Editing Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko:Mini Stories 02

== The Youthful Boy and His Sweet, Pleasant Companions (2) ==
''Note: This is a mini-story that was posted on the author’s blog (no longer existent) to commemorate the release of the final anime episode of ''Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko''.''
-----
“Cacao!”

Ryuushi-san declared the moment we encountered each other. It happened in the hallway during lunch break.

“H-Haa?”

It would have been more accurate to say that as I left the classroom to head to the cafeteria, she overtook me and circled around to my front.

Then, she pressed something wrapped in paper firmly against me, so I accepted it.

With her face still bright red, Ryuushi-san raised her hand.

“Cacaaaao!”

“Ca… Cacao…”

It seemed to have been some sort of greeting. Having left those words behind, she ran off down the hallway.

Hmm. It was incredibly easy to see that she was embarrassed. It was certainly awkward to be handed something so directly, but there was really no need for her to run away like that.

How cute. A soft, warm feeling washed over me as I began to unwrap the package.

It contained Yukimi ○fuku<ref>Yukimi Daifuku is a brand of mochi ice cream.</ref>.

“It’s not cacao!”

I inadvertently shouted down the hallway. It felt quite embarrassing as my classmates turned to look at me.

I averted my eyes to escape their stares and pondered deeply why it had ended up being Yukimi Da○fuku.

Of course, there was no way for me to know. I was intensely curious as to how she had struggled, whirled around in confusion, and eventually arrived at this result through some inexplicable divine inspiration. However, since she showed no sign of returning, I decided to save the detailed questioning for another day.

In any case, I gratefully accepted it. Since it would be bad to eat sweets ostentatiously on school grounds, I did so in secret.

However.

“Hmm.”

Thinking about it calmly.

As of that moment, I hadn’t received chocolate from anyone else.

The only things I had received at school were ''oniman'' and Yukimi Da○fuku. I mean, I was happy, but still.

But I wondered when Valentine’s Day had become a day for giving whatever sweets one personally liked. With that question in mind, I headed home to the Touwa Family home after school. I thought no one would be there, but the door was unlocked.

As soon as I entered the house, a pattern of irises caught my eye. A futon was rolled up in the hallway. It was placed vertically. Of course, the contents were what I expected. I took off my shoes and approached it. Then, there was a reaction.

“But there’s someone inside the futon!”

“So what?”

Naturally, the face that popped out was Erio. I wondered why she looked so triumphant.

“My feet were cold, so I tried putting everything inside.”

“You look like a ''norimaki''<ref>A norimaki is a sushi wrapped with seaweed.</ref>.”

I rolled her over with a “heave ho”. Because she had forced her feet inside, the ungraceful futon wouldn’t roll smoothly. Even when she complained, “What are you doing!?”, I couldn’t do anything about it since she was, quite literally, unable to move her hands or feet. For a while, I rolled it down the hallway, playing with it like a child teasing a turtle, but I eventually got bored and carried it to the living room.

“Don’t you need to tend to the candy shop today?”

“Mom said she wanted to do it, so she took over for me.”

For an adult, she had an enviable amount of free-spiritedness. Well, she wasn’t actually an adult, though.

The two of us huddled inside the ''kotatsu''. Since I had only just turned it on, we were still shivering from the cold. Because I had driven without gloves, my fingertips were numb, and the chill wouldn’t fade even when I rubbed them together.

Come to think of it, I had forgotten to check inside the futon. However, there was no way she would come out again.

…I wasn’t particularly trying to set her up or anything.

“Cousin.”

Erio, who had been shoved into the futon like a ''norimaki'', reached out to me for help.

“What is it?”

“I can’t get my legs out.”

“Take the futon off.”

“Mmm…”

A different problem caused a furrow to form between my brows.

“I can’t get out.”

“… Haaa”

I ended up helping her. Once I untied the cord from the outside, Erio burst out of the futon with great force.

“Erio-san has been resurrected!”

