Journey to Planar World

Two days later.

Mahiru’s mood had slowly begun to improve significantly.

Thanks to Charlie’s presence, as he was always by her side, and the quiet atmosphere of the apartment, she was gradually able to forget the terrifying shadows of the terrorism incident that had struck Seijo High School two days ago. The trauma that had once filled her chest now began to erode, replaced once more by the peace of their daily routine.

That afternoon, Mahiru was standing in front of the kitchen sink, humming a little tune while washing a few plates and bowls left over from their teapot. However, in the middle of her task of rinsing away the foam, the stream of water coming out of the tap suddenly dwindled before finally stopping completely.

”Eh...?” Mahiru furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

She tried tapping the iron pipe of the tap, then twisted its knob back to the off position and opened it up to the maximum again.

However, her efforts yielded no results whatsoever.

The tap remained silent without releasing a single drop of water, even though the water supply in the bathroom was still functioning normally.

Mahiru exhaled a sigh of resignation, then turned her head toward the living room where Charlie was sitting comfortably on the sofa while watching a television show.

”Charlie-kun.” She called out in a slightly complaining tone. ”The tap in the kitchen suddenly won’t release any water. It seems like there’s a part inside that’s broken or clogged. Can you do something to fix it?”

Hearing the call, Charlie averted his gaze from the television screen. He rose to his feet and stepped over to the kitchen.

”Let me take a look for a moment.”

Bending down, Charlie opened the door of the small storage cabinet beneath the sink to inspect the drainage pipe line and the main valve.

After analyzing it for a moment, he concluded that there was an issue with the rubber gasket inside the tap adapter, which had worn out and was clogging the flow.

Under the close supervision of Mahiru, who stood beside him bending down to watch, Charlie went to work.

He fetched a repair toolbox from the cupboard. With practiced and deft movements, he used an adjustable wrench to loosen the tap connection, removed the damaged part, and then replaced it with a new rubber gasket component from inside his box.

Mahiru observed every detail of Charlie’s hand movements with a pair of eyes sparkling in admiration. She did not expect that this man, who usually faced great dangers, could also be so meticulous when dealing with trivial domestic household chores.

”How wonderful, Charlie-kun.” She praised sincerely, a sweet smile gracing her face. ”I didn’t expect you to be so skilled and knowledgeable about domestic repair matters like this. I thought men your age would usually immediately call a plumber if something broke at home.”

Charlie retightened the tap bolt with his adjustable wrench, then turned the main valve beneath the sink to let the water flow again.

”Learning basic skills like this is a highly crucial thing if you want to survive independently without relying on others.” He said casually while packing his tools back into the box. ”Now, go ahead and try turning on the tap.”

Mahiru immediately reached out and twisted the kitchen tap knob. In the next second, clean water instantly gushed out very heavily without the slightest bit of obstruction.

”Wow, it really is completely back to normal!” She looked at him with a gaze that grew increasingly full of respect. ”Thank you very much, Charlie-kun. You really can be relied upon in any situation.”

”Don’t hesitate to always rely on me, Mahiru.” Charlie said while closing the toolbox. He stood up straight and looked at the girl with a relaxed smile. ”Technically, I am staying here in your apartment. I feel bad if I keep constantly letting you handle all the household matters alone without helping you at all.”

Hearing that honest statement, Mahiru shook her head slowly, looking at him with a soft sparkle in her eyes.

”I don’t mind it at all, you know, Charlie-kun. Besides, I myself really do like doing household chores like cooking and cleaning. So, you don’t need to feel hesitant.”

Charlie only chuckled softly upon accepting the girl’s sincere answer. He then turned around and walked back toward the living room, settling his body comfortably on the sofa, and then resumed his temporarily interrupted activity of watching the show on television.

Meanwhile, Mahiru turned her body back toward the sink and continued the rest of her dishwashing work that had been halted due to the broken tap earlier.

Once all the kitchen utensils were thoroughly rinsed clean and arranged neatly on the drying rack, Mahiru dried both her hands with a hand towel.

