When I opened my eyes, for some reason Misaki was in my arms.
Why? I look at Misaki with a questioning look and instead of an answer a soft fist came flying. Oi oi, whatâs that. I thought that as Misaki escaped from my arms and walked to a corner in the room and turned her face away.
After that for 3 hours she wouldnât look me in the eye once.
Of course she didnât say anything either.
At the scene of the crime there was some food packaging and 6 empty beer cans.
But in exchange for the memory of a light headache I donât remember anything else from yesterday.
Mostly.
In other words, I remember a little.
Yesterday, after getting my money from the bank I immediately made for the pachinko parlor. **TL Note: gambling game**Â But the instant I opened the door and the smell of tobacco hit my nose my consciousness returned and I ran back. On the way back I dropped by a supermarket, since I went through all the trouble I though might as well buy Misaki something that will make her happy. Though I say that, I donât know what her interests are at all.
In the end, I figured something to eat would be fine, and spent 1 yukichi (10,000 yen) and went home. I looked at the things I was carrying in my arms, I remember up until Misakiâs eyes sparkling.
âŚI see, seems like it was a simple problem.
âMy bad Misaki⌠I forgot Iâm weak to alcohol!â
With all my strength I did a dogeza, but it didnât fix Misakiâs bad mood.
Yesterdayâs events were probably something like this.
âThe drunk me grabbed Misaki
âI didnât notice
âLike that I fell asleep
âRyou-kun stinks of liquor. Donât like. Hate you. Donât know you anymore!
âŚAah, now Iâve done it.
âUooooOOOOOOO!â
Unable to bear it I burst out of the room.
Leaving behind the run down apartment, running through the street until the neighborhood park and climbing the the slideâ
âI WONâT DRINK EVER AGAINâ!â
Thus I swore to never drink alcohol.
By the way, I still couldnât fix Misakiâs moodâŚ
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And so I was glaring at a pillow.
Taking the opportunity I thought to buy a futon.
I donât know a way to improve Misakiâs mood but, if I do something that will make her happy sheâll probably forgive me. Of course I donât know what will make her happy.
I was worried.
At any rate, what would make a kid happy? So I came to a conclusion.
As expected, the answer I came to was âpillowâ.
Having goods for sleeping which people spend 1/3rd of their life doing, thereâs no way someone would be upset about that after all. In the first place, we donât have any kind of bedding. At the worst Iâd just be adding zero to zero. Thereâs nothing to lose.
When I decided to buy a pillow, I believed in my heart it was my victory.
But when I saw the shelves lined with pillows, I involuntarily became blue.
White, black, peach, green, blue, animal, anime drawing, etc, etc.
⌠The one that would make Misaki the happiest, which one?
âWhatever is fineâ, thereâs that kind of reasoning too.
But letâs think about it calmly.
For example, if I were to choose white.
After that, when I go shopping with Misaki and she seeâs the pillows, ââŚRyou-kun, out of all those you choose white? ⌠I canât believe youâ sheâd say. Iâm confident Iâd die.
âŚShit! What should I do!? What would be best!?
âUhmâ, Helloâ, thinking about something?â
Who the hell is acting all overly-familiar⌠is what I thought but it was just the shop assistant.
I dunno if itâs the makeup but when I look at her, is she a high schooler?
â⌠Well, as you can see.â
âNo, itâs a present.â
âP-r-e-s-e-n-t! For who?â
This shop assistant is seriously gaudy. If she wasnât a girl Iâd have probably hit her.
She probably has some advice.
âFor Misaki.â
âYeah, thatâs right.â
A boy named Misaki would be pretty surprising.
Leaving that aside, for some reason this shop assistantâs tension is rising. Whatâs with that?
âWoow, thatâs great. I admire ya.â
âYeah~. Ah, by the way is it the first?â
âReally? A pillow for your first present, Nii-san you donât hesitate, huh.â
Is she making fun of me? Is it just my imagination?
