Chapter 45: Dusk

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Click.

The key turned a circle and a half.

The sound of the lock popping open was especially clear in the hallway.

Yukina pushed the door open a crack.

She squeezed in limply.

Then she gently closed the door behind her.

Her schoolbag slid down from her shoulder.

She did not even have the strength to hang it up.

It dangled from the crook of her arm like that.

She walked inside step by step.

At last it slipped down by her feet.

“I’m home…”

She said it out of habit.

The only answers from the empty home were silence.

And the drawn-out cry of a crow outside the window.

This was fine.

At this hour, having someone answer from inside the house would have been what was scary.

She steadied herself on the shoe cabinet.

She slowly slipped her feet out of her little leather shoes.

She set the shoes against the wall one by one.

She lowered her head and glanced at her own feet wrapped in white pantyhose.

Because they were still half-damp, a faint flesh-pink showed through the soles of the stockings.

When she stepped onto the wooden floor, coolness shot straight up from the soles of her feet.

It left a few shallow wet marks.

She did not have the strength to care.

She dragged her body to the sofa.

She toppled forward and buried her face in a cushion.

“I’m finally home…”

Her body sank into the soft sofa.

She was so tired it felt as if she were falling apart.

She could barely feel her two legs anymore.

So tired.

Her waist still ached faintly.

Her school uniform was mixed with dust, sweat, standing water, cotton, and all kinds of strange things.

It clung wrinkled to her skin.

It was very uncomfortable.

She did not want to move at all.

She did not even have the strength to take off the eye patch.

Her whole person lay limp, sunk into the sofa.

Dusk light spilled in through the window.

It dyed the living room a heavy orange-yellow.

A faint smell of cat food floated in the air.

There was also a faint cream scent that had not yet faded from the morning.

It was so quiet.

Only the refrigerator was humming.

It was like the only thing in this house that was still awake.

“I didn’t think it would be this late…”

Yukina lifted her eyes.

She looked toward the dusk outside the window.

She had only realized when she was leaving.

She had actually slept that long in that tin shack.

When she and Mashiro had woken up, school had already ended.

In other words… she had skipped a whole afternoon of class again today.

“Ugh… the teacher isn’t going to call my sister to complain again, right?”

Thinking of that, Yukina’s stomach sank.

Still, it was not entirely a bad thing.

At least this way, no one would see her and Mashiro crawling out of a remote little corner of the school.

And in this somewhat disheveled state, no less.

She had sneaked back to the classroom once.

After grabbing her schoolbag, she had gone to the hidden shade of the trees in front of the school gate and said goodbye to Mashiro.

At that time, Mashiro had been worried about her physical condition and offered to walk her home.

But Yukina had shaken her head and refused.

After all, the relationship between the two of them was still very delicate right now.

If they were accidentally seen by Yumiko’s little clique, there was no telling what kind of trouble it would stir up.

It was better to be careful when they were outside.

Mashiro said she could understand.

She did not insist too much.

After that, it had been time to wave and say goodbye.

But after saying “goodbye,” Mashiro had said one more sentence.

That sentence was something Yukina still could not quite understand even now.

“Leave your sister’s matter to me.”

At that time, Mashiro’s tone had been very light.

It had been no different from usual.

It had been just like saying “it’s going to rain, remember to bring an umbrella.”

Before Yukina could say anything, Mashiro had already turned around.

Accompanied by her silver hair blown by the evening wind, she had disappeared into the tree shade along the sidewalk.

“‘Leave it to me’… what does that even mean?”

Yukina buried her face a little deeper into the cushion.

A faint unease sat in her heart.

She regretted it a little.

She regretted telling Mashiro that her sister was being squeezed so hard by that black-hearted company in order to help repay the family’s debt.

But she couldn’t help it.

At that time Mashiro’s expression had been so serious.

When she held her hand and said “tell me,” that sincere look in her eyes had been impossible to refuse.

