Chapter 4: My wife (part 1)

The smell of old books filled the school library, giving it a unique atmosphere. It was like a sanctuary, separated from the rowdiness of the corridors or classrooms.

Within that sanctuary, Saito was crouched over the books piled in front of him.

“It’s this one…!”

He felt excited finding the description he was looking for.

“Guess who?”

At that moment, Saito’s eyes were covered by someone’s hands from behind.

That alone wasn’t a problem, but that pair of hands were dripping wet, wetting his eyes as well. The water flowed from his face straight down to his chin.

“The one who harrasses me like this can only be Shise, so Shise’s guilty”

“Oh~, Good job bro. You saw straight through Shise.”

Shisei separated her hands from Saito.

“What do you mean seeing through you? I still don’t understand why I’m now dripping wet.”

“I wanted to help with bro’s dry eyes. Feel free to express your gratitude.”

She said with a proud voice, yet her expression was still unchanged.

“I’m grateful of your pestering”

“A fatal flaw of modern society is the inability to express your gratitude honestly.”

“Modern, ancient, whatever. The books are now dripping wet.”

Saito put the book he was reading on the shelf.

Since he wasn’t carrying a napkin around, he took Shisei’s from her pocket and wiped her hands for her. Shisei was airheaded as always, and she let him do so without moving a single finger.

“What were you reading?”

Shisei took the book out from the shelf.

Its title was ‘How to communicate, from zero to hero’.

Shisei put her hand on Saito’s head.

“From zero huh, that suits bro pretty well. Try your best.”

“Getting consoled by someone who has no friends doesn’t make me happier!”

“It’s not that Shisei doesn’t have any friends. I have a lot of guardians looking out for me properly.”

“Long story short, you have no friends!”

“Just a few days ago a girl in class gave me some allowance, I to…declined it.”

“Return it to her!”

Shisei shook her head.

“Unpossible. I used it to buy some food, and spent the whole 10000 yen in a day.”

(10000 yen is round about 100 bucks)

“How the hell did you spend 10000 yen on food…?”

“Dumplings.”

“How many did you buy with 10000 yen…”

Saito was worried about Shisei’s future. Even people of the same gender were attracted to this little girl, if she was able to realize her own influence, it would be a huge problem.

Shisei sat down on the mat and stretched her legs wrapped in white leggings. She raised the book up and stared at it.

“But it’s surprising. I never expected bro to care so much about communicating like this.”

“It’s not like I don’t know how to communicate. I just wanted to improve my relationship with Akane.”
“Wouldn’t brainwashing her be a better plan?”

“Can we drop the subject?”

“How can we drop it? I’m sure even Akane wants that.”

“What do you know about Akane!”

“She can shoot ultrasonic waves from her nose to destroy her enemies?”
“That doesn’t sound like the Akane I know.”

Akane was a serious girl. If he used any dirty tricks, he would lose her entire trust he had built up during the last few days.

“So, what did you learn from the book?”

“Ah, it said something like ‘people get along more when they work together’. So I just need to work with Akane for some tasks.”

“What ‘some tasks’?… destroying the world?”

“I already told you she doesn’t have a weapon of mass destruction.”
“So copying sutra?”

“What kind of romance comes from a couple copying sutra together?”

Shisei put her hands together in a praying posture.

“You can cleanse your sins together.”

“I don’t want to die yet~….”

Saito’s life only just started.  Even though his marriage life was like a rocky boat, he found a glimmer of hope. He wanted to seize that chance.

Shisei nodded.

“Understood bro’s line of thought. Shise will rob a bank around here, so Bro and Akane can go catch Shise together. The suspension bridge effect will amplify your emotions.”

“Is that really necessary?”

Saito stopped his reckless cousine from executing her plans. Even if he let Shisei go, people won’t even think of her as a bank robber, but bring her some free money.

Their next class was Chemistry.

Akane was carefully holding the textbooks and her pencil case.

It was unsure whether she was focusing on not letting anything drop, or if she was vigilant of someone playing a prank on her. Either way, her defense was impenetrable.

Saito watched until no one else was around, then approached Akane.

“Can we talk?”

“What? I thought I told you not to talk with me at school.”

Akane glared at Saito. A harsh expression that gave no hints they were husband and wife.

