Hayato was in the living room checking out Himeko’s outfits.
“What do you think of this? Isn’t it a little too childish?”
In front of the sofa, Himeko spun around and flipped the hem of her dress. It’s sleeveless, floral, and sweetly designed for a girl. Himeko groaned, somewhat unconvinced.
“Uh-huh, it looks nice, I guess?”
“Mou~, Onii, you’ve got to be serious!”
“That’s exactly what I said…”
Incidentally, this was the third time Himeko had asked Hayato for his opinion.
The first one was a little more mature, with a cutaway dress and a mimole-length tulle skirt, and the one before that was an age-appropriate outfit that she wore to a convenience store the other night.
(They all look good on her, and I think any of them would be fine.)
Himeko has a lot of clothes.
And she seems to be very particular about what she wears depending on the situation.
However, Hayato didn’t know what her little sister’s style was, and he didn’t want to be asked.
This thought showed on Hayato’s face, causing Himeko’s cheeks to puff up even more.
Just as Himeko was about to close in on Hayato with a frustrated look on her face, she caught sight of the clock and started to panic.
“Ah, it’s already time! Mou~, I can’t help it, this outfit is fine I guess, Haru-chan is older than me, after all.”
“Oh, you’re leaving already? It’s not even nine o’clock yet.”
“Fufu~, it will take some time if I have to stop by Haru-chan’s house to help her get dressed.”
“O-Ohh…”
With that, Himeko put on her favorite sandals and ran off. She was probably going to barge into Haruki’s house with that kind of energy.
After seeing Himeko off, Hayato let out a big sigh of relief and sat down on the sofa to stretch.
Looking around, he saw a clean living room with most of the unpacking done, and Hayato’s room was similarly clean, with more than half of Himeko’s room still left to be done, but he wouldn’t be able to do it.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing else to do.
“Well then, let’s do it. Let’s see, the burnable trash is on Monday here―”
He had to sort out the garbage and clean the common areas such as the bathrooms and living room hallways. In addition to the laundry that had accumulated, he also washed the sheets of the futon.
His handiwork is very skillful and thorough, and he does it quickly and efficiently.
As expected, the only time he wrinkles his brow is when drying Himeko’s underwear. It’s not that he’s dissatisfied. Even though she was his sister, he was still a little uncomfortable about touching the underwear of the opposite sex.
In the meantime, the housework was done. The house was small compared to Tsukinose’s, so it was quicker than expected.
The time was just before eleven o’clock.
It was still too early for lunch, and he didn’t feel like cooking for one person. He looked in the refrigerator to see if there was anything, but it was completely empty. Either way, he needed to go outside.
“…Let’s just go then.”
Hayato muttered to himself, and took out an envelope from the shelf in the living room. He turned on his laptop and checked the address on the envelope.
His face had a mysterious expression on it.
◇◇◇
Hayato left his apartment and headed for the nearest station. It was an ordinary station building with nothing to say.
He was surprised to find out that it really takes about 10 minutes to get to the station, and that there are 10 trains an hour. Then again, he was surprised to hear, “Oh, one station is so short!”. He got off the train and headed for a large white building that could be seen from there.
Located in what could be called a suburban area, it had an inordinately large parking lot and lawns and flowerbeds that looked like a place for relaxation, giving the impression of being somewhat inorganic despite the abundance of greenery.
After entering the unusually wide lobby and completing the reception, he headed for a room on the sixth floor.
The room marked “617” was the hospital room where his mother was staying.
“Oh, Hayato?”
“Mom.”
His mother, who had lost some weight and had become thinner, was peeling a pear with a fruit knife in her six-mat studio room.
“Do you want some? I was peeling them for rehabilitation, but I overdid it.”
“Oh, yeah… Wait, that’s a lot!?”
“Ahaha~, there’s enough for three!”
“Can you eat all this? What in the world are you doing…”
“Don’t worry. If there’s any left, I’ll feed it to your father tonight.”
“Dad…”
Hayato took the pears from his mother, who was smiling cheerfully, and carefully cut them into leaves and rabbits. The crunchy texture and sweet and sour aroma spread in his mouth.
When he noticed her gaze, Hayato felt embarrassed and turned away from her, and then asked her something that had been bothering him.
“Ah, that, did that… go well?”
“The surgery went well, of course. I have some numbness in my fingers, but I’m going to be moved to a rehabilitation ward soon… More importantly, where’s Himeko? Is she crying?”
“She’s fine. She went out with her friends again today.”
“I see.”
Hayato, too, breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of his mother’s apparent good health.
“Well then, I’m going home now.”
“Oh, why don’t you take your time?”
“I’m good.”
After eating three pears, Hayato quickly left the room with his mother at his back.
He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
It was the second time that his mother had collapsed in front of Himeko…
He had heard from his father that she was going to be fine, but seeing her in person was a relief, as she seemed to be in better condition than he had expected.
Hayato was not fond of hospitals.
It was a place far removed from everyday life, a space where abnormal situations were embodied.
The white, clean space, which was intended to be clean, was scented with the smell of antiseptic and decorated with colorful flowers that had been cut everywhere, as if they were bleached heads.
Such a place with a sense of distortion― that was the hospital for Hayato.
“Ah.”
“Eh?”
So when he saw it, he was terribly surprised.
The person holding it was a small girl with curly hair, resembling a sheep. She was a peculiar girl who planted vegetables in the flower bed of the school building.
“Mi-Mitake-san!?”
“Kirishima-san…?”
It was a somewhat familiar bouquet of bright white, yellow and purple flowers― a bouquet of vegetable flowers.