CH 11

Chapter 11: Call me by my first name.

“Hnngh! Finished with my work for the day!”

As the news programs started to change into a more interesting variety of shows, Tojo-san came out of her room, stretching her body.

She must have been working at her desk for more than two hours, but she didn’t look tired. Only happy. 

As she said before, she enjoyed doing her work.

“Thanks for your hard work, Tojo-san. Here, take this if you like.”

“What?”

I took advantage of my free time to buy a can of coffee and offered it to Tojo-san.

I couldn’t decide whether she liked it dark or not, so I took something in between and bought her a cup of sugar-free coffee.

It would have been nice if I made her something to drink here, but I couldn’t do that in someone else’s kitchen without asking permission.

“Is this… for me?”

“Yes, it has no sugar, though…”

Tojo-san cautiously took the coffee and held it with both hands.

“When I work hard to finish my tasks… Inamori-kun brings me a cup of coffee and thanks me for my efforts… Is this happiness?”

“I-I’m glad to hear that, but… I think you’re exaggerating.”

“I’m not exaggerating! Think about it. Imagine the moment when the person you love waits for you with your favourite drink after a long day of studying, after a strenuous workout, or after a day of hard work.”

I tried to imagine it in my head, just like she described.

Since I didn’t have anyone I could call my favourite, I’m sorry, but I had to imagine it with Tojo-san—

“—Yeah, I might be happy.”

“Right? That’s the only thing that will take away your fatigue.”

It’s hard to describe Tojo-san’s adorableness when she smugly puffed her chest forward.

I kept saying that she was exaggerating and overreacting, but before I knew it, she had me convinced.

“Now, I’m going to make dinner. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask Inamori-kun to wait a little longer—”

“No, I’d like to help if I can… can’t I?”

“Please don’t… Inamori-kun, you can just sit there, okay?”

“It’s hard for me. I probably wouldn’t be able to stand a life of doing nothing and having Tojo-san do everything for me.”

A life that anyone would envy.

I could understand that, but after living a hectic life, I’ve come to realize that too much time without doing anything can be a pain.

Besides the boredom, the fact that I wasn’t doing anything made me feel guilty.

I felt even worse when I tried to diminish that guilt by helping out, but if I didn’t at least do that, I might go crazy.

“Please, Tojo-san.”

“…You’re right. I lost my cool a bit.”

Tojo-san looked terribly remorseful and fell flat on her face. [EN: Embarrassed.]

“I thought I understood Inamori-kun, but maybe I didn’t understand anything about you. I should have foreseen that you, who are so kind that I love you so much, would find this environment suffocating…”

“Y-you don’t have to be so uptight about it.”

“No, I need to reflect on what I should have so I can make the most of it in the future.”

Tojo-san, who had returned to her usual expression, exhaled loudly and then bowed his head.

“Inamori-kun… I’m going to cook dinner now. Can you help me?”

“… With pleasure.”

We looked at each other and laughed at the strange exchange.

But this should make my life with her a little easier.

“There’s one more thing I’d like to ask of you… if you don’t mind.”

I was momentarily taken aback by the sudden question but quickly returned to normal.

I just had my request heard, so if it’s something I can do, it’s only logical that I reciprocate.

“May I know what it is?”

“Well, um… Uh…”

Looking at Tojo-san’s expression, which showed that it seemed difficult to say, made question marks appear in my mind.

Was it such a hard wish?

If so, there was a possibility that I wouldn’t be able to handle it, and it made me a little nervous.

“—May I call you Haruyuki-kun!?”

“… Eh?”

“I-I’ve always longed to call the person I love by his name…! As long as Inamori-kun doesn’t think it’s rude, I’d be very happy if you’d let me call you that…”

Her face turned red, and her voice became faint at the same time.

The feminine reserve she had shown me on the first day was nowhere to be seen.

What I saw in front of me was an ordinary shy girl.

“If that’s alright with you. If you don’t mind, I’m more than happy to be called by my first name by Tojo-san.”

“Really!? Then… I’ll call you Haruyuki-kun from now on.”

Tojo-san smiles cutely, different from her usual impression of beauty.

The sheer destructive power of it caused my heart to race wildly.

“Did something happen? Haruyuki-kun.”

“N-no… it’s nothing.”

I turned my head to the side to hide my reddened face.

In order to get away from Tojo-san, who was trying to look at my face, I turned in the other direction again.

She followed me, and we had to turn again and again.

We both ended up rolling our eyes, which was funny and made me laugh.

“The embarrassed Haruyuki-kun is also cute.”

“G-give me a break… Tojo-san. I’ve never had a girl call me by my first name before, except in elementary school.”

“Oh, yeah. So it’s like I’m the only person at school who calls you by your first name now?”

“Except for my male friends, yes…”

Tojo-san’s smile blossomed, and she put her hand on her cheek as if to suppress the tension that was about to make her jump.

“Fufufu! This is the best..! It’s not every day that I’m this happy! I’m such a lucky girl!”

I almost said she was exaggerating again, but I held my tongue.

If I were allowed to call Tojo-san by her first name, and I was the only one among the guys, it would lead to a feeling of superiority that could not be replaced by anything else.

Of course, Tojo-san and I were in very different positions, so some things are wrong with the premise, but even so, I’m sure I could imagine it as close as possible.

“It’s a little strange that I’m the only one who calls you by your first name, so if you don’t mind, Haruyuki-kun, please call me by my first name as well. You are welcome to call me Fuyuki, Fuyuki-chan, or Fuyu-chan, as long as Haruyuki-kun calls me by that name.”

“T-that’s still a bit of a hurdle.”

“So it seems… That’s a shame.”

One could see that it was a joke, but Tojo-san blatantly showed her disappointment.

It was also cute how she hid the aura of joy as much as she could.

“It’s time to move on to making dinner. I enjoy talking to Haruyuki-kun, but if it gets any later, we’ll be eating too late, and I’ll start gaining weight.”

“I understand. Speaking of which, what were you planning to cook?”

“Fufufu. Since you’re going to help me, let me show you first.”

Tojo-san walked up to the latest-looking refrigerator and pulled out two pink things from inside.

“… I see, Tonkatsu.”

“Yes! I bought Sangen Pork from a famous farm! I’m going to make thick Tonkatsu out of it!”

The bright red colour and the beautiful white marbling. [TL: In my dumb words, marbling is just fat. Google for more details.]

The distribution between the two was so well balanced that the cut looked appetizing even before being cooked.

“Now, let’s fry it up as well as we can.”

After receiving a spare apron from Tojo-san, I headed straight for the kitchen.