Hayashi Megumi’s Playfulness

“Dinner’s in the fridge. Don’t take too long in the bath. Use the leftover bathwater for the washing machine. And limit cleaning to one hour a day!”

I left the house.

The distance to Akari’s place is about two train stops from here. In the countryside, that’d take over an hour to walk. But in the city, it’s roughly thirty minutes.

I decided to walk to Akari’s house, probably because the crisp, early autumn weather felt so pleasant.

Luckily, I had plenty of time to spare.

“Morning!”

“Meguu!”

“Eek!”

The moment I arrived at Akari’s place, I was greeted with a rough welcome from the homeowner.

My body ached a little from Akari’s tight hug.

“Hey, Akari, don’t scare me like that out of nowhere!”

“What? Is there anything left to be surprised about with us?”

“Just now, for one!”

“Why? I’ve been sitting here in seiza for twenty minutes waiting for you, you know?”

“Like a loyal dog?”

After graduating high school and moving to the city, we were apart for a while, but recently, we’ve started hanging out again.

Somehow, it feels like Akari’s gotten even more touchy-feely.

“Sorry, my legs are numb.”

“You idiot.”

With no other choice, I scooped Akari up in a princess carry and brought her to the living room.

Come to think of it, Akari’s always been petite since high school, but it feels like her figure’s gotten even more refined.

Feeling a twinge of irritation, I tossed Akari onto the bed.

Akari’s eyes went wide with shock after being flung.

“Huh? W-Wait, what?”

While Akari was flustered, I took a moment to look around her room, which I hadn’t visited in a while.

…Oh, this isn’t good.

Lately, living with that guy has been making me feel like my personality’s getting a bit more nitpicky.

“Akari, are you actually keeping this room clean?”

I ran my finger along the top of the TV. A thin layer of white dust clung to it.

“Uh, I clean pretty regularly, you know.”

“Sure.”

“…Meg?”

“Akari.”

“Eek, y-yes?!”

“You absolutely cannot let Yamamoto in this room, got it?”

I don’t think Akari’s lying about her cleaning habits.

But if Yamamoto saw this room, he’d probably give it a failing grade. Yamamoto’s really like a nagging mother-in-law, so petty and critical. The only thing better than an actual mother-in-law is that you don’t have to hear it directly from him—he’d just start cleaning the place himself.

“Got it. If you say so, Meg.”

Akari nodded with serious eyes.

…Did I just accidentally break some kind of flag between Yamamoto and Akari in a place he doesn’t even know about?

Feeling a slight pang of guilt, I noticed the girl sitting on the bed smirking at me.

“What?”

“Meg, when did you get so possessive?”

“Tch, it’s not like that!”

A total misunderstanding had taken root.

Well, it’s not a misunderstanding that I’ve gotten more possessive.

But this time, it really was a misunderstanding.

Of course, no matter how much I explained, Akari wouldn’t believe a word I said.

She just kept grinning, throwing out things like, “Sure, sure,” or “Uh-huh, I get it,” that kind of nonsense.

When I finally pinched her cheeks in frustration, Akari somehow looked delighted.

Come to think of it, back in high school, this was how we used to mess around. Maybe Akari was remembering those times too, and that’s why she was so happy.

“…We’ve still got a bit before the call with those two, right?”

Akari said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

“Wanna just chat for a bit, Meg?”

“Yeah.”

Until it was time, we smiled at each other like we used to.

Watching girls mess around with each other is way more fun.

Ugh, I’m such a creep…

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