She’s staying over?!

"Tea, juice, water? Or would you happen to enjoy coffee at your age already?"

During the little time it took me to carry the luggage up the stairs, Mom already led Koyori into the dining room, whipping up a set of tea cups, glasses, and plates. She even conjured up a bowl with various sweets and cookies she must have baked in the morning. I’m seriously contemplating calling her a witch now - there’s no way she could have prepared this so fast without some sort of magic, could she? Either way, I’m wiping the sweat from my forehead as best as I can, happy to be back in our air-conned home. Honestly, iced tea would be the best right now but I’m fairly sure that I drank the last bottle of it the other day…

“I’m fine with just water, thank you,” Koyori replies, taking a seat on the chair Dad is usually using while Mom already claimed her usual seat with a cup of coffee. So I’ll be sitting opposite to her, huh? Also, it has to be…

“I’ll take coffee. Black.”

Mom throws a curious look in my direction but doesn’t dig into my decision, preparing a cup as soon as Koyori is supplied. Part of me is still unsure whether I’m still stuck in some kind of dream, therefore I’m planning to use the power of raw caffeine to rule that out for certain. The fact that it’ll taste like crap is just secondary. Hey, maybe Koyori will think I’m cool for drinking coffee or something?

Koyori is immediately preying upon the cookies while I try my best not to let it show that the coffee is absolutely disgusting. I’m pretty sure Mom picked up on it though. Awkwardly, I’m staring into the brown fluid as Mom starts engaging Koyori in some small talk about her journey and the weather, though I’m spacing out, hardly listening to the conversation. Somewhere deep inside, I’m both amazed and glad about Mom taking the conversation for now as I wouldn’t really know what to say to someone I haven’t seen in so long. More importantly, after returning her hug, even if just a little, everything feels an entire magnitude more complicated between us.

Every now and then, my gaze flicks over to the girl. I’m feeling this inexplicable urge to look at her yet I lower my gaze the second her eyes flip even remotely into my general direction. I’ve been cute-stunned into looking at moe characters from anime and games several times but revering at the cuteness of a real person seems to be entirely different and vastly more powerful. Not that I understand anything about me or this situation right now though…

“... so you mentioned on the phone that you’d explain everything upon your arrival, Kawai-san?”

I’m tuning back in now. Maybe I’ll be able to tick off a few questions from my long list soon.

“Yes, that’s correct. One moment please.”

Koyori, still munching on a cookie, rises from her seat to take an item from a side pocket of her luggage. While returning, she takes notice of my poor attempt at catching another glimpse of her. A somewhat nervous smile plays around her lips though I lower my gaze immediately which, unfortunately, lands right on her chest - or, rather, where her chest would be. Damn, for a 1st-year middle school girl, there’s surprisingly little to see. Either that or all of my female classmates are using illegitimate means to bolster their looks…

I can feel an unnatural amount of heat creep up my face again so I’m quickly burying it in my cup of coffee until Koyori is seated again, presenting an unnaturally thick, sealed letter to my mother.

“It’s all explained in there, Kobayashi-san,” my friend pronounced, looking at my mother with a mixture of expectancy and uncertainty. “I hope it’s alright with you.”

“Hang on, I’ll give this a quick read then,” Mom announces, hiding her face behind a two-page letter.

Awkwardly, my gaze is flicking left and right. I’m strongly curious about the content of the letter and how it connects to the sudden visit of my friend but the abrupt quietness in the room also leaves me with very little to do. Koyori is paying a lot more attention to me as well now that she’s not engaged in conversation. I can feel her eyes scanning me questioningly, making me feel uncomfortable.

“Are you not eating anything, Keiichi?” she eventually addresses me, holding an especially delicate-looking cookie in her fingers. “These are really delicious, you know?”

Considering that I’m living here, I should know that my mom’s baking is top-notch, don’t you think?

“I’m not hungry,” I respond curtly while averting my gaze. “I’m still full from my seconds for lunch.”

“Curry, right? I knew the moment I stepped into the house,” she admits with a slight chuckle.

“Well, yeah…”

“Do you like curry then?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Then what about coffee?”

So she did pick up on it.

“Well…”

“I’m amazed you can drink it; I almost puked when I accidentally drank some a while ago.”

Our meaningless small talk drags on for a while as my mother continues to read, occasionally scratching her forehead. I’m making terribly sure to stare at a point somewhere left or right of her head at all times as I converse with her. Koyori is leading the conversation and I’m merely replying, not knowing what I should talk about. I mean, unless she’s also an otaku, I doubt we’d have a lot of common ground anyhow… Still, our small talk feels a lot more forced than the one she was having with my mother earlier. Therefore, I’m rather relieved when Mom finally puts the paper back into its casing.

“Well, I do have a few questions and I’ll have to phone my husband about this later but it’s not urgent at all.”

I risk a glance at Koyori just at that moment to observe her adorable face light up with excitement and hope.

“Does this mean I can stay here for a while?”

What, she’s staying here?!

“Yes of course dear, make yourself feel at home for the duration of your stay.”

No mention of the exact duration?!

“Yay!” An adorable squeak of joy escapes her throat. “Uhm, I mean thank you very much Kobayashi-san, and thank you for having me.”

“You’re practically family now so there’s no need to be all formal. You can call me Kyouka.”

Practically family?!

“Koyori, but Yori or Yori-chan is fine too.”

“Well then, Yori-chan, shall I show you around the house?”

Thus, Koyori ends up living at my place without warning. And, if anything, my list of questions is even longer now…