18. What Fault Could the Kid Have?
18. What Fault Could the Kid Have?
"Vivian!"
"Ah, huh?"
"Underwear, bring it out quickly...."
"Ah."
...The sound of udangtang echoed through the house, and I had run so hard that I was worried about noise complaints from the neighbors.
Even so.
Inside the bathroom, I had no choice but to shout loud enough for my voice to ring out all the way outside.
Seriously, what is going on?
Why is that kid suddenly in my house?
When did they visit, and how did they get in?
My head was beyond jumbled; thoughts were crossing over each other, tangling like a ball of yarn until they formed a single knot.
"I said bring the underwear quickly...!!!"
"I got it!"
I couldn't do anything but scream.
Seriously, seriously....
What kind of situation is this?
"......."
For now, the friend who hurriedly brought the underwear had brought something that didn't match the panties, but.
Still.
For now... I just put it on.
The bottom ended up white, and the top black, but.
It wasn't the time to worry about that.
"You, you... what are you...."
"Uh, um...."
"Tell me quickly...."
Seriously, what is that kid doing here?
It was enough to give me a headache.
It was already evening... and while there was no specific curfew for the [Dormitory] during vacation, Noah being here was still a situation I couldn't understand at all.
I didn't know when he had come in while I was briefly washing up, soaking my body in cool water, and spacing out.
I also didn't know why my friend had suddenly let him into my house.
"As a thank you for the lunch Nunim bought me a few days ago, I bought... a cake...."
"......."
"Your friend opened the door, and so...."
"......Haa."
"I'm sorry. If I had known you were washing up, I wouldn't have come in. I only realized after I was already inside."
"...Yeah, what fault could you have."
I had brought him to my house before anyway, and seeing the cake actually in his hands, it seemed he really did come to return the favor.
The problem was the woman who let him in even though she knew I was washing up.
What fault could the kid have?
Yeah....
"Vivian, attention."
"...Attention."
"Are you crazy?"
"...No, I'm not!"
The problem is her.
She should have at least told me.
Or put him somewhere else.
If she had done that, this situation wouldn't have happened.
"Nunim, you don't have to be like that...."
"That's not for you to say. It's my body."
"Ah."
"Haa...."
I didn't perceive him as the opposite sex or as a man, but even so, I couldn't help but feel quite embarrassed in this situation.
Because that's the sensible reaction.
No matter how much I didn't treat him as a romantic or sexual interest, showing my body was bound to be a bit shameful.
When you end up receiving much younger siblings of the same sex.
If unexpected younger siblings suddenly opened the door and walked in while you were taking off your pants, wouldn't anyone be flustered?
I was just in that kind of situation.
"Still, thanks for the cake. Is it that one you bought last time?"
"Yes, because Nunim said it was delicious back then. I remembered and bought one."
"Yeah."
...Honestly, I could understand the repayment, but I honestly hadn't expected him to come to my house.
Because the last time he visited my house was just once.
And he never usually came to my house.
"Sigh.... Eat dinner before you go. You were just going to eat something half-assed again, right?"
"That's... not true."
"What do you mean it's not true. You were planning to just make do with food bought at the convenience store or some street food."
"......."
I was a bit flustered, but he didn't come with bad intentions.
And it wasn't right for an adult to just take what a kid bought without giving anything back.
"Eat and go. Vivian, you don't mind, right?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah. It's fine. Yeah."
"She says it's fine."
Anyway, the conclusion was reached.
I was planning to have dinner after washing up anyway.
I just... had to make two extra servings for the two servings I was already making.
The same model of freezer I have prepared at the convenience store was already in my house, so all the ingredients were ready.
There were plenty of frozen and refrigerated ingredients, too.
Even the dried ingredients I normally encounter while running the convenience store.
Since I'd been living alone for several years, cooking for four people was something I could do easily.
"Vivian, don't put strange ideas into the kid's head, don't say weird things. Just help with the cooking."
"Hmm...."
"Why. Don't want to eat?"
"No, I don't...!"
"Then come over and chop some ingredients."
"Yep!"
It was a sudden situation in many ways.
But since he's a kid who works hard enough to come back to the Academy even during vacation.
There was no reason to spend time nagging a 17-year-old boy who was much younger than me.
Besides, treating such a kid poorly wasn't something an adult should do, so I ended up nagging my friend instead.
"If something like today happens again, I'm going to turn you into an ice statue right then and there. Let's be careful, okay?"
