Now that I think about it, I haven’t explained in detail what Yuika’s room was like until now.

First, there is a large bed by the wall. This is Yuika’s main nest. The bedsheet is pink and there are fancy animal cushions on it.
There is a space on the pillow side for her alarm clock, and she usually puts her laptop here.

There is a study desk that she has been using since elementary school on the other side of the room. There was also a small wardrobe there that I have never peeked inside, but since she is a recluse, I assumed that the wardrobe is mostly filled with pajamas and underwear.
In the middle of the room, there is a fluffy fur carpet and a small glass table. This is where I usually do my school work.

There are a few anime and video games posters in some places, but basically, there is not much stuff and the whole place is tidy. That was how it should have been…
With the past room in my mind, I stood in front of the door and lamented my current situation.

“What is this all about, Yuika-san?”
“Eh, uh… what? What do you mean by what? I can assure you that nothing much has changed. Isn’t there a strong resemblance that it’s not that different?”
“What do you mean strong!? What is this dump!? For the first time in my life, I realized that I had no place to put my feet!”

The room was overflowing with the goods of Yuika’s hobby. There were dozens of manga sets, stacks of DVD boxes, mugs and coasters, and figures of beautiful girls all over the place.
Even Yuika’s bed was occupied, and she had nowhere to sleep.
[TLN: coasters are things that mugs or cuts are placed on.]

“N-no, look… I did a little shopping the other day, didn’t I?”
“You did. Not just a little, though. I spent a lot of money.”

I’m getting depressed even thinking about it.
It was I, of all people, who got a big kick out of Yuika’s mother for that.
I’ll tell you again, it was me, Mikami Souta, who took the brunt of it.
[TLN: Guess he got kicked by both.]

“But it was still a manageable amount to clean up, right?”
“I-I know, but…”

Yuika was cradling a large sword in the narrow space left on the bed.
It’s the… full-size ExGalibur! I’m not sure how much she really spent on it.
Peeking out from behind his blue sword, my childhood friend stuck out her tongue in a cute way.

“I received my package today. Actually, the first delivery was a fake, and the second delivery was the real deal. Teehee☆”.”
“The first delivery was actually a fake and the second delivery was the real deal!? Why didn’t you cancel it the first time you got a fake!? Aah!?”
“Ow, ow, ow! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I just couldn’t resist the temptation of these treasures!”

The culprit confessed with tears in her eyes as she pushed the pointed part of the holy sword handle into her forehead.
Oh, but the number of goods in here. I’m getting dizzy just looking around the room.
A few minutes ago, her mother said with an oddly powerful smile to me at the door, “Kanade-chan, I want to talk to you before you leave, okay?” I didn’t know it was about this…

“I hate this. I don’t want to go home today…”
“What are you talking about!? I’m not going to let you stay over, you know!? I don’t trust Souta’s self-control more than the tip of a skeleton’s claw.”

“Who, are, you, to, tell me about self-control, aaah!?”
“Ehyah! The hilt, not the hilt! If you’re going to stab me, at least do it at the tip of the sword! It’s rounded on that side for safety!”

Using physical language to encourage Yuika to reflect on her actions, I look around the room from her bed.

“In the meantime, I’ll have to process the returns. Anything that hasn’t been unpacked yet is going to be off limits.”
“What!? You’re returning it!? I went through all that trouble to buy it!”
“Do I need to give you the punishment you deserve?”
“No, I’m sorry, I’m going to retire quietly, so please don’t continuously use the treasure, please.”

When I held the holy sword with a merciless look in my eyes, Yuika held her forehead and surrendered.
I immediately started to sort through them, but there was a lot of stuff. Fortunately, thanks to my quick discovery, there was a good amount of unopened items. But on the other hand, the more expensive the items were, the more they had already been opened.

“Why is it that my childhood friend is going in such a wonderfully expensive direction…?”
“You know, I’m the type of person who eats what I like first.”
“Don’t lie to me. You’re the type of person who leaves the things you love the most until the last minute, right?”
“… That’s, not true.”

Her eyes wondered around.
I knew instantly knew something as she closed her eyes and won’t look at me. She opened her eyes as I shoved my hand under the bed.

“Here it is!”

What came out was the most expensive unopened item. It was a ridiculously large body pillow with a picture of an elementary school-like character printed on it.

“Wow… isn’t this something a single gentleman would buy? Confiscate it anyway! Return it goes!”
“No, no, no! The only thing I need is Kasumi Mama’s body pillow! I’ve always dreamed of cuddling my mama every night and getting a good night’s sleep.”
“Mama!? Come to your senses! You’re not in elementary school, for crying out loud!”
“She’s a destroyer, so in terms of the creation date, she’s over 80 years old!”
“That’s not your mother, is it!?”

I confiscated the body pillow of her 80+ year old Kasumi mama. On a scrap of a notebook, I wrote ‘Cooling off items. No mercy,’ and sorted it into the returned goods zone next to the door.
That’s how I moved quite a bit of them…
[TLN: Cooling off is like a period of time before you can return an item.]

“The opened items are very expensive. The damage to the household budget of the Kisaragi family is incalculable…”
“So the enemy was even more powerful than we thought, huh?”
“Don’t gobble me up like I’m your buddy. The enemy is you, you.”
“How did that happen!? My inner alter ego was the cause of all this! So it’s not my fault at all!?”

“Okay, I’ll sell off all the opened comic books to a new used bookstore.”
“No! Please don’t do that! If the alter theory doesn’t work, I’ll use the analogy of the other Yuika-chan! If you have the Yuika-chan Watch, Souta can transform into me! Right? Right?”
“I don’t get it. I know Pirate Squadron.”