Saito thought the distance between their hearts shrank a bit, but apparently that was a pipe dream. Her expression was even colder than before. Even if he suggested doing some chores together, she wouldn’t listen.

“Etto… are you free after school today?”
“I’m not. I have to go home and study.”

“That’s not what I mean. I was asking if you had a plan to hang out with your friends or not.”

“Eh? Ah… Himary said she had to work part time today…”

She gave him an answer with suspicion.

Saito cleared his throat.

“Then… After school, can we meet and buy some“……..”

Akane stared at Saito. She looked like she hadn’t managed to swallow Saito’s words yet.

A while later, Akane’s face became crimson.

“So that’s a da–”

Saito immediately dragged Akane into an empty classroom before she yelled aloud.

His palm was now covering Akane’s mouth, and they hid behind the wall.

“Un~~! Un~!”

Akane was struggling with her dear life to escape, but Saito wasn’t about to let her. A group of their classmates just passed by. Letting them hear what Akane was about to say would only spell trouble.

Only after confirming that the group’s voice was far away, Saito let Akane go.

Akane breathed a heavy sigh, she hugged her own body with teary eyes.
“P, pervert! You led a girl to a dark corner and forced yourself on me!”

“I did not lead you to a dark corner, nor did I act violently!”

“You will be now! ‘Gehehe~ Time to dig in! Grandpa already gave his permission so I’m free to do whatever I want, no matter how you beg or cry’ is written on your face!”

“How big must my face be to write such a long sentence? I only did this because you almost said the date word!”

Akane was about to run out to the hallway, while Saito was blocking the door.

“But, but, wasn’t that dating… A guy and a girl meeting up like that…”

Seeing Akane shyly looking down, Saito also felt second-hand embarrassment.

He hurriedly explained to Akane.

“No such thing as a … date! It’s just the groceries. We don’t have anything left in the fridge, so bringing the food from the store home alone would be tough right?”

“That, that so~, just the groceries! Yes, of course, there’s no way Saito would invite me on a date!”

“Hahaha, isn’t that obvious~. Don’t misunderstand again~”

“I didn’t misunderstand! Don’t misunderstand my misunderstanding!”

Both broke out in cold sweat. Their smiles forced as if trying to forget the thought of going on a date with their arch enemy.

“T,then, where do we meet?”

“At the hamburgers near school?”

“That’s off limits. There’s a lot of students from our school going there. Even I get invited by Himari from time to time.”

“Being seen would be troublesome…”

Saito and Akane’s relationship was like a cat and dog’s. If they were to be seen walking together outside of school, the rumours would never end. There wasn’t but a slimmer of romance between the two, they were just married through an arrangement.

U~n, Akane put her hand on her face.

“I think the entrance at the back of the school would be fine. Only teachers were allowed to use it.”

“Understood. Then, let’s meet after school.”

Both nodded and stepped out of the empty classroom.

The homeroom ending also marked school’s finishing. In the classroom where the students were leaving one by one, Akane was shuddering. 

Even though this wasn’t a date, going shopping with a guy like this was still her first experience. She didn’t know what terrible experience awaits her. Even if they had established that this was definitely not a date.

Saito was reading a book at his desk.

Usually, this guy would not stay back in class. He was creating a gap in their time of leaving. Noticing Akane’s gaze, Saito nodded as if to say ‘just go’.

Akane picked her bag up and headed to the corridor. 

Her friend Himari was working today so there shouldn’t be anyone holding Akane back.

Or so he thought, but.

“Akane~~! Let’s go home together~~!”

With a blooming smile, Himari chased after her from the classroom.

“Himari!? Don’t you have work today?”
“Ah~ It got suddenly cancelled~. It’s been a while since I last hung out with you so I wanted to go all out today Akane, the timing is just perfect!”

“T, that so…”

Well the timing just couldn’t be worse for me!~ that was what Akane forced down her throat.

“Ah there’s more, the parfait store that Akane likes, they have a special menu tonight!”

“Really!? The 1 kilo all-you-can-eat strawberry parfait?”

“Yes~yeys~, Akane, you told me earlier that you want to have some right? I just got my salary today, so it’s my treat!”

Himari put her hand on her chest to show off her trustworthiness.

“Uh, guh~….”

Why now!~ Akane was wailing on the inside.

Perfait was something that was very attractive, there might not be a second chance if she missed this. There was no reason to turn down Himari’s attractive offer.

