Chapter 13

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TL: Single TL Translations

Chapter 13

I didn’t have any plans today and I have a slight hangover, but since I talked with Haruka for a bit, I sent Aoi a reply of agreement.

To think I would meet Aoi who I saw on TV just now. There were times I thought of her as cute and adorable, but now I feel weirdly nervous.

“Heyyy, Yuki. Since it’s almost spring, wanna go cherry blossom viewing? I’ll invite Shouta and the others too.”

“Huh, ahh, sure. That sounds great. I don’t really go cherry blossom viewing, but… I feel like it’ll be busy since it’s in the city. I wonder where a good place we could go is?”

This girl doesn’t have a tempo, abruptly doing things here and there, but I’ve gotten used to it and it’s not troubling at all, it’s rather fun. I talked with Haruka who was hugging my arm while playing with her phone about the cherry blossom viewing.

By the time we planned everything it was 2 PM. I guess I should go home now, I need to clean as well. I went home after I managed to tear off Haruka who was unwilling to let me leave, throwing a tantrum. Haruka likes being pampered and is lonely, but because I pamper her, in situations like these, I have a difficult time. She pouted quite a bit, but since it was the same as always, I told her I would contact her next time and left.

When I got home, I took off my and changed my clothes from the ones I wore today. I put on light make up and cleaned the house. Similar to Haruka, my room is a place where I just come to sleep, so it doesn’t get too cluttered or dirty. I immediately finished cleaning and opened the fridge. I guess this is the problem. There are only few groceries. Though I cook I don’t make elaborate things and I don’t have any drinks, it seems like I should go shopping.

When I checked my phone, I got a message from Aoi saying that she would arrive at the nearest station around 5 PM. I still have time to spare. I replied, ‘got it’ and went to the supermarket.

I want to welcome her somehow, so I bought snacks and drinks I thought Aoi would like, though I could only sigh at myself for not preparing something beforehand. When I got home from shopping, I decided to take a rest since my body was tired from still being hungover. I then woke up to the alarm I put on at 4:30 PM and my body felt much better.

I arrived at the station a little before 5 PM waiting for Aoi who messaged me saying she was going to arrive soon. I was a little restless and nervous from suddenly meeting Aoi. Sure, she’s a celebrity plus it’s not like Aoi’s changed at all, I know I shouldn’t be conscious of it, but I couldn’t calm down. First of all, what should I talk about?

“Yuki!”

I was restlessly crossing my arms and thinking about various things when Aoi came out from the ticket gate. As I thought, Aoi was the same person as in TV drama I watched that time, I felt nervous. To think I would become friends with a celebrity like her, plus I’ve spoken harshly to her celebrity ex-boyfriend, I’m afraid of myself. What am I doing? I was thinking too much, and my reaction was delayed.

“Y-Yeah, it’s been a while. Did you have work today?”

“Uh-huh, but since it finished early and Yuki had a holiday, if I could I wanted to meet you, so… I’m sorry it was so sudden.”

“It’s completely fine. I just drank yesterday. Well then, let’s go.”

“Okay. Um, Yuki? Can I cook you a meal at your place? I bought some things on the way, I hope it doesn’t bother you…”

Looking at Aoi, she was holding a plastic bag in one hand. She didn’t need to be considerate like this.

“I’m not bothered at all. It’s at the level where I want to eat your food every day. But aren’t you tired from work today? I want to cook, but since I can’t, we can go out and eat too.”

“I’m fine. Eating outside is good too, but I want to make something today. So, is that okay?”

Aoi doesn’t back down when it’s regarding cooking. I’m always a bit surprised by her, but since she wants to do it it should be fine. I guess I’m pretty soft.

“If that’s the case then okay. Thanks as always.”

“Huh? …No… that’s my line.”

“?”

While thinking ‘what is?’ and almost saying it aloud, she looked bashful and I didn’t understand why. I thought she would be bewildered if I asked her so I decided not to. For the time being, I carried the baggage Aoi brought. It looks heavy, I can’t let her carry this. Aoi thanked me modestly.

“T-Thank you.”

“Hmm, rather than that, what are you going to make?”

“Um, gratin, clam chowder, oh and bang bang chicken salad.”

“Huh? Aoi, why don’t you open a restaurant? I swear, it’ll sell. I didn’t know you can make clam chowder at home. I thought you need to buy it to eat it.”

I’m really surprised at how good this girl can cook and even feel like I should pay her because the meals she makes are from a different dimension. Aoi hurriedly shook her head.

“It’s impossible for someone like me. I’m only doing it as a hobby and it’s pretty easy to do. It’s not hard.”

“But, it’s always so tasty just like a restaurants. Since you’ve already captured my stomach*, I’m looking way too forward to your food, this isn’t good for me. While I can only say delicious as my impression, I really think it’s delicious, okay?”

