CH 50

Chapter 50 – Troubles

Is it okay for a high school boy to enter a high school girl’s house or room?

Legally speaking, yes of course it’s okay.

As long as said boy stays out of trouble, it won’t be a problem.

But…

Common sense said otherwise.

If a group of friends were to hang out together, then people would treat it lightly, but it would be a different matter when a single high school boy entered the house of a high schol girl. They would assume that both the boy and the girl had a relationship deeper than just friends. To quote Nostradamus, ‘it’s f**ked up’.

If someone from the same school were to witness you going to a girl’s house, chances were your social life would be finished right there. Since high school students were naturally filled with vigor, they would spin the story to fit in their agendas to make it sound more interesting. Not to mention that, you would need to explain yourself to them over and over, to stop any unpleasant rumors from circulating.

In my case, things would be worse than normal since Arina’s mother was a single mother. I doubt that she would be amused by my presence there, after all, I’m a weirdo. And there’s also the matter of their past. There should be a deep story behind their family’s background and I don’t want to accidentally bring that topic up in the middle of our conversation.

With that reason in mind, I was reluctant to accept Arina’s invitation, but I’ve promised to help her so I shouldn’t back down from this. In the end, I decided to accept it and moved on.

So, I left the school with Arina by my side.

I was feeling antsy. Sure, we did a lot of things together after school, but walking home side by side together like this was a first. This felt like a scene that only came out in romcoms and it felt strangely burdensome.

We walked in complete silence.

The sound of the cars and rustling wind in the background sounded unnaturally loud to me, but that was probably caused by my nervousness.

“What are you grinning about?”

“I’m not grinning! It’s my panicked face… I’m going to go inside a girl’s room after all, it’s only a natural reaction!”

“You’ve never entered a girl’s room before?”

“No, I have. A lot of times.”

“Eh?”

She opened her eyes wide before her expression turned into a pout. Her expressions have become more varied lately.

“I-It can’t be… S-Shirona’s room?”

“Are you an idiot? Of course I’m talking about my sister’s.”

Yes. My sister is a girl. If anyone were to say otherwise, I’ll burn him at a stake. I’m not kidding, I’d do it for real.

I’ve lost count on how many times I went there, since she called me often. That was why, I just told her ‘a lot of times’ without specifying a numerical value.

And Shirona’s room… Of course I’ve never been there, why would I even go there in the first place? I shook my head in dismay. Right after that, a rather strong force hit me dead in the face. Arina used a hammer throw on me using her hand bag. Though, the force was weaker than I expected. ‘I don’t want you to fall, so I held back a little’, she said after I regained my balance. What a tsundere.

On a related note, there was a story when I entered my sister’s room without her permission. All of a sudden, everything inside her room became upside down. Her bookcase, her desk, her bed and even the things on the carpet were upside down. Well, I didn’t get injured, but recovering from that state felt terrible. Ever since that day, I swore to never enter her room without her permission ever again.

After that, Arina and I messed around while walking before we took a train to her house. After getting off the train and a short walk, we finally arrived at the Hiwa’s residence.

Her house looked ordinary, but the fact that this was her house made my stomach churn.

“Hurry up and enter. Or else, I’ll call the police.”

“I could see that happening in the near future… I’m scared…”

“Just shut up and enter.”

I hesitantly entered the Hiwa’s Residence.

The smell of a stranger’s house felt so alien, yet refreshing. After saying ‘Excuse me’, I took off my shoes. I noticed that there was another pair of shoes besides Arina’s. I assumed it was her mother’s.

“Arina, wait.”

I called out to her in a quiet voice.

“What?”

“…Is your mother at home right now?”

“Yes. She isn’t working today.”

I wasn’t prepared for this.

I thought we would be waiting for her mother to come home before we start talking to her, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Because of that, my nervousness went up another level.

“Are we going to meet her right now?”

“Yes, but…”

Dear Arina-san. To you, she is your mother, someone you could talk with casually, but to me, she’s nothing but a stranger. Just think about it, if an unidentified male were to barge into a room where the tenants consist of two women, wouldn’t they feel uneasy? Arina-san, you might trust me, but will your mother also trust me too?