“What about the ranger key!? If you can make that analogy, you know what I mean!”

I dragged Yuika, who clung to my waist, and dealt her mercilessly. There is no mercy in cooling off.
I also opened the drawers of the study desk and checked. “What kind of manga do you have in your study desk?” Don’t be fooled, this is where Yuika hides her favorite manga.
As soon as I opened the drawer, I heard an opposition, “oh, you can’t go there!”

“… Hmmm?”

I wondered if there was underwear in there, but there was something worse than that.
Hidden among the stationery from my elementary school days was a manga that had recently been made into an anime.
I’ve actually read it before. Or rather, I have a copy of the same book.
It’s a story about a man and a woman who are both in love with each other and scheme to get the other to confess every time…
They are both in love. And they are both aware of it.

“…………”
“…………”

A strange silence fell.
I should have just sorted it out with an indifferent face. But then Yuika persisted and said, “oh, well. It’s just this manga.” I could have just put it back in the drawer and been done with it.

And yet, I froze for a moment.
We’ve known each other since childhood. We can almost always tell what each other is thinking by the atmosphere.
Yuika already knew.
She already knew that I know the contents of this manga.
To be honest, it’s really awkward.

“… My hair.”

It was Yuika who broke the silence first.

“… My hair got all messed up. Souta messed it up.”

She pressed her forehead against my waist.

“So you comb it. It’s Souta’s responsibility to make sure it’s nice and neat.”
“… Okay. Where’s the comb?”
“There. Next to the bed. And that’s it for the sorting, okay? That’s it for today.”

Fu, that’s a good one…
But it was my fault that the mood was so strange. … Can’t be helped. I agreed and moved on.
Yuika flopped down on the bed and I was handed a mint green comb and sat behind her.

“… I just realized, I’ve never combed anyone’s hair before, is that okay?”
“That’s okay. As long as you’re gentle.”

“Tell me if it hurts.”

It was a conversation that sounded like it meant something strange, but we both went with it.
I put the comb into her hair and started combing it as carefully as I could.

“Does it hurt?”
“Not at all. It feels good. I want you to do it every day.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’ll think about it?”
“I’ll take care of it when you stop spending so much.”
“Well, that’s a difficult order to fulfill.”
“How is it difficult?”

The mood returned to normal.
Yuika moved and hugged the cushion that was beside her.

“Hey, Souta. Do you know why I like games, anime, and manga?”
“No, I don’t. Why?”
“Because there is a future.”

Her voice was fragile and flickering, like a small light.

“I like stories with vivid characters. There is a future there. There are all sorts of setbacks and twists and turns, but everyone is moving forward toward a better tomorrow. That’s why I love them so much.”

I put the comb down so I can listen carefully.
My childhood friend said in a voice that seems to disappear when blown.

“I have no intention of leaving this room. My life has no future.”

“So?” although I didn’t say that. It sounded like that.

 

“Souta. ——Don’t fall in love with me, okay?”

 

For example.
If I was the hero of the story and Yuika was the heroine.
Now would be the time to confess.
If I could tell her that I love her, take her hand, and take her out into the world right now, it would be a wonderful happy ending.

But we’re not the hero and the heroine.
We’re just childhood friends.
And because we’re childhood friends, we know what each other is thinking.

This atmosphere is a trap. “Don’t fall in love with me, okay?” Yuika is asking me to confess my love for her. She’s trying to get me to confess and then she can reject me in a grand way.

——Free me from her futureless self.

That was not going to happen. She was not going to get what she wants.
We’re childhood friends. I know how much of a crybaby she is, how lonely she is, and how much she needs Mikami Souta.
That’s why I won’t confess.
I will never confess, until one day, when she can envision her own future.

“I’m not going to fall in love with you. We’re just childhood friends.”

I replied as usual and hugged Yuika.
I couldn’t see her face from behind. But I could clearly felt that Yuika was surprised.

“Hey-, hey, hey! Souta! What’s with the surprise! Hugging me on the bed… you can’t do that! You’re out!”
“It’s safe. It’s an advance payment.”
“I owe you a payment?”
“Tomorrow’s the day I get paid for my part-time job, right? I’m gonna go buy some prepaid cards, so you owe me that.”
“Oh, yeah… that’s right.”
“It’s safe, right?”
“I guess it’s safe… maybe? But the mood, it’s about as out as a red card ejection.”
“I can’t read the mood or anything.”
“How could you…”

The tension disappeared from the body I was holding.
She relaxed her shoulders and leaned her back against me.

“Advance payment…”

Laying her cheek on my shoulder, Yuika whispered.

“Please hold me tighter. I’m about to break.”
“If I hold you any tighter, my arms are going to hit your chest.”
“……… I can forgive a little bit of it today.”

You’re kidding! I thought her guard was loose, but it seems it is up. After all, this is Yuika. The tension broke through the sky in an instant. In addition, my reason evaporated.

“Yu-Yuika!”
“Kyaaaah! I didn’t say it was okay to push me over! I can’t trust Souta’s self-control after all!”

We started joking around and somehow the atmosphere returned to normal. I also touched her breasts a little in the confusion. In return, I received a rather severe slap, but it was a small price to pay compared to the feeling of 89 centimeters, yeah, and in addition, she increased the amount of tomorrow’s prepaid card tenfold, but I would like to think that it was also a small price. I wonder if I can. I wish I could…

P.S.
Yuika’s mother was very happy about the cooling off, but she seemed to have heard Yuika’s screams and confronted me as a separate matter. The cost of my childhood friend’s br**sts was huge…