Chapter 7: His Refuge
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"Just be careful, okay, Misaki-chan?" Manami spoke, sounding concerned. "This is your first boyfriend, and he's many years older than you at that…"
Her voice came thought the speakers of Misaki's cell phone, which was set on the floor next to the girl. Misaki was currently sitting, legs crossed, in front of her refrigerator with several packages of strawberries stacked around her. She turned her head and eyed the innocent-looking containers with a strained look, wondering what the hell she should do with them.
Nii-chan, she thought to herself, eyebrow twitching. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd get attacked by strawberries…
"I know that already, Nee-chan," Misaki sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Really."
As she awaited her sister-in-law's response, the girl absentmindedly dismantled and restacked a few cartons, trying to fit them into the little refrigerator without them spilling over whenever she opened the door.
It happened just the other day; Haruhiko's strawberry deliveries had gotten to the point where she just didn't have any room left anymore, and they'd tumbled out when she's been attempting to get some milk. The avalanche sort of reminded her of Usagi-san's teddy bear room, which she'd opened once to get a new ribbon for Suzuki-san and ended up buried under a wide assortment of soft plush bears.
Thankfully enough, they were quite lightweight. Even so, Usagi—looking greatly amused at her predicament—still had to help dig her out.
Stupid Usamis and their habit of buying everything in bulk…
Manami's voice cut through her thoughts. "Well, if you're sure…" she uncertainly said.
"Nee-chan, it'll be fine," Misaki assured, finding herself a bit surprised at how confident her voice actually sounded. It was odd, seeing how hesitant she'd been about the idea of she and Haruhiko being together before. Even so, she plowed on. "We're taking it slow, 'cause we're both new to this whole… dating thing," she explained. "Haru-san has never been with anyone before, either, so…"
As she trailed off, she heard Manami ask, "Eh? He's never had a girlfriend before?"
Misaki blinked at the question. "That's what he told me, yeah," she replied. "Why?"
"Didn't you say he was already 30?" Her sister-in-law was sounding quite dubious. "Isn't it a bit hard to believe that he's never been with someone?"
"Haru-san is 31 now, actually," Misaki found herself automatically correcting as if it were completely natural of her to do so. "His birthday was in April, but he hadn't said anything at the time. Which is a shame, we could've done something together to celebrate…"
Just then realizing what she was saying out loud, she blushed and cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Well, anyway," Misaki continued, getting back on track. "I… Well, I personally don't think it's hard to believe. I mean, it's not that he's unattractive or anything, not at all…" She blushed harder at the admission and was thankful that they were speaking via phone and not face-to-face. "Haru-san is just… Well… I guess he's just hard to communicate with sometimes."
The teen thoughtfully stacked another carton of strawberries into the refrigerator as she spoke.
"He's actually really straightforward with his feelings, I think," she said. "I told you before that Haru-san means what he says—he truly does—but sometimes it's so sudden and blunt that it's startling. I don't know if other guys do that, too." Misaki pursed her lips before going on. "I mean, I've heard the girls at my university saying that they want a boy that has a nice smile and can make them laugh, but… Haru-san isn't really like that."