But, she already had plans with Saito. Breaking the promise was unforgivable. If their positions were reversed and Akane was the one betrayed, she would definitely be very disappointed.

“E, eeto… sorry? I’m a bit.. Busy today…”

“Knowing you, you would just study at home right?”

“U, usually that’s the case, but I have plans with someone today…”

“Eh~, who’s that who’s that? Your new friend!? Introduce me to them!”

She desperately tried finding an excuse, but Himari is clinging onto Akane with her dear life. Those eyes of her were sparkling.

“You don’t need an introduction, that’s someone Himari knows.”

“The person I know that is close to Akane, I can only think of Saito…. Is it a date?”
“It’s not a date~!”

Akane shouted on the top of her lungs. She can yield on any matter but that.

“But whatever! It’s a rare event so let’s go with all 3 of us. I also want to get closer to him!”

Himari gave a perfectly innocent suggestion.

Akane absolutely did not have any evil intentions, but her heart was filled with guilt.

Going with three people sounded wrong to Akane for some reason. Which meant she wanted to go shopping with Saito alone after school, and she felt that’s also what Saito wanted… It’s just she wasn’t sure why.

“I’m really sorry! I can’t today! Invite me some other day!”

Akane brought her hands together to apologize to Himari and left hẻ behind.

She held on the stairs handle for almost falling over, and kept flying down the stairs.

-I’ll make some cookies as an apology for this time…

Akane gasped for breath while walking along the corridor.

“Fu-mi”

She heard a weird sound under her feet and felt some softness.

She looked down and realized she just stepped on Shisei who was lying on the floor.

“S, sorry! Are you okay? And why are you lying on the floor like this!?”

Akane pulled Shisei up and brushed away the dirt on her uniform.

Shisei gave her a peace sign.

“I was waiting for you Akane. This was just to trap you.”

“Putting yourself in pain just to trap another person…?”

“I didn’t expect there to be anyone brave enough to stand after stepping on Shise…. That’s good. I respect your courage, take this legendary sword in return.”
“I’m busy now, can I go…?”

Shisei being cryptic in her speaking was nothing new, but right now she didn’t have the time to decode what Shisei was saying. She had to go to the back gate before Saito, and if she met Himari, things would get complicated again.

“Before you go, Shise has a question. This lady over here, do you have the will to work together?”
“Work together…?”
“Conquering the world, copying sutra, stopping evildoers. Choose one.”

Fu-mu, Shisei put her hands on her hips and exhaled a big one.

“There are only choices that I don’t want to choose.”

“Whatever. Don’t think too much about it, I want you to choose with your intuition.”
“I don’t want to pick any even if by intuition.”

“Muh~…Akane is selfish. So, what do you want to do together with Bro?”

“What….. Why, why did it become Saito’s business?”

Akane felt a cold sweat.

“No special reason, just wanted to ask. Whatever’s fine even if it’s a job that will take a long time like making all the underground ice melt.”

“Why does Shisei only give me the choices that I don’t want to do?”

“I want you to let me know. Until you answer me, I cannot let you leave this place.”

Shisei blocked Akane’s path by raising up both her arms and a leg, creating a very strange posture.

She might be standing in some kind of special stance. But the aura she’s giving out wasn’t a fighter’s aura, but a hamster’s. Basically, very weak.

What was with her luck today, that she kept meeting obstacles on top of obstacles. She needed to hurry to the meeting point.

“S, sorry, but I have something important to do~!”

“Ah”

Akane ran at full force through a Shisei full of openings.

Shisei fell on the ground and ran after her. The scary thing was that her running posture looked like a haunted doll, but her speed was slow it’s impossible for her to catch up.

Akane swapped her shoes at the shoe locker, and followed along the shaded path while being vigilant of others.

She could only breathe a sigh of relief when she finally reached the back entrance. Saito wasn’t there yet.

–Why, did I say that it was an important business…

Akane finally got flustered.

If this had come to this then wasn’t this practically a date?

Wasn’t she looking forward to going shopping with Saito?

–W, we already established this wasn’t a date! This was a chore! We’re just buying necessities for the house!
She once again affirmed internally.

However, she felt really strange. She didn’t want to meet him with her sloppy attire so she readjusted her clothes, and checked on her hair.

–Even if this wasn’t a date, this would look better right? This is definitely not a date!
Akane took the lipstick from her bag and began applying it to her lips.

