Episode Forty: Don’t Forget to Wrap a Scallion Around Your Neck Either
A cake stand set before me. Amber-colored royal milk tea beside it.
Hotel afternoon tea really is a different world, I thought, marveling as I reached for a sandwich.
We’d been shown to a table by a floor-to-ceiling window, and Yuuri’s silver hair caught the sunlight, glittering, almost too bright to look at.
Unlike me, already reaching to dig in, Yuuri hesitated, her hand hovering uncertainly.
“Um, what am I supposed to eat first?”
“Bottom up, technically… but I think whatever order you actually want is fine. We’re in Japan, and it’s just the two of us.”
I said it and bit into a bite-sized sandwich, and Yuuri followed my lead, reaching for one herself.
I remembered Yui-san saying something almost identical, once, when she’d taken me to a hotel dinner.
Since it’s just friends together, all that matters is whether it’s delicious, whether it’s fun. Really, most of the girls who come here for afternoon tea probably don’t worry about the “proper” order at all.
Today I’d gone shopping with Yuuri, and I’d suggested afternoon tea for the afternoon.
Brewing tea at home is nice too, but I figured, once in a while, enjoying it at a hotel like this isn’t bad either.
Yui-san had said she had her usual monthly dinner today, so she’d probably be home late.
Which is exactly why I’d asked Yuuri to keep me company today, trying, one way or another, to distract myself.
Relieved, biting into another sandwich, Yuuri suddenly looked up at me, like something had just occurred to her.
“Come to think of it… are you going back to England after graduation, Kanata?”
The question came so out of nowhere that it caught me a little off guard.
“Eh? No, I’m not going back. I’m planning to get a job here in Japan. My family might come back to Japan themselves at some point too, who knows. Why do you ask?”
The reason my family currently lives in England is my father’s work posting. Depending on how that goes, they might end up back in Japan eventually too.
“Ritsu-san mentioned it’s about time to start job-hunting prep, so it just crossed my mind.”
Job hunting… right. Already at that point, huh. We’re moving up to second year next month. Which means Yui-san and Ritsu-san will be fourth-years.
Yui-san’s final year of college.
“That’s right. This year’s the last one, huh. I should probably… actually learn to do housework properly, this year, at least.”
Yui-san already has her job lined up, so she doesn’t need to job-hunt, but once she’s actually working, she surely won’t have this much free time anymore, the way things are now.
Staying nothing but dead weight, useless at even basic housework, when that happens — that’s not going to fly.
I said it with a sigh, and Yuuri narrowed her eyes, laughing.
“Wait, are you seriously not doing any housework at all?”
“I-I mean… Yui-san handles almost all of it…”
True, but pointed out like that, it felt uncomfortably exposed.
“Huh. Wouldn’t blame her if she kicked you out eventually.”
“Yui-san would never do that! …Probably.”
“Your senior really spoils you a little too much, huh~”
I’m well aware of that myself, so I had no comeback.
“But it’s a little surprising, honestly. Didn’t expect your senior to be the devoted type with a girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?”
Confused about what she meant, I tilted my head, and Yuuri narrowed her eyes, grinning, mischievous.
“You two are dating, right?”
“Wh-what are you talking about!?”
Startled, I nearly spat out my tea.
“You don’t have to hide it. It’s obvious just watching you. You’re crazy about her.”
That was the first time anyone had ever said that to me, so plainly, from the outside. Do I really look that way? Embarrassed, my face started heating up.
“You were agonizing so hard over Valentine’s chocolate too, remember? Made me think, huh, love’s kind of nice.”
Yuuri doesn’t seem to have any real prejudice, but it left me, just slightly, worried anyway.
What does someone in love with a woman look like, to someone who isn’t?
“…Is it weird, do you think? Two women?”
Women falling for women isn’t exactly something you can say loudly, not in Japan right now. I’m not ashamed of it at this point, but how people close to me see it still matters, at least a little.
“Why would it be? Nothing weird about it at all. Falling for someone is a wonderful thing, I think. Doesn’t matter what gender they are.”
Yuuri laughed, easy, unburdened. I really am blessed with good friends, I thought, genuinely. Something in my chest felt just a little lighter.
“…But we’re really not dating, okay.”
“Really? Ritsu-san said it’s just a matter of time for you two.”
I couldn’t help a wry laugh. So Ritsu-san’s noticed my feelings too, then.
Embarrassed, I covered my face with both hands, and heard Yuuri’s teasing laughter.
*
After enjoying shopping and afternoon tea, I parted ways with Yuuri and headed home.
