Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Kiro
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 35
There were three days left of summer break.
“I’m tired~”
Kikyou-chan lay down on the bed while raising her voice.
Ever since the exam on the cruise ended, she came to our room every night like this.
Since she had many friends, she was having a busy summer vacation.
It seemed she had gone to the swimming pool with her classmates earlier today and was tired because of that. Even though it wasn’t as thorough as before, keeping up a façade all day must be accompanied by a considerable burden.
Basically, she spent her days completely different from us who preferred relaxing in our own room.
…Just to explain, it wasn’t like we did that just because we wanted to laze around in the room. Going out under the scorching sun was bad for Arisu-chan’s body, so it was just a matter of avoiding that as much as possible. Going out in the evening after the heat subsided for a walk was how we spent our days.
“I don’t think you need to work that hard. I think Kikyou-chan is the most attractive just the way you are naturally.”
“U~hn… I’m happy to hear that, but I’m sure only a few people actually think that way.”
It seemed she still had some resistance to taking off her façade outside.
“If Kikyou-chan herself is fine with that, I can’t force you. I just get worried seeing you always return exhausted like that. Sorry for being nosy.”
“I’m happy with your concern. I also really wanted to be with the two of you, and I think it would be nice if I could stay in this room all the time. But the people around me won’t let me do that…”
That was what she said.
Friends I hung out with reluctantly were absolutely unnecessary for me. If it was me, I would immediately abandon them.
However, she was still holding out. She had the façade of a popular person, someone who could get along with anyone and a soothing character in the class… In order to maintain the position she had created, she would never stop working hard.
This was a great attitude that could be used as a member of society. It was something I could never do for the rest of my life.
“Speaking of which, have you sorted out your feelings?”
Arisu-chan was watching our exchange while lying down on the bed. She finally spoke.
It seemed she was suffering from the recent summer heat recently and was exhausted every day.
“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t know if I can call this love. However, I know I can never find any man I could like more than Haruto-kun. Because my standards for the opposite sex have risen… even if I ended up dating someone else, I would eventually think ‘Haruto-kun is better’ and end up breaking up in no time.”
“Fufu, I see. I can understand that too.”
While nodding, Arisu-chan listened without changing her posture.
It seemed she really didn’t want to move away from the bed today. I didn’t mind since it was cute, though.
At first, I thought it was taboo to talk about this in front of me.
However, when I saw the scene of it being talked about like now, I understood that it was not actually the case.
I thought that was the secret between the two of them, but it seemed that they had no intention of hiding it from me. It was pretty embarrassing for me, but it was better than ending up dating without knowing what each other was thinking.
Even so, everyone seemed to always overestimate me. I wasn’t that great of a man.
“Geez, do you know what you have done? Because of you, I’ll end up single for the rest of my life.”
She pulled my cheeks with both hands while laughing. Ouch ouch.
“Please leave it at that. I’ll also take responsibility for you ending up becoming like that. Let’s become happy together, okay?”
“Arisu-chan… Thanks. But is it really okay?”
“It’s okay. The premise is that you are Kikyou-san. You are special after all.”
Perhaps Kikyou-chan was happy with what Arisu-chan said just now and she also went to bed.
I was relieved that the target of her attack changed. Kikyou-chan was gentler toward Arisu-chan than to me.
I thought while watching Arisu-chan being touched by Kikyou-chan.
I wondered how the relationship between the three of us would end up?
“It’s about time, let’s take a bath.”
“Okay.”
Hearing what they said, I prepared the bath towel.
I’d already cleaned the bathtub and filled it with hot water, so there was nothing more to do.
…I was surprised how easy it became.
Recently, Kikyou-chan also helped me with the routine.
In particular, she was already proficient enough in bathing Arisu-chan that I could leave it all to her.
As I thought, this kind of thing was more efficient when done by fellow women. It was because the way boys put their spirit into the act of washing their hair and body was different.
For the past few days, I was left waiting outside the bathroom while carrying the towel. I would wipe Arisu-chan’s body, put on her sleepwear, and dry her hair with a hair dryer. This routine wasn’t that difficult so I think Kikyou-chan could do it by herself. I did it simply because I couldn’t stay calm if I did nothing at all to help.
This was simply because my slave nature wouldn’t go away immediately. I wasn’t a 10-year expert for nothing.
I also thought about this when I requested Masumi-san’s help back then, but when it came to grooming, girls were better. In particular, Kikyou-chan’s makeup skill was amazing. Due to her personality, she probably cared a lot about her appearance… but she was overwhelmingly more advanced than me in that field. It was fast yet gentle, and I didn’t think I could imitate that.
