Volume 1 Chapter 1 (2/2)
”Hey, Mackenzie! Don't say disrespectful things!”
”It's the truth though You constantly trouble me”
Kenji let out a big sigh while adjusting his glasses
”Then Mackenzie-san is always?”
”Yes, I' a hard time”
”I arateful”
” Only grateful though Oh yes, Landlord-san, I have soht”
”Yes, what is it?”
shi+zuka smiled and nodded
”Why is the rent for this room only 5,000 yen?”
”O-oi Mackenzie! Don't just suddenly ask about that!”
Koutarou, are of the circu
”That's because I want to know With this great of a roo with it”
”But you know, this apartment was left behind by Landlord-san's parents, and-”
”I don't mind, Satomi-san”
Koutarou orried about angering shi+zuka, but she smiled calmly and shook her head
”Mackenzie-san's worries are justifiable Fufufu, besides, haven't you noticed that Mackenzie-san is worried about you Satomi-san?”
”Landlord-san”
”Besides, there's not much I can do in this matter”
”Ha, haah”
Koutarou nodded with an apologetic look on his face and shi+zuka turned back to Kenji
”Actually In this room They appear”
”Appear? What appears?”
”The ruhost appears in this room”
”A gh-ghost!?”
A surprised Kenji started hastily looking around the room
”I haven't seen it myself yet, but every tenant here does And they don't stay for long”
”A ghost That's hard to believe, though”
”I think so too But that's what every tenant has said when they moved, so it's the truth”
Kenji was perplexed and smiled bitterly at shi+zuka as he dropped his shoulders Koutarou, on the other hand, puffed out his chest and grinned
”Leave it to host!”
”That's so reliable Please live here long enough to erase any ruhosts”
”Of course!”
”But to think there's a ghost in this room”
A still unconvinced Kenji took another look around the room
”Nothing will co on it too hard, Mackenzie The landlord has co”
”Ah, you're right”
Urged by Koutarou, Kenji returned to normal
”Kou is thick headed, so he'll probably be fine even if a ghost appears”
”Those words hurt”
”That's on purpose!”
”I know Well then, shall we get started, Landlord-san?”
”Of course, Satoh; the two of you reat team”
Looking at Koutarou and Kenji going back and forth, shi+zuka started laughing
”Is that so?”
”Landlord-san, please don't say such a terrifying thing”
”Mackenzie, you don't have to put it like that, do you?”
As Koutarou and the rest were buzzing about, they unpacked the luggage
Thanks to the cooperation of Kenji and shi+zuka, enough luggage had been unpacked to settle in before dinner time
”I'll be going ho to a et to bed, okay?”
”I know, I know Oversleeping would be bad, right?”
”Your 'I know' is the least trustworthy thing I know of, though”
Kenji sighed once more as he put on his shoes, which were scattered about at the entrance
”Then I'll also be going now, Satomi-san”
”Landlord-san, you don't have to call me Satomi-san, we'll be classmates the day after tomorrow”
”Hmm, okay Satomi-kun”
”Yes, that way's better”
”Okay, then I'll call you that”
shi+zuka shtly and put on her shoes, which had been left neatly arranged At the same time, Kenji opened the front door
”Thanks a lot for today, Landlord-san”
Hearing Koutarou's thanks, the both of theh the door
”No need, I was glad to help”
” No thanks for me, huh?”
”You're uy”
”I don't think so though”
”Well then, Satooodbye”
”Goodbye, Landlord-san”
”Hurry up and get to sleep”
”I get it, I get it!”
With a bang of the door Kenji and shi+zuka vanished
The lone Koutarou started unpacking once ht at the convenience store
”Hmm Nohat to do with this bat I can't just treat this like any old bat, after all And I can't just leave it in the umbrella stand either”
Koutarou was holding the bat in his hand, thinking of a place to put it The bat was signed and had been used by the so called God of Batting, the legendary Slugger
It was one of the treasures Koutarou valued the most
”Alright, I'll get a stand to decorate it, but for today it'll have to make do in the corner”
Koutarou put down the bat and opened up a new cardboard box
”Noas this again?”
He ripped off the tape and peeked inside
”More treasure, huh”
Contained within the box were trophies, certificates, colove
These were all keepsakes from Koutarou's middle school era
”Oh? What's this doing in here?”
A the trove of keepsakes was one item that didn't fit in with the rest
”I'll need to find a good place to put this”
It was a knitted sweater Koutarou picked up some nearby paper, neatly wrapped it up, and put it in the back of the wardrobe with his suitcase
”And that's that”
Koutarou clapped his hands as he stepped away from the wardrobe
Suddenly, the cellphone he had left charging in a corner of the roo
”Hm? Is that the old man?”