“Arina, please introduce me to your mother first. Just tell her that I’m your friend. I don’t want to scare her.”

“Scare her? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t mind that part, please, I’m in your care!”

She gave me a nod, despite seeming unconvinced, even though I showed her my sincerity by talking politely.

Arina took me into the living room. Her mother was there, sitting while reading a newspaper.

At first glance, I immediately noticed that she was Arina’s mother. She looked similar to Arina. Her beauty mesmerized me. How could a human look this beautiful?

“I’m home, mom.”

“Welcome back… And, this is?…”

Arina! Tell her that I’m your friend.

I reminded her via the radio waves I emanated. I’ve never sent out radio waves before, so, to someone who didn’t know what I was doing, they would only see me frowning.

“This is my friend, Sakaki Sui. He’s a weirdo.”

“Wait, Arina-san, that’s just mean!”

“Am I wrong, though?”

“No, but… There should be a better way to introduce me, right?”

I didn’t have any expectations and I’m glad I didn’t, because now, everything is ruined.

But her mother seemed to be laughing, so it was probably a good thing that she introduced me that way?

“Hello, Sui. I’m Arina’s mother.”

“Sorry for the late introduction. I am Sakaki Sui, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sorry to intrude on such a short notice, but I came empty-handed.”

“It’s fine. You don’t need to be so tense, relax.”

Arina’s mother was very beautiful. She was elegant and the way she sat looked exactly like Arina. Her nose was sharp and her eyes were beautiful, like a pair of jewels. I guess it was true that beautiful women would give birth to beautiful girls.

I heard that Arina’s mother used to work as a model. That made sense. She could appear in a magazine or TV and she wouldn’t look out of place. She had that kind of air.

“Are you perhaps, Arina’s boyfriend?”

“No no no, I’m not! I’m just a friend, that’s all there is to it!”

I did nothing, yet I could feel a killing intent emanating from a certain someone’s direction. She wouldn’t do anything in front of her mother, but she would definitely stab me when I left the house. I wanted to live for another twenty years, but it seemed like that wish wouldn’t come true.

“Mom, I need to talk to you.”

Arina said in a serious tone. The atmosphere turned from a light-hearted one to a serious one in a matter of seconds. Her mother read the atmosphere accordingly and put the newspaper down.

Arina put her bag down and took a seat across from her mother. She beckoned me to sit next to her, thus, I obeyed her and sat down. It felt uncomfortable. This gave me the same vibe as a TV drama scene where the guy was asking the girl’s parents for the girl’s hand in marriage. I wanted to go home.

Her mother probably thought that we were going to talk about our relationship and I didn’t like that possibility. Her impression of me would turn into ‘That one guy who came to snatch away my daughter’ and she would be wary of me. I didn’t want that to happen.

“Please don’t be surprised, mom…”

“Is something wrong, Arina?”

Arina’s words just sounded so wrong in this kind of situation.

“Actually, I’m–”

She was at a loss for words.

I knew what she was going to say. Something along the lines of ‘I’m not the Arina that you know, mom’, or ‘I have a double personality’.

I wanted to encourage her, but at the same time it felt hard for me to speak up. Her mother’s face looked gloomy. She was probably thinking about the possibility of things happening between me and her own daughter. The fact that she didn’t know why I was here in the first place also didn’t help.

‘Actually, I’m pregnant.’

Maybe her mother expected those words to come out of her mouth, but I was completely innocent, dear mother, please, don’t get the wrong idea! Arina, please, do your best to prove my innocence.

“Arina, it’s okay.”

‘It’s okay. Say it. I understand your pain.’ Her mother wore a worried look, it pained my heart to see it.

Arina then placed a hand on her chest before letting out a deep sigh. Please say it quickly, Arina.

I whispered to her in a quiet voice, ‘It’s fine, you won’t lose anything.’

She then looked up and stared directly at her mother’s eyes. She made up her mind it seemed.

“The current me, is not the me that you know, Mom. It’s a different me… I have a double personality…”