Akira brought Sajuna back to his home.
It was actually quite a peculiar thing.
After all, she was the first outsider to step into this house since his parents passed away.
He had once wished, half-jokingly, for someone to take care of him in this house.
A long-cherished wish, perhaps, had suddenly come true while he was still in a daze.
"Welcome."
Akira opened the door and said this to Sajuna.
After briefly checking that there were no obvious messy or dirty spots, the tension in his heart slowly eased.
"Heh!"
Sajuna, who had been quietly observing him, could not help letting out a small laugh. "So Aki-kun gets nervous when he brings his girlfriend home too."
"I thought Aki-kun would be completely calm."
"Well, I'm usually home alone, so my hygiene standards only need to satisfy myself."
Akira replied awkwardly, "I just hope Sajuna doesn't mind that I'm not very tidy."
He led Sajuna into the entryway, took an unopened pair of disposable slippers from the shoe cabinet, and handed them to her.
"The floor might not be very clean. Please wear these."
He then changed into his usual slippers.
Since he normally only came home at night, the floors were usually mopped just once a week.
Although they did not look dirty, he still felt it was better for Sajuna not to step on them directly.
Akira found himself slightly regretting bringing Sajuna home.
He should have cleaned the house first.
Sajuna listened to him, put on the new slippers, and then dashed into the living room.
She looked around at the furnishings and layout.
"So this is where Aki-kun lives."
She commented, "It feels very tidy."
"It only looks tidy because I don't use it much," Akira replied.
Ever since he started eating at Sajuna's house, his own kitchen had barely been used.
He felt like dust was probably gathering on the stovetop.
"Then let's have dinner at Aki-kun's house today," Sajuna suggested.
"That's fine. The kitchen isn't a problem, but isn't Shinju still at home?" Akira asked.
"It's okay. Shinju can take care of herself," Sajuna hesitated briefly. "Besides, if we always think about her first, even if we don't mean it that way, Shinju might start to feel like she's a burden to her sister."
Sajuna was unexpectedly perceptive.
"You're right," Akira said.
"Thanks to Aki-kun comforting Shinju that time," Sajuna suddenly added, "I came to understand how she thinks about certain things. She's really gentle, always worried about not causing trouble for us."
"Shinju really is a good little sister," Akira agreed.
Then he brought up a proposal he had already been considering.
"Let's invite Shinju to join our group cosplay this time."
Seeing Sajuna hesitate slightly, he quickly explained, "I mean letting her cosplay with us, not just help with photography."
"After all, always watching her sister take beautiful photos, Shinju probably wants to cosplay too."
Sajuna thought for a moment, then nodded, recalling several past moments.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"Before, when Shinju took photos for me, I always thought she was smiling because she was happy. She would always say it was because she liked taking photos for her sister."
"I was happy cosplaying cute characters, but I never really thought about whether Shinju herself wanted to cosplay. I just assumed her smile meant she liked being behind the camera."
"I feel like I haven't been a very good sister."
"Don't say that," Akira said gently. "Shinju clearly likes you very much."
He spoke as if Sajuna were on the verge of losing Shinju over a small misunderstanding.
"When we go back, we'll ask Shinju what she thinks."
The two reached an agreement.
Sajuna stopped dwelling on Shinju for the moment. Being with her boyfriend, it felt inappropriate to keep thinking about things that dampened the mood.
"Aki-kun, which one is your room?"
"I'll show you."
Akira took Sajuna's hand and led her into his room.
It was a standard boy's room. A simple tatami mat served as his bed. Beside it was a desk used for late-night studying, with a small desk lamp.
Opposite stood a computer desk that also did not look like it was used very often.
"Aki-kun's room is so plain," Sajuna said after hesitating for a moment.
"Well, a boy's room can't really compare to a girl's," Akira replied helplessly.
"I thought Aki-kun's room would have all kinds of things," Sajuna said cautiously.
Noticing Akira's gaze, she steeled herself and blurted out, "Like lots of books, or maybe even figurines."
"Sajuna, you clearly don't think I'm a shut-in, yet you make guesses like that. You're really hurting my feelings," Akira said, feigning sadness.
"Who told Aki-kun to write something called 'Bunny Girl Senpai'?" Sajuna said, blushing as she tried to push the blame onto him.
"Right, speaking of that, I brought you here to show you the manuscript."
Akira nodded, walked over to the computer, and turned it on. It booted up quickly.
He opened the document titled Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai on the desktop and turned the screen toward Sajuna.
"Sajuna, can you take a look and see if there's anything wrong?"
After speaking, Akira gave up the chair for her, then paused as if remembering something.
"What would you like for dinner? It'll probably take a while to read through it."
Sajuna did not feel upset at being left alone to read.
This was something Aki-kun had poured his heart into. Although she wanted him to read with her, she knew she would be easily distracted if he stayed nearby.
What if, while she was reading, Aki-kun did something to her…
Oh no!
Sajuna quickly stopped her imagination.
"Um, tempura," she said carefully. "Aki-kun's tempura last time was really delicious."
"Alright. Then I'll prepare it. You read first."
With that, Akira left the bedroom.
Although he wanted to spend more time with Sajuna, and maybe do something a little naughty, it was better to let her read quietly.
The novel he wrote was worth reading and certainly not a waste of time.
He walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out the ingredients he had bought recently, and skillfully began chopping with a kitchen knife.
Although there were plenty of ready-made Japanese meal kits available, Akira was used to cooking everything himself.
That way, he could maximize the conversion into cooking skill experience and improve more quickly.
After finishing the tempura, Akira also took out a cast-iron pot and made a simple bowl of seaweed soup.
With those two dishes ready, dinner was complete.