Episode 17 – The maid wraps it up

“Please, eat.”
“Itadakimasu”

Miso soup, salad, and bacon and eggs are an ordinary combination, but it is a home-cooked meal that I am grateful for.

The smell of a proper breakfast makes my tongue flutter as I begin to eat, though the thought of crushed onigiri rice balls in a garbage bag briefly crosses my mind.

“Delicious ……”
“Fufu, no need to rush. Me and breakfast don’t run away from each other.”

Arisa smiles at me maturely, resting her cheekbones on her hands, and looks at me tenderly as she eats at a very fast pace.

“You’re not eating, Arisa?”
“I’ll eat too, so don’t worry about it.”
“Y-yeah”

In the past, Arisa would also come to my house and cook for me while my father was at work. Back then, Arisa’s cooking was not so flattering, but now it is very tasty. It is the very taste of home.

Home……

I wonder if I know what home tastes like.

Since my mother died of illness when I was a child, I have always eaten lunch boxes from the supermarket or beef bowl restaurants.

I think the three sisters must feel the same way. Their mother worked hard at her own company, so I have never seen her cook. That is why Arisa, an elementary school student, tried her best to cook a meal.

If so, this is not a taste of home, but a reminder of the old days.

The taste itself is more refined now, but at the root of it, it is the same.

For some reason, my heart aches as if it were tightening when I think of this.

“Yu …… crying?”
“N-no. …… this.”

Am I crying?

I haven’t cried once since my dad died. ……

I’m so embarrassed to think that Arisa will see my face when I’m crying.

So I wiped my tears with my sleeve and looked at Arisa.
　
Then

“I have plenty of refills, so just let me know whenever you want.”

She does not condemn me, but captures me tenderly with her bright red eyes. Looking at her like that, for some reason, I feel like my tear gland is stimulated. But I held back desperately and ate my meal as if to cover it up.

After the meal was over, Arisa poured hot water from the electric kettle into my cup and made me a cup of coffee.

“Here you go.”
“Thank you. Coffee.”
“No. No, it’s nothing.”
“……”

Arisa gently placed a cup of coffee on the table. I sipped it, and a moderate bitterness spread through my mouth.

“Still, it’s a pretty big house for someone living alone.”
“Well, I’ve been living with my dad all my life.”
“Doesn’t Yu’s father live here?”
“…….he’s not here”
“overseas business trip?”

I shook my head at her question.

“So he’s working alone then?”

I shook my head again.

Then, seeing my resigned expression, Arisa’s eyes widened and her lips trembled slightly.

“N-no way…..”
“He’s gone.””

When Arisa heard my reply, she forgot about drinking her coffee and opened her mouth half open.

“When?”
“A year ago. He died of cancer.”
“N-No way…”
“Maybe he was tired, I don’t know. He’s been working so hard on his own since mom died. ……”
“Yuu……”
“Arisa?”

I looked at her and saw that she had tears like crystals in her eyes. Then she suddenly stood up and came towards me sitting on a chair and hugged me from behind.

“!”
“Yuu,……, it was painful, wasn’t it?”
“……Arisa and the others went through something even more painful. That’s why …… about me.”
“I’ll always be there for you.”
“……”
“I’m not the only one. Ai nee, and Sera will …… always be with you.”
“No, I can’t let the three of you bothered……”

The three sisters have their own lives. They have the right to be happy. That is why I was careful not to let them know about it.

Perhaps I was being overly self-conscious, but I thought that since they had a painful past, there was no way they would leave me alone if they knew about my situation.

They were supposed to be leading fulfilling lives, but I knew that they would not be happy if someone like me got in their way.

However, Arisa whispered words to me that far exceeded my expectations.

“Yuu.”
“?”

“I …… we’re not interested in any other guy but Yuu.”
“W-What?”

Words that lightly blow away my sadness. And then there was the soft meat that melted all of my heart. These two melodies made my heart growl with an indescribable emotion.

“It’s all thanks to you.”
“Because of me?”
“You’re the main reason we’ve stayed sane and made it this far.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“No. You have done everything for us. Yu used to be our emotional support. When we wanted to give up on life, when we were tempted by rich men, when we wanted to take the easy way out by selling our bodies, Yu protected us.”
“……”
“Yuu now is the same as Yuu in the past. He’s a man who can get a girl pregnant.”
“!! p-pregnant? ……”

I twitched for a moment. But Arisa’s huge marshmallow absorbs it all. The sensation is so pleasant that I’m afraid I’m going to get addicted to it.

“I am sure my parents and Yu’s parents are happy. This reunion. So do I. You hear it, don’t you? This heartbeat.”
“……”

Sure enough, it’s knocking gently against my back with a fierce heartbeat coming from this big soft flesh.

“Yuu.”
“What?”

“I don’t care if you pour out all those dusky feelings in your heart onto me. If it makes Yu feel better, you can force yourself to like me. Master.”
“!! I can’t do that!”
“Fudu, Yuu is wonderful, after all. Is it too early for that kind of thing yet? …… Then, let’s stay like this forever.”

The fragrance emanating from Arisa’s body puts me in a state of intoxication.

“We’ll always be with you. Forever”

My eyes completely lost color at the sound of her sweet voice.

I spoke the words that came into my head.

“Yeah. We’ll always be together. Just like the old days.”

The sadness of my parents’ death and the warmth that Arisa gave me.

I was a little scared of these feelings that I had never felt before, but her two big, gentle marshmallows were just the right size for me.

She gently wrapped me in her arms.

At the same time, her words came to my mind.
[Yuu now is the same as Yuu in the past. He’s a man who can get a girl pregnant.]