Visiting the Landlady's House
Lying on my bed and staring up at the ceiling, I found myself seeing the landlady's broad backside swaying in front of my eyes.
There was no mistaking it. The Grim Reaper had shown me her face on that tablet screen.
And yet, no matter how hard I tried to remember, all I could come up with was a woman I'd exchanged casual greetings with on the way in and out of the house. I'd never once thought of her as a woman in any deeper sense, so I couldn't begin to imagine how I was supposed to approach her.
The clean, refreshed feeling I'd gotten from my run only made my mind more tangled than before.
I turned over a few ways I might build a relationship with her, but none of them seemed remotely workable.
Right. Just because something might be possible doesn't mean I can actually do it...
Just as I was starting to give up, a faint human voice drifted in from somewhere.
Since both the landlady and I had been living alone all this time, there had never been any real upstairs noise—well, not upstairs, exactly, but noise through the walls, either. I hadn't noticed before, but the walls between the houses here seemed thinner than I'd thought, and the sounds from next door came through right at the uncertain edge of what you could call noise.
"Looks like her husband's home."
I leaned against the wall and listened more closely.
I could hear a man's voice and a woman's, along with laughter.
As I pictured the landlady, bright-faced and flushed with happiness while spending time with her husband, I suddenly felt guilty about what I'd been thinking a moment ago.
"Yeah, wanting to sleep with a married woman who's got a husband... I should think about someone else instead."
Then loneliness hit me all at once.
The hair salon... is probably closed by now.
I regretted not getting Yumi's contact information while I had the chance.
After that, I rolled around in bed for a long time before finally falling asleep.
"...What is that?"
I opened my eyes to a faint sound brushing against my ear.
Looking at the clock, I saw that about two hours had passed since I'd fallen asleep.
Keeping my eyes shut, I traced the source of the sound and found myself drawn to that same wall again.
I pressed my body against it and leaned in hard.
"...Honey... haaah..."
A moan. The voice, a little higher than usual, belonged to the landlady who had smiled so brightly at me earlier that evening.
I pushed myself closer until it felt like I might burst through the wall and focused every nerve in my body on listening.
I even held my breath, afraid the sound of it might get in the way.
"Honey... ahngh... I missed you so much..."
Her voice, broken into little pieces, carried the ache of all the loneliness she'd been holding in.
"...Hurry... put it in, honey."
*Gulp*
In the dark, silent room where not even a sliver of light reached, the sound of my swallowing echoed sharply.
"Ahngh, honey, ahh... so good."
From beyond the wall came the landlady's cries, along with the wet, rhythmic sounds of flesh meeting flesh.
Without even thinking about it, I slid a hand into my pants and closed my fingers around my already swollen cock, starting to stroke it.
Separated by a single wall, the three of us were moving to the same tempo as though we shared one body.
But the end came so suddenly, at a moment I never expected.
A man's short groan burst out, and the landlady's voice, just beginning to heat up, cut off all at once.
After that, the only thing I heard for a while was the man's rough breathing, and then even that disappeared. Nothing else happened that night.
Still leaning blankly against the wall, I lowered my head and saw that my cock, apparently disappointed too, had shriveled up.
As the excitement drained out of me, the landlady's face came back to mind—the one that had been lit up with anticipation when she bought eel.
Two more nights passed after that, but nothing like the first night happened again.
Even when I fell asleep pressed hard against the wall, hoping for a repeat, I always opened my eyes to morning.
And then, that evening, someone knocked on my door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Student, are you in there?"
It was the landlady's voice.
I shot upright from where I'd been lounging around in comfortable clothes and opened the door, only to find her standing there with her hands clasped together and her legs crossed.
As usual, she was wearing a casual dress, her hair carelessly tied up, and she gave me a light greeting.
"Landlady, what brings you here? Is there something I can help with?"
She waved a hand quickly.