However, it might be difficult for anyone else but me to accompany Arisu-chan outside.
Arisu-chan often stumbled and slipped in unexpected places. A bit of technique was necessary when helping her climb stairs, otherwise, she would fall.
The trick was to always keep a meter around her feet to the edge of vision and not to miss any of Arisu-chan’s movements. Risk prediction begins with anticipating events that might occur.
There were other things to be thought about, like whether her physical state was good or bad at the moment. It was important to make decisions such as not going out in the first place during the days when her physical condition wasn’t very good.
It wasn’t particularly difficult to me, but this was part of where years of experience speak for itself. I did write it in that memo, but both Masumi-san and Kikyou-chan said “I don’t know what that means,” so I guess it wasn’t something that could be learned easily.
Even just being able to help with the indoor routine was a great thing.
It was the thing where you couldn’t return once you learned the easy way out, Kikyou-chan was very competent in that regard. She seemed to be afraid of being abandoned by us, but she had become someone indispensable for us in this short time. I could even declare that no matter how many years passed, there was no way we would cut ties with her from our side.
Above all, not only did Kikyou-chan not look displeased at doing all these tasks, but she seemed to enjoy it instead. She considered she was only doing what was obvious in order to be with Arisu-chan.
When I saw her taking care of Arisu-chan with a smile, I felt like my life was affirmed.
…It was a secret that I ended up crying a little in the bath the other day because I was too happy.
While I was thinking about that, Arisu-chan came out.
I wiped her body with a towel while making sure she wouldn’t slip on the floor.
“I guess this trend has gradually become established.”
“You’re right… Thank you very much, both of you.”
After finishing wiping her upper body and lower body, I gently removed the moisture from her hair without applying force.
If I did it roughly here, it wouldn’t be finished neatly. Arisu-chan’s hair was like a work of art, so I decided to take care of it thoroughly from start to finish every day.
“I think Kikyou-chan is better at this than me, though…”
“No, that’s not the case.”
Kikyou-chan came out wearing only her underwear. Was that okay?
…I guess she didn’t even think of me as a man.
I was troubled about where to look, but I had to prioritize my task for now. I never lose concentration while having a conversation.
“Many people say that my hair is very beautiful. However, rather than it’s because of me, it’s more because of Haruto-kun’s effort.”
“Of course, there’s also the fact that Arisu-chan is a good material to begin with… but you’re amazing, you know? You can even aim to be an esthetician as a career.”
They praised me very much, but unfortunately, I have no intention of doing it for anyone other than Arisu-chan.
I was just doing it because I wanted to keep her beautiful silver hair in good condition. It wasn’t like I wanted to do it to anyone, and I didn’t think it was something I did to get paid for.
Besides, no matter how many years I have been doing it, I couldn’t compete with the hair treatment done by a proper beauty salon. Just like the saying goes, people went to a mochi shop if they wanted mochi, I could never beat the skill of a professional in that field.
Speaking of aim, what should I aim for in the future?
I was always thinking about Arisu-chan and didn’t even have a chance to think about what I would do.
I would like my second life to be normal. That was what I used to think… but could I even work normally?
While blow-drying Arisu-chan’s hair, I felt a little uneasy.
Even in the middle of the night, the thing that had popped into my head didn’t go away.
While looking at Arisu-chan sleeping peacefully, my thoughts go around.
It was easy to forget due to the life in this school, but money was necessary to live.
If two of us stick together all the time, we couldn’t do our work.
I realized that if I didn’t have anyone I could temporarily entrust Arisu-chan to, I wouldn’t even be able to live my life.
In that sense, Kikyou-chan was a necessary existence for us after all.
There was no other good girl like her. I need to make sure to catch her properly so she won’t leave…
Ah.
Could it be that Arisu-chan already thought that much when she made her move?
From the time we entered this school until now, she had acted with some sort of purpose.
I didn’t know what it was specifically, but it was highly possible that she had a vision of what she wanted to do after graduation.
It would make sense if I thought all her behavior toward Kikyou-chan was based on that.
Just as I thought I should ask about it later, drowsiness came to me.
…If it was the result of Arisu-chan’s thought, then it surely was the optimal solution.
I was anxious on my own, and it got resolved on its own.
I guess worry was something like that.
Author Note:
It’s the second trimester next chapter. It’s been so long to reach there…
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