A Complicated Few Days (Part One)

"L...Love?"

Oreki stared at the ketchup on the omurice.

Wait...

If his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and he wasn't still half-asleep...

Then this had to be "Love," right?

A genuine "Love" written in ketchup, right?

"Mm, is something wrong?"

"No..."

"If there's no problem, then hurry up and eat. It won't taste as good once it gets cold."

"That's true..."

"Hmm? Oh, Houtarou, don't tell me you..."

"Am I what?"

"Want me to cast a magic spell to make your omurice taste even better?"

"A magic spell to make omurice taste better?"

Oreki turned to look at her.

He wasn't a child anymore. He didn't need a magic spell to make omurice taste better.

"Hehe..."

Sakayanagi had meant to keep herself in check.

But seeing Oreki looking so flustered, she couldn't help letting out a soft laugh.

It was a rare sight.

Houtarou Oreki could be shy, too.

Sakayanagi untied her apron and sat down beside Oreki.

"Well? Is it good?"

"Mm..."

Oreki took a spoonful.

As soon as he put it in his mouth, he felt the rice begin to fall apart.

She'd cooked it just right.

A familiar taste...

His mother's...

No, his sister's?

Oreki froze at the thought.

His older sister hadn't been home in a long time.

He wondered how she was doing.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Is that so? By the way, Houtarou, who are you planning to spend White Day with?"

"Cough, cough!"

Oreki hurriedly grabbed the glass of water on the table and gulped it down.

That was close.

He'd nearly choked to death.

It was all because Sakayanagi had suddenly asked him that.

Usually...

Wouldn't she ask if he was free on March 14?

Unless the other person was especially dense, they'd soon understand what she really meant.

But being as direct as Sakayanagi...

This was a first for Oreki.

"What did you just... say?"

"Nothing."

"...I see."

"Mm. It's getting late. I'll go take a nap."

"Then good afternoon."

"Good afternoon."

As she spoke, Sakayanagi got to her feet.

Unlike the calm expression she'd worn just moments ago...

A blush quickly spread across her face.

It first gathered at her earlobes, translucent as coral beads, then swept across her cheeks, white as snow.

Like a peach blossom trembling beneath the spring rain, its delicate red petals on the verge of falling.

If you're embarrassed, then don't say things like that, you idiot...

Oreki, too, felt a little embarrassed and covered the side of his face.

After Sakayanagi returned to her room...

"When did I start caring about her, too...?"

"This is so strange."

"At first, all I wanted was to earn some money and team up with outside forces to overthrow her rule."

Oreki turned his spoon around, baffled.

But thinking about it wouldn't get him an answer.

Since things had come to this...

He might as well eat first.

"...Mm, delicious."

Oreki gave Sakayanagi's cooking his approval.

He never would have guessed...

He'd thought Sakayanagi couldn't cook.

After all, what young lady would want to cook for herself?

Only a rare few.

Everyone else hired well-known chefs to make their meals.

Someone like Sakayanagi Arisu...

She had all the makings of a good wife, didn't she?

Right? Right?

I'm full.

Oreki stood up, satisfied.

But after noticing the mess on the dining table, he decided to help clean up.

Work always seemed to drag on.

Especially when you knew exactly how much you still had left to do.

Five minutes later.

"Finally done washing everything."

After putting away the clean dishes, Oreki rolled his shoulders.

That was exhausting.

Technically, a butler or maid should have taken care of this sort of thing.

But it didn't matter.

He could think of it as repayment for the omurice Sakayanagi had made him.

Besides, Sakayanagi's Father didn't seem to have hired any servants.

Was he unwilling to entrust his daughter's care to someone else?

Or was it...

He must have his reasons for doing this.

Oreki looked toward Sakayanagi's room.

Yesterday, he'd been able to walk right in without a second thought.

But now...

It was as if something were holding him back.

What was it?

Oreki had a feeling that if he figured it out, he'd fall into a whirlpool called "love."

And then, even if he wanted to turn back, he wouldn't be able to.

So he'd better think carefully before making a choice.

"I'll just take a nap on the sofa."

Oreki's face reddened a little.

It wasn't because he was embarrassed.

Definitely not.

He tried to convince himself of that.

But everyone knew the truth.

Once he lay down on the sofa, Oreki slowly closed his eyes.

Spring made it easy to get sleepy.

He was no exception.

"Zzz..."

12:56 p.m.

Houtarou Oreki fell asleep on the sofa at the Sakayanagi Family home.

Meanwhile...

Back in her dormitory, Shiina Hiyori opened her phone.

She'd just sent Oreki a text.

In short, she'd told him to come to the Literature Club at three thirty.

They would investigate Kiyoko together then.

That was Ayanokoji.

Although he'd promised to give her the first edition of Sherlock Holmes's detective stories if she stopped investigating...

How could Shiina Hiyori give up when this was so interesting?

So she hadn't told Oreki the truth.

Instead, she'd said that Ayanokoji wanted to challenge them to a contest.

Shiina Hiyori was certainly interested in that book.

But...

Ayanokoji had forgotten something.

Books were inanimate.

People were alive.

Compared with the first edition, Shiina Hiyori was more interested in Houtarou Oreki.

She'd heard about his exploits before.

Shiina Hiyori had wanted to meet Oreki sooner, but she simply hadn't had the chance.

Unlike the Sakayanagi Family...

Because Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't in good health, the Sakayanagi Family hadn't pressured her much.

The Shiina Family was different.

They'd ridden the wave of the times and successfully built their family into a major power.

But the older generation was afraid of losing everything.

Of falling back to where they had started.

Once you'd grown used to a luxurious life, it wasn't easy to return to a frugal one.

As the saying went, it was easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality...

That was exactly it.

In any case, Shiina Hiyori had been constrained by all sorts of rules since childhood.

That was why she was so quiet and clever now.

Some families were different.

They had no money, yet still burdened their children with all sorts of arbitrary rules.

They thought that was how to raise a son to be a success or a daughter to be a success.

In reality, all they did was raise ordinary people who were cold and heartless.

Of course, some might even...

After all, that was what happened when you had no money but still tried to imitate the wealthy.

They didn't work hard themselves, but expected their descendants to lift them up.

Shiina Hiyori sat down at her desk.

She propped her cheek up with her right hand, bored as she stared at her phone.

"Strange..."

"Has Oreki already fallen asleep?"

"Five minutes have already passed, but he still hasn't replied to my message..."

--To be continued