It's Always Sunny in Kashiwa: Part Six

“I’m back—“ Katsumi opened his front door.

“Welcome back.” Mayumi sat at the kitchen island with a cup of steaming tea.

He put the bag of flour down on the counter.

“There’s more hot water if you want a cup.”

“Did I always have tea-bags in here?”

“I brought two from my apartment.”

“Oh I see… thank you.”

Katsumi made himself a cup of tea and took Mayumi’s seat at the counter—as she went back to cooking.

“Do you cook a lot, Arata?”

“Not as much as I used to. Every weekend I prepare meals for the entire week, so I’m only cooking one or two days out of the week.”

“Wouldn’t eating the same thing for a week get boring?”

“It can. But it’s better than cooking every single night.”

The sound of pork sizzling erupted into the air.

“Did you use to cook?” Mayumi asked.

Phrasing that question in past tense seems like an attack… “Nah, it was always my older sister and my mom.”

“You have an older sister?”

“I guess I never told you, but yeah. She’s in her third year of university right now.”

Mayumi went quiet. Katsumi thought she was trying to picture what his sister was like.

“If you’re wondering, no, she’s nothing like me.”

“Then what is she like?”

“Independent…? I guess? She’s always wanted to do everything on her own, even when our parents insisted on helping.”

“That is an interesting way of describing someone. But I think I get it.”

Katsumi stretched and yawned, “I’m gonna take a bath. Is there enough time before dinner’s ready?”

“Yeah, there should be.”
After Katsumi got out of the bath the two ate together in relative peace—with only a few sarcastic remarks towards each other.

Katsumi did most of the clean-up while Mayumi watched him from the kitchen island. Even though she kept almost drifting off to sleep, Mayumi insisted that she stayed until the dishes were done. This resulted in Katsumi having to keep up miscellaneous conversation the entire time.