The person who likes me is a yandere.

"I always felt that Xiao Qiong had a lot of burdens. She was responsible for the hard work of cleaning and preparing meals."

I agree with that. But there are actually reasons for doing so.

"At first, my brother was in charge of cleaning... but I don't know why, I guess it's like something unbelievable always happens whenever my brother cleans... Ah, I'll go make some black tea. I like to drink tea after meals."

Qiong walked towards the kitchen.

"Qianyu, what's going on?"

"Oh dear, the three chores most likely to affect someone with a bad luck constitution are cleaning, cooking, and reading messages on the message board. Whenever I cook, something amazing happens. When I'm grilling fish, stray cats attracted by the aroma will break through the screen window and snatch the fish. Cats are really fast creatures. They can't catch up to Sazae-san (the female protagonist of a popular Japanese manga, whose scenes of chasing cats are quite famous in Japan)."

"...Circling the message board can bring bad luck...What happened?"

"My neighbor has a Shiba Inu in the entryway. It's a very well-behaved Shiba Inu. But, although there were no problems before, whenever I leave a message, for some reason, the Shiba Inu starts chasing me like a rabid or ferocious dog. A Shiba Inu barking like crazy is scary."

"...So, you didn't hand over the message board in the end?"

"No, a mere dog can't chase me away. I finally managed to get to the front door and press the intercom... and then, I don't know if that absent-minded young lady had just finished taking a shower, but she came out to answer the door wrapped in a towel."

"...Huh, isn't that a lucky thing for boys?"

"If that ditzy heiress didn't have a boyfriend who was as furious as the crazy Shiba Inu I just saw following her, then that would be true. He seemed displeased with the fact that his girlfriend was only wearing a scarf, and he glared at me fiercely... even though I really didn't do anything."

"...What bad luck."

"I don't want to have a disagreement with my neighbors over something as trivial as leaving a message on the message board."

"You won't run into bad luck if you take out the trash or pull the weeds in the yard, right?"

"I get attacked by crows at the landfill about once every three times I take out the trash. But they're much easier to deal with than crazy Shiba Inus. I don't have to pull the grass in the yard. In the past, when planes flew over our house, although it sounds fake, some cargo actually fell down."

"...You just said that cargo fell off the plane?"

"Yes, it's unbelievable, isn't it? A bag full of salt fell into my yard, hit the ground hard, and the bag broke apart, scattering salt all over my yard."

"...This is truly unbelievable bad luck."

"Because even the deep soil is mixed with salt, weeds can't grow. I think it will be half a century before we can enjoy the pleasures of a garden."

"But over in the courtyard..."

Asuna looked out the window. I looked out too. Under the deep blue sky, ten minutes after sunset, the outlines of flowers were indeed visible.

Chapter Thirty: What I Hate Most?

"The grass outside is beautiful. And are there cosmos flowers blooming?"

"The turf is artificial. I tidied it up. The cosmos flowers are artificial. I'll pull them out in late October. I'll replace them with tulips in the spring and plant artificial sunflowers in the summer, so please don't worry about it too much. Miraculously, Qiong didn't notice that they were artificial flowers."

"...Artificial sunflowers, that's kind of exciting... Ah, Koharu, thank you."

After returning, Qiong placed the teacups from the tray side by side on the table in front of the sofa. She seemed not to have heard about the artificial flowers. Qiong asked with a smile:

"...So, how should we share the housework?"

"I hope you can entrust me with various tasks. After all, I'm staying here temporarily."

Then, we decided one by one how to share the housework in our new life.

Sora and Asuna take turns cooking every day. Starting tomorrow, it will be Asuna's turn to cook.

Sora was still in charge of cleaning. Both Sora and I were reluctant to have Asuna, who had just moved in, clean the house.

The person who was in charge of cooking that day and I were responsible for washing the dishes.

I'll still be the one to throw away the trash.

I was still the one pulling up the weeds in the yard (even though they never actually grew).

The message board was left to Qiong. There was a feeling that suddenly having it handed over to the neighbor might cause trouble.

When deciding to go here, Asuna suggested:

"It hardly lightened Xiaochun's burden at all."

"Spring is fine. I'm really looking forward to Xiaoming's cooking... Um, there's still one thing we haven't decided yet."

"Replacing a broken light bulb... Leave that to me. No matter which light bulb in the house is broken, it's a piece of cake."