"Oh, no. Nothing like that. It's just... I was grateful for the help last time, and if you haven't eaten yet, I thought I'd like to make you dinner."
I had no reason to refuse.
"In that case, I'd love that. Just a moment."
After straightening my clothes as best I could, I followed her next door.
The house was simple—a large room connected to a kitchen, with a bathroom attached—and there was no trouble taking it in at a glance.
But even though the layout was surely the same as mine, the place had been touched by the practiced hands of a housewife, and that alone gave it a warm, cozy feeling despite the modest furnishings.
"Sit down for a second."
I hesitated over where to sit, then flopped down in the middle of the room.
After a few clattering sounds from the kitchen, a lavish table was soon set down in front of me.
"Wow, this is a feast."
"I had a lot of ingredients left over after buying them, so... help yourself."
Just as I was struggling to close my mouth in front of the spread before me, I spotted grilled eel sitting proudly in the middle.
My feelings became complicated.
So in the end, the eel never got to do its job, huh.
Since things had come to this, I figured the least I could do was eat it properly myself, as a final act of kindness to the poor dead eel, and I picked up my chopsticks.
"You're eating well. Must be because you're young. Want some more?"
"Oh, yes. It's just so delicious. Ever since I started living on my own, this is the first meal I've had that tastes this good."
The landlady got to her feet and headed to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator.
"Oh, right. We should have this too... Student, would that be okay?"
My chopsticks, which had been moving busily, froze, and when I looked up, she was holding a can of beer.
"Oh, that sounds great."
"I bought it thinking my husband would drink it, but I guess I bought too much."
As she came back with the beer, her expression looked a little bitter.
Hissssss
The abandoned beer did its best to advertise its charm.
I quickly wiped away the foam rising up and looked forward again, only to see the landlady studying the can in my hand.
"Want to drink with me?"
At my question, she shook her head.
"I... I'm not very good with alcohol."
"Oh, I see. It's more fun when you drink together, so that's a pity."
Thinking only of the meal and the cold beer I was about to enjoy, I raised the can to my lips without much thought—just in time to hear a sound that set my desire alight.
"T-then maybe I'll have a little too."
With what looked like great courage, the landlady suddenly reached out and grabbed a can for herself.
Click, click.
She tried to hook a finger under the tab, but her slender fingers slipped before they could pull it all the way back.
"Let me get that for you."
Hissssss
"Ahh!"
Shhrrruuup.
I took the can from her hand and popped it open in one smooth motion, but the foaming beer overflowed, and I ended up catching some of it on my mouth.
"Ah! Sorry. I'll open a new one for you."
As I set my beer down in front of me and reached for another can, that same slender hand stopped mine.
"It's okay. I'll just drink this one."
The landlady casually lifted the can my mouth had touched and brought it to her lips.
Indirect kiss...
It was the kind of thing a grade-schooler would get worked up about, and yet the moment her red lips touched the trace I'd left behind, I found myself feeling strangely embarrassed.
She squeezed her eyes shut and took a sip before breaking into a bright smile.
"Ahhh, has beer always tasted this good? Maybe you're right—it must be because we're drinking together."
With her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth lifted high, I couldn't help getting swept up in her good mood too.
"Right? Then, cheers."
The two cans clinked together, making that crisp metallic sound that only comes when they're full of liquid.
"Cheers."
After one toast and then another, the beer cans grew lighter and lighter, and now they rang with clear, airy notes when they touched.
Each time another empty can was set down between us, the landlady's voice rose by a pitch, too.
"I'm really having such a great time thanks to you, student. Thank you."
Her face had turned red, but the tension had melted away, leaving her smiling freely.
"No, it's me who's grateful."
"Honestly, I was so excited because I thought my husband was coming home after such a long time... Goodness, what am I even saying?"
"It's okay. Keeping things bottled up will make you sick. If you have something to say, say it."
"Oh-ho, what a smooth talker you are for such a young man. Then, if you don't mind, could you listen to me a little?"
