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"Sorry for intruding."
"No worries"
After crossing the door, he removed his shoes, left them by the door, and removed his jacket. Doing as if he was at his own home.
"Do you want anything to drink or eat? I went to the convenience store just a while ago.", she said, and smiled a little.
Saburo met this girl through one of his jobs at Yorozuya Yamada. They weren't going out, but maybe using "friendship" to describe their relationship wasn't enough? He didn't know, but he didn't care.
"Ah, no thank you." He smiled back. "I don't want to spoil my appetite for dinner… Ichi-nii might scold me if I don't eat."
"I understand. Come another time so I can bake you a cake, 'kay?"
He nodded. He had her cookies before, so he knew he could look forward to a cake.
"Well, now that you're here, do you have anything planned for today?"
"Ah, yes!" His face lit up and he scrambled to get his school bag. "This new card game I got recently! Do you want to try it?"
She took the game in her hands and made a confused face.
"Oh… isn't 'Monopoly' a board game?"
"Fufufu…. You're absolutely right, but this is the card version of the game. I know Monopoly is long and not exactly for everyone, so I want to try this one."
"Yeah, I think I've never finished a match of Monopoly"
They both laughed and started their game. The rounds were short but fun, Saburo knew this was the ideal for a casual player like her. They placed a bet, whoever lost more rounds out of 5, would have to buy the other's favorite ice cream the next time Saburo came over.
In the end, she won 2 times and Saburo won 3.
"Aw, man. I thought I totally had got you in the last match."
"You're not bad at this, you know. But you need to pay more attention and certain details."
She pouted and sighed. Maybe she was a bit of a sore loser, Saburo thought.
"Fine, then. Come here console me" she said and opened her arms, calling him for a hug.
Saburo gulped and blushed. They have done this multiple times before but his heart always skipped a beat. He went to her and hugged her. He reciprocated and hugged him tighter.
After somes seconds she broke their hug and without saying anything, guided him to her room. They both laid down on her bed and hugged again.
Anyone could take this in a very wrong way, and that's why Saburo and her decided to keep all this a secret.
She started caressing his head, like a mother. Maybe that's what she was for him, a mother figure. Saburo didn't have a mom, and both his brothers were men, being embraced like this was something new for him. Here, with her, he felt like he could be the little kid he couldn't be in the past, and maybe act more like his age, too, unlike around everyone else.
Feeling another body's warmth with his own, while listening to a soothing voice….
"Tell me about your day." She said.
Then Saburo went on about stupid Jiro and the pudding they had a brawl over this morning, school, the big dog he had to chase after, how he thought it was funny to see Ichi-nii talking to himself when he was too focused. All these little things he saw and was involved in throughout his day.
"Maybe it won't be possible right now, but I'd like to meet your family someday."
Saburo didn't say anything. It would be nice to introduce her to Jiro and Ichi-nii, but it would be too hard to explain what they had. For now, Saburo just wanted to focus on the hand on his hair.
Both of them fell asleep just like that. When Saburo woke up, he looked at the time and decided it was time to go home. She woke up shortly after him.
"I need to go home now. Thank you for today." He said while packing up his stuff. Whenever it was time to leave, Saburo felt sadness in his heart, but…
"Take care. Whenever you want to come over again, just call me, okay?"
... that's what she always said, with a smile, and that was enough for him.