20 - Eh, a movie...

RAW

A fixed-term contract with the Tojo family for housekeeping services. The contract is for three hours a day, three days a week.

Haruto wanted to study and earn money this summer, so he was satisfied with the well-balanced contract.

"Phew, the bathroom is done."

Ikue asked him to clean the bathroom.

Not only mold, but also limescale, slime in the drain, and dust on the gasket near the door. After cleaning up everything, Haruto looks satisfied with the clean and shining bathroom.

"Now, next I'll clean the sink... Whoa!?"

"Ah! Ah... I'm sorry!"

After finishing cleaning the bath, Haruto turns around to move on to the next step, the sink, and is surprised to see Ayaka standing right behind him, and he leans back a little.

Ayaka, on the other hand, twitches in surprise at Haruto's surprise.

"Um, is there anything you'd like to request?"

Haruto asks, thinking that Ayaka has come to tell him something about the housekeeping service.

However, Ayaka's eyes wander and she speaks in a mumbling tone, not saying anything clearly.

"Um, well, you know? Well, I'd like to tell you something, or rather, ask you something, Otsuki-kun... if you don't mind... well... you know? Eh, yeah... yeah..."

"Eh?"

"Eh, yeah... yeah... Type A?!"

"Huh?"

Haruto is dumbfounded when she suddenly utters words that seem out of context.

Ayaka desperately begins to explain something to him.

"R-Right! I wonder if Otsuki's blood type is A. You know, he's really neat and tidy when it comes to cleaning..."

"Oh, blood type?"

Haruto finally gets it after hearing Ayaka's fast-paced explanation. She nods repeatedly, "Uh huh."

"No, my blood type is O. I do the cleaning for work now, so I do it properly, but I'm pretty careless when it comes to cleaning my own room."

"Oh, I see. Otsuki's type is O."

"I'm pretty careless," Haruto says, laughing. Ayaka smiles shyly, looking a little pleased.

"What about Ayaka?"

"Huh?"

"What's your blood type, Ayaka?"

"Oh, mine is B."

"Oh, I see. That's a bit surprising."

Haruto looks a bit surprised at Ayaka's blood type.

"I wonder? What type did you think I was, Otsuki?"

"Well... I haven't had much contact with you up until now, and Ayaka seemed mysterious, so I just assumed you were AB. Well, that's a total prejudice, though."

"Do I seem that mysterious?"

Ayaka tilts her head at Haruto's words and asks.

"Before we got involved, you were a bit mysterious, or maybe a bit... like a flower out of reach."

"I see... well, now? Do you still feel that way?"

Ayaka looks up at Haruto, as if to check on his condition.

Haruto, who finds her behavior cute, answers while looking away slightly.

"It's a little different now. Now, you're like... a normal girl, in a good way. I feel closer to you than before."

"Really?"

"Eh, yeah?"

Ayaka smiles happily, and Haruto turns to the side and scratches his cheek to hide the slight blush on his face.

Seeing that she seems to be in a good mood, Haruto starts talking about something he's been waiting for since coming to the Tojo house today.

"By the way, about... about the zoo we talked about at the supermarket earlier..."

"Ah! Y-yes!"

Ayaka overreacts to the word "zoo," leaning forward a little to respond to Haruto.

As she leans forward, the two of them become a little closer. Haruto tries not to be too conscious of this and continues talking as calmly as possible.

"About the date, next week..."

"That's what I'm talking about! If it's okay with you, Otsuki..."

"Otsuki, have you finished cleaning the bathroom yet? Ah? Ayaka?"

Ayaka tried to say something, overlapping with Haruto's words.

However, before she could finish, she was interrupted by Ikue, who had come to check on Haruto.

The two of them were slightly flushed, and an awkward atmosphere hung over them, causing Ikue to grin.

"Oh, oh, oh? I guess I was intruding, huh? Sorry about that."

Ikue, still with a grin on her face, said, "Don't worry about it, you two young people, enjoy yourself," and tried to slide the door separating the bathrooms shut.

The daughter quickly stopped her mother from doing so.

"Hey, Mom! Don't say weird things!"

Ayaka opens the door, which Ikue had been closing.

"Oh? I guess they were having a secret rendezvous?"

"No way they would do something like that!"

"That's true. If they were going to have a secret rendezvous, they'd do it outside, not at home."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Um... I've finished cleaning the bathroom, and now I'm going to clean the sink."

Haruto hesitantly interrupts the mother-daughter conversation that has become somewhat familiar.

