COTE : Parasite in Love.

Chapter 14 :Parasite In Love

Ayanokouji woke up to the smell of coffee. Soft morning light came in through the window.

He slowly looked around, still lying in bed. There were two mugs together on the table, with faint vapor visible. From the kitchen came the smell of buttered toast and cooked bacon.

Listening close, mixed in with the morning chirps of birds, he heard Hiyori whistling.
It was that kind of morning.

They put two cardboard boxes together and used them as a table to have breakfast. From a distance, the white cardboard boxes could look a bit like a table painted white.

There was hardly any conversation between them. A radio on the table played intermittent music. Ayanokouji didn’t know what song it was, but it definitely had piano in it. Occasionally he heard a fragmentally nostalgic melody, but if he tried to listen to the specifics, the melody seemed to get quiet and run away.

After breakfast, the two took showers and prepared to head out. All Hiyori had besides pajamas was her uniform, so she wore that. Ayanokouji got a zero-personality shirt and chino pants out of the closet, but as he was about to change into them, Hiyori stopped him. “Hold on a sec.”

“What?”

“You know how when we first met, you were wearing a suit despite not having a job? I wanna see that again.”

“Sure, but why?”

“Because I like you in a suit. Got a problem?”

Ayanokouji shook his head. “It’s no problem. And I am working now, so I won’t feel too guilty about it either. I’m a little worried how it looks to others with me wearing a suit and you wearing a school uniform, though.”

“It’s fine. If anyone asks, we’ll just say we’re siblings.”

I guess you’re right, Ayanokouji readily agreed.

After changing, the two left the apartment for a walk. A peaceful sunlight appropriate for a quiet Sunday shone on the residential district. The cherry blossoms were apparently starting to fall, as pink petals piled up on the road. The sky, as if to complement the color of the cherry trees, was a modest light blue. Little clouds that brought to mind pieces of fluff floated through that sky.

The two held hands, in a way that seemed like neither went first, and walked.
They went into a used bookstore at the end of the shopping district outside the train station, and spent a while there. The store was cramped, and smelled of musty old books.

Ayanokouji became fond of an unusual encyclopedia he spotted, and after some slight hesitation, he purchased it. It was effectively an “encyclopedia of encyclopedias,” listing all the different types of encyclopedias in the world.

Then the two went to a bakery on the corner of the street, got sandwiches, and walked as they ate. They were loaded with ingredients, so with each bite, lettuce and onion would fall out. Seeing Ayanokouji clean up the sauce around his mouth with his finger, Hiyori giggled.

“I couldn’t imagine you doing this before, Mr. Ayanokouji.”

“Guess so. Eating while walking, or touching old books, I’d only ever do it in these past three months,” Ayanokouji said, wiping breadcrumbs off his hands. “But Tsukishiro says once the worms get healthy again, my germaphobia will apparently return. Once that happens, it’s dubious if I’ll be able to keep a job.”

“Huh,” Hiyori said with disappointment. “Well, you’d better enjoy a lot of impure things while you can.”

Ayanokouji grinned wryly. And he took back Hiyori’s hand.