Satori’s new life with Sousuke began.
Sousuke understood that Satori had tried to help him but had screwed up. He acknowledged Satori’s intentions and gave him duties that he could do on top of that.
On the first day they started living together, Sousuke taught Satori in detail the reasons why he had screwed up, and how to do it correctly.
“Listen, Sato. There are many kinds of detergents in the world, and we use different ones depending on what we’re going to wash.”
Satori was puzzled.
Use different ones depending on what we wash…?
Satori blinked his eyes. Sousuke asked Satori to follow him, then took him to the washroom.
“First of all, this one. This is the detergent you use to wash clothes.”
Sousuke took out some containers that were kept inside a shelf and lined them up in front of Satori.
“This is laundry detergent and fabric softener.”
“Laundry detergent and fabric softener…”
“Yup. The laundry detergent will remove the stain from clothes, and fabric softener is… Err, well, it’s like the finishing touch. You use it to make the clothes softer, but the stain will be removed even with detergent alone. Then, next…”
Sousuke opened the bathroom door and took the shampoo bottle that Satori had used by mistake the other day. He lined it up next to the detergent.
“This is the one you used by mistake the other day. This can also remove the stains, but it’s meant to be used on hair, not clothes.”
“Shampoo… Not for clothes…”
Satori felt dizzy as he saw a lot of similarly shaped items lined up in front of him. He wondered if he could remember them correctly.
In the meantime, Sousuke took one of the bottles in his hand and kept explaining this and that.
“Only use laundry detergent to wash clothes. Don’t use the one for hair…”
Tension and worry swirled in Satori’s chest.
I must not make the same mistake twice. If I screw up again, Sousuke might really come to hate me this time… He might also think of me as a good-for-nothing.
The more Satori tried to remember everything correctly, the more his mind went blank. The colorful bottles in front of him spun around.
“…to. Sato!”
Satori gasped. When he came back to his senses, Sousuke was peering into his face with concerned eyes.
(He just froze, what’s wrong?)
“Sato?”
(Are you alright?)
The moment Sousuke’s voice reached his ears, Satori’s chest tightened.
“So-sousuke! I’ll remember everything correctly! I won’t make any more mistakes like last time! I also won’t use the one that’s used to wash hair anymore!”
“…Sato?”
Sousuke looked at him with a strange look. Satori thought that he had to explain things properly, but the words wouldn’t come out smoothly, as if they were stuck at the back of his throat.
“…It’s okay to make mistakes.”
Sousuke touched Satori’s hair as if comforting him. Satori was startled.
“No one can do everything perfectly on the first try. We make mistakes and learn from them. I also won’t be mad at you if you make a mistake on something you tried your best at.”
After saying that, Sousuke thought for a moment before adding, “…Maybe.” Sousuke laughed. He asked Satori if he was alright, and Satori nodded his head in reply.
I’m okay. My head is not blank anymore. The bottles in front of me have also stopped spinning.
Noticing that Satori had calmed down, Sousuke muttered ‘Good’.
“For now, let’s try doing it together.”
Sousuke took the clothes out of the laundry basket.
“First, you have to separate colored clothes from white ones. If you don’t do that, sometimes the color from other clothes will get on the white ones.”
Sousuke explained it slowly, as if he were talking to a child. After panicked feelings such as worrying about making mistakes, or that he couldn’t remember things properly were gone, Satori could easily understand Sousuke’s explanation, unlike last time.
Clothes are separated between colored ones and white ones. If not, the color from other clothes will get on the white ones.
Satori repeated the things that Sousuke had taught him in his mind and drilled them into his head.
“Also, before you put the clothes in the washing machine, make sure to check inside the pocket first. Sometimes there’s still something inside it.”
Check inside the pockets before putting in the clothes.
After that, Sousuke picked up a blue bottle.
“See, there’s ‘detergent for laundry’ written on this, yeah? If you don’t know which one is the laundry detergent, just read it.”
