Notice:- Edited on June 30th, 2025.
------
Waking up early next morning, we receive a call, informing us that we are to move our belongings to a dormitory close to the new school.
Ayumi and I collect whatever there is and place them all inside labelled cardboard boxes. Then, we leave the rest to a certain company that specializes in relocation (apparently, the school did it for us), and head to the location sent to my phone.
Once we arrive there, I am dumbstruck by the sheer size of an enormous building and the way it's been built.
We pass by two security guards at the front gate and get into one of the two elevators. Upon reaching the designated floor, we make our way to the door number I was told was ours - S65. (In the message, it was explained that S stands for student designated. Makes me wonder what else is there.)
Ayumi wastes no time as she blitzes inside and hops around while excitedly while exclaiming about how big and nice the place is. It doesn't take long before the relocation company's employees reach us, bringing with them all the labelled boxes.
Ayumi approaches one of them and offers, "Let me help you!"
The worker appears to be visibly sweating before looking over at me, his eyes seeking assistance. I let out a sigh and say with a smile, "You can't do that, Ayumi."
"Why? Won't it be better if I help them?" she asks, puzzled.
I rack my brain for an answer, and manage to come up with one, "It's their job to move the boxes. If you help them, you will be taking away their job."
Ayumi suddenly has a look of enlightenment as her face beams up. She then proceeds to lift her arms up and exclaims, "Ayu didn't think of it like that!"
She then turns back to the employee and bows, "Sorry Mister!"
"It's fine, it's fine," the man says with a chuckle as before he continues with what he was doing.
I pat Ayumi's head with a slight shake of my head lightly before moving inside to check out our new residence.
------
A couple of hours have passed, and we're finally done relocating. Obviously, most of the time was taken up by arranging the moved stuff and cleaning up the place. Nao and Jojiro volunteered to help us, which we gratefully accepted. For some reason, the weirdo wore a pink apron while working. It did suit him; I'll give him that much credit.
After taking a look around the neatly settled living room, I make my way over to Ayumi's room, only to come to a halt upon hearing some noises from inside. I peek through a gap between the door and the wall, and see Nao sitting in front of Ayumi as she asks, "Would you like to see a magic trick?"
To which Ayumi fervently responds, "Oh! That's something I want to see!"
The next moment, I notice Ayumi freaking out over nothing as Nao moves behind her before lightly poking her back. Ayumi jumps in place, clearly startled, before she and turns around and freaking out upon realizing it was Nao.
I suppose this is what glasses weirdo meant when he said it looks like nothing to bystanders...
"Wow! That's even more amazing than the people on TV!" Ayumi exclaims with stars in her eyes.
"That's very amazing indeed." I say as I enter the room, grabbing their attention. The glasses weirdo shortly appears after me and announces that they must leave.
"Oh... but I wanted us to all eat dinner together..." says Ayumi in a sad tone.
"That's right, why don't you stay over for dinner, Tomori?" I ask her.
"I would like to, but you don't have enough ingredients for the four of us." she replies.
"But there are only three of us?" I voice with a tilt of my head.
"Hey! Don't leave me out!" exclaims glasses from behind me.
"Whoops. Forgot you existed. Sorry man, my bad."
I turn to face him, only to spot blood vessels bulging on his forehead.
Heh. Teasing this fella is fun.
"I will head over to a nearby convenience store and buy some ingredients. It shouldn't take me long," I state, "Anything you guys want?"
Aside from Ayumi asking for an ice cream, no one asks for anything.
------
I'm being followed. By whom? Well, none other than Joijiro. Did he take my little too seriously? Was he planning to get back at me?
"So, how is your new apartment? Do you find it to your liking?" He inquires the moment he catches up with me.
"It's fine."
"Hey, why're you so salty towards me? What have I done to you?" he asks.
"Oh, nothing much," I respond sarcastically "it's just that I'm not used to a freak covered in cuts and bruises rushing towards me at breakneck speeds, grabbing me and dragging me with him to the sky."
Realizing that I have a good point, he just smiles like an idiot. Sigh. You know what? Forget it. Better get friendly with him sooner than later. Who knows; he might be a nice guy.
------
Once we get back home, it's not long before we're sitting at the dining table with Omelette Rice (Mine's the only 'special edition' one) in front of us, the TV now set up and playing some weird drama. The show ends and an idol show beings airing. My gaze focuses on a cute blonde teenage girl dancing and singing on the stage.
Suddenly, both Ayumi and the weirdo exclaim at the same time, "YUSARIN!!!"
Fuck! My ears! (Enhanced hearing sucks at times like these.) What are they even shouting for? I notice Nao pressing a palm against her forehead while slightly shaking her head out of exasperation. The two excited one's shenanigans go on for the entire time the blonde teenager is on the screen.
Once we're done eating, Nao and Jojiro bid us farewell before they take their leave.
Ayumi and I proceed with cleaning up the table and plates, before we lay down a futon and lie down beside each other. Ayumi then turns and looks at me with stars in her eyes as she asks, "Hey, Brother Yu! Our schools are right beside each other now, so we can go to school together, right?"
Not letting her down, I lightly stroke her face as I reply with a gentle smile on my face, "Of course. I will even give you a piggyback ride to school if you want me to."
I notice her excitement grows as she envisions what it would be like for that to happen - or so I assume. Similar to last night, I pull her close to myself and kiss her goodnight, but this time on the cheek. Then, I close my eyes and clear my mind.