Nothing Spilled

The smell of home cooking hit me first when the door slid open, and then I heard someone inside call Natsuki's name. The smell made me realize it might have been quite late already, but maybe she is accustomed to eating earlier than usual. The voice sounded familiar, but it is not a regular occurrence where I get to visit Natsuki's home anyway. Even less when she invites me herself.

I see the silhouette of someone approaching me with an apron on. It was Natsuki's mother who felt slightly shocked at seeing my face.

"Oh hello Saya! How have you been doing?"

"Hello auntie. It's been good, just came to study with Natsuki today as the tests were approaching. Hope I'm not being a bother." I did a quick bow to provide my greetings.

"Oh no no, it's all good. Glad to see you here after a long time. Continue to focus on your studies, I'll bring you some juice in some time."

I see her giving some glares to Natsuki, possibly because this dumbo didn't give her a heads up about my visit. But, it was partly my fault for forcing it on her as well. Maybe I was wrong, but it felt like Natsuki was forcing herself a bit, though there was a slight mix of really wanting to help me in my studies. This was the first time she invited me by herself, so I just couldn't say no. Even though I knew, that this might be hurting her somehow.

I follow Natsuki to the first floor where her room was, hiding behind the shadow of her broad back. As we enter her room, I was quickly reminded of how messy this person really is. Her nightwear was still sitting on the bed, disheveled. Some packets of chips, some half opened and some empty were littered on her desk. But weirdly, the bookshelf was neatly arranged. So, she does have a sense of cleanliness, but it looks like it's only for the things that she cared about.

"Uhh, you can just ignore the stuff lying around. Or let me clean up real quick."

"It feels so you. Let me help out." I let out a sigh, not in despair but as I was reminiscing about the past.

As we finished cleaning, I heard a knock on the door.

"Excuse me."

The door opened slightly, just enough for someone to peek through. It gradually opened wide across, as I saw Natsuki's sister with the drinks in hand. It honestly felt pretty fascinating as her stature was quite small, but she balanced the plate with the drinks perfectly.

"Hello Saya nee-chan. Here are some drinks for you and onee san." Her voice was gentle, but a bit silent. She was easily the more polite sibling of the two. As I walked towards her to receive the plate, the face of this child looked like it was looking for something more, something I cannot provide. She greeted me and then left us to our own devices, but in all of this Natsuki appeared to have just been a spectator. Before I could even open my mouth, the invitation from school clouded my mind which made me look away from her.

I felt the cold sweat on my neck as it dropped down. It was too hard to figure out what Natsuki is feeling, but even if I remove one layer... there was always waiting for me. I was confident enough that the Natsuki I saw had far fewer layers than the ones the other students or teachers saw.

But, can I peel away the rest?