02: Women Have More Sensitive Skin

As much as he would have liked to take a long soak in the bathtub, he settles instead for a quick shower. There are two rooms available in the east wing of the boarding house. He takes the one nearest to the bathroom. He figures it would be easier to access at night when it's dark and both his balance and speed is unreliable and wobbly at best despite having proper support from his new friend, the cane.

The bathroom is stripped of all bare necessities. No soap, no shampoo, no toilet paper. There isn't even a small bucket to use. The place is kept clean no doubt but the lack of bathroom accessories, female hygiene and hair care products tells him that Ritsu Kawai, the daughter of the owner and the acting manager of this boarding house uses a different bathroom.

At least he doesn't have to share the bathroom with anyone. That's a big relief. The chances of running into her, half naked or in the process of taking her clothes off, before she is about to take a bath is close to nonexistent. And now he is imagining her as completely naked. Damn hormones. He has been cooped up in the hospital for too long. Maybe it's a side effect of one of those pills. He should probably stop taking them.

He is not thinking straight. He is losing his goddamn mind. The first woman he interacts with after leaving the hospital, after leaving his house is so very strange. She is weird. She is into books. She is not really sexy. She is not. No, she is not. She isn't very talkative, she doesn't have much of a personality, her hair is short, her breasts aren't really that big, and he is pretty sure he can come up with a bunch of other reasons why he shouldn't be having such inappropriate thoughts about a woman he just met.

It's a good thing he is having a cold shower right now. It feels good to punish yourself for having such stupid thoughts. It wakes you the fuck up and makes you face the reality of the situation. He is scarred and ugly. Ritsu Kawai is his landlord. She can kick him out of the boarding house. He doesn't want that, he doesn't want that at all. Therefore, it is in his best interest to establish an amicable relationship with her. Who knows, maybe she is in the market for a good friend. She doesn't seem like a woman who goes out too much. Doesn't really look like a woman who has friends or a boyfriend. It's just her and her books and the lovely solitude of this wonderful house. He can appreciate that. He can appreciate her. Now if only something could be done about those three square meals he was promised.

From what he could gather, Ritsu Kawai isn't really enthusiastic about the idea of preparing lunch for a man. No, she doesn't seem enthusiastic about cooking, period. He hasn't had breakfast today. He was just itching to come here and check out the house for himself and move in at the earliest possible time, as quick as humanly possible. He just had an overnight backpack with him and he was ashamed to admit that his back actually hurt a little from carrying such a small load. He was out of the hospital, but he was far from being completely healed, far from being his normal self. The cane in his hand and the ache in his limbs was a constant reminder. Even simple things like drying himself off with a towel or trying to wear his clothes, getting his arm through the freaking arm hole, slipping into his trousers, it took longer than it should have and he shouldn't be thinking about how much it would hurt to fall down. Constantly.

When he was properly dressed, hair mostly combed with just the ahoge sticking out, he started to limp towards the kitchen. He was feeling more than a bit hungry. He figured he could fix himself a small meal. After all, he was crippled, not useless. Maybe he had overreacted a bit when he told her he was completely useless in the kitchen in his present condition. He's not gonna lie. The fire scared him. Being near hot utensils and boiling stuff freaked him out. Nowadays he was always worried about losing his balance and falling face first over sharp objects or the burning stove and getting the rest of his face scarred, but he had to make peace with his fears.

He could make a sandwich. It's a start. Maybe if he got lucky he would find a cup of instant ramen lying around. Those proved to be a life saver more than once. And they tasted good. He couldn't really complain. Beggars can't be choosers. As he turned down the corner, the sunlight from the courtyard hit him and he had to cover his eyes. His eyes were sensitive to the sun, but then whose wasn't. He shuffled quickly and took refuge in the living room.

Ritsu Kawai was sitting in the corner reading a book. It was different than the book she was reading before. He hadn't been in the shower for too long and it didn't take much time to get dressed and walk over here even with his cane. There's no way she could have completed reading the other book in such a short amount of time. "What happened to the other book?" he asked.

Purples eyes didn't stray from the pages. Her voice was the same monotone of disinterest which he had come to associate with her. "I was in the mood for something else."

Huh. Interesting. So she is the kind of person who reads several books at the same time. He knew she was a bit crazy. Now he had another proof. He ignored the pain in his limbs and the grumble of his stomach and sat down on the floor. He tried to cross his legs but a sharp jolt of pain stopped him from making another attempt. She threw a worried look over her book and he assumed he had yelped out loud, despite trying not to. Way to go, Hachiman. A little bit of his bad mood slipped into his words. "I usually finish a book before picking up a new one."

Ritsu Kawai flipped a page and ignored his rottenness altogether. "I used to do that when I was young." She said. There was no smile on her face. He didn't think there was any fondness in the short reminiscence. It was just a statement of fact. It's just something she did. Which she stopped doing now. Because, "But then I realized I was limiting my experience."

