Side: Shizuka
There was now a hole large enough for a person to pass through in the wall between rooms 105 and 106. Since it was the result of an accident, Shizuka wasn’t especially angry about it. The other day, Koutarou had even fixed it up some by installing a wooden frame so it would look nicer. Today, however, Shizuka was pensively staring at it.
“What’s the matter, Landlord-san? You got a scary look on your face,” Koutarou said in passing.
“Thanks for noticing, Satomi-kun... But couldn’t you find a nicer way to say that?”
“Okay, um... You look like you’re worried about something, Landlord-san. It’s a shame not to see you smiling.”
“That’s more like it! You can’t talk to just any girl like that though, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now, what were we talking about...? Oh, right, the hole in the wall,” Shizuka said, pointing at it.
Koutarou turned to look at it himself. “Is something wrong with the job we did?” he asked, cocking his head.
The hole had been squared off with a wooden frame that was neatly painted and finely polished. Koutarou had done the former, and the latter was Shizuka’s handiwork.
“I’m not talking about the frame,” she said. “I’m talking about the hole itself.”
“What about it?”
“We’ve got a curtain hanging over it, but I don’t know that I like it.”
That was what had been on Shizuka’s mind. The curtain functioned as a door to protect Koutarou’s and Nalfa’s privacy. It served its purpose, but it bothered her from an interior design perspective.
“What do you mean?” Koutarou asked.
“The blue curtain suits your place, but not Nalfa-san’s,” she explained.
“Oh, so that’s it.”
Koutarou and Nalfa had rather different decor in their apartments. His was minimal while hers was on the cute side. That was why Shizuka felt the curtain clashed.
“That’s extremely kind of you, but you don’t need to be so considerate of me,” Nalfa said with a smile and took a sip of tea. Since it was snack time, she’d come over to room 106.
“I won’t hear of it, Nalfa-san. That kind of thoughtlessness can make a girl miserable, you know?” Shizuka pressed Nalfa with a most serious look on her face.
“I see...”
Overwhelmed by the strange pressure Shizuka was exuding, Nalfa faltered. Seeing this, Koutarou decided to throw her a lifeline.
“I’m not hung up on the curtain personally, so we can pick out something the two of you like more,” he offered.
Yet, for some reason, Nalfa was the one who put her foot down this time. “But yours has to be blue, Koutarou-sama! It can’t be anything else!” she cried.
“I see...”
Koutarou now found himself faltering. Nalfa was rarely this intense. He really did think it was a shame not to see her smiling, just like Shizuka earlier.
“That’s right! You get it, Nalfa-san,” Shizuka piped up.
“I absolutely cannot relent on this matter!” Nalfa insisted.
“That’s what’s been puzzling me, honestly,” Shizuka admitted with a nod.
In fact, that was the real crux of the matter she’d been debating internally: what kind of curtain would be appropriate to hang between a boy’s room and a girl’s room?
“Why not use a two-sided curtain?” Koutarou asked.
It was a rather simple idea—they could just make a curtain with a different fabric on each side. The girls, however, refused to accept it.
“No! That would ruin its splendor!” Nalfa shouted.
“See? You just don’t understand how girls feel, Satomi-kun!” Shizuka followed suit.
“Huh...” he relented.
Women really are too complicated... How in the world do you manage this, Mackenzie?!
Now that the girls had set their sights on Koutarou, Kenji was the only person he could turn to for help... But without his best friend there, Koutarou would be stuck suffering the girls’ onslaught alone for some time.
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