“Yeah, yeah, congratulations.”

“And now, we shall move on to the festival of Erio-san’s birth!”

“Hey, you don’t need to wrap yourself in the futon again.”

Since she was already attempting to turn herself into Smakin once more, I snatched the futon away. I folded it and put it away while brushing off Erio’s attempts to reclaim it, as she shouted things like, “Cousin, you bastard!” After that, I returned to the ''kotatsu''.

Erio seemed to have no intention of running back to her futon either, as she crawled into the ''kotatsu'' alongside me.

“You’re on a real roll today, Cousin.”

“You’re really one to talk.”

Lately, she had been completely getting the better of me. Perhaps I had spoilt her too much.

Outside, however, she was still quite shy and often hid behind my back.

“Ah, right. Cousin.”

Erio, who had quickly cheered up, held out a package that had been sitting on the table.

It was wrapped in beautiful paper, primarily red and white. It looked like something intended for Christmas.

“What is this?”

“Chocolate.”

“…Ho? Are you giving it to me?”

Erio nodded. There wasn’t even a hint of bashfulness in her expression.

Since she had given one to Meme-san as well, I figured this was simply her way of expressing gratitude.

“Mum said you were crying because you wanted chocolate.”

“Th-at wo-man… Did you actually believe her?”

“Mum never lies to me.”

Ugh, her eyes were so filled with untainted trust that it was blinding. I really hoped her mother would hear that last part and reflect deeply on her actions.

“You don’t want it?”

Erio started to pull the box away. I was about to tell her to wait, but then I realised she was right.

That was probably the case.

“Ah… no, I do want it. Thank you.”

I decided to be honest. It was just Erio and me here, so there was no point in acting all stiff.

As I took the box she had been about to pull back, Erio gave me a small smile and a soft “Mm”.

It was amazing how much could be communicated with just a single “Mm”.

Still, I never imagined that Erio would be the only one to hand me chocolate so earnestly.

“You’re surprisingly normal, you know.”

“That chocolate isn’t normal.”

Her response didn’t quite match my remark. Then, Erio puffed out her chest with pride.

“This chocolate was bought with Eri-san’s very own salary, you know!”

“Yes, yes, good girl, good girl.”

“Hmph. Cousin, you always praise me the exact same way.”

She finally noticed. Pretending I hadn’t heard her remark, I peeled away the wrapping paper. It was a very ordinary assortment, filled with several bite-sized chocolates. Some contained almonds, and there were white chocolates as well. For the time being, I picked out an oval-shaped one that looked safe and popped it into my mouth.

The chocolate melted almost instantly on my tongue, as if I were being bathed in sweet nectar.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah. It’s sweet.”

“Hmm.”

…Ah. The way I was reacting to the taste was exactly the same as Yashiro’s. It was somehow frustrating.

As I picked up a second piece, I asked Erio.

“Do you want some too?”

“Hmm.”

Erio opened her mouth with a soft sound. When I popped one in for her, she enjoyed the taste with a smile, murmuring, “Mmm, mmm.”

Watching her reaction, I couldn’t help but spoil her a bit, so to speak. I put another chocolate into her mouth.

In the end, Erio ate more than I did. But I didn’t mind, as I had quite enjoyed myself.

By the time we finished eating, the inside of the ''kotatsu'' had warmed up, and the two of us spent a blissful moment with our chins resting on the table.

How happy it would have been to just drift off and fall asleep right then and there.

Winter days and winter events. A slightly special day, where they blended together, passed by just like this.

As a time that felt a little too precious to waste, yet was incredibly comfortable.

“Cousin.”

“Hm?”

Erio gave me a soft, limp smile. Her expression looked like the verge of spring, when the snow begins to melt.

“It’s so warm…”

“Right.”

“Yeah.”

Setting sleep aside for just a little longer, the three of us continued to chirp away at one another.

Wait, the three of us?

“There’s something under the futon… Whoa! She’s on my lap againnnnn!”