh, no way. She's a ghost, right?"

"She's more of a pure ghost, so it's fine."

"Hey, I did say I'm something like a ghost, but don't go recycling that explanation for a little kid. What even is a 'pure ghost'?"

"...Makes no sense."

That said, it seemed hard to keep glaring at someone who showed no hostility — Mika started circling around Tia like a highly cautious cat.

"Um... I'm Tia. And you're Mika, right? A cat beast-person, killing time at Toru's place until your parent gets home... is that right?"

"That's right. Mom likes Toru, so she says if I'm waiting at home by myself, I should come hang out at his place."

"I see. Do you like Toru? Is he nice?"

"He sucks at being nice."

"Ahaha! That might be true! Hey, I haven't known Toru for very long. Tell me about him."

"Sure. Then sit over there."

Having found a common topic, the two seemed to gradually warm up to each other, but Toru wasn't really listening. He took onions, green peppers, and chicken thighs from the fridge, roughly chopped the ingredients, and grabbed a frying pan.

The menu was chicken rice. Making an omelet to go on top would've been a hassle, so he didn't bother turning it into omurice. He plated the finished dish on three different plates — he didn't have matching ones — and called over the cat and the ghost, who were busy whispering to each other.

"Whoa! That looks delicious! You can cook, Toru!"

"Simple stuff, yeah."

"I like Toru's food."

Mika, having secured her own plate, pulled out spoons for everyone from the kitchen shelf. It was a familiar sight by now, so there was no need to thank her each time.

To describe their relationship — she was the kid from the single-mother household next door. The mother was friendly and overly familiar, so from an outsider's perspective, Mika had probably been pushed off on him — but Toru didn't particularly mind.

For a girl around early elementary school age, Mika was on the quiet side, and she didn't make selfish demands much, either. They'd grown close, but she wasn't overly clingy.

That might not be the healthiest attitude for a child — but then again, Toru himself — Hayasaka Toru — wasn't exactly a high-quality adult.

He had no intention of trying to improve Mika's living situation as a responsible, conscientious adult — and even if he did, it'd be impossible anyway.

That wasn't Toru's problem — it was Mika and Mika's mother's problem. He was just providing a place to hang out. Playing guardian would be way too presumptuous.

"Sorry, but I'm dead tired. After I eat, I'm gonna take a bath, brush my teeth, and crash. Do whatever after that. Alright, itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu."

When Toru was alone, he never bothered clapping his hands together and saying "itadakimasu" — but in front of Mika, he at least went that far.

Incidentally, Tia — unfamiliar with the Japanese pre-meal ritual — seemed confused, but Toru had already used up his daily allocation of niceness, so he said nothing.

Anyway — he was incredibly tired.

Surprisingly, or rather — his body didn't feel all that fatigued. It was his mind.

The moment he lay down on the bed, he fell asleep like dropping off a cliff.

Like an anime character who runs off a cliff, realizes there's no ground beneath them, and falls — he thought he thought something like that, or maybe there wasn't even time to think at all...