Homecoming (9)
“Found it!”
“How did you know?!”
“It’s because just hiding the head doesn’t make it invisible. Next time, try hiding it even better, okay?”
“Hmph…”
I was able to find it in no time.
“It’s here!”
“Mwueng…”
Efril was close by too.
But I…
“Is this the place?”
“Hmm… here?”
“There’s nothing here either.”
I searched the entire house thoroughly, but I couldn’t find a single trace.
Well, I hadn’t expected to find anything in the first place.
It was quite possible I’d passed right by it on the way in.
But since my original plan hadn’t been to search for me, anyway.
Cecil entered the guest room with a determined expression.
“There’s… nothing here, right?”
Her voice carried a hint of reluctance, unlike when she was looking elsewhere.
It sounded less like she was searching and more like she was hoping there wouldn’t be anything.
Cecil began rummaging through the guest room.
The bed, the drawers, under the desk, inside the closet, the bathroom…
At the very least, I’d checked every spot within reach.
“Hmm…”
Even with mana sensing active, the only result was zero.
The slums were a place where every kind of human scum gathered, full of rough people with no future.
Since her mana sensing had been meant to protect her from those kinds of people, Cecil was forced to accept that I wasn’t there.
Still, she double-checked to be sure.
“Nothing… Oh well. I should just make ramen with Enter and eat it~.”
One.
Two.
Three.
Yeah, really nothing.
I loved new flavors and spicy food, but I wasn’t picky.
If he’d heard that, he probably would have come out and suggested eating ramen.
So…
There was no Jeden in his room.
No one would barge in, so there was no risk of being overheard no matter what I did.
“……Huff…”
Just in case, I locked the door.
Click.
…Now the guest room was a perfect hiding place.
Not even I, my dad and mom, Enter, or Efril could get in.
That’s why Cecil…
“…I’m here.”
She picked up the shirt from the top of the laundry basket.
I did my own laundry, but since I found it annoying to do it every single day, I rotated my clothes every other day.
So this was the shirt I’d worn yesterday.
A shirt that was far too big for me, soaked in my scent.
It was a little musty, which was a shame, but still…
Cecil lifted the shirt as if it were a sacred relic, carefully.
“Hup…”
She buried her face in the shirt.
Then.
“Sigh―.”
Haa―.
Ah. Ahhh.
“Sigh―.”
Haa―.
Jeden. That’s the scent of Jeden.
The familiar mix of floral base and smoky, masculine scent that was purely him.
Thinking about it, he’d said he’d sweated yesterday.
I’d told him not to come near because of the sweat smell… but I liked this even more.
Sigh, haa…
Ah.
Just like this, it felt like I was being held in his arms.
Yeah, just like… yesterday.
The way he’d held me tight and refused to let go.
The way that felt so warm and soft, yet also so rough all at once.
“……Fuh…”
What am I doing?
Hiding in my boyfriend’s room, locking the door, and sniffing the scent of his discarded shirt.
If he found out, what face would he make?
Would he hate me?
Would he look betrayed?
…No, I couldn’t stand that.
But.
But…
“Sigh―.”
Haa―.
This was dangerous…
My head was spinning……
It felt like I was going to get addicted…
“Hmm…….”
Come to think of it, this shirt was pretty big on me.
So… even just the scent was that good, what if I put it on…
“……”
My brain stopped working.
Because I was receiving a stimulus beyond my threshold.
Without thinking any further, Cecil slipped into the shirt like a second skin.
“Huf…”
She collapsed forward like she was bowing, her face flushing red.
Just like this, it really… felt like I was being held in his arms.
Every time I got close, I’d resist and struggle.
But honestly, I loved it.
I loved it enough to wear your shirt and do this…
This time, she wore the shirt properly.
Still, the sleeves were too long and it fell past her hips.
Probably even naked, it would cover the important parts.
Jeden was really built.
“Haa…”
Ah.
If I was too late, the kids would find me.
I had to slip away soon.
Even while thinking that, Cecil started rummaging through the laundry basket again.
The shirt was on, so I needed something else to hold.
Jeans were too perverted, so maybe just another top…
Huh?
What’s this?
Thin and small……
………………Eh?
Eh eh eh?!?!?!
“?!?!!!!?!??!”
Kyaaaak!!!!
S-sorry!!!
***
Seeing Cecil’s face flush even redder as she vanished from view.
“Real…?”
The boxers I’d worn yesterday were draped over the laundry basket.
