It Seems Like a Girl I Don’t Know Is Doing Housework at My Place. But She’s Cute, So I’m Watching Her.

“──So, you know, Meg always puts on this calm, collected face!? Don’t you think that’s unfair?”

My body shakes back and forth. The source of the tremors is the stalker leaning against me.

On this unstable beanbag, she’s pressing her entire body against me as if trying to rub herself in, causing the kind of shaking you’d expect from a major earthquake. I really wish she’d stop.

“Meg pretends to be cool, but she’s actually quite the scatterbrain. Yet she thinks she’s got it all together. People who are naturally like that don’t even realize it, do they?”

More than anything, I want her to stop pressing her body against me so hard. As she talks—no, more like mutters to herself—her excitement seems to be rising, to the point where the initial shyness she had is completely gone, and now she’s all over me.

Her entire body is soft, and she smells sweet for some reason I can’t quite place, which is really messing with my mental state… Honestly, it’s pretty tough.

Also, since earlier, I’ve been quietly confused. Who the hell is Meg in the first place? I don’t even know the person who’s talking to me, so I’m at a loss for how to react to a story about a friend who’s probably also a stranger to me. …Well, not that I’m going to react anyway.

“Ah! That’s right! I have something else I want to tell you about everyone!”

“…”

No, before you start talking about ‘everyone,’ could you at least talk about yourself first? All these people you’re mentioning are just unknown strangers to me.

At least introduce yourself. I can’t say this out loud, so you wouldn’t know, but in my head, I still refer to you as ‘the stalker.’

We’re sitting so close we might as well be a lovey-dovey couple, and you keep talking about being like a live-in girlfriend, but emotionally, we’re worlds apart.

At this point, you might as well start referring to yourself in the third person. Some women do that, right? I don’t know if your true self is coming out, but your initial character is starting to slip. At this point, I’d accept an obvious character change. …Not that I’d interact with you either way.

“Um, so, uh, right! What should we do for dinner? I could make something if you like? …Though I know Haruto-kun is good at cooking, so I’m not super confident.”

“…”

Hmm. …So, she’s planning to stay until dinner, which means this will drag on until at least 8 PM.

She seems to know my first name and that I’m good at cooking, but let’s set that aside for now.

Ah, this is bringing back my theory that this stalker might actually be a customer from my part-time job. But I’ll shelve that for now too, because there’s a more pressing issue.

“…”

So, what should I do? If she actually makes dinner, it’s going to be hard to keep ignoring her. If there’s food right in front of me, it’s hard to just not eat it…

It’s not that I particularly like cooking, but I work part-time at a restaurant, and I’m also responsible for the kitchen. Because I get paid to cook, I know how much effort goes into it.

When I see someone treating something I made carelessly, it feels like all that effort was wasted, and it’s incredibly frustrating.

That’s why I don’t like to play around with food. My policy is to eat what’s served properly. I don’t mind if someone leaves food if they’re full or if it’s something they don’t like.

But when people get so caught up in chatting that they don’t eat at all, or they leave food sitting there just to post on social media, that kind of behavior really gets on my nerves.

So, what I’m saying is, if she serves me food, I won’t be able to keep ignoring her. If she asks for my opinion, I’ll probably end up replying too.

“…”

In that case, should I make dinner myself? But what about the stalker’s portion? Making just my own food and ignoring hers would be a bit much…

You might think it’s too late to worry about that after ignoring her so thoroughly until now. But as I said, I have a line I won’t cross when it comes to food.

It’s not about trying to impress her or worrying about her opinion. I just want to do it properly if I’m going to cook. Plus, if I don’t, the food won’t taste good.

Making just my own portion? Leaving nothing for her? That kind of dinner would be miserable. As a stalker, she’s definitely looking forward to my cooking, and if I tell her there’s no food for her, what kind of face will she make?

I’m not the kind of person who can enjoy their meal with someone like that in front of them. I have no interest in eating a meal that’s guaranteed to taste bad. Playing around with food is off-limits.

“…Maybe it’s time.”

In that case, today might be the last day I can keep ignoring her. It’s frustrating, but I can’t go against my principles.

As for the ignoring, it’s been mostly out of stubbornness, about 80% of it. But between stubbornness and principles, principles win out, naturally.

I guess I’ll just take this as an opportunity. It’s been two weeks and a bit since this started. Considering I’ve been seeing her almost every day now, I think I’ve held out pretty well.

I let out a small breath. Of course, I feel awkward about suddenly facing her after all this time. But once I’ve decided, I’ll follow through… Huh?

“Uh, um… Did you just say something!?”

Just as I was gathering my resolve, I felt something off and stopped moving. The softness pressing against me was trembling slightly, hinting at something unusual.

“…”

──Is this stalker trembling slightly?