{Satou-san’s Treasure (1-1)}

“Yamaguchi-kun, if you don’t mind, could you come to my house sometime?”

Satou-san opened with that as soon as I called her, hoping to set up a date.

“Actually, my mom’s been wanting to meet you at least once…”

“I don’t mind.”

I tried to answer calmly, but inside I was a bit shaken.

Being invited to her house and meeting her parents. It’s a situation you hear about pretty often, but I’ve also heard of many cases where things go south after meeting the parents, leading to trouble in the relationship.

The fact that Satou-san’s mother wants to meet me is probably because she wants to check if her daughter’s boyfriend is a decent guy. I’m sure I need to win her trust.

However, unlike Satou-san, who’s already working, I’m still just a regular university student. I do work part-time, but I’m not financially independent yet, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they found me unreliable.

Honestly, I would’ve preferred to meet them after I graduated and got a job, but…

While I was thinking about all this, Satou-san continued speaking.

“My mom wants to treat you to dinner. Only if it’s not too much trouble, though.”

“No, it’s not a problem. I just hope I’m not imposing.”

Outwardly, I kept a casual attitude.

In any case, the worst thing to do in these situations is to be visibly nervous. Since I can’t change the fact that I’m still a student, I’ll just try to show that I’m focused on my studies and serious about my future with Satou-san.

“I really hope you can come,” Satou-san’s voice brightened slightly.

Since we were on the phone, I couldn’t see her face, but maybe she felt relieved that I wasn’t backing down.

“My mom, grandpa, and grandma live with me, so it might be a little noisy, though…”

“I can’t really imagine your family being noisy, Satou-san. I’m looking forward to meeting them.”

I smiled, having made up my mind, and Satou-san chuckled.

“As expected, Yamaguchi-kun, you’re always so calm.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah. If it were me, I’d be super nervous about visiting your house, Yamaguchi-kun.”

I wasn’t exactly calm, but hearing Satou-san say that made my heart race.

On the agreed Saturday, I visited her house alone.

I already knew where her house was since I’d walked her home before. She told me to come around 4 PM, so I arrived at her house five minutes early and rang the doorbell.

“Oh, Yamaguchi-kun! Welcome!”

Satou-san slid open the front door and peeked out.

She was wearing a simple navy sweatshirt dress with an English logo on it, and her face lit up when she saw me.

“Thanks for coming. Please, come in.”

“Sure… Excuse me!”

I raised my voice to make sure her family could hear me as I greeted them.

But there was no response or reaction. The house was quiet as I stepped in, led by Satou-san.

“My mom and the others are out shopping. They’ll be back in time for dinner.”

“Oh, really… I see.”

As I took off my shoes, I felt a bit thrown off. I had been nervous, expecting to meet her family as soon as I arrived, but now the pressure was off—at least for now.

“Well, just wait a bit. My room is on the second floor.”

With a casual tone, Satou-san said that and started walking ahead to guide me.

Her house was a two-story building with an old-fashioned design. The living room had a faint scent of incense, likely due to a Buddhist altar.

She glanced back at me once as she climbed the stairs, and I followed, my eyes naturally drawn to her calves and her ankle socks.

“This is it. Have a seat, I’ll get us something to drink.”

As soon as she opened the door on the second floor, she gestured for me to enter first.

“Oh, you don’t have to bother.”

I said that instinctively, but she smiled and shook her head.

“It wouldn’t be right not to offer something to a guest. How about some cold tea?”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

“Alright!”

Satou-san left the room, closing the door behind her, and I could hear her light footsteps going down the stairs.

Left alone, I looked around her room, feeling a little uncertain.

Of course, it was my first time being invited into her room.

We had never visited each other’s homes before, so I had spent some time imagining what her living space might be like. That’s something any guy would do.

The reality wasn’t exactly what I had imagined, but it wasn’t far off either.

Her room was small, probably about four tatami mats in size, with an old study desk and chair that seemed like they had been used since elementary school. Beside them was a black bookshelf. The room had one window, with plain gray curtains tied back, and across from the window was a sliding closet door. The walls were simple wooden boards, with only a calendar from a newspaper shop hanging on them, and the floor was covered with a plain blue carpet.

If that was all, it wouldn’t seem like a very girly room. But the bookshelf had several stuffed animals on top, and a small flower vase with fresh flowers gave off a faint, sweet scent, which just barely made it feel like a girl’s room.

On her desk was a wooden photo frame.

Casually looking at it, I felt a sudden dizziness.

The photo in the frame was from our high school cultural festival, showing Satou-san dressed as a lady and me as a mouse.

Of course, I had ears, whiskers, and was wearing a full-body white suit.

“Wh-why is this picture…!”

I’ll never forget that photo, taken during our class play last year. Afterward, Satou-san asked me to send the picture to her phone.

But I never expected her to frame it. For me, it was nothing but a dark memory, so I’d have preferred if it had been quietly put away.

Just as I was feeling the urge to turn the photo frame face down, I heard her light steps coming back up the stairs.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Yamaguchi-kun. Barley tea okay?”

Satou-san entered the room, holding two glasses.

When she saw me holding the photo frame at her desk, she smiled shyly, as if a bit embarrassed.

“Oh, you saw that?”

“Yeah… I saw it…”

Far from being happy, I felt my mood sinking as the memories I had almost forgotten resurfaced.

“I just thought I’d like to keep Yamaguchi-kun in my room. Was that bad?”

But when Satou-san tilted her head and asked that with a smile, it was hard to give her a clear “no.”