Chapter 120 - I’m home, Welcome Back (2) (1/2)

“It’s hot! Ugh!”

The sweltering heat of July has really taken its toll on me.

The sleeves of my t-shirt were rolled up to my shoulders and the hems of my shorts were up to my hips.

Even though this is a high altitude area, your body will get overheated if you do full-body exercise indoors for an hour.

I scrubbed the stains off the floor with a deck brush, and scrubbed the walls and inside of the bathtub with a hand-held scrubber.

Scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing, and scrubbing.

It doesn’t come off.

I’m so sick of this.

“Nii-chan, what are you making a racket by yourself for?”

I heard the bathroom door open and a quiet voice.

“Shouhei.”

I turned back to the voice and saw my beloved brother holding the thing I wanted most right now in his right hand.

Ah, the water of life!

“Here, cold tea. I know what was said earlier, but I went shopping for lunch by myself and it will be ready soon, so just finish up with the bathroom.”

“Thank God! Even though I was covered with so much water, I was parched. Ahhh.”

I took the glass that was handed to me and downed it at once.

”Aoi-neechan is almost done as well. The slowest one is nii-chan.”

“Mmm-hmmm! Kahhhh, I’m alive!”

“Did you hear me?”

Wait a minute, I’m really in the middle of enjoying my tea.

Oh, this is a premium tea from Shizuoka, isn’t it?

Handpicked?

No, well, I’m used to drinking oolong tea.

“I’m listening, I cleaned the bed mats, the sink, and the floor. I even cleaned the bathroom and the toilet. I’d rather have you praise me for this current state of affairs with the bathrooms nearly over?”

It was too much work no matter how you look at it.

The glass I drank out of still feels nice and cold, so I put it to my forehead to cool myself.

Ah, manual labor is hard.

“Heh, you’re quick. Then is it already done?”

“Hm. It’s mostly done, I just did the areas I minded the most, and then I’ll have to go over the rest with water.”

A bit of my craftsman’s pride is coming out, isn’t it?

I’m not satisfied until I get to the nitty-gritty details.

“All right. I’ll take care of lunch. Come over when you’re done. Sorry, it’s so simple, but I made some soumen noodles.”

“Heeh!”

All right! Shall I just get it over with?

After Shouhei left the bathroom, I took the hose that was connected to the sink.

This way was more convenient to use than the shower nozzle.

I pinched the end of the hose and vigorously applied the water stream to the wall.

Top to bottom.

Top to right, then left.

The side walls.

The opposite side and the window.

And the tiled floor.

The bathroom in this house is quite old.

The bathroom fixtures themselves are new, but the construction is old.

Or rather, not only the bathroom but also the house is old.

It is said that the house itself has been around since before the world collision, so it must be about at least 50 years old.

It has been reworked and reinforced several times, so there’s no doubt that it’s sturdy.

I’ve heard that my father’s business associates took good care of it for him.

That’s the secret to how my dad made enough money to buy such a big house.

Even if you factor in the fact that it’s a renovated house, it’s still a reasonably cheap house.

Well, it’s a loan, isn’t it? And a two generation one.

The bathrooms in old houses don’t have fancy bathtubs like the ones we have now, it was the old tile and mortar one.

The bathtub was changed when we moved, and before that it was an ancient silver balance kettle.

The gas-powered reheating type bathtub had stopped working, so we replaced it in tears.

The bathtubs sold at home improvement stores were expensive, weren’t they?

I didn’t know that.

“That’s about it.”

I turned off the water by twisting the faucet tap.

I popped the hose out and rolled it up.

I have to put it back in the storage shed in the yard.

I put my arm through the rolled up hose and wipe the bottom of my feet with a bath mat before exiting into the hallway.

I headed for the kitchen door next to the stairs.

I put on the outside slippers and walked out the kitchen door and into the yard.

“Ah!”

“Hm. A butterfly. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Hmm?

Isn’t that Jaja and Rouge?

“Dah!”

“Hm. It’s fluttering.”

She sat on the frame of the living room window, with Jaja sitting on her lap.

Behind Rouge, Nana was sleeping with a baby towel over her belly.

Did Jaja wake up first?

“Ah, Jaja. Kunpei is here.”

When Rouge saw me, she took Jaja’s hand and waved it.

“Oh. Papa is done cleaning up too!”

“Hmm. Good work.”

“Au?”

Jaja’s face finally turned to me.

It looks like she was preoccupied with the butterflies. Did I interrupt you?

“Ah!”

When Jaja noticed me, her eyes sparkled with delight.

That look is unfair. It’s so unfair.

“Hmm. As expected, I can’t beat papa. It’s so frustrating.”

Seeing Jaja trying her best to reach out for me, Rouge hung her head.

But she’s still expressionless.

I don’t see any color of sadness at all.

“Wait a minute…”

I hurried to the shed, opened the door and placed the hose on the shelf.

I closed the door and locked it with a screw-on key.

“Alright! I kept you waiting Jaja!”

“Ah!”

I turned around vigorously and held out my hands.

Jaja’s face lit up more brightly at that sight.

”Hn. Have a good day.”

“Dah!”

Rouge removed her hand from Jaja’s body and Jaja quickly spread her wings and took off.

With a flap of her tiny wings and her short, thick tail swaying from side to side, Jaja flew towards me.

It’s a short distance, so it’s an acceptable flight.

The twins’ flight time has increased considerably lately, but it’s still too early to let them fly outside, no matter how much.

I’m also worried about what the rat said about the spirits that were accumulating in Jaja and Nana.

We’re working on removing the spirits once a week, but we don’t know when it’s going to flood in.

It’s best to be careful.

“Dah, ah, dah.”

Jaja flew slowly, wobbling up and down, left and right.

When she got in front of me, Jaja’s face turned bright red.

It’s something she’s learned recently.

I don’t know what it feels like, but the more you strain, the higher you go.

By the way, Nana doesn’t know how to do this yet.

The other day, when she saw Jaja flying higher than her, Nana cried in frustration. I feel sorry for her, but this something that Nana has to learn herself.

Do your best!

“Look, over here.”

I waited for Jaja to come up at a slight speed.

“Dah.”

“Yes, very good.”

I caught Jaja as she leapt into my chest.

“Niheh.”

Jaja smiled loosely.