「Thanks for your hard work.」

「Right. Yasutaka-kun, thanks for your hard work.」

While exchanging greetings with the plump yet amiable manager, the entry door was pushed open. With a pleasant ringing of a cowbell overhead, Yasutaka left his part-time job at the Cafe 「Aru~mu」.

Mid-May. After Golden Week, it’s most comfortable season of the year.

Even if it was just a little after 7PM, the area was already dark. Going through a familiar road brightened by streetlights, Yasutaka leisurely walks home.

Dinner isn’t needed because he ate at the coffee shop he works at.
The only things to be done after returning home are homework and taking a bath.
Furthermore, with his parents have been away in a different prefecture due to their job , there’s no need to hurry coming back because no one is around.

As the evening breeze blows, Yasutaka walks through the familiar scenery slowly.
This is Nisshin City, Aichi prefecture.
It’s closer to the countryside rather than the city.
Not rural enough to be the countryside, but not urban enough to be a city.
It is about 30 minutes by train from Nagoya city, one of j.a.pan’s leading cities, and it has been flourishing to some extent in recent years.
Nevertheless, here and there, much of the flora and fauna that remain, as well as rice paddies and plantations could be seen.

From Nisshin station which is in the center of the town, walk for about 10 to 15 minutes. There lies the house where he lived in, till just recently, with his family.
It seemed that his grandfather had built this house. Although it’s an old house, the interior has been sufficiently renovated, Yasutaka thought that it’s comfortable enough.

「I’m home.」

Although he knew there wouldn’t be a reply, Yasutaka couldn’t help but call out with it becoming a habit after many years.
The house is old but it’s s.p.a.cious enough. Until a little while back, the lights would be on and his mother would reply from somewhere inside the house.

However, now it is dark when he returns home. While feeling somewhat lonely about it, Yasutaka heads to the living room after locking the front door.
Dark it may be, but he was familiar with it after having lived in it for many years. With no hesitation he entered the hallway, first turning on the lights.
With the darkness dispelled in an instant, a slightly yellowish warm light illuminates the hallway.

Though his home is s.p.a.cious, it’s still in in the scale of an ordinary house. Because it isn’t a mansion, it’s natural to say that it wouldn’t take more than a minute to reach the living room. Before long, he arrives at the living room.

After opening the door to the living room, the light switch next to the door was pushed.
The darkness that enveloped the living room vanished instantly, white light sweeping over it.

「………………………………………… eh？」

In the living room that was illuminated by white light, Yasutaka discovers something unfamiliar.

The living room itself was the same as usual.
A sofa set in the middle. There is a large TV set by a window and on the opposite side, a larger window overlooks the garden. From here it was also possible to go to the garden, the place Mom used the drying stand to hang laundry in.
The back of the living room faces the kitchen. It has a table and four chairs to match it for meals. There are cabinets, cupboards and the like set up, nothing unusual in the living room.

Or so it should have been.

「……………………………………&h.e.l.lip

;… eeh？」

Yasutaka checks the inside of the living room again.

Un, no doubt. This is the living room of my house.
While muttering so in my mind, I stared at it one more time.
The inside of the living room is clearly different from when I left for work a few hours ago.

No, there was only one thing that differed.

「………………………………………… eeeh？」

Long pale golden hair shined brightly as it reflected the light the indoor lights.
Clothes of an unfamiliar material and design. Somehow, it looked like clothes from a manga my childhood friend would read.

Looks to be around 15 years old? A high school student like me or maybe a bit younger.
Long, slender white limbs. If i had to say then it was on the thinner side. At least, basing it on my childhood friend’s ranking in having good proportions at school, this one’s body’s ups and downs seem poor.

I don’t know the color of her eyes because her eyes were closed but even so, she was at a level cute enough to be called a pretty girl.
And, more distinct than any of her other characteristics was her long pointed ears.

「EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!?」

I’m losing my mind in the middle of the living room ーー maybe I’m just dreaming- looking at the girl, Yasutaka unintentionally raised his voice.

What kind of situation is this?

Yasutaka is desperately thinking while staring at the girl pa.s.sed out on the living room’s wooden floor.

Looking back to the time I came home, the key definitely got caught on the door. Because I opened it, I’m sure of it.
Then, did this girl enter through the window?
I moved my gaze to the window that connects the living room to the garden.
It was still bright when I left for work so the curtains were left open. Therefore I was able to confirm that the lock of windows were securely fastened.
Naturally the gla.s.s surrounding the lock wasn’t broken either.
So, a different window? The back door? Or from the second floor?

Various possibilities run about in Yasutaka’s mind. Should I check them or maybe keep my eye on this girl?
Standing at the entrance of the living room, for several minutes he worried over this or that.
At this time, Yasutaka finally realizes something important.
And that is if the girl lying in front of him was even alive.

「Is, is it possible…… that this isn’t a home invasion but a case of …… body dumping?」

In order to ascertain whether or not she is alive, I have to touch the girl.
However, could one really touch the girl’s body in this kind of situation?!
For example, if in this situation that the girl is dead, wouldn’t touching her leave fingerprints? From there, i would be doubted and become a suspect.

「Bu……but …… I couldn’t possibly leave like this either……?」

Somehow, the option of calling the police did not occur to him at this point in time. If you think about it carefully, everything would work out if the police were called.
The reason is surely because of the cute girl that had collapsed. If this were a squalid old man, it would be reported in an instant he was discovered.

