The next morning, at around eight, I was woken up by the ring of the doorbell.
Ugh, let me sleep... Summer vacation is for sleeping.
The doorbell rang once more, so I jumped out of bed and rushed downstairs.
Did Nishina call movers or something?
Still half asleep, I pressed the button on the intercom and asked who was there.
“Yoo-hoo! It’s me, Nishina. Good morning,” a familiar voice said.
Huh? Nishina? Why’s she on the intercom?
I looked at the display and realized that the familiar surname did not, in fact, belong to my roommate, but instead to someone much older.
“Huh?! G-Good morning! P-Please wait a minute!” I said, suddenly wide awake.
Just as I was dashing toward the entrance to open the door, a sleepy-looking Kokoro emerged from her room and met me downstairs.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “It’s still so early...”
“Nishina... didn’t you say your mom wouldn’t be back until next month?”
“Yeah, and...?”
“Well, she’s outside the door right now!”
“She’s... WHAT?!”
＊ ＊ ＊
In extreme confusion, Kokoro and I darted over to the entrance, opened the door, and greeted Kokoro’s mother for the first time in a few months.
“Kokoro! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! And you too, Ichigaya!”
“Mom... Why are you here? You said you’d be back next month!”
“But I sent you a text about my change of plans, didn’t I?”
“What? No way! You didn’t!” Kokoro anxiously took out her phone and checked her LINE conversation with her mother. “See? You never told me!”
“But that can’t be! Look,” her mother said, handing over her own phone. “Here’s the message I sent you!”
“That’s not sent! Can’t you see the arrow thingy next to the message? That means it didn’t send right!”
“Oh... It does?”
That explains it. Nishina didn’t know she’d be coming either...
“Ugh. Just wait there for a minute, okay?”
“What? Kokoro?”
Before Mrs. Nishina could get an answer, her daughter returned to the living room, forcibly dragging me with her. Once we were out earshot, Kokoro began to desperately explain her plan.
“If I know my mom, she’s gonna ask to check my room... I can’t have her see my otaku stuff! I’ll go try hiding it as fast as I can, so buy me some time, okay? Keep her in the living room! Can you do that, please? I won’t take long—most of my things are already packed up!”
“S-Sure! I’ll try!”
She really is fast at coming up with a plan!
Being alone with Kokoro’s mother would no doubt be awkward for me, but this was no time to worry about such things. My soon-to-be ex-roommate sprinted to her room, and I went back to the entrance.
“S-Sorry to keep you waiting. Nish— I mean, Kokoro wanted to clean up her room a bit.”
“Aw, not at all. I am sorry for intruding so suddenly,” she replied as I escorted her to the living room.
Seeing her for the first time in so long, I was struck by how much she resembled Kokoro. I had no idea about her age, but, for having a daughter who was still in high school, Mrs. Nishina still looked rather beautiful.