Wow. He was right. She was a certified bibliophile. "How many books are you reading at the moment?"

"One."

Haha. Very funny. Guess he walked straight into that one. Who knew, little miss bookworm had a sense of humour. Or maybe this was her way of telling him not to disturb her. He got that. Reading a book is a perfect way to let someone know that their company is not desired. He wasn't trying to talk to her. Okay, maybe he was. But, he had his reasons. The two of them were going to live under the same roof from here on. They weren't roommates, thank god, but they would be seeing each other a lot. Now they could act awkward around each other or they could try to get along. Also, she was the manager of this boarding house. She had certain responsibilities which needed to be carried out. If she wasn't up for his lame attempt at small talk, he guessed they were better off talking business. "We are out of toilet paper."

"There are some rolls in the storage room." She said. Momentarily she looked up from her pages and fixed him with a steady glare. "Be sure to take the ones from the men's storage. The women's storage room is off-limits to men."

He scoffed. Again with that crap. What's the big deal, he thought. "It's just toilet paper. Don't tell me you buy better quality products for women and crappier stuff for men. That would be silly."

Silence. He was met with complete and utter silence. Ritsu Kawai blushed and focused her gaze back onto the pages of her book. She flipped another page and ignored his rotten dead fish eyed stare. He waited for her to make a rebuttal, but not a single reply seemed forthcoming. "Huh." Came the voice from his throat after a significant moment had passed where only the sound of a ticking clock could be heard.

Maybe it was the sound of his voice or something close to guilt which finally made her break. "Women have more sensitive skin."

"Bullshi-"

He would have cursed but he stopped at the last second. He recognized those footfalls. Being stuck to the hospital bed for four weeks, unable to move for half those weeks, your subconscious picks up on anything which breaks the monotony of visits made by doctors and nurses and the bitter taste of medicine. Overtime he had memorized the rhythm of her footsteps.

"Onii-chan!"

Komachi Hikigaya was standing at the doorway of the living room. He didn't see her when he left today. He thought he wouldn't be able to leave the house if she told him to stay. He thinks he did the right thing. At least that's what he is telling himself right now.

He expected her to throw herself in his arms and hug the life out of him, but he can see her take a couple of steps towards him and then pause, hesitatingly. She is worried that she might accidentally hurt him.

He feels utterly pathetic. Is this the kind of man he is now, something not made of bones and muscles, but fragile twigs which could be snapped with the barest hint of strength. Pathetic. He can't even hug his own sister if she barrels into his arms. And even if he might choose to risk it, she won't because she knows the nature of his weakness, knows he will hurt from the suddenness of her actions. She was there in the hospital. She knows everything. She might even know more than he does.

As he takes a step closer to her and hunkers down, he tries to ignore the pain he feels throughout his entire body and embraces her, lets him be enveloped by her warmth. "Komachi." He is just a broken man now. Not the brother she is used to. He should get used to it, even if it makes his nonexistent heart shatter into tiny little pieces. She was the reason why he decided to move. He couldn't live with the look on her face, the look which said that she knew, she wouldn't get her old brother back. At least not for the time being.

He didn't ask her why she is here or what she is doing here, because those are stupid questions. Instead he asked, "How did you get in?"

Komachi smiled mischievously, a look she doesn't wear as often around him nowadays. "The front door was unlocked."

He stared at the woman who is still sitting on the floor, trying and failing to read her book in silence. Ritsu Kawai doesn't look remotely embarrassed for making such a stupid mistake. She doesn't even shrug her shoulders but says. "I thought you locked it."

And now he knows that he has to look after the safety and security of the boarding house on his own, because Ritsu Kawai is a woman who can't be depended on for anything. She is a complete and total failure as a manager of this boarding house and from the looks of it she is not even trying to get better. Despite himself, he asks the obvious question. "What if a burglar broke into our house?"

Ritsu Kawai looks up from her book and her answer is instant. "Burglars don't usually steal books. I would have been fine."

He lets out a hiss of breath. He doesn't even care right now. "What about me?"

"You have a cane." She says before going back into her book. "You can use it as a weapon."

Komachi actually laughs at that one.

A/N: I decided to give the existing characters a bit more breathing space before introducing new characters. Don't worry, your favourites will show up in the future chapters.

Now the boarding house will have six residents. I have made up my mind on Hikigaya, Ritsu Kawai, Isshiki and Sayu Ogiwara. But the other two characters, I leave up to you:

Here are the options:

Option 1: Chizuru Ichinose – Rental Girlfriend.

Option 2: Hayase Nagatoro – Miss Nagatoro.

Option 3: Koizumi Risa – Lovely Complex.

Option 4: Nagisa Furukawa – Clannad.

Option 5: Taiga Aisaka –Toradora.

Note: It would be best if you give me your picks, suggest your favourite characters, because maybe I haven't found the characters I'm searching for quite yet.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.