There were some kind of letters written in the place pointed by Sousuke’s finger. But Satori, who couldn’t read human letters, didn’t know what was written there. Instead, Satori stared at the bottle being held by Sousuke. He compared it with the other bottles and remembered the differences in shape and color. Now, he had remembered it.
Seeing Satori nodding his head, Sousuke measured the contents of the bottle with a small bottle cap and put it in the washing machine.
“Then, select a course …Well, I guess the standard course is fine for now. Close the lid, then press the start button.”
When Sousuke pushed the button, the washing machine started to work properly. Satori unconsciously shouted with excitement.
Wow! Sousuke is so amazing!
As Satori looked at him with sparkling eyes, Sousuke looked a little bit embarrassed.
“…Well, it’s not something to be praised for…”
While fidgeting shyly, Sousuke urged Satori to the living room.
After that, Sousuke taught Satori how to wash the dishes and how to use the vacuum cleaner.
Then they took a break and sat next to each other on the sofa. Satori, of course, had the ‘tasty slightly colored water’, and Sousuke had the usual beer in his hand. Sousuke opened the can and drank it as if he was enjoying it a lot.
Will he be okay? If it was that bitter, wouldn’t Sousuke’s mouth become weird because of it?
Satori nervously stared at him with a side glance. Sousuke turned his head to Satori, perhaps having noticed his gaze. Sousuke grinned and asked Satori if he wanted to drink some beer. Satori hurriedly shook his head, then Sousuke burst out laughing. Satori wondered what was so funny while Sousuke kept laughing while covering his mouth with the back of his right hand. For some reason, he felt like he was being laughed at, but if Sousuke was happy then he was happy with it too.
As Satori sipped the tasty colored water with a smile on his face, Sousuke stopped moving all of a sudden. Sousuke suddenly looked at him with a serious face, and he was startled.
(I wonder where he came from? How has he been living all this time? Just how…?)
Unable to respond to Sousuke’s thoughts coming from beside him, Satori looked down.
All of a sudden, the evening sky could be seen outside the window. A delicious smell drifted in from somewhere, and Satori’s stomach growled. He held his stomach and rubbed it with his hand. Satori didn’t have any feeling of embarrassment that his growling stomach was heard by others.
Satori was a spirit, so he wouldn’t die even if he didn’t eat. But he also felt hungry just like humans, so he thought that it was weird.
Once again, Satori’s stomach growled. This time it was very loud.
Satori tilted his head and rubbed his stomach again.
At that moment, a laughing voice could be heard from beside him. Satori turned his head, wondering what was going on. What he saw was Sousuke, who was clutching his stomach, struggling to hold back his laughter.
“…Your stomach is protesting so loudly, it’s asking for food.” Sousuke rubbed the tears from the corner of his eyes with his fingers. “Let’s go get something to eat for now,” Sousuke said as he got up from the sofa.
The clothes that Satori had been wearing up until now were being washed, so he had to borrow Sousuke’s clothes. Sousuke was standing in front of the closet with a difficult face before finally pulling out a very simple white T-shirt and jeans to give to Satori.
“Try putting these on.”
Satori took off the clothes he had borrowed last night to use as pajamas and picked up the clothes Sousuke had prepared for him. He put on the T-shirt through his head, then put on the jeans.
“…Hmm. As I thought, it’s too big on you, but oh well. Good thing it’s summer now.”
Sousuke mumbled something as he rolled up the hem of Satori’s pants.
“…We have to go shopping first thing on my next day off. We have to buy some clothes that you can wear…”
Satori tilted his head. He didn’t understand what Sousuke was talking about, but he was incredibly happy that he could do something together with Sousuke. Right now, the Sousuke that he had always wanted to meet was right beside him.
As Satori smiled silently, Sousuke let out a small sigh. Then, Sousuke scratched the back of his head, as if he was troubled about something.
“Let’s go.”
After a while, Sousuke’s inner voice that said he decided on ramen for today’s meal could be heard.