Chapter 86

“Was there something you needed to discuss, or…?” “Yeah. Um, not discuss, exactly, but…Well, there’s something I want to ask you point-blank.” Ayano paused and stared right into my eyes, as if silently warning me that dishonest replies would not be tolerated. I tensed up under her withering gaze, mentally preparing myself to answer whatever request she had. She was interrupting lunch for this, after all. What could it be? My stiff posture made Ayano stare at me again, quizzical. Then she spoke. “…Um, were you thinking about something dirty just now?” It felt like a body blow right to my unguarded chest. My heart thudded with dread. “D-d-dirty? What kinda question is that, Ayano?!” I mean, I…I was thinking about her a little, yes. But nothing dirty! I’m being prosecuted for a crime I didn’t commit! …In another moment, though, I regained my composure. Ayano isn’t some kind of magician. It’s not like she can read my mind. “Just now” must have referred to before she knocked on the door. Maybe while we were chatting…? “What’re you acting so nervous about…? I’m starting to get suspicious! You were thinking dirty thoughts about me back when we were talking, weren’t you?!” Ayano’s eyes were glued to mine. So she was talking about our chat. Eesh. And here I was freaking out over the idea of her reading my mind from the first floor. Well, that’s good, at least… Wait! No, it’s not! What’s she mean, was I thinking dirty thoughts? Me? About her?! I had no intention whatsoever of that! The accusation was enough to make me spring into action to defend myself. “You, you’ve totally got the wrong idea! I mean, Ayano, what’s going on with you?! What did I do to make you even think that for a moment?!” “It wasn’t anything like that! You men are all just a pack of wolves, aren’t you?!” What was she saying? Her words were nearly incoherent, but this Ayano was now practically in my face, abruptly taking on a much more angered tone. Ugh. What’s gotten into her? She seemed so kind and polite up to now. Talk about multiple personality disorder. But…like, how should I respond? It’s not like denying it all would make her believe me at this point…Ah, screw it. Let’s just ask. “Umm…So, so what could I do to make you forgive me?” “What could you do…?” The question subdued Ayano into silence. She thought for a moment. “Well, just promise me you won’t look at me and think dirty thoughts again. I’ll forgive you then.” “Look, really, I didn’t do anything like—” “Just promise me!!” Ayano gave the table a whack. Ahh! Let’s just put it all on the table! I shut my eyes and half shouted: “Ugghh, all right! I’ll never think dirty thoughts about you again! I promise!” Oof. What am I even saying now? “Okay. That’s a promise, all right?” Ayano beamed at me. After that intimidating outburst, it was a bit hard to take much cheer from her smile. She stood up in triumph. “All right, well, sorry to bother you,” she said, humming to herself as she left the room. It was the first time in my life, I think, when someone said “Sorry to bother you” and I wanted to reply, “Yeah, I hope you are.” Once the door closed, silence reigned. I was left to myself once again. What was all that just now? It was such a shock, I just sat there in a daze for a few moments. Ayano…I’d thought she was this nice, graceful girl. I had no idea there was that side to her, too. It definitely hadn’t been some kind of joke. Maybe she was dealing with some really terrible stress? She did act like her siblings made things kind of rough for her. Maybe that was the cause? I stared at the wall for a while, pondering her bizarre behavior, when another knock came to the door. “Hyah…!” I shot to my feet, surprised once more. Getting scared out of my wits twice in the same day over knocking…What is even happening to me today? It’s Ayano again, isn’t it? It’s got to be…! “Pardon me.” It was Ayano. She gave me a blank look, noticing how frozen I was, face tightened in anticipation of whatever was coming. “Um, is something up?” “No, nothing, really. Ha-ha!” I tried to force a grin. It didn’t work out too well. Which Ayano was I dealing with here? How could she be all smiles around me after what just happened a moment ago? “No? …Okay. Um, sorry to make you wait so long for lunch. There wasn’t much in the refrigerator, so I ran out to grab a few things…” Then she lifted up the tray at her feet and effortlessly carried it to the table. The moment she set it down, the smell of something sweet and sour wafted into my nostrils. “I tried going for a Chinese-style rice bowl, but hopefully it’ll suit your palate…” “Oh, sure thing. It’s definitely gonna—I can promise you that!” My stiffened face loosened, erupting into a full-force grin. No point letting this go cold. I immediately picked up my chopsticks and put my hands together. “Thanks for making this for—” …Hang on a second. The sudden realization made me stop. Ayano peered into my face, a worried look on her own. “Is something the matter, Haruka? Were you, um, not a fan of this?” “Oh, no, no, this is great. I just, uhh…” I knew exactly what was bothering me. But it wouldn’t do me any good to keep mum about it. I decided to ask the question. “You said you just went out to pick up some ingredients, Ayano?” “I did, yes,” she replied, the suspicion in her voice telling me she didn’t understand the meaning behind the question. Which was her right. But that meant something about the timeline today wasn’t matching up with reality. Because if it did, Ayano wouldn’t have ever accused me of being some sort of sex-crazed maniac. Going out to buy food, doing the actual cooking, then running upstairs to yell at me…Doing all that in such a short time couldn’t be too easy to pull off. “…Oh, wait a minute. I actually have the receipt here.” She pulled it out of a pocket in her cardigan and handed it to me. It listed assorted seafood ingredients, vegetables, and things like ground beef and curry powder that were presumably meant for dinner later. The time printed on it matched up perfectly with the moment Ayano left the room the first time. My eyes fell back on the table. This rice bowl…It definitely wasn’t some kind of ready-made thing she’d tossed in the microwave. The ingredients were all a bunch of different sizes. It even had some pumpkin. In other words, this was authentic home cooking, and considering all the stuff she put in, it must have taken time to prepare. Perhaps this was a batch she’d whipped up beforehand, but judging by the receipt, I didn’t think so. But she really was here a moment ago. She really did tear me a new one. I didn’t hallucinate it. The more I thought about it, the weirder it seemed. “Hey, can I ask you one more question, Ayano?” I could tell I was starting to exasperate my host a little, but she nodded, smile still clear on her face. “Listen, do you have…like, a twin sister or something?” I nervously chuckled a bit as I asked it. I knew I was asking a completely ridiculous question. Ayano froze up a little, perhaps trying to figure out what it meant. I couldn’t blame her. If someone asked me out of the blue about a secret twin, I’d do the same thing. But after a moment, Ayano blurted out “Huh?!” and opened her eyes wide, apparently realizing something important. “D-do you mean someone came in here while I was cooking, maybe? What did she say to you?!” She brought her head close to mine, pressing me in a different way than she did during her “dirty thoughts” diatribe. This time, she looked more like she was in a panic. I instantly leaned back a little in response, but since she’d asked, I decided to tell her everything. How she’d gotten the idea into her head that I was leering at her funny. How I’d been forced to promise I would never do it again. And finally, how she’d left the room in a totally serene mood. I began to feel like I was doing something bad, because her face reddened more and more as I gave her the story. When I finished, she stood up without a word and headed for the door. I assumed she had someone else she wanted to see right then, but I had one more request for her. “Um, don’t get too mad at her, all right?” “If I can hold it back,” she replied softly as she left. I still couldn’t get over how much of a surprise it was. So the “kind of weird” thing she’d been talking about was a twin sister, huh? Well, that cleared up the confusion, at least. Ayano was a nice girl after all. …Now, then. I settled back down in front of my now-cold Chinese rice bowl. “Here we go!” Just as I was about to dig in, I heard a scream downstairs. Guess Ayano couldn’t hold it back. As I enjoyed the not-too-soft, not-too-hard rice, I wondered why the shout had come from a boy instead of a girl.