“What kind of high school girl goes home with a man she just met?!”
“It’s not like I have anywhere else to go.”
“Stay at a karaoke box or an Internet café near the station, then.”
“I have no money.”
“So you think you’re just going to crash at my place for free?”
At that, she stopped to consider. Very quickly, she nodded to herself as if she’d made a decision.
“If you let me stay over, I’ll let you do me.”
I was at a loss for words.
Were all high school girls like this nowadays? No, there was no way. This girl was clearly off her rocker.
“You shouldn’t even joke about that kind of thing.”
“I’m not joking. How about it?”
“That’s a hard pass from me. Who’d want to sleep with some bratty kid?”
“I see…”
She nodded once, and a giant smile spread over her face.
“Let me stay for free, then.”
“……”
Yet again, I was speechless.
“Thanks for having me over.”
Somehow, I wound up letting her into my home. We’d bickered back and forth next to the telephone pole for a while, but I quickly realized that it wouldn’t look good if anyone from the neighborhood saw me. What was the harm in letting her stay the night and kicking her out in the morning?
“Listen up. You were the one who said you wanted to stay here.”
“Huh? Uh-huh.”
“So I haven’t kidnapped you!”
“Ha-ha! You’re so funny! I know that.”
This was no laughing matter. In this day and age, whenever there was a dispute between a man and a woman, the man was almost always made out to be the villain. I’d heard plenty of stories about people sheltering runaway girls with their full consent only for them to become the subjects of kidnapping investigations later.
“Your place is filthy.”
“It’s a bachelor pad. What did you expect?”
“I’ve seen cleaner ones than this.”
Her statement alarmed me, and I quickly looked back at her.
She merely gave me a blank look and tilted her head to the side.
“What is it?”
“…Nothing.”
It was none of my business.
Neither the life she’d been living to that point nor the chain of events that had brought her here had anything to do with me. Once morning came, I’d kick her out. That’s all there was to it.
I went straight to bed, still wearing the clothes I’d had on all day.
Too many things had happened, and my body had reached its limit. With the alcohol’s help, I hazily slid into unconsciousness.
“Oh, you’re just going to go to sleep?”
“Yep… Do whatever you like,” I replied with indifference.
The girl sat down gingerly on the bed beside me.
“You don’t want to do me?”
“How many times do I have to tell you…? I’m not into kids…”
“Oh, okay then.”
Exhaustion began to take over. I closed my eyes, but just as I was drifting off, the girl’s voice echoed in my ears again.
“Is there anything you want me to do for you?”
If I was pushed to pick something, a bit of peace and quiet would’ve been nice. And I’d prefer not to wake up to a missing wallet.
But I wasn’t able to articulate any of that.
I was so tired that neither my mouth nor my body did what I wanted.
However, as hazy as my mind was, there was one thing that I craved intensely.
“Miso soup…”
Before I could think, the words came out of my mouth.
“I want to have miso soup made by a woman.”
As soon as I finished my sentence, I passed out.