A Man Who Cooks For Himself And A High School Girl (WN)

41st Meal

Pest Control and Clean Up Part 1

I am basically a sloppy person.

I leave the bedding on the floor unless I have a visitor, and I hang the laundry on hangers on the rack in the room instead of folding it when it is finished drying.
In the corner of the kitchen, one-liter cartons of vegetable juice are stacked in an open container, and once a month I throw the cartons, including food trays, into the collection box at the supermarket.

Although I try to put out the kitchen garbage twice a week because it smells like quicksand, I often forget to put out the plastic garbage bags, so they tend to accumulate on the balcony.

I think I'm a bit of a slacker among college students living alone.
I would like to believe that I am better than Aoba Aoi, but I am not so sure now.

And then one day—the high school girl next door, Mahiru Asahi, said to me.

“Onii-san’s room is always clean, isn't it?”

“…Ha?”

I stop eating my breakfast—today it's a sandwich of a smashed boiled egg with mustard and mayonnaise sauce between two slices of bread—and turn my attention to the girl sitting in front of me.
On the other hand, a high school girl, wearing a rough T-shirt and hoodie because it was her day off, struggled with the egg sauce spilling out of the bread, but still ate the sandwich with a smile on her face that made one think she was eating something delicious.

Just to be clear, my room is hardly clean.
As mentioned above, clothes are left hanging on hangers on a simple rack in the room, and resumes and textbooks that I plan to use in class are piled up in a mess on the floor.

Although the futon has been folded every day since Mahiru's arrival, it is just tucked away in the corner of the room.
Since they take up so much space in the small room, it naturally does not look tidy, and in fact, I do not remember any of my friends saying, “Yuu's room is so clean.”

However, Mahiru continues while chewing on her sandwiches,

“It's true, it's always clean when I come here.
You can cook and you're good at cleaning too…I’m really jealous of your girl power!”

“Girl power…?”

Perhaps she’s being sarcastic…? I suspect for a moment that I am, but unlike some drunken idiot, Mahiru does not do that.
So she really thinks my room is clean…

“…Mahiru has some pretty unique senses…”

“Somehow I don't really feel happy with your words! Why do I feel this wat even though Onii-san just praised me!?”

“S-Sorry.
But I don't think anyone in their right mind would describe this room as ‘Clean,’”

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“Ehh…?” When I said so Mahiru let a voice as if she was disappointed.

“Isn't it clean enough? It's much tidier than my room.”

“No, it's more like your room is just a mess.”

“T-That's not true! It's true that I'm not good at cleaning, but it's not dirty at all…”

“What do you mean by that?”

Thinking about it, I still don't know much about this high school girl's personal life…though it would be strange for me, a mere neighbor, to carelessly intervene in the daily life of an active high school girl.

“…Well, I can't speak for you, but make sure you clean up as often as possible, okay?”

“I-I told you it's not dirty! It's just that there's a little bit too much stuff…”

Mahiru blatantly turns away from me after saying so…Although I feel like I already knew the gist of it, it's probably too much for me to intrude further into her personal life.

Besides, it’s more charming if the room is a little dirty.
A dirty room for an average college student like me is just a drawback, but if it is a pretty girl like Mahiru, it’s rather amusing.

Just as there are men who like to keep things clean, it is only natural that there are women who are not good at keeping things tidy.
Let's stop imposing our own ideals, such as “A girl's room should always be clean and smell nice.”

“…That's right.
This kind of sexist thinking is not good.”

“Where did you get such a serious tone from!? I-I mean, I hope you understand…”

After such a scene, we finished our breakfast and went our ways after cleaning up the dishes.
I had to work on a report for college, and Mahiru was going shopping by herself.

“Well then, have a safe trip.”

“Yes!! And good luck with your report Onii-san!”

“Yeah~”

After seeing the high school girl leave through the front door, I returned to my room and reluctantly opened my laptop, which I don't usually use.
Five minutes after I had started typing away on it, I suddenly heard a pounding sound coming from the front door, causing my shoulders to tremble with fear.

At the same time as he stood up in a hurry, he heard the sound of the unlocked door being opened vigorously, and then Mahiru rushed into the room with a blood-curling expression.

“O-OOOOOOOOOOONIII-SAN!!! P-Please help me!!!”

“W-What’s wrong? I though you were going sho—

Before I could finish what I was saying the girl, with tears in her eyes, hugged my left arm tightly and screamed—

“T-There’s a cockroach in my room!!!”

—The name of that pest, which should be called the natural enemy of mankind.

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