Volume 1 - CH 27

27th day of confinement

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by Kaepinned

When I wake up, it is already past ten o’clock in the morning.

Konata is not here, as I expected.

On a cardboard box is a simple note『There is breakfast in the fridge』 .

I stagger to the kitchen and open the fridge.

Inside are two rice balls and a plate of fried eggs, covered with saran wrap.

I pour a cup of barley tea and put the plate on its usual tray.

‘Okaka..Kombu…Omelette is the salty type’

[TL: Okaka=A type of seasoning, Kombu is kelp and the omelette is tamagoyaki]

After slowly finishing breakfast, washing my face, brushing my teeth, taking a shower and generally freshening up, I don’t have much to do.

‘Oh, I forgot to write yesterday’s diary.’

I remember and start up the drawing tablet.

『Idea Notepad』 and I opened a file with a disguised title.

‘Let’s see, 『Day 26 of confinement』 and….wait a minute.’

I write that much and stop the pen.

Without thinking, I assumed that it was the 26th day of my confinement, but is this title appropriate?

I am no longer in confinement.

‘Well, it’s okay. It’s important to be consistent.’

I decided to do so at random.

I mean, didn’t I start keeping this diary in the first place so that I wouldn’t lose my sense of time during my confinement?

If so, can I stop now?

But, well, keeping a diary is not a bad habit, so let’s continue like this until I get bored.

I leisurely carry out my thoughts and write my diary in a leisurely manner.

That takes about an hour, and then my hands get tired again.

‘Let’s go to sleep again.’

I go to bed again.

I think I’m being lazy but it’s better than resuming drinking and smoking.

……。

……。

……。

＊　＊　＊

I wake up and look at my phone.

‘Hmmm… it’s nineteen o’clock already?’

[TL: 19 o’ clock, or 7 o’clock]

I shake my head, which is throbbing a little from too much sleep.

There is still no sign of anyone in the house.

‘Konata is a bit late, isn’t she?　Maybe she has club activities or something. That would make her come back late right? ─ ─ Oh yeah. How about I text her using my phone.’

So I start flicking my fingers on my phone.

But then, I realize I don’t know anything about her;  her home address, phone number, email address or even the name of her social networking account.

In other words, I have no way to contact her.

‘Hmm, I know the name of the school and I can easily find the address if I look it up, but it’s an Ojousama’s school, right?　There’s no way an adult male, who’s not a relative, can visit a place like that.’

If I do that, it’ll be  a full-blown affair.

There will probably be security guards and if there is a commotion, it will cause extra trouble for us.

‘Well, she’s probably back at her parents’ house. Konata knows my social networking account and I’ve published my e-mail address for job applications on social networking sites, so if anything happens to her, I’m sure she’ll contact either one of them’

Konata checks my social networking accounts so much that she remembers my birthday, that’s for sure.

‘Yeah. I worry too much. I’m sure she’ll be back tomorrow.’

I think optimistically.

‘It’s been a long time since I did the housework myself.’

I thought to myself as I set the rice in the rice cooker.

I’ve been living a very indulgent life these days.

‘I need to regain a little independence.’

I make stir-fried vegetables with leftovers from the fridge.

But it doesn’t taste very good.

Apparently, she is already ahead of me in terms of cooking skills.

I wash the dishes, take a bath and sort out the emails that have accumulated.

I wait for her, occasionally glancing at SNS but there is no contact.

In the end, I am staying up until around the time the date changes but Konata never opens the front door.

‘Is everything alright…..?’

With a touch of anxiety, I get into my futon.

I can’t  sleep, so I goto the toilet, drink some milk, do some light stretching, try this and that and finally let go of my consciousness when it is around the time of the Ox.

[TL: Hour of the Ox: 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m]