Just as Amane was feeling a bit awkward, she heard Horikita sigh.
Then, she saw Horikita reach out a hand to her.
"Horikita-san..."
"Trying to handle this many bags on your own—there's no way you can pick out ingredients properly like this. Besides, leaving you alone here is just asking for trouble. Since we're neighbors, might as well help each other out."
It was the first time Amane had heard Horikita say so much at once.
A smile spread across her face.
"Is there a reason you're staring at me like that?"
Horikita's cheeks seemed to tinge with a faint blush.
"Horikita-san, you really do have a sharp tongue but a soft heart."
"Stop joking around and hurry up picking the ingredients."
"Yes!"
After some time shopping, Amane and Horikita returned to the dorm together.
Beep.
She swiped her key card lightly.
The door unlocked. Amane stepped into the room first.
"Thanks for all your hard work, Horikita-san. Please, come in and rest a while." After setting down her own things, Amane hurried over to help Horikita Suzune.
"So you do realize how much work it was…" Horikita Suzune's voice sounded heavy.
Well.
Her arms were probably just as heavy.
By now, Horikita was already regretting her momentary lapse of judgment.
Why did she decide to play the good Samaritan?
Horikita Suzune!
This is what you get for being a pushover.
Horikita Suzune carried a bag of flour in one hand, and a large bag of rice in the other. Even though it was still the cool early spring, Horikita Suzune was so tired that her forehead was beaded with sweat.
"Horikita-san…"
Amane, feeling a little guilty, handed Horikita a juice.
"Hmph."
Without ceremony, Horikita opened the juice and took a large gulp.
None of her usual icy demeanor remained.
Pushed to this point, who could possibly keep up a cold facade?
"Hehe."
Amane watched with a delighted expression as Horikita Suzune leaned against the doorway, breathing heavily.
"Miyako-san, are you really not considering lending a hand?" Horikita shot her a sharp glare.
'If you dare just stand there and watch, I'll wring your neck.' That was the clear message Amane received. Amane quickly stepped forward and took the rice and flour.
Lifting them lightly with both hands, she carried them off to the kitchen.
"Miyako-san, your arm…"
Horikita's gaze was drawn to Amane's pale arm, exposed to the air.
It looked like a girl's arm. But it must be a disguise, right?
Her overly fair skin made it easy to overlook the firm, yet subtle muscle definition.
But comparing them up close, it was probably a bit more robust than her own arm. Yet those damn well-defined muscles created a perfect, streamlined impression.
Horikita Suzune wasn't jealous.
Not at all!
"This? I used to be the captain of the archery club, you know~"
Hearing Amane's words, Horikita first nodded in understanding.
If she was skilled in archery, that would explain why a girl's arm had that much strength. But soon after, Horikita's gaze drifted downward.
"Miyako-san, with a build like that… is practicing archery really not a problem?"
Wouldn't something get in the way of the bowstring?
"Horikita-san, that's so mean!"
Amane's face turned red as she covered her chest.
"...My apologies…"
It really wasn't appropriate to tease her about something like that.
Horikita, having caught her breath a little, remembered that bag of rice. Originally, Horikita, worried that Miyako might feel bad about making her carry heavy things, had boasted that even another twenty or thirty kilograms would be no big deal.
But then Amane, ever so literal-minded, had gone and maxed out that weight.
You can't even treat a mule like that, can you?
"Miyako-san, why did you buy so much rice at once? Couldn't you have bought smaller bags instead?"
Buying too much rice makes it prone to bugs in the summer, and if stored for too long, the flavor changes too.
"Huh? There are small bags of rice?"
Amane's clueless expression made Horikita's initial suspicion that she was just trying to skip out on work vanish into thin air.
Don't tell me…
This girl genuinely didn't know small bags existed?
Horikita opened her own shopping bag and pulled out a single-serving package of rice.
"Miyako Amane-san, don't tell me you didn't know about these?"
Amane took it and looked.
So there were two-kilogram packages. It even considerately noted 'Serves two to three people.'
"Wow, there's such a convenient thing? I had no idea at all, hahahaha…"
Amane's laughter cut off abruptly.
"Why stop laughing? I thought your laughter was quite pleasant, Miyako-san. It truly is a 'heavenly sound'."
A cold glint flashed repeatedly over Amane's face.
Horikita Suzune was carefully inspecting the high-quality kitchen knives Amane had bought.
"Horikita-san, p-please calm down…"
"I am perfectly calm. See, Miyako-san, you're even sweating from the heat. Just like I was after carrying over forty kilograms of stuff."
One bag of rice was a standard 15 kilos, and the flour was 25 kilos. That wasn't even including Horikita's own purchases.
For a girl, managing to carry it all back was quite a feat.
"Horikita-san, how about I treat you to pizza?"
Hearing 'pizza,' the expression on Horikita's face softened slightly.
"In that case, I'll have a lot. Where are you buying it from? I don't recall the cafeteria serving pizza?"
Horikita put the knife away, intending to hand it back to Amane.
"But we have flour in the kitchen."
Crick.
Amane seemed to hear a strange sound.
"If I'm not mistaken, Miyako-san, you mean… you're going to make pizza starting from making the dough?"
Horikita asked carefully and seriously, confirming with Amane.
"Mmhmm! I make really delicious pizza too! Hey, Horikita-san, where are you going?"
"I have some things to do. Thanks for the hospitality. Goodbye." With cold indifference, Horikita went to the entrance, put on her shoes, and left.
Before Amane could even try to stop her, all that remained was the cold, closed door.
"Could it be that Horikita-san doesn't like pizza?"
Amane felt a pang of regret.
If she'd known, she should have said something like dessert instead.
Meh.
No use crying over spilled milk in this world.
Now then.
It was time to start setting up her own little nest.
While Amane was bustling about, tidying up with great energy,
Horikita's room felt particularly quiet and lonely.
"How did I end up with a neighbor who's a clueless idiot? Sigh."
Horikita Suzune lay on the bed in her simply decorated blue-and-white room.
That walk back had really worn her out. Even with some prior training, it was still a bit much.
But physical fatigue would fade after some rest.
The mental exhaustion Amane inflicted on her, however, was a real headache. How do you teach common sense to someone who has none?
The answer is—.
You give up.
Horikita Suzune drifted off into a hazy sleep.
When she woke again, it was to the sound of knocking.
Horikita Suzune instinctively grabbed her phone to check the time.
"I slept that long?"
It was already 8 PM.
She had slept for nearly eight hours.
This is definitely Miyako's fault!
"Who is it?"
Horikita went to the door and looked through the peephole.
A girl holding a small pot was grinning goofily right at the peephole.
"It's Amane~"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.