"...Yep."
"How is it that a noblewoman has much shorter thoughts than a commoner? You're 28, 28. You're not a student from your Academy days, not a minor, you know?"
"......Uh, Skadi."
"What."
"...Is it because there's a kid in front of us? It seems like you're trying to act more mature than usual, is that my imagination?"
"......."
Crazy bitch.
...
"...I'll eat well."
"Yeah, eat up. Training again tomorrow? You said you were doing that. You should work hard at it."
"I should."
The cooking itself wasn't that difficult.
It was just adding two more servings.
"Vian. You eat too."
"No, why are you being more unkind to me, your friend?"
"You're the one who did something to deserve it, you bitch."
"Hmm, I suppose that's true."
It was rare for two people to be added to a house where I spent an overwhelming amount of time alone, and we were eating together.
I didn't particularly dislike it.
Rather, it wasn't bad because it had been a while since I'd had a lively atmosphere.
It wasn't just genuinely noisy like the Academy, but a situation where voices could be heard moderately.
Since I never had the chance to experience this at home.
That might be why.
"Our friend here is a 1st year at the Academy, right?"
"Yes, I enrolled this year and am attending."
"Oho.... Looking at your build, rather than magic or other fields, it's definitely... sword? Or maybe something like a spear?"
"Swordsmanship Department."
"Wow, it suits you. Your build is very sturdy, and you're tall. I thought so."
"Thank you... for the compliment...?"
...As we started eating, and the sounds of forks and spoons clattering were heard, I was dumbfounded by what she said.
Because of my friend talking to a minor.
No matter how desperate for a man she is... 11 years is.......
"Sigh."
I tried to say something, but I was tired in many ways since washing up, so I decided to just focus on eating quietly.
Pasta made with a tomato and cream base, with a little vodka added in the middle.
And some cold potato soup.
If I were eating dinner at home originally, I would have made a simple menu and planned to peel some fruit for dessert... but somehow a male student-like thing came into my house.
I just made food that was filling and could help beat the hot weather.
"How did you get close to my friend? Skadi... isn't the type to be easily swayed, you know."
"Ah... just somehow...?"
"Somehow?"
"I think we got close because I visited the convenience store often and talked to her a lot."
"We aren't close."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
I said that because of her, who was saying we were close as she pleased without asking for my opinion at all.
There isn't an exact standard for what being close means.
We aren't exactly close.
Just the level of someone who bothers me occasionally while I'm working, exactly that level.
"...Huh."
"Why, is it not good?"
"No. It's not that it's not good. It's just that I suddenly felt like drinking bleach."
"......What are you saying?"
It was strange that my friend was suddenly spouting nonsense next to me.
But she was a strange person to begin with.
"Then does Skadi treat you well usually?"
"Doesn't Nunim usually treat others well? You're kind to customers too."
"......You, what on earth are you doing while running the business?"
"Isn't it weirder to be a bitch who works without manners while doing business?"
"Ah, that's true."
"...Sigh."
I roughly guessed why she was acting like that all of a sudden.
Probably because I was the type who had never let a man get close to me in my life, for some reason.
That's probably why she's acting like that in particular.
"B-but, isn't it true that she treats you well? The friend here said he bought the cake as a thank you for buying him lunch, didn't he?"
"That is true."
"Huh... this bitch, this bitch... even though she always told me [otherwise]...!"
"...But Vivian, isn't calling a 17-year-old 'friend' a bit too much for a 28-year-old?"
"......Ah, um. That's true."
Because of my friend who was confused in many ways, I was confused too.
What is so fun about it....
Is me knowing a kid who is much younger than me really something that fun?
It's been about 10 years since I met Vivian.
In that process, I... hadn't met any men.
It's true that the experience of being a woman has increased more than the experience of being a man in my past and present life, but I still had some resistance, so that was why.
She's probably reacting more severely because I've always shown that kind of reaction.
"Anyway, you, who wouldn't even try to have a proper conversation with a man until now, bought him a meal, huh? You were having a very, very fun time, weren't you?!"
"Sigh...."
"You two aren't dating or in some secret relationship, are you?"
"We aren't."
"Not yet."
"Oh my, oh my, he said 'not yet'!? Skadi, did you hear? Did you hear what he just said...!"
"Haaa......."
Should I just tell everyone to get out....
No, Noah is fine.
If I just send my 10-year friend who is next to me outside, I think I could be much quieter and cooler.