As the evening approached, the summer heat still showed no signs of relenting. Amidst the noisy cries of the cicadas, Ootsuki Haruto, who was drenched in sweat, unbuttoned the collar of his uniform and fanned himself as he opened the front door of his house.
"I'm home~"
After saying his greetings at the entrance, Haruto took off his shoes and entered the house. At the end of the corridor, a person slowly walked towards him.
"Welcome home, Haruto."
"I'm home, Grandma. Look, I got these at a bargain from the supermarket on my way back."
Haruto lifted the bag he held in one hand, sporting a proud expression.
Inside the bag were his spoils of the day: ground meat and onions.
"The ground meat was 118 yen for a hundred grams. And the onions were sold for 298 yen for a pack of five."
"Oh my, my, it must have been very crowded, dear."
Haruto's grandmother expressed her concern as she took the bag from him.
"You said it, grandma. It made me realize just how formidable housewives can be."
Fueled by their mission to secure affordable groceries, the housewives of this world possess a potential that is no less than that of energetic and youthful high school boys.
As he walked home, memories of being caught in the chaotic swarm of these powerful beings known as housewives on a sweltering midsummer afternoon flashed through Haruto's mind, leaving a haggard expression on his face.
"Oh my, you must have had a tough time, dear. Well, how about we have some hamburg steak for dinner?"
As his grandmother kindly appreciated his hard struggles, her suggestion for the evening menu instantly brightened Haruto's expression.
"If I get to eat your hamburg steak, Grandma, I can take on housewives every day!"
"I see, I see. Then why don't you wash your hands and gargle, dear."
"Got it!"
Haruto responded and headed towards the washbasin, thoroughly washing his hands and gargling before making his way to a traditional Japanese room.
A Buddhist altar was placed against the wall of the room, adorned with three photographs.
"Mom, Dad, Grandpa, I'm home. Starting today, it's going to be my summer vacation, see."
As he clasped his hands together in front of the altar, Haruto's voice was soft.
"This summer vacation, I'm planning to work part-time. But don't worry, I'll still study hard. Oh, and I'll be sure to visit the dojo, so don't worry, Grandpa."
Currently, only Haruto and his grandmother lived in the Ootsuki household. His parents had passed away in a traffic accident when he was young. Fortunately, Haruto survived the accident and was taken in by his maternal grandparents.
To ensure that Haruto could lead a stable life despite losing his parents at a young age, his grandparents had raised him with firm discipline and without coddling. His grandfather enrolled him in a karate dojo to strengthen both his body and mind, while his grandmother imparted rigorous lessons in household chores such as cleaning, laundry, and cooking to ensure he could fend for himself.
Thanks to their efforts, Haruto had become self-sufficient in most aspects of life and had even acquired enough household skills to take on part-time housekeeping services.
"Well then, maybe I should help grandma now?"
Haruto's grandfather passed away when he entered middle school. Haruto untied his clasped hands and headed towards the kitchen.
Though Haruto had significantly improved his cooking skills through his grandmother's teachings, he was still a novice compared to her. However, in order to get closer to her level, he regularly worked in the kitchen alongside her, aiming to learn her techniques and skills by imitation.
"Grandma's hamburg steaks are really delicious after all."
Haruto imagined the concentrated savory juice that overflowed when he took a bite, and a faint trace of drool threatened to escape his mouth. He quickly swallowed it back and headed to the kitchen.
―…―…―…―…―…―…―…―…―
After finishing dinner, Haruto sat at his desk in his room, textbooks spread out before him.
"Sigh... Grandma's hamburg steaks are just too good."
Though he was in a studying position, Haruto was lost in the memory of dinner. His pen remained still – he seemed far from ready to begin studying.
After a while of absent-mindedness, he regained focus and lightly shook his head, muttering, "Can't let myself get distracted." He turned his attention back to his textbooks.
About an hour later, after dedicating himself to studying, Haruto put his pen down decisively and stretched his body.
"Urghmmm... Maybe I should take a bath soon."
His grandmother had developed back pain lately, so cleaning the bath had become Haruto's responsibility.
"I shouldn't do it any later or else it'll just become troublesome."
Temporarily setting his studies aside, Haruto stood up and headed towards the bathroom. Just as he was about to do so, his smartphone on the desk buzzed with a soft vibration.
"Hmm? Oh, it's from Tomoya."
Seeing the display showing the name "Akagi Tomoya," Haruto picked up the phone and tapped the red phone icon in the center of the screen.
"Hey, what's up?"
[Sup. I just suddenly felt like hearing your voice, Haru.]
"Is that so? You sound like a creep, I'm hanging up."
Haruto was about to end the call immediately, but a hurried voice reached him through the phone.
[Wait, wait, wait! It's a joke, I swear! I really do have something to talk about!]
"What's the point if you don't start with that? You came off as so creepy, I thought my ears would fall off."
[That's harsh! Even though I was serious about half of what I said..]
"Aight, cya. Let's meet at school when the break's over."
[I'm sorry! I won't joke around anymore!]
Hearing his friend's panicked voice, Haruto leaned on his desk with a smirk on his lips.
[So, after we left the school yesterday, there was an interesting thing that happened. I'm sure you're curious too, right?]
"Interesting thing? What happened?"
Akagi Tomoya, Haruto's best friend, had an extensive network of friends, so he often had information on school events and gossip. He liked sharing these stories with Haruto, just like he was doing now.
