Side Story: ???
――After finishing dinner.
“Hoo~ that was a good hot water bath. The best thing about coming to live with you is that I get to take a bath every day… Or maybe it’s the fact that I eat three delicious meals a day. I am torn between which is better…”
Lefi came out of the bath and was about to enter the living room of our small, shabby apartment with steam rising from her body.
I called out to her as I watched the TV.
“Hey, first dry your hair. It’s not good if they are still wet.” (Yuki)
“I know, I know. You’re so picky, you know that? You’re like a mother-in-law.” (Lefi)
I answered in a dramatic tone, “Oh no. I’m doing this for your sake, and you’re talking to me like that. I’m sorry if I sounded nosy. I’m just trying to be nice.”
“I’m going to hit you.” (Lefi)
I raised my hands in surrender to Lefi, who clenched her fists. Lefi sniffed and dropped her arms and then, for some reason, grinned.
“?”
As I was wondering about the look on my roommate’s face, she came back to me from the bathroom with a hair dryer and sat straight on my lap.
Soft, the feel of a girl’s body.
“Oh, hey.” (Yuki)
“Yuki Yuki, dry my hair.” (Lefi)
“What’s the matter?” (Yuki)
“I’m just in the mood. Here.” (Lefi)
Lefi smiled seductively and handed me the hair dryer.
“…Well, okay. Sit in front of me, not on my lap. It’s too close for me to use a hairdryer.” (Yuki)
“Mm.”
I hid my inner thoughts and let out a deliberate sigh as I accepted the hair dryer, stretched out my arm and plugged it into a nearby outlet, and started to dry Lefi’s hair.
Her hair was smooth and beautiful silver, very comfortable to touch.
The glamorous nape peeking out from it, and her red, flushed skin.
The scent of soap combined with her fragrance softly tickled my nostrils.
My head was starting to feel hot.
I talked to her to mask my feelings.
“It must be hard to take care of hair as long as yours.” (Yuki)
“Well, yes. I, myself, didn’t realize how much trouble my hair would be.” (Lefi)
“But for someone who is so lazy, you do a pretty good job of taking care of your hair, don’t you think?” (Yuki)
“That’s because you like it that way, right?” (Lefi)
Lefi responded smoothly, not reacting to my hateful words.
“…I see.”
“Well, isn’t it heavenly to the touch?”
“Complimenting yourself doesn’t really count.”
“But I am quite proud of it, you know?”
“…Well, let’s not deny that your hair is gorgeous.”
“Kaka, you’re not a very honest man.”
After that, we said nothing to each other.
Only the sound of the TV and the hair dryer running could be heard.
It was an ordinary moment in their daily life.
“Alright, it’s done.”
“That was pretty impressive. I’ll have you do it from now on.”
“Sometimes, okay.”
I put the hair dryer aside and Lefi laid back down and rested her head in my lap.
We lay our hands on top of each other.
I interlaced our fingers and she squeezed it back.
“This is a lumpy, uncomfortable pillow, you know.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, but that’s just what I am.”
“Well, then, from now on, you’d better aim to have a comfortable lap for me.”
“The way of the lap pillow?”
We continued to exchange such light banter, but we never left each other, and we remained in front of the TV, which we didn’t particularly care to watch.
***
He woke up.
“Haaah, that was a nice bath! The exhaustion is gone, and I am full of energy again!”
“That felt good! Shii’s wiggly body is perfect!”
“The bath was nice, but I still need to eat dinner to feel better.”
“Mmmm, yes! I’m looking forward to dinner.”
“I wonder what’s for dinner today!”
“Wait a minute, you kids. Why don’t you dry your hair? You’ll catch a cold if it’s all wet.”
The little girls and Lefi, who had apparently returned from the waterfall hot springs, returned to their usual living space, the Shin Tamagura Room, while talking about such things.
“Hai!”
“Hai!”
“Hehe, Shii doesn’t need to be dried up, so I’m going first!”
Illuna and Enne started drying their hair with the hairdryer, and since there were only two hair dryers in the house, Lefi was waiting behind them for them to finish using it, it was then that she noticed her partner’s condition.
“What, were you napping in there again? If you doze off now, you’ll have a hard time sleeping tonight.”
“Hmm, ah…”
It was now late in the evening, just before dinner.
It seemed he had somehow fallen asleep while sitting on the throne.
Maybe there was something in that throne that made him feel comfortable.
‘Well, it wasn’t just a chair, that’s for sure’, he thought.
He had this dream a few times now, and it definitely wasn’t just a dream.
‘The dungeon – or rather, the world – was full of mysteries’, he thought.
“Okay, done! Here, big sis, switch hair dryers! So, how about dinner… is it ready yet? I’m so hungry.”
“Let’s go help. I’ll make sure everything is ready.”
“Yeah, let’s do that!”
After they were done drying their hair, Illuna and Enne got up and went to the kitchen, and Lefi picked up the hairdryer in turn.
“Lefi, I’ll dry it for you.”
“Mm? Hmmm… I’ll leave it to you then.”
She sat down near him, handed him the hair dryer, and he started to dry her silver hair.
When he was just learning magic for the first time, he made a hair dryer magic, but he didn’t actually use it anymore because the equipment was typically better than that one.
“Now that I think about it, there are many useful tools here. I don’t think there are any magical tools out there that can be used for drying hair.”
“Well, I think something like that would only be developed if Science and Magic were used to improve people’s lives instead of being used as tools for battle.”
“Hmmm… I would appreciate it if we could see the world reach that point, not in your previous life, but in ours.”
“Yes, that would indeed be nice.”
Her hair was the same as in the dream, very pleasant to the touch and beautiful.
Even the scent of her after her bath was the same.
He was somewhat amused and couldn’t help but smile, and Lefi talked to him in a curious tone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, I just thought that your hair certainly is beautiful.”
“I take good care of it for you! You should be more grateful.”
The roommate – or, rather, wife – deliberately emphasizes the “carefully and meticulously” part as she said so.
She was joking, but since they have known each other for a while now, he could tell that she was pleased inside.
“Well, that’s done! Let’s go help out too.”
“Yes, we should. From the scent of this, I’m guessing it’s Chinese stir-fry tonight.”
“Oh, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Good, good. How about a challenge? Let’s see who can prepare the Chinese Noodle Soup.”
“Well, I’m sure it would be a close match. So, the loser will be doing tomorrow’s laundry…”
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