Episode 65
I quietly tried to shut the door.
But Fujishiro, as if resisting, wedged herself into the gap.
Right, this is exactly the kind of thing she does. I realized I’d been completely set up.
Her gentle offer to “help me look for a place” had apparently really just been so she could end up living next door to me.
“Isn’t it a bit harsh to shut the door without a word?”
“You’re the worst, Fujishiro.”
“Sorry for moving in so late. You must have been lonely.”
“That’s not the point.”
Her easy, unbothered attitude made the whole time I’d spent worrying just now feel ridiculous.
Somehow it made me angry, and I felt a wild urge to take it out on her. Whether she was pretending not to notice how I felt or genuinely didn’t notice at all, I couldn’t tell — Fujishiro just kept closing the distance.
“Hey, can I come inside?”
“I’ll report you for trespassing.”
“Excuse the intrusion~”
Completely ignoring everything I’d said, this cheerful human being barged straight into my home. Then she started scanning every single corner of the place with far more scrutiny than necessary.
I’d only just moved in, and I liked to think I was keeping it tidy, but being studied like that so closely didn’t feel good.
“What?”
“No, I just thought — Morishita’s living alone now.”
“Obviously.”
“Aah! You’re eating stuff that’s bad for you. You’ve got to actually cook for yourself properly.”
Taking advantage of the fact that I wasn’t complaining, my guest said whatever she pleased. Normally I’d have been angry by now — maybe the reason I couldn’t work up the will to be was that the loneliness clinging to my chest had eased off a little.
Fujishiro started poking through my fridge without permission, so I slammed the door shut with enough force to nearly catch her face in it. With a burst of reflexes I had no idea she had, she dodged the attack.
“Don’t go looking without asking.”
“Hey, hey. Still hungry?”
“Huh?”
“Want me to make something light?”
“You, Fujishiro?”
“Don’t look at me like I’m some kind of monster.”
Because, honestly, Fujishiro acting like some capable, put-together woman was a genuinely bizarre thing to witness.
But once she brought up food, I found myself getting a little hungry after all. A cup of instant noodles clearly hadn’t been enough to fill my stomach.
“What are you making?”
“I can only do super simple stuff, but — fried rice, maybe?”
“Hm.”
“Okay, I’m borrowing your kitchen.”
Saying that, Fujishiro washed her hands and got started without waiting for an answer.
I’d thought about just fiddling with my phone while I waited, but her hands moved with such practiced ease that I found myself staring.
She was only chopping green onions, and yet the sight of her was something far removed from the Fujishiro I knew.
“Morishita, how’s work? Tough, I bet?”
“…I mean, normal. I’m new, so they go easy on me.”
“You seem like the serious type.”
“Not really. I keep wondering if it’s even okay for me to be like this.”
“That’s exactly what makes you the serious type. You should loosen up more.”
“Huh, my mentor said something like that too.”
“Heh. Morishita, you’re cute.”
My heart gave a small, sharp thump at Fujishiro’s offhand words.
Something ached faintly, deep in my chest, and without thinking I found myself rubbing at it.
“What else? Made any friends there?”
“There’s… someone who started the same time as me. She talks to me a lot, but I’m bad at talking back, so we haven’t really gotten close.”
“Oh? A girl?”
“Yeah.”
“Hm.”
One moment she’d been talking cheerfully, the next she’d suddenly gone quiet. But whether she was talking or silent, her hands never once stopped moving.
Watching Fujishiro cook, I found myself thinking it was genuinely enjoyable, watching food come together step by step — the sounds of the kitchen tools working hard, the appetizing smell, the serious look on Fujishiro’s face.
By the clock it must have been a while, but it felt like no time had passed at all.
“Morishita, you’ve only got one plate?”
“I haven’t bought much yet. Besides, I live alone, so one’s enough, isn’t it?”
“I’m going to be coming over, so you’ll need two.”
“Since when did you decide you’re coming over on your own?”
I said it in a voice full of disbelief, but Fujishiro just laughed, delighted enough that she looked ready to dance.
Still riding those same high spirits, she plated the fried rice onto the one dish and carried it over to the low table.
“There, all done?”
“…Yeah.”
As if pulled by something, I sat down in front of the fried rice and immediately brought a spoonful to my mouth.
It was delicious.
Frighteningly delicious.
I’d watched her make it from start to finish, so it wasn’t something store-bought. And yet it was still, somehow, that good.
I glanced up at Fujishiro sitting across from me, and she was there beaming, happy as anything.
Fujishiro’s more normal than I expected.
Things with Fujishiro are the same as always.
Feeling a small flicker of relief as I thought that and looked at her, her eyes skittered away uncertainly. And her cheeks flushed red right before my eyes.
In an instant, what I’d just felt was handed back to me, proven wrong.
Fujishiro was only trying to treat me the way she always had.
But the feeling underneath, in her heart — that wasn’t the same as before.
No — I didn’t even know since when she’d started liking me, so I couldn’t tell which “Fujishiro, as always” was even real anymore.
Somehow it felt like I was the only one living in a world I didn’t understand, and I hated that.
“By the way, did you eat yet, Fujishiro?”
“I haven’t.”
“Want some?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I made it with your ingredients anyway.”
“Eat some.”
I scooped up a spoonful small enough to be easy to eat and held it out in front of Fujishiro’s face. Her cheeks flushed faintly red again, and she looked genuinely flustered.
But as if she’d steeled herself for it, she opened her small mouth as wide as it would go and took the whole bite. Watching her chew, cheeks working, made her look like some small animal.
“That’s me for you. Honestly, I impress myself with how good I am at cooking.”
“Well… yeah, I guess.”
“It’s rare for you to compliment me this honestly.”
That was true, actually.
Fujishiro had shown up out of nowhere, thrown off my whole rhythm, and made me act in ways that weren’t like me at all. I reminded myself I needed to hold onto who I was more firmly.
I finished every last bite of the fried rice she’d made and pressed my hands together.
“Thanks for the meal.”
“Glad it suited your taste. Well, it’s getting late, so I’ll head home.”
Just moving next door, and yet the word “home” felt strangely off. I’d been swept through all kinds of restless feelings, and now the eye of the storm was simply leaving.
Fujishiro put her shoes on at the entryway and turned back, looking pleased with herself.
“Ah, Morishita. See you tomorrow. Goodnight.”
“Y-yeah…?”
I had no idea what about my half-hearted answer satisfied her, but Fujishiro skipped her way out of the flat.