[About that, do you know about Kaitou-senpai from the third year?]
"Ah... Isn't he the one from the tennis club?"
Haruto took a moment to recall who Kaitou-senpai was. As far as Haruto's memory served, this Kaitou-senpai was the ace of the tennis club, and his skills were said to rival even those of professional players.
In fact, after graduation, he was reportedly planning to sign a contract with a famous company as a professional player. There were even rumors among the girls in the class that if they became his girlfriend now, they had a high chance of marrying into wealth in the future.
[Exactly. So, apparently, that Kaitou-senpai confessed to Toujou-san.]
"Heh... And then?"
Haruto responded somewhat indifferently, his interest waning, but he encouraged Tomoya to continue.
Confessing to Toujou Ayaka.
This was an event that occurred regularly at the high school Haruto and Tomoya attended, and it wasn't particularly rare.
Moreover, this event's outcome was almost always predictable.
[Just a single 'I'm not interested' from her and the confession was over.]
"I figured."
As expected, Haruto replied disinterestedly to the anticipated outcome.
No matter who confesses to Toujou Ayaka, she simply shakes her head in refusal.
That was her image in Haruto's head.
[Apparently, it wasn't your ordinary confession. Kaitou-senpai's approach was quite bold.]
"Did he make the situation elaborately?"
Throughout history, various guys have taken on the challenge of confessing to Toujou Ayaka, attempting to secure the position of her boyfriend by any means possible.
Among them, there have been quite a few unconventional confessions, and these incidents often become fodder for school gossip, serving as entertaining anecdotes for the students.
[Rather than elaborate, this time, it felt more like a bold move.]
"Did he make a public confession in front of the entire school?"
[I guess you could call it that. But before that, he called Toujou-san out to the schoolyard with an announcement over the school's PA system.]
"Bruh..."
Haruto winced, imagining Toujou-san being called out on the school's PA system for a confession.
[And guess what? Kaitou-senpai didn't just ask her to be his girlfriend; he proposed!]
"Proposed... Kaitou-senpai must be out of his mind."
[It gets even crazier. Apparently, he even prepared an engagement ring.]
"No way..."
Haruto was taken aback again, the second time today.
High school students discussing engagement was absurd enough, but preparing a ring as well? It was beyond Haruto's imagination.
Was it that Kaitou-senpai's thought process has gone haywire? Or could it be that while he's generally level-headed, Toujou Ayaka's charm is so overpowering that it impaired his judgment?
Haruto couldn't come to a conclusion.
[It also seemed like Kaitou-senpai didn't move a muscle for 30 minutes after getting rejected.]
"Of course he would. If I were in his shoes, I'd change into a white robe on the spot and perform seppuku right then and there."
Imagine calling someone out through the school's PA system, propose, and then get rejected, just the thought of it made Haruto's body tremble involuntarily.
[In the end, I bet you're the only one who can move Toujou-san's heart.]
"I'm telling you, there's no way. In the first place, after listening to you, I don't think I even have what it takes to call out to her. I'm no man of valor, you know."
[What, you gutless coward? Well, fair enough. I mean, you won't even have the chance to see Toujou-san until school starts. I'll just be looking forward to the start of the term.]
"Stop having weird expectations, man."
[You're the only one who can become the second Kaitou-senpai!]
"No way I'd become a hopeless man like him!"
Haruto ended the call after giving Tomoya a piece of his tsukkomi.
In response, Tomoya sent a stamp featuring a dignified cat performing a salute. Haruto returned a stamp of a muscular rabbit delivering an uppercut to his opponent's jaw before getting up from his desk to prepare the bath.
The image of Toujou Ayaka, the female student, was no more than an occasional topic in Haruto's conversations with his friend, Tomoya. He never imagined they would become something more than that.
That was, until he started his part-time job with the housekeeping service during the summer vacation.
―…―…―…―…―…―…―…―…―
On the third day of summer vacation, Haruto stood in front of a lavish mansion.
"Damn... For my first job to be serving a socialite..."
Haruto muttered with a resigned expression. Today marked the first day of his part-time job in housekeeping.
He checked his appearance one more time, making sure everything was in order. With slightly trembling fingers due to nervousness, he pressed the button on the intercom.
"...Yes?"
"Ah, I'm from the housekeeping service."
Unexpectedly, a young woman's voice came through the intercom. Haruto's expression tightened as he heard her voice, and he made sure to keep his voice steady to avoid sounding too high-pitched due to nervousness.
"Yes, I'll open the door now. Please wait a moment."
As the voice from the intercom responded, Haruto sensed a slight movement from beyond the door.
Suppressing the rapidly increasing beat of his heart due to nervousness, Haruto exhaled softly and glanced at the nameplate on the side of the entrance.
"There's no way, right...?"
Even though the name on the nameplate seemed familiar, Haruto shook his head lightly, brushing aside any absurd thoughts.
Before long, with a soft metallic click, the front door opened, revealing the client for his housekeeping service.
"Nice to meet you. I'll be in charge of the housekeeping today... My name is... Ootsuki... Haruto..."
Bowing politely, Haruto introduced himself, but as he lifted his head, he faltered for a moment, his words trailing off.
"Huh... Toujou-san?"
During his summer vacation, he had embarked on a part-time job in housekeeping service, only to find out that his first client was none other than their school idol, Toujou Ayaka.
