When he awoke the next morning, Nishiki was relieved to see the illness which Tenha succumbed to had subsided. She was more energetic than ever as he saw her awake in the morning even before him.
“Wow, Kinuko can really work some wonders.” She greeted in the morning as the girl did some stretches. Her body felt cramped after spending an entire day and night laying on the not so comfortable couch. “Hope she wasn’t a buzzkill for you.”
“I would say quite the opposite.” He answered, sitting down on the couch to take her spot. “If she was my servant, then I think I’d be a much happier man.” She pouted at him in annoyance as he bragged about the wonderful time he had. While it wasn’t anywhere near as great as he put it. Nishiki certainly couldn’t lie the food was much better.
“Then I guess too bad you signed that contract with me.” She stuck out her tongue at him.
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes as they continued their petty argument over nothing that would go nowhere. “Anyway, since you missed a day on cleaning…” Nishiki ran his finger over the table where she had her dinner. It was a mess to say the least and he instantly regretted putting his fingers there as a means to put on a show. Now he had enough dust and leftovers to need to wash his hands in the sink. “I think you have some catching up to do.”
“Fine, I’ll get to that.” She headed into the kitchen to grab an apron for her to do her duty. “This is your weekend, right? I guess you’ll be watching me clean today.”
“Actually, I’ll be heading out to do a little bit of shopping.” Normally they would do that together since it was easier on him with her help. Not to mention she usually insisted so that he would be forced to buy things she wanted him to purchase. “Don’t worry, I’ll grab you some treats since you were sick earlier.” He assured her things would be fine and soon he was out the door.
While he normally preferred days when he had work as that would give him an idea of how to spend his day. Nishiki was also fine with the days off as well. The only problem with them were they were kind of on the boring side. Though that had changed a bit recently due to his living situation with Tenha. Things were a bit more fun, as he might say but not admit to her.
So he headed to the nearby grocery store to handle getting them some good ingredients for the future dinner she’d cook for him. While it wasn’t much, her inclusion in his life, and therefore budget, did lead to an increase in spending. Something which somewhat disappointed him in knowing the contract he signed that night would cost him more in the long run.
As he walked into the store, it was fairly busy with other people also going about their errands. Most of them were parents with their little children running around and having fun in public. For a moment, he wondered if any of these kids had played with Tenha the other day. But the more important feeling was how lonely he felt that he was one of the few people who were doing some solo shopping.
There was something wrong, he thought, as the man picked out some of the fruit to play into his cart. He had gotten used to having her by his side as they would do the normal task of shopping. Something that had never meant much to him beyond being a necessity of life. Yet with her it began to take its own, what he thought, silly meaning to him.
Nishiki grabbed all the usual things they purchased in a daze. His mind wasn’t on his surroundings, just on the memory of doing this with Tenha. Though he would snap back to reality upon seeing something set up that normally wasn’t there. It was a person running a stand. The stand itself was heavily decorated with hearts and was painted pink and red. Next to the girl hosting it was a lot of chocolate.
“What’s this all about?” He asked, unable to keep from being curious.
“Hmm? You must really be out of the loop.” The girl giggled. “Or I guess you’re just single. It’s Valentine’s day.” He couldn’t believe what he just heard. Today really was February 14th? Wow, he realized that he hadn’t been tracking the date recently at all to not notice until now.
“You’re definitely right about both those points.” He admitted. Nishiki was about to leave when the girl stopped him.
“Wait, you don’t want to buy anything?” She asked, which confused him after he had already admitted his relationship status. “Surely there must be one lady you’re probably interested in.”
“I’m…” He paused. His body felt a bit tense as the thought of Tenha ran through his mind. As much as it sounded suspicious, he played it off as him still being affected by what Kinuko had asked of him last night. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Hehe, looks like I was right.” She laughed and tried to hand him a small box of chocolate. At this point he was certain she was just trying to make some sales on him. “Just get her one, I’m sure she’d really appreciate even if you have a hard time getting your feelings across.”
“I don’t have any feelings for anyone.” He responded, eyeing the box in her hand. “But there is someone who’s done… Okay in my life. I guess I can give her something to express my thanks.” Nishiki relented to her sales pitch and took it from her. “I have to say you are one persistent girl.”
“Well I love this holiday.” Her answer gave him enough to know she already was in a relationship. “Even though I’m still in college. I hope I’ll get married soon with my boyfriend.”
“It’s nice you have a goal in mind.” He remembered his own time in college, believing that all he needed to worry about was to get the office job he had now. “Uh…”
“Oh, my name’s Miharu Omori.” She formally introduced himself. Something about her family name sounded awfully familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on where he had heard that before.
“Nishiki Sugai.” While he didn’t expect they’d introduce themselves like this for what would likely be their only meeting. It wasn’t too bad to meet someone new. “Thanks for the chocolates, I hope the person I give this to will like it.” He then made his way back towards his normal routine of shopping. “And I hope when you do get married. It will be a long and fruitful one.”
“Gee thanks.” She glowed with pride. “Say, when that happens you should…” Miharu was about to invite him to this future event, but the man had already left before she was able to extend the offer. Well, it would be best to not just invite random strangers to her wedding. That was something her older sister would tell her.
After a bit, Nishiki finished up all his shopping and made his way home. Upon getting back, the house was much cleaner than it was when he left. Already there was some things left on the counter for Tenha to begin making dinner. Though he didn’t see when he got inside. It sounded as though she had gotten into his shower room to get herself cleaned first.
So before she was finished with her bath, he got most of the goods put away in the kitchen. The only exceptions were the stuff he wished she would cook as he left them with the things she had left on the counter. The only thing he didn’t put there or away was still in his hands, the chocolates.
Without having to wait long, she was finally out and ready to complain to him as she saw the man standing there waiting.
“Man, I was a complete mess from all that cleaning.” She said, shaking her head in disappointment and still trying to get over the suffering. “You should thank me for doing all that work.”
“I don’t need to thank you for doing what’s required.” He responded, referencing the contract. “But you’re right, I should be giving you some gratitude.” The man revealed what he had hidden behind his arms to her. “I just want to thank you for everything.” Nishiki handed her the box of chocolates, where she was too speechless to respond. “Happy Valentine’s day.”
“V-Valentine’s…” She had her jaw dropped from being handed this gift. “Y-You’re confessing your love to me?” The girl had a look of disbelief as she used the box to try and hide her growing blushing. Along with her mouth, where he couldn’t tell if she was smiling or frowning.
“N-no…” He answered. “It’s just something to thank you and it just happens to be today. Wait a second, you know about this holiday?”
“Yes!” Now realizing he assumed she would not be aware of what this gesture could be taken as and still did it anyway. Tenha’s shyness turned into anger. “Of course I know what Valentine’s day is. What idiot on this planet doesn’t know what it means?” Even though she was upset about him somewhat tricking her unintentionally. The fox girl still kept the chocolates. “Thanks for it though…” She walked away from him to put it down at the coffee table. “I’m, um, going to start dinner now.”