She stepped quietly toward the living room, then without hesitation chose to join him by sitting on the same sofa as Charlie.

Whether intentional or not, Mahiru shifted her body and sat very close to the man’s side, so close that their shoulders almost touched each other.

Afterward, the two of them enjoyed the rest of the afternoon by watching the television broadcast together in a peaceful silence without needing to utter a single word.

8:30 PM.

The night grew later when Mahiru, who had just checked the contents of the kitchen storage cabinet and the refrigerator, suddenly let out a short breath. She walked over to Charlie, who was still in the living room.

”Charlie-kun, I just checked the kitchen and realized that our rice stock and a few other food ingredients have very little left.”

”Would you accompany me to go out for a moment to shop for kitchen necessities at the nearest supermarket?”

Charlie immediately shifted his gaze from the television screen and nodded without the slightest bit of hesitation.

”Of course, I don’t mind at all. Let’s go right now.”

To him, this request was not a troublesome thing. After all, his main duty as a Savior in this world was indeed to protect Mahiru from any form of potential danger lurking out there.

After getting ready for a moment and putting on warm casual clothes, the two of them stepped out from inside the apartment.

However, right when the two of them had just pulled and closed the door, the door of the neighboring apartment unit located exactly next to them suddenly opened slowly.

The figure of Amane stepped out from inside his home, intending to throw away the trash.

The moment his eyes caught the presence of Charlie and Mahiru coming out at the same time from one and the same door, Amane’s footsteps briefly ground to a halt out of surprise. However, he quickly regained his composure.

”Good evening, Charlie-sensei, Shiina-san.”

He greeted them in a highly polite tone of voice, bowing his head slightly as a form of formal courtesy outside of school.

”Good night, Fujimiya-kun.” Mahiru replied with a friendly smile that was just as perfect as always.

After a few brief, awkward words of small talk regarding the cold night weather, the three of them walked side by side toward the apartment elevator located at the end of the corridor.

Once the metal elevator doors slid open, they entered together in a silence that felt a little tense before Charlie and Mahiru finally exited first on the lobby floor, while Amane still had to continue his journey to the basement floor.

Inside the silence of the elevator, which had now emptied, Amane stood all alone with a vacant look in his eyes.

He suddenly furrowed his brow deeply, while gently squeezing the left side of his chest.

For some reason, deep down in the depths of his heart at this moment, he felt as though he had just lost something highly precious in his life, a hollow feeling that he could not explain with words.

”Huuuh...”

Alone inside the descending elevator, Amane exhaled a long breath and then murmured in wonder with a tone of voice full of disbelief.

”Actually... aren’t the two of them afraid that I might tell the people at school that they are currently living together in one apartment? All this time, they haven’t even asked me once to keep this matter a secret, as if they aren’t worried at all if it happens to become known by the public...”

Amane shook his head, thinking about the existing social premises.

A handsome young male teacher and an underage female student living together under one and the same roof.

In Japan’s rigid society, who would believe it if someone said that nothing was happening between the two of them inside the house?

”Who would have thought that the figure of the school’s ’Angel’, who is famous for being utterly perfect and untouched, actually possesses such a close, taboo relationship with one of the new teachers...” Amane smiled wryly, laughing at his own thoughts. ”Ah, forget it, after all, none of that has anything to do with me whatsoever.”

He was well aware of his own social position within the school environment.

”Even if I dared to speak this truth to the public, it feels like not a single person would be willing to believe my words. Besides, at Seijo High School, other than Itsuki and Chitose, I don’t have any other close friends at all. If I recklessly spread this information, the people in class would instead definitely consider me a strange loser who is deliberately spreading malicious rumors and cheap slander to bring down Shiina-san’s good name.”

However, no matter how hard Amane tried to convince himself that he did not care, the flash of memory regarding just how close Charlie and Mahiru’s standing positions had been in front of the apartment door earlier kept spinning in his head.

The natural closeness radiating from the body language of the two of them made Amane’s feelings become increasingly uncomfortable.

His chest suddenly felt tight and painful, as if an invisible arrow had just shot through and pierced right into his heart.

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