She’d mentioned a dinner today, so Yui-san was probably already out. Waiting until night sounded boring, but I told myself there was nothing to be done about it.
Unlocking the door and stepping inside, I noticed the living room light was already on.
It was already past seven — could Yui-san not have left yet?
Walking down the hallway, hand on the living room door, I heard voices talking. Yui-san’s voice. Talking to someone?
Quietly opening the door, I found Yui-san apparently on a call in the kitchen. Her voice sounded a little rougher than usual, somehow.
“…Sorry about today. Yeah, yeah, thank you. Alright then.”
Right as she ended the call, Yui-san seemed to notice I was home.
“Ah, welcome back, Kanata.”
Coughing lightly, Yui-san looked a little unwell.
“Yui-san, wasn’t today the dinner?”
“Mm, yeah. It was supposed to be, but I started feeling feverish. Called Dad and canceled for today.”
Now that she’d said it, her cheeks really did look flushed, more than usual. I tossed my bag onto the sofa and rushed over to her.
“Did you take your temperature?”
“No, haven’t. Feel like it’d only make me feel worse if I checked.”
I understood the feeling, but she’s the one who’d made me check my temperature first thing, back when I had a cold.
“Have you eaten?”
I’d assumed she was out at the dinner, so I’d already eaten before heading home.
I wished I could take care of her the way she’d taken care of me before, but since I can’t cook, buying something ready-made was really the only option.
“No appetite, so I’ll skip it. Don’t want to pass it to you, so I’ll just sleep in my room.”
She said it, wobbling unsteadily toward her room, and I scrambled to catch her hand and stop her.
“What are you even saying, this late in the game. You can’t take medicine without eating something first, can you. I can’t cook for you, but I can at least go buy something.”
“It’s fine, really. Sleep’ll fix it. I’d hate it more, giving it to you.”
A little late, but I think I might have just figured something out. Is Yui-san, by any chance, terrible at being taken care of?
Generally, younger siblings are supposed to be good at leaning on people, or so the stereotype goes — but apparently that doesn’t apply to Yui-san at all.
“Then just go lie down for now, okay?”
I said it, steering her back toward her room. Once I’d watched her, unsteady, drawn toward the bed like a magnet, lie down, I grabbed the bag I’d tossed on the sofa again.
There’s a supermarket nearby. Walking distance from here.
At times like this, I curse myself, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, for never having bothered learning housework.
I wish I were the kind of woman who could whip up a simple bowl of rice porridge without a second thought. Regretting it now wouldn’t make that skill appear overnight, though.
Whatever I can actually do right now, I need to do it.
I pulled my phone out of my coat pocket and tapped my contacts.
Honestly, I had no idea what I should even buy. But I do have one powerful ally, even someone as helpless as me.
The call connected after just a few rings.
“Heeey, hello? Ritsu here.”
A relentlessly bright voice came through the phone.
“It’s Kanata, sorry to bother you. I need your help.”
“Eh, what, what happened?”
“Yui-san caught a cold, she seems to have a fever, but I have no idea what to buy for her.”
Swallowing my pride, I had no choice but to ask for help. This much, at least, really couldn’t be helped.
I really am realizing, all over again, just how little I can do. Can’t even properly take care of the person I love when she’s sick.
“Ah, where are you headed right now?”
“The nearby supermarket…”
“Okay, that’ll have everything. Kanata-chan, you can’t cook, right?”
“Right…”
“You’ll be fine. They’ve got instant rice porridge, just heat it in a pot, grab a few of those. Also, if the fever’s bad, oral rehydration solution, or… well, sports drinks work fine too. And apples, or fruit, ice cream? Whatever seems easy to eat. Oh, and don’t forget to wrap a scallion around her neck either.”
That last line pulled a laugh out of me before I could stop it. Something in me, faintly tense until now, eased.
“Ha, a scallion? Does that actually work?”
“Hey now, my grandma back home swore by it, so it’s got to be true. Just trust me and try it.”
There it is again, “grandma back home.” I feel like Ritsu-san said something similar last time, when I gave her those black eggs as a souvenir.
“…Thank you. This really helps. If Yui-san doesn’t mind, I’ll give it a try.”
“You’re welcome. Call anytime you need me.”
She’s really so dependable. I’m genuinely glad Ritsu-san and I have gotten close. No wonder Yui-san trusts her so much.
I reached the supermarket right as the call ended.
Repeating the list of “things to buy” from Ritsu-san over and over in my head, making sure not to forget a single one, I grabbed a shopping basket.