*same idea as ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’

“You always praise me too much. But, thank you, I’m happy. Since I haven’t cooked for others that much.”

I felt Aoi who was smiling happily next to me was twice as cute and dazzling as usual and felt once again that she truly is a celebrity. So, this is what happens when you change your perspective. She’s too different from me.

When I got home and put the ingredients in the kitchen, Aoi said ‘I’ll start cooking’ and quickly started cooking without so much as a break. I told her where everything was and was nervously waiting while watching.

I won’t ask her if I could help because I knew she would tell me to sit, but what should I do? While I was at a loss, Aoi turned and looked at me.

“Yuki, it might take some time so you can watch TV or… wait you said you don’t watch TV. You can just relax then.”

“Okay, got it.”

I guess let’s play some phone games for the time being. Let’s leave this to Aoi. I turned on the music player I always listen to and played the songs I’ve recently been into.

Until she finished cooking, I was thinking various things about Aoi and I couldn’t concentrate that much resulting in several game over screens, but it’s impossible to not be conscious of it.

After a while, Aoi said ‘it’s finished’ and put the food on the plates and brought it to the table. I was relieved to finally stop playing the game and helped her bring the plates over.

“There was some leftover chicken, so I tried a making a meat and potato stew*.”

*Japanese dish called nikujaga, it usually consists of beef and potato, but in this case, she used chicken since it was left over.

I’m surprised by the meat and potato stew that didn’t look like something made from leftovers. After carrying the food, I thanked Aoi and we started eating together. I, once again, said delicious as that was the only thing I could say.

“I’m glad. I made a lot of clam chowder and since that can be kept for a while, you should eat it.”

“Okay, looks like I won’t be troubled with food. Thanks so much. To think there would be a day where I could eat such delicious food at my own house.”

“You’re exaggerating. …Y-Yuki? Umm.”

“Hm?”

As though she remembered something, Aoi took out her planner and looked at me nervously.

“Are you free Thursday next week? If you are, I was wondering if you wanted to go the pancake shop we talked about last time… is that okay?”

“Next week? Uh, I’m free next week. The one at XX station, right? I want to go, I want to go.”

“I’m glad! Then keep it open.”

“Okay, I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a while since I’ve had pancakes.”

“Me too!”

Aoi was happily writing in her planner and I also wrote it in my phone’s planner so I wouldn’t forget. Aoi basically knows when I have a holiday, so she always adjusts her schedule with mine, but I wonder if this is because she’s a celebrity. Speaking of which, Haruka did tell me to be careful when hanging out and while thinking that it might be better to go out at night rather than during the day, I opened my mouth to speak, but I was beaten to the punch by Aoi.

“Since I’m off for the whole day, we can meet at around lunch time and try out food at various places. There’s a place where we can eat and walk and though I’ve never been, I’ve heard it’s delicious. Ah, Yuki are you free from lunch time?”

I missed the chance to say it since she looked so happy while talking. While there are quite a lot of people there and I’m worried, I could only nod at Aoi who seemed so happy. I guess I can only try to avoid the crowd as much as possible.

“Yep, I’m free. Then, I guess I have to keep myself hungry.”

“I’m glad. You’re right! I’m so excited for it.”

“That’s true, plus it looks like your work has settled down too. How has work been, has it been going well?”

We started talking while eating. I tried to casually touch the topic of her work.

“It’s going okay. I was really busy before, but right now, it’s as though the waves have passed. How about you, Yuki?”

“My work is the same as always. I occasionally work overtime though.”

“I see. Yuki you wear a white gown at your workplace, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, I do, why?”

The topic suddenly changed to my workplace and uniform. I wondered if there would be a day Aoi wears it in a drama. I feel like it would suit her a lot.

“I can’t imagine it. It’s too different from the usual.”

“Well, it isn’t something people would usually wear. But it is comfortable. Though it’s terrible when spilling coffee on it.”

“Fufu, is that so, I want to see it.”

I laughed saying it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Within our usual conversation we had, I realized that she probably didn’t want to talk about her work. Aoi’s been like that from before, so I didn’t care too much about it. Yet, I still had mixed feelings about it. I’m shaken from seeing a part of her I’ve never seen. I was asked to be her friend and cried at not to hate her; those were her true feelings. Yet I can only doubt and wonder why she said that. I understand how this girl feels. No, that’s how it was supposed to be. Even though it’s not like I don’t believe it, I just don’t understand.

TL Note: So yeah, I’m a bit busy rn. It’s the end of the semester this month and I have to hand in my graduation project (or at least a part of it) so the releases this month will be a bit slow, but after the month ends, I’ll try to keep consistent 4 day releases like before!!

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