The landlady, now thoroughly tipsy, started talking to me about this and that.
As I listened, what I felt was sympathy.
Forced into an unexpected solitary life at the height of her years, she was a profoundly lonely woman.
Her family all lived far away, so there was no one she could lean on here. She had been spending her days in silence, entirely alone.
I wanted to comfort her.
More than just trying to get into her pants, I genuinely wanted to ease her loneliness.
But my body was honest, even if my heart was not.
It wasn't only the tension between us that had loosened as we talked.
The dress draped over her shoulders had gradually slipped lower each time her body swayed, until now part of her chest was showing.
I wanted to listen seriously, to comfort her properly, but every time her body rocked back and forth, I couldn't help glancing at the pale flesh that kept revealing itself.
And down below, I could feel my groin growing heavier and heavier.
Just then, her body lurched back so sharply it looked as if she might topple over, and I quickly moved behind her, slipping my hands to her shoulders to steady her.
Startled by how suddenly I was close, the landlady lowered her head and stammered helplessly.
"Th-thank you."
Then she turned her head slightly, sensing the thing pressing against her from behind, and her eyes went wide.
"S-student...?"
At the end of her gaze was my pants, stretched tight and swollen.
Every time the tip of my cock twitched, it nudged the side of her waist.
"N-no, it's not like that—"
I hurriedly backed away, only to end up presenting the bulge in my pants even more plainly.
"I-it's okay. That's just how it is at your age."
She lifted the beer can to her mouth as if she were taking a drink, using it to hide her face as best she could.
I worried that my sincere desire to comfort her would be misunderstood, but there was no taking back what had already happened.
After lowering the can from her lips, the landlady let out a few quick breaths and turned to face me.
"B-but, student. Why is it like that...?"
At her unexpected question, the image of her face from the tablet screen flashed through my mind.
I remembered it then.
Her body from last night, still covered in soot because it hadn't burned all the way to completion.
Right. Comfort doesn't always have to be words.
"It's because of you, landlady..."
The dice had been cast.
After throwing a straight punch at the next-door landlady I'd have to see every day from now on, I watched her reaction.
Another flush rose between the already reddened cheeks on her face.
"B-because of me...? Wh-what do you mean by that?"
She already knew, but it seemed she still wanted to hear it from my own mouth.
I became certain that I wasn't walking the wrong path.
"Because you're so attractive... I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself."
It was praise disguised as an apology.
The landlady couldn't meet my eyes anymore and started tracing circles on the floor with her finger.
"Thank you. For thinking that about someone this old..."
I knew I shouldn't stop here, so I pushed a little further.
"Have some confidence. It's because of you that I'm like this."
When I leaned forward, my cock bulged clearly beneath the thin fabric of my pants.
The landlady's eyes weren't on my face anymore—they were fixed on my cock.
She couldn't tear her gaze away from the sight of it twitching there, alive right in front of her.
How long has it been since I've seen something this big...?
At some point, her husband's cock had become limp, something that barely stayed up even with effort, something that could only just manage to enter her. The memory made her cunt tighten on its own.
Carefully, she opened her mouth.
"You look... really worked up. Then... should I help a little...?"
I clenched my fist hard in my heart, but for courtesy's sake I let the silence linger a moment.
"Even so, how could I ask you for something like that..."
Her body, trembling gently, betrayed exactly how aroused she had become.
"Still, if you're saying it became like that because of me... I think it might be right for me to help."
It was ridiculous, but it sounded convincing enough, so I gave in as though I had no choice.
"Then, if you don't mind, I'm really struggling right now, so could I ask you just this once?"
When I stood up, my lower half came to rest directly in front of her face.
The landlady didn't hesitate anymore.
She yanked down my pants and underwear at the same time and let out a startled gasp when she saw my thrusting cock.
I decided not to think about it any more.
From here on out, the only thing left was to do my best to comfort her.