As I entered Enami-san’s house, I realized that little had changed in the situation.\n
Inside the living room. Mother Enami was sitting there. Nishikawa was collecting small trash as she did last week. However, it seemed that they could not make any major changes to the room and the broken furniture was left behind.\n\n
“Hey, Naocchi! Glad you could make it!”\n\n
Nishikawa said in a volume of voice that did not irritate Mother Enami.\n
Mother Enami in the back of the room also smiled at my appearance. Knowing what happened last week, she doesn’t look welcoming to me. It seemed like a vague smile to someone who was on guard.\n\n
“Ah, More of you have come. I’m glad Risa has many friends.”\n
“Ah, hi. How are you feeling?”\n
“I’m feeling much better now, thank you.”\n\n
However, the all-important Enami-san was nowhere to be found. Nishikawa, clad in the top and bottom sweaters, making use of the reflection from last time, answered for me.\n\n
“Risa-chan? She’s out for a little shopping right now. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”\n\n
There is no change in the situation, but the cleaning seems to be progressing little by little. The amount of garbage in the living room was definitely decreasing. The smell was also getting weaker.\n
A garbage bag was collected in the corner of the living room. She didn’t seem to have any intention of doing anything about the trash, and Mother Enami hadn’t touched it at all. After all, what Mother Enami is afraid of is the change in what serves as a part of the room.\n\n
Just as I put on my plastic gloves to collect the garbage, Enami-san came back.\n\n
“Ah.”\n\n
She noticed my presence and gave a small nod. The items she had bought seemed to be jelly drinks and water. The refrigerator is useless in this room, so she might have to buy it more often.\n
Enami-san had changed into a jersey. I guess it’s natural that she should be dressed in something that she doesn’t mind getting dirty. Normally, this would be a tacky look, but when Enami-san wears it, it looks good.\n
Her long, slender legs. Her slender body. She could have appeared as a model.\n\n
She handed over the items she bought to Mother Enami. And mother enami responded, saying, “Thank you”.\n
As soon as she received it, she took out a bottle of water from the plastic bag and drank it down in one gulp. Her forehead was covered with sweat. Even in this cold space, one might sweat when they’re wrapped in a futon.\n\n
“If there’s anything you want, let me know right away. I’ll get you later.”\n
“Oh, that’s so sweet. Are you just trying to look good because of having a boy over?”\n
“Mom… That’s not true”\n
“I’m kidding. Scary~.”\n\n
For some reason, Enami-san glared at me. Did I do something wrong? No one is taking it seriously, so there’s nothing to worry about.\n\n
The three of us resumed our cleaning. No matter how much trash we collect, there’s still more. It looks like we’re going to end up just cleaning today.\n
The trash near the TV was already almost gone. There hadn’t been much garbage around here, to begin with. The pieces of dishes left on the carpet had all been collected. They were probably removed by sticking them with duct tape purchased at Home Depot.\n
The area around the dining table was still untouched. Tissue paper lying on the floor and food stuck to the table. I carefully wiped each of them away.\n
“……”\n
We worked in silence. Enami-san and Nishikawa were quiet. Mother Enami was also quiet.\n
The image of Mother Enami from last week still lingered in my mind. The devilish look she showed us as we carried out the furniture.\n
(Can’t you listen to what I’m saying?)\n
The tone of her voice was uncompromising. She looked at us as if she wanted to shoot us. We must not make the same mistake again.\n\n
As I carefully proceeded with my work, I suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from nearby. The sound was coming from near the kitchen. I looked up and strained my eyes to see what it was.\n
Then I realized.\n
“Oh, Cockro…”\n
Before I could say anything else, Nishikawa raised his voice.\n
“Kya~! Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah… Co,Co,Co,Co,….!”\n
She had been quiet until a moment ago, but her face turned pale and she backed away vigorously.\n
“No, I can’t. No, no, not that thing. Someone get rid of it, get rid of it, save me, save me please…”\n
She was prattling. She seemed to be very uncomfortable with it and screamed whenever the cockroach moved.\n
To be honest, I’m not very good with cockroaches either. They come out occasionally in my house, but every time they do, I have a hard time getting rid of them. I don’t want to touch them, so I use a spray to weaken them, then catch them and let them go outside. They’re so quick that it’s hard to spray them if you’re too lazy to deal with them.\n\n
I let out a breath of air.\n
Calm down. There are only girls in this situation. I’ll just have to deal with it.\n\n
Just as I was about to confront the cockroach, Enami-san walked past me.\n
–Eh?\n
There was no hesitation in Enami-san’s steps. She headed straight for the cockroach and slammed the empty box of tissues in her hand as hard as she could.\n
“……!”\n
It was an incredibly smooth series of actions. I was speechless with surprise.\n
“……Yosh”\n
One-shot. The cockroach was now a sight for sore eyes. Enami-san wiped the corpse of the cockroach with a rag and returned as if nothing had happened.\n
Nishikawa and I were stunned. Maybe this kind of thing happens all the time. It was too brilliantly handled.\n
Enami-san put the empty box of tissues, the corpse, and the rag into a bag and closed the mouth of the bag. She then looked at us suspiciously as we didn’t resume cleaning.\n\n
I thought,\n\n
–She’s strong.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: Thanks “Trick” for the Ko-fi. I’ll be posting extra chapters for this series tomorrow, probably 😀\n\n