――When I got home, Shiho was already there.
She was lying on the living room sofa, relaxing as if it were her own home.
“Aah, Kotaro-kun! Welcome back!”
“Yeah, I’m home.”
Despite not being a resident of this house, it had become routine for us to exchange “welcome home” and “I’m home” greetings.
“Where’s Azusa?”
“She’s on her first errand.”
“I see… I wanted to keep an eye on her.”
“Yeah. It’d be fun to follow her while recording a video on your smartphone.”
Well, just in case… Of course, it was a joke.
Azusa was turning seventeen this year, so she could definitely handle shopping alone. Even though her face looked like she was in elementary school—at best middle school—she was far from being a child.
“She’s just gone to the convenience store, so she should be back in about ten minutes.”
Shiho said nonchalantly as she watched a children’s program.
It seemed rare for a high school girl to watch a Pythagorean device show with such sparkling eyes.
『～♪』
After the familiar music played, Shiho turned her attention back to me.
“Honestly, I could have gone shopping for her, you know? But Azu-nyan said she was worried about whether she could handle it properly and didn’t trust me.”
…Their relationship was as interesting as ever.
They both treated each other like children or underestimated each other… Well, they were definitely on the same level, so maybe that’s why they got along so well.
“So, I stayed home to watch the place. How’s that? I’m pretty awesome, right? Eh-hemm!”
Shiho puffed out her chest proudly.
No, house-sitting… Normally, she should be a guest, so I felt a bit sorry for making her do that.
“Thank you… but it’s kind of funny for Shiho to be house-sitting my place.”
“Ufufufu♪ Maybe I’ve already become part of the family? Not Shimotsuki Shiho, but Nakayama Shiho… Not bad.”
Shiho smiled and put her hand on her face.
Her face turned a little red, probably from embarrassment.
“M-maybe that’s a bit too soon… Sorry, without Azu-nyan here, I might have gone a little overboard.”
Watching Shiho fan her heated face to cool down made me feel embarrassed too.
“I’m happy, but… it does feel a bit weird.”
“Yeah. It’s really… well, it makes me feel all fuzzy, but I don’t dislike it.”
She was right.
It did feel weird, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
Rather, I felt a comforting sense of excitement in this relationship.
I had always longed for a daily life like this.
I had dreamed of a commonplace romantic comedy scene that I had only seen in books.
And now, I was in a similar scene.
Looking at myself objectively, it felt very strange.
The Kotaro Nakayama I knew was now part of a daily romantic comedy.
Such a thing was never supposed to happen.
But now, I was in a very fortunate situation.
Even so… there was a small sense of discomfort.
(Is this really okay?)
Is it okay for me to weave a commonplace daily romantic comedy?
Is it truly interesting?
As just a character, I didn’t know the answer to that.
