BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEE- I smacked my hand down onto my alarm clock, shutting it up.
I rolled off my futon and landed on my floor with a thud. The floor seemed colder than usual today.
"Winter must be coming" I mumbled to myself. I got up, walked to the kitchen area of the small room and opened the fridge to reveal; an empty carton of milk, a single egg and a half empty bottle of ketchup.
"Guess it's shopping day again" I thought to myself. You see, I am, quite literally, one of those 'hikikomori' people. I live on the second floor of a small 6-room building, which was the cheapest place I could find after my parents kicked me out of the house with 100000¥ and a backpack filled with the few clothes I owned. I guess they were sick of having a daughter who only left her room for bathroom breaks and food. At 18, they judged me capable of surviving alone, so they put me out. A year later, i'm living off the 100000¥ I receive every month from my dad, unemployed and haven't interacted with another human for more than 20 seconds at a time.
Today was grocery day, monthly day of hell where I leave my refuge and go to the store to stock up. I gathered the few dirty hoodies and shirts lying around the floor and shoved them in my laundry bag. Hey, since im going, why not do the laundry while i'm at it? I grabbed my keys and wallet, not even bothering to change from my PJ's, as I sleep with a hoodie and leggings on anyways. I left the room and made my way to the washing mashine, a few meters away from my door. After filling it up, I noticed I still had a few clothes left. Disliking the idea of having to do a second load, I settled on using the neighbor's machine.
The room next to mine had been empty for a while now, so I occasionally took advantage of it. I walked to their machine and tried to open the door. Instead, I go the usual Bing that warns that the clothes are done washing. What? I don't remember putting any clothes in-
My thoughts were interrupted when the "empty" neighbor's door opened, revealing a tall-ish, lean guy with black hair. He noticed me trying to open his washing machine, a laundry bag slung over my shoulder, and shot me a questionning glance. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he finally asks:
"Are you trying to rob my washing machine?"
"I- um-" I started, unsure of what to say.
"My lord, what is the matte-" a blonde man walked out of the other room, but stopped as soon as he noticed me.
"The uh, your laundry's done" I stuttered, feeling my face heat up from embarrassment.
"What the actual hell" I thought, "No one told me i had freaking neighbors". But i mean it has been a month since I last left the house.
I backed away from the machine and dropped my laundry bag.
"This isn't what it looks like" I tried to explain.
"I-I didn't know i had neighbors and-" I stopped myself. I can't tell them I only leave my house once a month, they'll think im some kind of loser or something. But then again, I am one..
"It's okay, we didn't know either" the black haired one gave a small laugh. "I'm Maou and that' Ashiya" he pointed to the blonde man, who appeared to be wearing.. and apron? With flowers?
"I- uh I'm Akira" I managed to mumble.
"Nice to meet you, Akira. Hey, why don't you join us for lunch?" the blonde one, Ashiya, asked.
Uh oh.
"I-I Thank you, but uh I should get going, I was heading to the store" I rambled, giving them an apologetic hand gesture.
"Sure, maybe next time, yeah?" Maou smiled.
I nodded and quickly made my way out, nearly tripping over those cursed stairs. I then ran around the corner, towards the store.
Only then did I realize, I had left my laundry bag in the hall.
