Kuzu to Kinka no Qualidea - Volume 1 - Chapter 8.03

Haruma-1

I just can’t get comfortable inside someone else’s house. It’s even worse when it belongs to a girl.

For a while, I hung around the living room like a disoriented bear that had wandered down a mountain, but I did find a nice little spot to sit. Making sure not to tread on the carpet, I sat down on the floor in the corner with my legs crossed, all the while fidgeting and looking around restlessly…

I wondered if the reason I couldn’t get comfortable was because of the smell, which was different from my room. My claustrophobia and animalistic sense of smell heightened my reaction time, and my gaze swept around the room in search for the source of my discomfort.

On the table lay a floral placemat, and the soft and feathery couch was stacked with cushions and plushies. On top of the wooden chest, there was room fragrance. Although the weird thing about the fragrance was that it reeked of fried pasta to me.

As I wiped myself down with a towel and meekly stayed put, I found myself getting used to the citrus scent. Finally, I took a deep breath, at which point all the tension in my body seeped out of me.

As soon as my nervousness eased, I could sense how much I was freezing… I wondered if I should go to the toilet. Yeah, I mean, it would be bad to pee myself in someone else’s house. Er, it’d be bad in my own house too.

I sprang to my feet and headed for the washroom. Inside, there were two doors. Remembering Chigusa’s words, I turned the left doorknob.

Right in front of me, a buck naked Chigusa looked over her shoulder at me.

“…”

“…”

It seemed that she had just gotten out of the bath, because droplets of water appeared on her flushed, faintly pink skin. They gave off the illusion of sparkling, almost like spangles, and her wet black hair was simply captivating. As each droplet fell with a plop, they traced her body, emphasising her womanly curves.

It was like a fabled scene from a painting, except it was more artistic than a work of art. Instinctively, even the sight of this primordial beauty with a shampoo bottle appeared to me like a pure virgin holding up a water jug.

I was shocked and awed—or you might say a certain part of me was moved. As I stood there in silence, my eyes met with Chigusa’s.

Chigusa didn’t scream or hide herself; she just blinked, and then gazed dimly at her own body as if it was some kind of strange object. The next moment, I could see that the she turned bright red like a ripened fruit, all the way from the back of her neck (at least, what I could see of it through her hair) to the tip of her ears.

After that, I came back to earth and closed the door ever-so-slowly in retreat. I could not comprehend what I had seen… What on earth was that? Another illusion?!

I took a step away from the door… Okay, take a deep breath. How the hell did that happen?

I pretended to hold chopsticks with my right hand and quickly made the shape of a bowl with my left hand. This has nothing to do with anything, but I get the feeling that the shape you make with your palm is smaller and shallower than the bowls you regularly use…  I could’ve sworn I’d seen a bowl around this size very recently.

Just to confirm, I opened the other door, and there was the toilet.

WHY?! WHY A TOILET?! I gripped my head in confusion. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?! NOOOOOOOOO! I did a Fujiwara Tatsuya impression as I flung open the door (1). I had been fooled by my memories of what I had just seen.

When I looked over my shoulder, Chigusa’s face had appeared behind me. Her redness from before had vanished, and the colour of her cheeks was completely back to normal. Beneath her face, I could see her bare shoulders and arms, along with the edge of her chest.

“About lunch, Misa says she wants to have beef,” she said carelessly, and then closed the door with a smile like Mona Lisa in the art gallery at night.

“…O-Okay,” I responded, gazing at the door vacantly for a while. Only when the remaining scent of her shampoo and Sabon body scrub was gone did I finally stand up.

It was clear as day that behind that smile of hers lay a threatening intent. Since she had mentioned lunch, then I could guess what she wanted from me. It all came down to time.

Meat, yes, meat. Right. As I repeated the order to myself, I headed off to Seijou Ishii, still dripping wet (2).

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

(1) Fujiwara Tatsuya is a popular actor, known for his hammy roles, including Light from the live action Death Note movie and Shuya from Battle Royale.

(2) Seijou Ishii is a popular supermarket chain.