Those worries that had been pressed down in the depths of her heart had burst like a broken levee.

They had poured out all at once.

By the time she realized it, it was already over.

What was Mashiro planning to do next?

According to the game’s progress, Mashiro right now was still in a state of isolation with no one to help her.

Even though she was the daughter of a conglomerate zaibatsu, it was only an empty title.

She had no authority.

She had no connections.

Her financial resources… were not much either.

They were barely enough for her own expenses and those of one maid.

So worrying.

She did not know why.

A scene floated into Yukina’s head of Mashiro putting on a mask, forcing her way into a bank, and the next day tossing a huge bag of cash at her front door.

And another of her appearing directly on the television emergency news.

Standing on the rooftop of the Feilin Group building.

Turning her remaining body into raging fire and wiping out the entire black-hearted company.

It shouldn’t… be that bad, right?

This was only a bullying-themed game.

It shouldn’t have such a fantasy plot, right?

But Yukina thought of how Mashiro had held her in her arms today, smashed through wooden boards, jumped from a window several stories high, and come out completely unharmed.

It seemed… not completely impossible either.

“I’m such an idiot, idiot, idiot… why do I always mess everything up?”

Yukina knocked her own head a few times.

She kicked her legs twice on the sofa.

Just as the negative energy inside her was about to erupt again…

“Meow.”

A soft, fluffy meow came from under the table.

Something jumped onto the sofa.

It landed lightly beside her hand.

Then it nuzzled her palm with a fluffy little head and let out a purr-purr.

“Huahua…”

Yukina was tickled by the nuzzling.

She lifted her face a little from the cushion.

She looked at the little cutie acting spoiled in front of her.

Huahua meowed again.

She touched Yukina’s fingers with a wet little nose.

Her tail stood up high.

It was as if she were saying she was hungry.

“Little piggy-cat, you already finished all that extra cat food I added this morning?”

Yukina pressed her nose.

Huahua answered with a meow.

She used her head to nudge Yukina’s hand toward the cat bowl.

“If you keep eating like this, you’re going to turn into a little pig.”

She complained a few times.

Huahua looked completely unconcerned.

She even lightly nipped Yukina’s little finger.

“Good grief… fine, fine. I’ll feed you a little more.”

Yukina could not win against her.

She dragged her body up from the sofa.

She walked limply into the kitchen.

Clink-clank.

Cat food poured into the bowl.

It sounded like wind chimes in the night.

Huahua anxiously circled around her feet.

The moment the cat food settled, the whole cat pounced.

She buried her face in the bowl and ate with loud smack-smack sounds.

“Pig.”

Yukina squatted beside her.

She stroked her back.

She muttered under her breath.

Still, watching Huahua wolf it down like that, she started to feel a little hungry herself.

She had not eaten much in the last two days.

It was about time for a proper meal.

She stood up.

She opened the refrigerator door.

She looked at what was left inside.

Half a carton of eggs.

A little bit of greens.

A block of tofu wrapped in plastic wrap.

It was enough.

Yukina did not hesitate much.

She took the apron off the hook.

She put it on over her still-wrinkled school uniform.

She stepped onto the little stool used for extra height.

She started preparing dinner.

The water in the pot gradually came to a boil.

Steam slowly filled the dim yellow light of the kitchen.

It wrapped around the clean fragrance of tofu and greens.

It steamed the whole room until it was warm.

Yukina gently stirred the soup in the pot with chopsticks.

She listened to the sound of Huahua licking the bowl behind her.

The tail behind her began to sway unconsciously.

Outside the window it had already gone completely dark.

A cool night-blue swallowed the dusk.

A few stars that had just lit up were stuck to the distant sky.

Soon, dinner time was over.

She patted her warmed-up belly.

She got up and washed the bowls and chopsticks.

She changed Huahua’s water for clean water.

Only then did she slowly walk toward the bathroom.

“Time for a proper bath,” she said softly.