Saito grabbed his shoes before the cleaner started cleaning the classes.

He easily passed through the hallways to step outside, and got to the back entrance.

The clear blue sky comforted him. Outside the school, there were art club members happily sketching their assignments. The navy blue from their jerseys filled his eyes.

Saito felt worried while walking.

They already made a promise, but he wasn’t sure if Akane would wait for him. She would most likely hate doing chores together like this, and might have already returned home.

—Mou, that might just be fine.

The only fate waiting for him with their shopping trip would be some mental exhaustion and arguments due to difference of opinions. It would be way more efficient if he went alone.

But, even Saito did not understand why, he himself had a desire to be waited on by Akane.

Passing through the teachers parking lot and approaching the rear gate, Akane’s figure entered his view. She was carrying her bag on one side, looking nervous and playing with her bangs.

Saito felt relieved seeing that figure.

“Kept you waiting.”
“Uh erm.”

Akane nodded, and they left the school.

Since this wasn’t the official entrance, the negligence was apparent. The iron fence was rusted, and weeds grew everywhere on the path.

Saito turned around just to make sure. They weren’t being seen by any other students. If this goes well, they can avoid the main road to school and walk safely.

“So what do we do about the shopping?” – Saito

“I always buy from the shop near our house.”

“That so.”

“Uhm.”

“……………….”

“…………………”
An awkward conversation.

Even though they were walking together, their distance was gradually increasing, currently separated by 1 meter.

Akane was staring straight down, her ears dyed in red, and desperately tried not to meet Saito’s eyes.

Today was the first day they tried going somewhere together. Saito was flustered not knowing how to interact with her.

Passing through the bushy path, they reached the bus station, and saw more and more people. There wasn’t as much space as before for them to keep such a wide distance to each other. They were instantly pushed together to the point of shoulders touching.

“W, wait! Don’t stick to me like that!”

“But you were the one who touched me.”
“Huuuhh? You were the one that touched me! And I told you not to refer to me as ‘you’!”

“You are also calling me ‘you’!”

“Then let me say it again! Saito was the one who’s touching me!”

“But Akane did it first!”
“Good!”

“Good what?”
Other pedestrians looked at the two arguing with curiosity.

Their relationship was bad as always, but Saito felt relieved. If Akane was acting timid and nice it would also drive him mad.

The supermarket Akane frequented was around 5 minutes from their house on foot.

It was in an old building, and the different stores signs taped to the wall are showing wear and tear. Even being generous, you couldn’t call this a clean mall, but the parking lot was packed to the brim, and the front door was filled with a matrix of bicycles. 

Next to the automatic doors were toilet papers and bleach, and the housewives holding on to their children were taking the goods one by one and went further in.

To someone who was aiming to become a businessman, Saito was observing the customers with great interest.

“There’s a lot of people for such a shabby mall.”

“Ridiculous. Even though the building might be old, their product hygiene is top notch. The products are cheap too so it’s very popular with the nearby housewives.”
“You heard that from the customers?”

Akane shook her head.

“How can I talk to someone I don’t know like that. When we moved here, I searched for reviews online.”

“Huh~…..”

Saito was surprised because he never cared about supermarket reviews when he went shopping. If that was something common, it would be worthwhile to consider his future company’s policies.

Saito held a basket and went into the supermarket.

There were a lot of stalls for fruits and vegetables.

Along the wall was the tofu, natto and potato stall.

“First of all, we don’t have onions, natto and eggs.”

Saito took some and put it in the basket, and was met with Akane’s complaints.

“Don’t put whatever in the basket without consideration! You must look at the price!”
“The price…?”

“The eggs Saito just put in, it’s 20 yen more expensive than the eggs here! And the expiry date is shorter!”

She took a different pack of eggs from another shelf.

“You can still eat it if it’s past its expiry date.”
“You can you! You’ll get a stomachache.”

“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there.”
“Cross it now! Egg is valuable and always cheap, and is always a family’s trustworthy companion in meals. You’re wasting money if you buy it overpriced.”

Akane took Saito’s pack of eggs and put it back on the shelves. She also swapped the natto and onions with their cheaper counterparts. Even the products shoved around on the shelves by other customers were reorganized by her.

“I even put in the effort to choose them…”
“You didn’t choose anything. You just shove them in on a whim.”