âUmm~, perhaps itâs to commemorate something?â
âAhaha, I donât really get it but sounds interesting.â
Well, if I were really Misakiâs parent, sheâd have been born when I was 18, she probably means cool in that way?⌠Nope, I totally donât get it.
âEeehm, Iâm an understanding person so Iâm rooting for you!â
I completely donât understand what sheâs saying, but for now Iâll just thank her.
âThanks.â
âAh? What are you talking about?â
âThatâs not even on the level of an out, jeez.â **TL Note: Dating preferences, strike = what you like, out = not interested.
âŚCome to think of it, to her I had a child, huh.
My eyes are feeling a little hot?
âWell itâs like that. Which pillow would make a kid happy?â
âTotally dunno.â
This shop assistant is useless.
âCome to think of it, why a pillow?â
âI see, how deep.â
The shop assistantâs mouth curves like a cat and evaluates the pillows.
Before long she reaches for light pink pillow lined with some black points and holds it out to me.
âHow âbout this?â
âQuick decision, huh.â
âOooh~, somehow I feel like you trust me?â
âOoooh~ this is the second time in my life Iâve been appraised highly.â
What the hell kind of life have you been leading.
âBy the way, if I buy a futon too would I get a discount?â
âThat rightâŚâ
So, because of this shop assistant Iâve become needlessly tired but I managed to buy some bedding (8 yukichi (80,000 yen)).
After having the futon sent to me, I returned home with 2 personâs worth of pillows and food. I open the door and immediately catch sight of Misaki. Sitting in the same corner from the morning she stared at nothing while holding her knees.
ââŚIâm back.â
I said a little nervously as Misaki looked at the bags I was carrying.
ââŚThis, a present for you.â
Approaching timidly I hold out the pillow.
Misakiâ reaches out her little hand to take the pillow and squeezes it, her cheeks loosening slightly.
âŚT-thank god. It was a success.
âTomorrow the futonâs coming, so look forward to it.â
ââŚn.â
SHE TAAAALKED!
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
âŚWait, why are you so happy, me. Your head alright?
Heaving a sigh, I sit on the floor and show Misaki everything I bought.
From there I take out all the food and drinks, take it out, take it out, until everything is out. For some reason Misaki makes a small mu sound and peers into the bag.
âWhatâs up?â
ââŚosake ha?â
Ooooh, Misaki who only says simple words ⌠said âhaâ! Ah, this isnât the place to be excited, now is the chance to apologize!
**TL Note: I chose to leave this in japanese because it sounds unnatural in english. Basically âhaâ is a particle thatâs essential to japanese grammar. She normally only ever says nouns or verbs. This is compounded by how in japanese a lot of standard conversations leave off words because it is already implied. In this case the English version would be something like â(where) is the alcohol?â âOooh she said âis the'â kind of thing, but that sounds very awkward imo.
âMisaki, Iâm really sorry about yesterday. I wonât drink alcohol ever again. So forgive me!â
âYeah, I wonât drink ever again.â
ââŚâ
H-huh?
Turning her head away while puffing her cheeks out, how cute- no thatâs wrong, I want to poke⌠no thatâs wrong!
Why!?
Dammit, I donât get it but itâs probably the alcoholâs fault!
I wonât drink it ever again!!
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Misaki has high defense, so she doesnât often get hugged. Thatâs what Ryousei thought so he couldnât imagine⌠yesterday, when Ryousei was drunk and hugged Misaki, she was fairly happy.
The response this morning was because she was hiding her embarrassment.
Being near Ryou-kun is calming.
He didnât notice but she was also hugging him.
But Ryou-kun wonât come to my side.
Saying that, itâs embarrassing going to him.
As a result, she thought with the power of alcohol this problem could be settled.
It seems like if Ryou-kun drinks alcohol heâll come hug me.
I found something I like.
Thatâs what I thoughtââI wonât ever drink againââRyou-kun said.