For some reason, Yasutaka gradually approached the fallen girl.
On the way, he saw a floor wiper that was used for cleaning the living room, propped up on a nearby wall
Yasutaka reached for the floor wiper and picked it up. And using the handle end of the floor wiper, he poked the body of the fallen girl a little.

in that moment, the fallen girl moved slightly.
The fallen girl that was on her side, faced up. Her long pointy ears twitched about.
It seems she’s alive. Yasutaka was slightly relieved.

「But……the ears …… is this……?」

Yasutaka was staring fixatedly on the girl’s ears.
Humans ーー at least the humans on Earth, with ears like that do not exist.
Maybe if there is a tribe that has customs of stretching ears then it’s possible, but if that were the case, rather then upward, it would be easier to extend the ears downward with gravity.

「……then maybe…… like …… an alien?」

That reminds me, i remember there was a long-eared alien in a Sci-Fi movie i watched a while back.
Now that i think about it, looking closely, it would be hard to believe that the girl’s clothing is a s.p.a.ceship crew’s uniform.

「A s.p.a.ceship that got into an accident crash-landed around this area?」

it’s a common pattern in Sci-Fi. And as a result of an emergency transfer from the s.p.a.ceship, it’s understandable to find the girl collapsed in the middle of the living room of a locked house.

「If that’s what happened…… I guess you’re not injured?」

Cautiously, Yasutaka extends his hand towards the fallen girl.

At that moment.

The girl facing up, turned towards Yasutaka.
Her eyes were wriggling and twitching behind her closed eyelids.
Slowly, her eyelids raise, revealing the blue eyes they concealed.

「a, ano ーーー are you okay? Are you hurt?」

The girl’s blue eyes gradually adjusted and focused on Yasutaka’s face.
Her gaze then moved to Yasutaka’s hand that was extended towards her
After that, the girl’s gaze went back and forth Yasutaka’s hand and face repeatedly.
And then the girl’s expression became tense, she sat up abruptly.

「YARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAU!!」

The girl screams with all her might.

From her seated state, the girl desperately uses her hands and feet to distance herself from Yasutaka.
And then her back collided with the gla.s.s window that leads to the garden.
Thinking her back was cut off, fl.u.s.tered, the girl checks behind her. Seeing that beyond the window was a dark and wide garden, she hurriedly stood up trying to get to the garden.

But.

Desperately pushing the gla.s.s window, it would seem the girl doesn’t realize it was essentially a sliding door, much less know how to open it.
Eventually noticing the existence of the lock on the window frame yet not knowing how to unlock it, she began to frantically tamper with it.

「Umm…… being rough like that won’t open it, you know? That window is locked so to you have to unlock it……」

With his gentlest voice, Yasutaka talks to the girl who is desperately trying to open the window.
Surprised by the voice, the girl turned around. Fear was evident on her face.

「a, anoーー」

「YARAU!! TEA KERU SE ITENGU SERAUNEEN!!」

The girl cowers as Yasutaka reached his hand out.

「A……Are you hurt…? If you are injured, I can treat it even if just a bit……」

「Gaakii……? Aaーruten……?」

It seems words aren’t getting through. Concluding as such, Yasutaka worries about what to do.

「Injury. Treat. Don’t you understand?」

「Gaakii…… Aaーruten……」

Yasutaka looked at the girl in front of him again.

She’s a bit shorter than me who is 169 cm. Probably around 160 cm.
Her long straight golden hair reaches the middle of her back. But because she collapsed, her hair is disheveled here and there.
The color of her large eyes were a beautiful blue. There is an unmistakable wariness reflected in those eyes that were staring at me.

As if it were the only safe place, the girl didn’t separate from the window to the garden.
She was like a stray cat that suddenly wandered into the house.

Yasutaka somehow harbored such thoughts.
And there is a word a.s.sociated with stray cat.

「Hey? Are you perhaps hungry? If it’s something simple then i can make some……? 」

Yasutaka’s parents were always working even back then, so before he knew it, he was became good with household ch.o.r.es. His proficiency having increased, it could be even called a special skill now.
Because Yasutaka is like that, with peace of mind, his parents were able leave him and relocate to a different prefecture for their job.

Smiling at the girl, Yasutaka entered the kitchen and opens the fridge.
Confirming that he remembered correctly, cheese slices, bread, mayonnaise and lettuce were taken out.

「Wait for a bit. I’ll make it right away.」

Yasutaka divided the bread into six pieces with a knife and spreads mayonnaise on the slices.
He adds the cheese slices and lettuce in between two slices of bread, then cuts it lengthwise to make it easier to eat.
Making two more cheese lettuce sandwiches, cutting them the same way and put it on a plate, he then carries them to the dining table.
Yasutaka pulled a chair from the table and pointed at it.

「You can sit here and eat these.」

He points at the chair and demonstrated himself sitting on it. And lastly, points at the girl.
Yasutaka intended to say 「You sit down as well」 through body language but if he wonders if he was able to do so.

As ever, the girl is stuck to the window, but her eyes are glued to the cheese lettuce sandwich on the table.
What’s more, with one of her hands on her stomach, she seems to be hungry.

「Come on. There’s no need to hold back.」

Yasutaka says so gently then smiles while leaving the table.

When he distanced himself from the table, the girl nervously separates from the gla.s.s window.
And while remaining vigilant, she slowly approached the table. At this time, the girl’s gaze repeatedly went back and forth from Yasutaka and to cheese lettuce sandwich. She would immediately run away if he moved suspiciously.

Watching her, Yasutaka thought she really was similar to a cat and smiles wryly in his heart.
Eventually arriving at the table, the girl reached for the cheese lettuce sandwich and, while remaining vigilant, started eating.