"Thank you Otsuki. That would be a great help. Also, I'm sorry, but could you please clean the toilet after that?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Thank you. Now, Ayaka, I'll be gone, so you can resume your secret rendezvous with Otsuki."

"No, that's not true!"

Ayaka argues, but Ikue brushes it off with a "Yes, yes," and leaves.

Ayaka glares at her mother's back with resentment for a while, and then turns to Haruto after making sure that Ikue has completely left.

"I'm sorry Otsuki. Mommy always says weird things."

"No, your mother is very funny, and I'm jealous of you, Ayaka."

"Really?"

"Yes. ... A mother is something to be grateful for just for being there."

"... Otsuki?"

Haruto talks about his mother.

His expression was fleeting, and Ayaka felt a certain melancholy about him, so she called out his name without thinking.

Haruto seemed to come to his senses, then smiled as if to cover up what had happened earlier.

"Besides, it's really cute to see you looking embarrassed when Ikue teases you."

"Cute?"

Ayaka's ears instantly went red from the sudden attack, and she looked around in a panic.

"You think I'm cute when I'm embarrassed... Otsuki-kun is so mean..."

"No, ah... I'm sorry."

Ayaka fidgeted shyly, pursing her lips in protest.

Her cute behavior made Haruto feel a sudden attraction to her, as if he was being drawn in.

"Um, so... about the zoo schedule."

Haruto tries to stay calm by going back to the topic.

Ayaka cuts in again, flustered, as he speaks.

"Oh, so, about that! Do you have plans tomorrow, Otsuki-kun?"

"Oh, yes. I was planning to study all day tomorrow, so I don't have anything in particular that requires me to go out."

"I see... studying... um, can we meet outside tomorrow? Why don't we discuss the schedule for going to the zoo there? And... while we're there, um, well, maybe we could watch a movie... what do you think?"

Tomorrow was a day when there were no plans for housekeeping, and Haruto was planning to spend the whole day studying.

Ayaka, hearing this, said to Haruto with a lack of confidence.

"Are you going to the cinema?"

"Uh, yeah... I got a discount ticket from a friend yesterday..."

"I see. Hmm."

Haruto seems to think for a moment, and Ayaka speaks quickly.

"Oh! But studying is important too! You don't have to push yourself! But, you know... if my mom or dad heard me talking about going to the zoo at home, it would be a big problem. So I was thinking maybe we could talk at a cafe or something, but I don't want to ask Otsuki-kun to come with me just for that, so I got the discount ticket from my friend, so I thought it would be nice if we could go to the cinema together... But if you're busy studying... I can't force you to... Well..."

Ayaka's voice gradually gets quieter, and her words lose momentum. In the end, she completely bows her head and looks down.

Haruto answers her in a bright tone.

"No, I want to go to the cinema too."

As soon as Haruto said that, Ayaka, who had been looking down, suddenly raised her head.

"Really...?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering what movie was playing."

"So, shall we go to the cinema together tomorrow?"

"Yes, let's go."

Ayaka's expression, which had been anxious up until now, changed completely at those words, and became very bright.

Seeing her smile, Haruto was entranced for a moment, thinking, "So this is what they mean when they say to smile like flowers bloom."

"Well, then, um... why don't we exchange contact information?"

"Yeah, sure."

If you're going to see a movie together, it's easier to make arrangements if you know each other's contact information.

"So, can you scan my screen?"

"Oh, okay."

Haruto displayed a QR code with his chat app information on his smartphone and showed it to Ayaka.

"I can read it. I'll send you a message then."

"Yes, please."

Right after she said that, a click sound was heard from Haruto's smartphone.

Haruto looked at his smartphone and saw a stamp of a rabbit with its hands raised in the air saying "Nice to meet you!" from Ayaka.

"I was also able to register."

"Yeah. I look forward to meeting you from now on."

"Oh, yes. Thank you."

"I'll contact you later about tomorrow!"

After a brief awkward silence, Ayaka waved her hand shyly but happily and left.

With Ayaka gone, standing in front of the quiet sink, Haruto had a sudden thought.

"Hmm? If we exchanged contact information, why not use that to discuss the date to go to the zoo?"

According to Ayaka, she didn't want her family to hear her so she wanted to meet outside, but if they communicated via smartphone, wouldn't they not need to go out?

"Hehe, Tojo-san is surprisingly clumsy..."

Thinking how cute she was, Haruto resumed cleaning the sink.

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