The Pet Girl of Sakurasou

Chapter 3: Part 2

"You, seriously, cut it out."

On a certain day in June, Sorata was called to the staff room, where he encountered an extremely irate Chihiro.

"Let me just say one thing"

She had led off with that. And then, reclining in her chair with her legs and arms crossed, and with her usual annoyed expression, she had gone on to tersely tell Sorata exactly what was on her mind.

"Well, what a coincidence. I was thinking that I should cut it out too."

Sorata was trying to lighten the mood a bit, but all his remark did was make the glint in Chihiro's eyes all the more sharper.

"This isn't about the career survey, is it?"

Sorata tested the waters by asking a question he already knew the answer to. (1)

"Why in the world would I call you up here for something stupid like that?"

"Well, I think that even something like keeping room in the fridge so you have space to put eggs is important."

What Chihiro was referring to was the heavy mood that hung about Sakurasou lately, much like the overcast skies outside. Even when there was a spot of sunshine, the sun was soon covered by heavy clouds, and a sense of melancholy filled the air. And, just like those rainclouds that wouldn't go away, for more than a month, the atmosphere in Sakurasou had been gloomy and persistent.

It was all Sorata's fault.

"I'm going to leave. I've been meaning to do that from the start."

It all started when he had said that.

He thought of those words day in and day out. And each time he thought about them, he suddenly found it harder to breathe. He knew all his troubles would fade away if he could just make a decision. However, whether he could actually decide, even knowing that, was another problem entirely.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, Jin had been coming back to Sakurasou four days out of the week ever since they had that conversation, as if he was trying to show that his offer was serious. In this month, he had also made huge progress in finding owners for Sorata's cats, and just that morning had told Sorata that he had found prospective owners for four of them.

Call it a difference of personality, but he didn't seem to be taking any of this hard at all, and every morning, in place of wishing Sorata good morning, he said:

"Decide yet?"

"No, I'm still thinking."

Sorata would respond like that, at which point...

"Ahh, well, just make sure you think hard about it, kouhai-kun."

And Misaki would come over and pat him on the back.

Thanks to these things, Sorata was able to keep himself from sinking into a sea of despair. He was being run around by Misaki as usual, and every morning he still got to chat with Ryuunosuke.

However, Ryuunosuke had sent off a warning shot three days ago.

This poisonous atmosphere that has been hanging around Sakurasou lately is coming from Kanda. It urgently needs to be dealt with. Do not bother responding. Just fix it.

That mail suddenly appeared in Sorata's mailbox.

Sorata desperately conjured up a bunch of excuses, and sent a rather nonsensical response back, when...

If you keep saying boring things, you're going to find yourself sinking in Sagami Bay. From Maid-chan, who recommends Sagami Bay because it is closer than Tokyo Bay.