Impersonations

This was probably because I hadn’t patted her on the head.

Her wish must have gotten twisted and warped until it turned into some DIY-style train of thought like, “If he won’t pat my head, I’ll just pat his myself.”

A night passed, and things didn’t become awkward between us or anything.

I could simply feel Yūha watching me, patiently waiting for an opportunity to spoil me.

At this rate, she’d get me.

Yūha might not look it, but she was a woman of action. Once she decided to do something, she did it. Getting patted on the head was still manageable, but if she started talking about giving me a lap pillow, things would get completely out of hand.

Before that happened, I had to spoil her first.

At this point, that was the only way to restore the proper balance of power between us.

I’d been way too weak against Yūha lately.

And to do that, I first needed to eliminate the weakness I’d shown yesterday.

If a lie gets exposed, come clean about it. If a weakness becomes known, overcome it.

Those were essential rules for surviving as a shrewd scumbag.

I headed to the guesthouse and handled some guests’ checkouts at reception. Despite being deep in the mountains, the roads around here were well maintained, so motorcyclists made up the largest group of guests. After seeing off a group of intimidating-looking middle-aged men, I welcomed Chris-san as he slowly came down to the first floor.

Apparently, he was leaving today as well.

After hearing everything from Kagari, he seemed satisfied with what he’d learned about Onahebi Village. He planned to come back once more at the end of summer and make a video that included the festival.

We finished the simple procedures, then moved on to seeing him off.

“I’ll carry your luggage to the bus stop.”

“Thank you.”

It was heavy enough that I’d probably hurt my back if I wasn’t careful. I braced my core, slung the bag over my shoulder, and walked beside Chris-san. The muscular foreigner wore his usual refreshing smile today.

I took a breath and steeled myself.

“Um, Chris-san.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Would you be friends with me?”

“Of course. Let’s hang out sometime.”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Is that really okay?”

“Of course! Actually, I don’t have enough people for a game, so I’ve been having trouble.”

“A game…? I wonder if I’d be able to play it.”

Chris-san’s eyes immediately lit up as he enthusiastically pressed the idea, while I instinctively leaned back.

Even when it came to communication, I was getting utterly crushed by sheer power.

We’d spent the last few days together, sure… but I doubted a Japanese person could close the distance this quickly.

“It’s okay. It’s free, and you can play it on a laptop.”

“I see. …All right, then. Let’s play sometime.”

“You can only play it in English, though. I’ll explain it to you.”

“Thank you.”

That was exactly what I wanted.

Actually, right. Games were an option too.

Anime and movies were perfectly good study materials as far as I was concerned. If I could learn more everyday English and how it was actually used in practice, anything would do.

We arrived at the bus stop and exchanged contact information.

“Then, let’s meet again.”

“Yeah. Take care.”

I stayed there until Chris-san, waving from inside the bus, disappeared from sight.

I stretched my arms high and exhaled.

“I actually made a friend…”

I’d spent the last few days with Chris-san, and talking with him had felt pretty comfortable. I’d been fairly confident he’d say yes, but it was still a relief.

There was around a ten-year age gap between us, and we were from different countries.

Even so, we’d become friends.

Part of me had wanted a foreign friend, but even if he’d been Japanese, I probably would’ve wanted to get along with him. There was a lot I could learn from the way he lived.

“Guess I’ll keep at it…”

For now, that had eased one of my worries.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.

Now then, what would the afternoons bring from today onward?

“Yūha-chii, good work today~”

“Good work.”

Having finished their work for the day and changed clothes, the two of them got on their bicycles.

Yūha liked the breeze that blew through the calm orange glow of sunset.

Misuzu, pedaling beside her, looked more worn out than usual and leaned her weight against the handlebars.

“There were so many customers today. That was rough.”

“They told us a group was coming, but there were more people than I expected.”

Yūha turned around as she spoke, looking perfectly unfazed. She hardly seemed like she’d done the same work as Misuzu.

“Yūha-chii, do you actually have pretty good stamina?”

“I don’t think so.”