Had he jumped out in surprise at seeing them?
No, well… it was my fault for leaving them in the shared room.
Normally, underwear was washed every day and put in the drawer.
Of all days, today was the one I forgot, and of all times, today was the day I saw it.
Even if it wasn’t intentional, I’d caught my girlfriend looking at clothes I’d worn.
Of course, I didn’t mind.
It was a bit… perverted, maybe.
……Ah, fine. No need to explain.
There was probably no man who’d hate something like this.
So it wasn’t embarrassing or meaningless to explain.
Since Cecil had locked the door behind her and I hadn’t been able to leave, I’d seen everything.
I wasn’t sure if it was a good trap or a convenient excuse.
I should just slip away normally and hide somewhere plausible.
***
“Wah! Found it!”
“You’re late.”
“This is against the rules!”
“The only rule is to hide inside the house. That’s it.”
A little more time passed.
Me and Cecil met on the roof of the main building.
So I’d hidden on the roof of the main building.
“Hah, hah…. How did you even get up here…”
“How did you get up here?”
“I asked Enter for the ladder location and climbed up.”
Huh?
“I just used my physical abilities.”
“Don’t say ‘magical engineering department’ where you are. Don’t raise the department average.”
Cecil looked exhausted just from dragging the ladder up here, so she flopped down onto the tiled roof like it was a bed.
With her head turned toward me, she spoke.
“Jeden.”
“Hm?”
“Do you come up here often?”
“Sometimes.”
Along with those words, I met Cecil’s gaze.
The sky, dyed red at sunset.
Golden light swam through the dying sun.
This was my favorite landscape, and the roof where I could see it was my favorite place.
“Che!”
Cecil climbed straight up to where I was and sat down right beside me.
With her head leaning against my shoulder.
“Jeden.”
“Why do you keep calling me?”
“Just… I want to call you all the time.”
Cecil, who’d been laughing earlier, suddenly opened her mouth with a much more serious expression.
It wasn’t her usual hazy look; it was the face of someone who’d finished a long period of deep thought and made a decision.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sometimes you ask after getting permission.”
“Hehe. That’s true.”
Cecil thought for a moment.
“I’ll change the question.”
“To what?”
“Can you listen to my story?”
“Of course.”
“It’ll be a dark, gloomy story.”
“I like that kind of thing.”
“Maybe you won’t like it.”
Looking into her eyes as she buried her face in her drawn-up knees.
“Cecil.”
“Yeah.”
“If it’s your story, I’ll like anything.”
“……”
“So tell me. It’ll be a story I like, no matter what.”
“……Hehe. Thank you.”
Then, where should I start…
***
Right after I disappeared.
Cecil’s state became extremely unstable.
That was only natural.
I, who handled physical strength and suppression, had vanished in an instant.
The mana that should have been pouring toward her, or even more, began to crash down on her.
The clan kids had called her a flower snake who relied on my fame for her looks, or even a prostitute.
The boys had spat out filthy sexual harassment in place of a greeting.
The girls had been obsessed with mocking and tormenting her.
But she’d endured it all.
She’d survived between the guys trying to yank down her pants every day and the girls openly belittling her.
This was the place I remembered.
Since I had no way of finding her, she had to stay here so I could find her.
Any special food she received, she’d either throw it away or leave it somewhere.
She couldn’t eat it or keep it, because who knew what would happen.
She’d gathered newspapers and made a temporary shelter.
The place she’d always stayed had been taken from her a long time ago, and she never knew what might befall her while she slept.
Naturally, her stamina and agility had improved.
She’d been constantly on alert, searching for me.
That was how the days, weeks, however long it took, passed.
“There.”
“Hey?”
“Yeah, you.”
A boy with a sour expression approached.
His face was hazy but clearly one I remembered.
I wasn’t good at remembering people’s faces.
If I remembered his, it meant we’d met somewhere before.
While thinking that, the boy spoke.
“You’re not having a hard time lately, are you? Cold and hungry?”
Ah.
Hearing that, it clicked.
I definitely remembered how I’d tried to do something to her but been stopped by me…
“……!”
…The guy who stabbed me.
The moment she realized it, his face turned pale.
“Well, of course. My boyfriend vanished for an ‘unknown reason.’”
Fortunately, the kid hadn’t noticed anything.
If he had, he probably wouldn’t have killed me.
That was the obvious thing to say, but this place was where you died if you didn’t.
And I’d decided I was going to kill him.
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