Akane was standing in the spices area.

She took the different fish sauces from the shelf and stared at it.

“This one is 398 yen for 450 ml, this one is 442 for 500… so 1ml is worth… It’s hard to do the calculations in your head.”

“You’re being too nitpicky. There’s not a lot of difference in the price so just take whichever has more.”

“I’m not being nitpicky. Not being strict with your finances would lead to a horrible life. When you shoulder a massive debt, only then will you say ‘If only I bought the cheaper fish sauce…’, but by then it would be too late.”

“There’s no way you can get a debt from a bottle of fish sauce.”
“Columbus got into debt for looking for spices. So getting into trouble for a sauce isn’t something new.”

Or so she said, but this wasn’t the age of exploration no more.

“You wait there, let me take my phone out to calculate.”
Akane was going to take her phone out from her bag. She was holding the sauce in both her hands so it would be dangerous if she dropped it.

Without another choice, Saito had to hold the sauces for her, while Akane was fiddling with her phone.

“Both come out to be approximately 0.884 yen per ml. Since the 500ml one is cheaper by 0.0004 yen, I’ll get it.”

“That’s way too exact…!”

Akane was serious to a fault. Even though he was made aware of this when they were dividing the house chores, this tiring round of nitpicking has reminded him of the fact.

When the two were touring around the store, they found a crowd at the butcher stall.

“What’s going on there…?”

“Not a clue…”

The two stopped.

The crowd – full of housewives – were full of murder intent. It felt as if they would annihilate anyone who stood in their way. There seemed to be exercises involved as well, considering there were high school girls warming up their legs.

From inside the preparation room, the employee brought a trolley full of product out.

The product piled up in the trolley was chicken. The eye-catching red text wrote “Time sale: Chicken breasts. 50 yen per tray.”

“We still have plenty of meat at home so it’s fine if we didn’t get any…”
Saying such, Saito jolted seeing Akane standing besides him

Her pupil was burning with fighting spirits, while her fists were bawled tight.

“This place Time sale always becomes a battlefield…. One blink of an eye and everything is gone, and I never got my hands on its products once…. This is the day for me to redeem myself…”

“Oi, we still have more than enough meat at home…”

“We can put it in the freezer. This is a matter of pride.”

The highschool girl put her pride on the supermarket’s Time Sale.

She seemed to have put on her serious mode, and gave Saito her bag.

“Watch me fight this fight. The new legends will start on this page…!”

Akane had seriousness drawn on her face, and approached the butcher stall.

At the same time, the employee rang the bell, and the crowd raised their battlecries.

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

He didn’t mishear it, but this was reality. Saito really heard some animal roars coming from those fragile housewives.

No, the fragileness was Saito’s imagination.

Those housewives were – full of firm muscles. They were trained by driving a rag through their houses everyday, and by carrying heavy groceries home with one hand. 

With that much battle prowess, the housewives engaged in tug of war. They used their body muscles to steal the chicken from others’ grasps, in a bloody battle where rules are useless.

Akane’s thin body was instantly swallowed by the crowd.

“Pl, sto~” “Sorry eve~” “Let me thr~” “Spare m~”

He heard Akane’s interrupted cries for help.

While Saito was still in shock over the rapidly disappearing chicken, Akane stepped out of the crowd in a tattered form. He thought she was attacked by a dragon, messing up her hair and clothes.

“S, somehow or another… I got it…”

What Akane was holding on was not chicken. But the Time sale label. After realizing that, Akane’s shoulders trembled.

“U, u~…….”

“W, wait, don’t cry! I’ll go this time!”

Saito bravely joined the fray.

From inside, the employee pushed out a new trolley. This time it was pork, 25 yen per tray. The eyes of the Amazonesses housewives were like a starving wolf’.

Obviously, there was no way a highschool boy would lose out to some highschool girls out there.

Or so he thought, as he stepped in.

“This isn’t the place for you kids to hang out…”

His body was squeezed, and he heard the whispers next to his ears.

He was crushed by the pressure the housewives released surrounding him.

While his body was still unable to move, those housewives shoved Saito aside. Saito was pushed, stepped on, crushed, but he still inched forward.

Saito focused his defense on his weak spot, but even that was too hard, he became tattered and was shoved out by the crowd.

After the crowd left, only Saito and Akane remained, lying helplessly on the ground.