Now that Misuzu mentioned it, it was strange. Yūha was more tired than usual too, but nowhere near as exhausted as Misuzu. It was the sort of fatigue that would vanish after a night’s sleep.

She thought for a moment and realized what it might be.

“Maybe I’m staying tense the whole time because I’m working in front of Riichi-san.”

“Ah!”

Misuzu straightened her back and widened her eyes as though electricity had shot through her. For an instant, even her ponytail seemed to stand straight up, though that was probably an illusion.

“You’re right. When I’m in front of Riichi-san, I feel like I have to act cute… I do it so naturally that I never noticed, but that’s definitely it!”

She celebrated energetically as though she’d solved a great mystery, only to wilt again immediately afterward.

“I’m done for~. I’m so tired today.”

“Should we take a short break somewhere?”

“Yeah. Roku-kun said he’d be home late too, so let’s do that.”

That said, the sun was already setting. Out here in the countryside, almost nothing except taverns would still be open.

They got off their bicycles by a vending machine and bought bottled drinks.

They sat down on a nearby bench, and Misuzu took a gulp of her carbonated drink.

“I’m alive again.”

“Why does juice taste so good after work?”

“Because there’s no guilt! We worked a ton, so drinking this won’t make us fat!”

“I see…!”

Convinced by her strangely persuasive logic, Yūha nodded deeply.

The fruit milk drink sloshed inside Yūha’s hand. She opened the cap and took a sip, and the thick, sweet, rich flavor slid down her throat.

“It makes me feel like I can work hard again tomorrow.”

“You’re so positive, Yūha-chii. You’re a different type from Roku-kun, but you really are similar to him.”

“Are we?”

“Yeah. Oh, but your personalities are completely different. You’re honest and sweet, Yūha-chii, so you’re not mean like Roku-kun.”

Misuzu hurriedly corrected herself, making Yūha laugh.

“It’s fine. I’m actually pretty mean too.”

“You are?”

“I am.”

Yūha imitated Rokurō and gave her a fearless grin. She’d watched that expression from up close for years, so apparently Misuzu recognized it properly.

“For a second just now, I saw Roku-kun.”

“I’m pretty confident in it. I practiced.”

“You don’t need to practice something like that!”

“Don’t you ever feel like doing impersonations?”

“…Hmm. Now that you mention it, I might want to imitate Riichi-san.”

“I want to see.”

“Oh, fine. Just this once.”

Looking rather pleased despite her words, Misuzu composed her expression. In her mind, Riichi Ōtaka was the most handsome man in the world.

“All right, then—Riichi-san checking whether there’s still a smell on his hands after washing them.”

She carefully mimed washing and rinsing her hands, then smelled the back of one hand first.

Then her palm.

After confirming that no smell remained, she looked up.

“Well?”

“I don’t know…”

“What? I thought that was really accurate.”

“No, um, I’ve just never seen him do that.”

“Oh, right. You’ve only just started working there, Yūha-chii.”

Yūha desperately held back from saying she doubted she’d recognize it even after working there for a year.

Perhaps learning to hold back comments like this was what made someone an adult.

Misuzu recovered and tried another one.

“Okay, then—Riichi-san adjusting the hair tie after retying his apron strings.”

“I’ve never seen that either.”

“What!? But that’s one of Riichi-san’s three coolest moments!”

“Yes.”

So this was what they meant when they said love was blind, Yūha thought with deep understanding.

Misuzu had watched Riichi for so long that her sense of what counted as common knowledge had become distorted. She loved him so much that her eye for detail had become absurdly sharp. For an impersonation, where being instantly recognizable mattered, that was fatal.

“Impersonations are hard. …What would you do, Yūha-chii?”

“Let’s see…”

Thinking she certainly wouldn’t fall into the same trap, Yūha confidently searched her mind.

The subject had to be someone Misuzu knew too, which meant Rokurō was the obvious choice.

She thought for a moment and decided.

“Okay. I’ll do Rokurō choosing coffee after spending ages deciding what to drink.”

“I think you’re probably the only person who would recognize that, Yūha-chii.”

“Huh…?”

To be blind meant being unaware that you were blind.