There was only one person with that ringtone a Koutarou's contacts
Satomi Yuichirou
The name that appeared on the cellphone's screen was Koutarou's father's
Koutarou picked up the phone and placed it next to his ear
”hello, old man?”
”Oh, there you are Koutarou”
The voice on the phone was indeed Koutarou's father, Yuichirou
”How's it going over there? Have you unpacked all your luggage?”
”Slowly but surely Mackenzie and the landlord helped me out, so it's at least habitable”
”I see Did you thank both of them properly?”
”Of course How's it going on your end?”
”I' dinner will be served and the bath will be prepared If they washedto complain about”
”Good You're worse than I a on your own, so I was a bit worried, old man”
”Hahaha, that's true”
The Satomi family consisted of just Koutarou and Yuichirou, and Koutarou had been doing almost all of the housework on his own
Of course, he wasn't necessarily good at it
Even so, if Koutarou hadn't done it, Yuichirou would have just er mess
Yuichirou was a man as terrible with housework
”Living separately will be a good chance for you to find a good partner”
Koutarou wanted his father to remarry as quickly as possible
He orried his father would die froer or that his room would fill up with dirt if he didn't
”Guhahaha, that's a bit”
However that was not likely to happen any time soon
The reason being was that Yuichirou was still in love with his late wife
Koutarou understood this and did not voice any complaints
”H well”
”You too, old et to take out the trash”
”I know, I know”
”We'll see about that”
Koutarou felt like he was able to understand how Kenji must feel around him
”Well, I won't hold you up any to do”
”I'll do the same Talk to you later, old man”
”Yeah; good night, Koutarou”
”Good night”
Koutarou casually hung up the phone
”I ondering ould happen when he suddenly brought up the job transfer, but”
Koutarou plugged the charger back into the phone
”Everything is going well for now”
He san to put his room in order
”Already eleven o'clock?”
Koutarou stopped as he noticed the clock approaching 11 PM
”I guess I'll stop for today and go to bed If I oversleep, I'll never hear the end of it from Mackenzie”
Koutarou had been busythese past several days, and on top of that, he had work in the
Due to this, he decided it would be best to go to bed early
”Alright, time to sleep”
Koutarou slid open the wardrobe and pulled out a futon with a floral cover that shi+zuka had prepared for him
With a grunt, he pushed aside a cardboard box and thren the futon
At that point he looked down at the futon
”I guess I should spread it out properly”
Having changed his mind, Koutarou properly spread out the flower-print futon
He would feel bad for his considerate landlord if he just carelessly threw it about
”There we go”
Having finished spreading out the futon, Koutarou turned off the light and crawled inside
”Good night!”
Addressing no one in particular, Koutarou closed his eyes He quickly fell asleep and began breathing calmly and evenly
”Zzzzz”
The only thing that could be heard in Roo, which was about as loud as a ticking clock
This sound would be drowned out by the TV in Roo the door in Room 206 above him
But that only lasted untilcould once again be heard
And then, another small sound could be heard in Room 106
It was not Koutarou, as in a deep sleep and nota muscle
The noise was co from theBut it was not because the as poorly constructed or because as blowing
Despite that, thekept rattling, with the sound growing continuously louder After a few
”Zzzzz”
But despite the sound, Koutarou showed no signs of waking up
”Mmm Mackenzie, just stop already”
In fact, he began talking loudly in his sleep
If such a loud voice wasn't waking him up, neither would the
As if responding to Koutarou's voice, the sound from thestopped
”Guehefuefuefue”
However, right as Koutarou began talking in his sleep again, therang out, almost as if startled
After that, there was silence for a while Koutarou had stopped sleep talking, and a few minutes passed Even so, the incidents did not stop
A high-pitched sound resounded, as if a slass bottle had fallen and broken
However, the source of the sound could not be found inside the room
The noise continued, and at the same time a baseball rolled across the tatami mat
But the source of the sound could still not be found
The noises continued, and they were increasing in volume, several times louder than thefrom before
”Hehehe, Mackenzie, you can't handle Landlord-san? She is cute after all~”
Despite the co up; in fact, he began talking in his sleep once more
”You've got good looks but no guts!”
As if to drown out Koutarou's sleep talk, the s in the roo
As the rooht of chaos, furniture and boxes started rattling, with the sound growing even louder
Even with loud noises right in front of him, Koutarou would not wake up
Even his childhood friend Kenji had a hard ti to Koutarou
”Uehehehehe”
The noise was interrupted by Koutarou's sleep talk once more
And if this noise was caused by someone
”Stop with the rattling, Mackenzie!”
That someone must have been amazed at Koutarou's thickheadedness
A type of hly 09m by 18m and about 5cm thick
A pre-packedschool lunch and work lunch breaks