A resounding defeat. There was no chance of victory against that violence. A smile bloomed from that unreal experience, rather than becoming depressed.

“We really couldn’t do it huh.”

“What, are we doing exactly huh.”

The two looked at each other, then laughed. Akane was laughing so hard she teared up.

That was, the first moment they laughed with each other from the bottom of their hearts.

Failing together trying to do something together. Their hair and clothes were all messed up, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. “Laughing together with Akane” surprised Saito for feeling so comfortable.

Then Akane stood up, and patted the hems of her skirt.

“We shall give up for today. Let’s absolutely win next time.”
“You still have the motivation?”

“Of course. This world is decided by the strong.”

“I’ll stay out of this.”

“Not allowed. Saito has to join.”

She narrowed her eyes and looked down at Saito. The naughty glint rarely seen from Akane made Saito unconsciously nod.

The two continued their shopping trip, and finally got to the prepared food section.

There, the aroma of food made him crave for some. Apparently it came from a stall owner frying sausages on a hot pan. The sample food was presented with a toothpick on a small tray.

Akane was also staring at the direction of the sausages.

“…..Want to try some?”

“N, no!”

“But, your drool is leaking.”

“….~!”

Akane instantly used her hand to wipe her mouth. After realizing she had been had by Saito, she pouted and glared at him.

“…..liar.”
Her sulking was exactly like a child’s.

“They already went through the trouble of making it, there’s no harm in testing it.”
“I, it’s embarrassing!”
“Embarrassing? Why?”

“Like, it makes you look like a glutton! You’ll be left with no dignity. And those foods are expensive as well, if you eat it you’ll really have to buy it.”

“It’s fine. Just say ‘it’s not that good so I won’t buy any’”

“You’ll hurt the employees!”

“The sample foods are made to try the flavour, if it’s not good then you don’t have to buy any.”

Saito pulled Akane’s arm and led her to the food stall.

He put the sausage in Akane’s mouth who was hesitant.

“Ah hot~… uhm uhm…”

Akane hurriedly ate the sausage. She swallowed it down and instantly her face beamed.

“This is good…! Saito try some!”

“Oh”

Saito also put some sausages in his mouth. The meat was tender, along with the juice flowing in his mouth. The aroma came from the exquisite use of spices, creating a rich taste.

The employee laughed refreshingly.

“This would still be good if it was left to cool down a bit, so you can use this for bentos. 300 for 1, but 3 packets will cost you only 800.”
“Uh~ … I knew it, that’s expensive…”

Akane was hesitating. Apparently she liked it a lot, and was now looking at the price with consideration.

“Don’t hold yourself back too much.”
“Ah~”

Saito put one packet in the basket and immediately left.

Akane hurried behind him.

“Wait, don’t just decide on your own.”

“300 yen is a cheap price for Akane’s smile.”

“W, what… I’m not such a cheap woman.”

Akane’s cheek blazed crimson, and she muttered shyly.

In fact, Saito was more than happy if the sausage would make the atmosphere gentler. After seeing Akane’s gentle smile, he really did not want to return to how they used to be.

The two stood at the cashier.

Akane smugly presented her loyalty card to the employee.

“So you’re the type to have membership cards?”

“Of course. I made it right after moving. I usually buy ingredients and detergents here, so it would be wasteful if I didn’t have one.”

She took a shopping bag from her school bag and put the groceries in. That shopping bag was decorated with hand drawings of adorable looking bears and rabbits.

Each held a bag and left the mall. They returned on the road by the wide river.

The shopping took more time than intended, and the road was dyed with sunset colours.

The amber colour of the setting sun was reflected by the river, creating a beautiful scenery.

“Akane’s pretty serious huh.”

Saito voiced his honest opinions.

Akane glared at Saito while walking beside him.

“You want to say I’m a miser right?”
“No, not that. You will surely become a great wife in the future.”

“Huh, haaaaaa!?”

Her ears were dyed red.

Saito could feel her expression changing rapidly. He just recently discovered this girl’s full array of emotions, always hidden under her anger.

Akane turned away, shyly whispered.

“…We, are already married.”

“Ah, that’s right…”

Saito covered his mouth with his hand. He just realized what he said was very embarrassing, and felt hot himself.

The two couldn’t look each other in the eyes anymore, and kept walking along the road home.