"That's what my brother does best. I'm really looking forward to it. And... about the purchasing work..."

"Ah, buying groceries? We haven't decided yet... How about Asuna and I take over from next time? How about that, is that alright, Asuna?"

"Of course I have no problem."

"Okay, then I'll go shopping tomorrow. Please take care of it after school."

"Huh? Doesn't Qiong need to go shopping?"

Qiong looked unwell. He was probably just being polite.

"You don't need to worry about it. I want to lighten Qiong's burden. Leave the shopping to me."

"I don't see it as a burden at all..."

Qiong muttered to herself. Qiong is such a hardworking girl.

Asuna exclaimed, "Huh?" as she noticed something.

"...Speaking of which, laundry isn't one of the chores assigned in the household chores."

"Ah, when it comes to laundry, no matter how much laundry there is, Qiong and I will wash our own clothes separately... at least that's what we say to others."

"What does 'publicly declared' mean?"

"Actually, there's a reason for that."

At school, the existence of the "Goddess of Cuteness" fan club is quite real.

One of their main activities was to give me the monthly membership fees they raised to pay for the Kasuga family's water bill.

These members seem unable to tolerate Sora washing her clothes together with mine, so they request that I wash them separately, no matter how few they have. They also seem unable to tolerate Sora soaking in bathwater I've used, or me soaking in bathwater Sora's used bathwater, so the water bill includes the cost of changing the bathwater.

I told Asuna about this fact.

"Oh? So the bath water is changed every time... that's what they say, right?"

Qiong nodded.

"Hmm. But the water bill doesn't include the gas cost for hot showers, and it's too much trouble to shower separately every time. In the end, we still won't run the shower twice a day, and we'll wash our clothes together. We'll donate all the water bills we collect. It's definitely more helpful to the world than wasting our water and gas bills."

As I sipped my post-meal black tea to relax, I casually remarked:

"However, we might have to wash them in small batches later."

"Huh? Why?" Qiong looked bewildered.

"Because I can't wash Asuna's clothes together with mine, right?"

Asuna sat upright on the sofa.

"Qianyu, I don't care about that kind of thing. You should say you care too much."

"No, no, I don't really care about living with a girl."

"Brother, haven't you been doing laundry with Qiong all this time?"

"That's right, but you can't lump Asuna and Sora together. Asuna is a girl about my age."

Qiong rose from the sofa, a small flame of anger flickering in her eyes.

"If Xiaoming is a girl of similar age, then isn't Qiong a girl too?"

"No, regardless of whether Qiong is a girl or not, you're my sister, right? What's wrong with you?"

Asuna said anxiously:

"My clothes have caused you two trouble, haven't they! It's okay, I'll go wash them by the river."

"Are you acting in a fairy tale? Hey, it's all because Sora is picky about weird things that Asuna has become so polite!"

"What's wrong! Is it Qiong's fault! You idiot brother!"

"What idiot! Qiong is the idiot!"

"Qiong is not stupid, Qiong hates her brother the most!"

"Me too, I hate Sora the most!"

"Huh? You just said you hate Sora the most? That's so mean! There are some things you can say and some things you can't say! You big idiot brother!"

No, the person I hate the most is Sora.

Qiong ran out of the living room, followed immediately by the sound of her rushing up the stairs like the beating of a taiko drum. It seemed she had gone back to her room.

I looked at Asuna, who was sitting on the sofa, and we stared at each other.

"Although she's always been an easily angered younger sister, what's wrong with her today?"

Asuna frowned in confusion.

"Doesn't Qianyu know why Xiaochun is angry?"

"What's going on? So Asuna knows it?"

"...Well, more or less."

"So--"

Just as I was about to tell her, I shut my mouth. Asuna shook her head slightly.

"No, I think if I say it, Koharu will definitely be unhappy. Yoshitari should realize it himself."

Asuna stood up, preparing to leave the living room.

"Where are you going?"

Asuna turned around, her face showing an expression of enduring pain.

"I don't want my presence to cause Qianyu and Xiaochun to quarrel. I will stay in the tent in the courtyard until Xiaochun leaves the room and makes up with Qianyu."

"Huh? Wait, Asuna."

Asuna turned and left.

Asuna is a decisive and proactive girl; once she makes up her mind, she can even move house on her own. I don't think I can stop her from going back to the tent.