The Precarious Pair

“Hey, Meg. What’s your signature dish?”

“Signature dish? Hmm… maybe pumpkin stew.”

“Oh, nice. By the way, do you remember my favorite food?”

“Tsukudani.”

“Yup. Next time, you gotta feed it to me with an ‘aah.’”

On the way to the supermarket to grab ingredients for lunch, I overheard Hayashi and her friend’s conversation from behind. At first glance, I must look like their stalker.

At second glance, I’m definitely a stalker. I’m completely screwed.

Putting my precarious situation aside for a moment, I’d been thinking this since they came over to my place and started chatting, but there’s something oddly risky about their conversations.

What is it? Could you two stop getting so excited with each other?

Normally, you’d think Hayashi would shoot down Kasahara’s request like that. They’re best friends, sure, but not lovers.

If I saw people who weren’t in some steamy relationship feeding each other with an ‘aah,’ I’d be weirded out.

“Got it.”

I’m weirded out. Completely floored, you two. What’s going on? Is it normal for girls these days to feed their friends like that? What’s normal anymore? This is scary.

Also, their favorite foods are way too old-school.

“By the way, Yamamoto’s favorite is gyutan.”

“Wow, that’s refined.”

“You’re the last people I wanna hear that from.”

Finally able to join the conversation, I said this with an exasperated look, but the two of them just exchanged glances, apparently not getting what I meant. “Akari, your face looks kinda red.”

“It’s just your imagination.”

“You sure you don’t have a fever? That’d be bad. Should we head back?”

“No way! Absolutely not!”

What’s with these two? They’re not just best friends—they’re so close it almost makes you wonder if there’s something shady going on. “You guys, aren’t you getting a bit too carried away with this reunion?”

“Are we?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then we’re not.”

Hayashi, egged on by Kasahara, denied it firmly, but she looked so unlike her usual self—almost comically so. The subtle smug look on her face only made it worse.

Seeing Hayashi’s confident expression almost made me wonder if they really weren’t getting carried away.

“…Whatever. As long as you’re having fun.”

Back in high school, I never would’ve noticed. Their sense of personal space is totally off.

But whether I’d realized it then or now, it probably wouldn’t change my relationship with them. That’s why I said what I did.

“You’re so understanding, Yamamoto-kun. I might just fall for you all over again.”

Kasahara said this with a playful grin. “Don’t say stuff you don’t mean. It’ll give me the wrong idea.”

“Who says it’s the wrong idea?”

Trying not to let her see how my heart skipped a beat, I looked away from Kasahara. She’s always been like this, throwing out comments that mess with my head.

Not that I hate it. If I did, I wouldn’t have exchanged contact info with her in the first place. “By the way, you two go to the same university, right?”

My heart jolted. Hayashi, unusually sharp for once, made me clamp my mouth shut. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Don’t you ever run into each other on campus?”

“Now that you mention it, not really until summer break. Right?”

“Yeah.”

Sure, we’re in different departments, so we don’t cross paths often, but it’s not like I’ve never seen her around campus. If you asked if I’ve spotted her while walking around, it’s not exactly zero times.

But I’ve deliberately avoided saying hi to her.

The reason for that? Well, I’d rather not get into it.

“…Huh. Is that so?”

Back in high school, Hayashi would’ve probably pried into something interesting like this and stirred things up, but not this time. I’m grateful for her restraint.

It’s been a few weeks since Hayashi started crashing at my place. We met at the start of summer break, and now that long vacation is almost over.

Spending that much time together, I thought Hayashi and I had gotten pretty close.

But as expected, the two girls walking ahead have a different kind of history. From inside jokes to risky comments, they chatted happily, making up for the months they’d been apart.

There wasn’t even a sliver of space for me to cut in. Well, if butting in would ruin the vibe, it’s easier to just stay quiet and watch.

“Hey, since we’re here, how about a takoyaki party for lunch?”

The one to suggest this as soon as we reached the supermarket was Kasahara.

A takoyaki party. In short, it’s the kind of thing outgoing people do to bond over food and fun.

I couldn’t help but think—aren’t these two already close enough without doing something like that? Plus, it sounds like a pain to clean up.

And another thing: if you’re gonna call it a party, go big! Don’t just slap some takoyaki on a plate and call it a day.

“Sounds good. What do you think, Yamamoto?”

“Huh?”

But right now, I’m surrounded by takoyaki party enthusiasts… The result of a majority vote was obvious.

“…We don’t have a takoyaki grill at my place, though.”

Since I had a legitimate reason to refuse, I said so. “Yeah, it’s not worth buying one just for this. Let’s skip it.”

“Oh, I can grab one from my place. It’s close by.”

“Then let’s buy the ingredients and swing by after.”

“Nice! Why don’t we just do it at my place?”

“Perfect.”

“Wait, what?”

I couldn’t help but interject.

“What’s that?”

“…I mean, isn’t it kinda weird? Letting a guy into your place?”

“…Is it?”

“…You let guys into your place often?”

“What do you think?”

I fell silent. She’s a cute girl. It’s hard to imagine someone like her, living alone for half a year in college, not having made any close guy friends.

And honestly, owning a takoyaki grill pretty much confirms she’s had people over.

But the reason I shut up was because, for a moment, I felt a little gross questioning her like that. …Heh.

Kasahara gave a sultry smile. “I don’t. Only girl friends come over.”

“…Got it.”

…She got me again. Just moments ago, I was feeling weird about myself, but now I’m relieved by her words. What’s wrong with me?

“Let’s just get this shopping done.”

Feeling exhausted, I suggested this. “Yeah, sounds good. So, the party’s at my place, okay?”

“Do whatever you want.”

I grabbed a shopping basket and stepped into the supermarket.

Yokohama’s winning, holding the top spot in its genre, and I’m in such a good mood I posted early. At this point, I bet the readers of this novel have forgotten I said I’d post two chapters a day. Get it together, seriously. If you readers don’t speak up, the author’s never gonna stick to posting two chapters a day. You okay with that? Reviews, bookmarks, and comments are much appreciated!!!