居間で「ひゃあ！」驚く声が聞こえ、声がした方を見ると、慌てた様子の布都ちゃんが居た。布都ちゃんは僕の顔を見ると、ほっとしたかの様に「お、おかえりなさいぞ！」と挨拶をした。何を驚いているのだろうと思ったけど、戸を開ける時、挨拶なしで入ったからだろう。日頃の癖で何も言わずに家に入るが、そういえば、家に入る時は挨拶はするものだった。ごめん、驚かせてしまった。と僕は謝ると、布都ちゃんは「いや、大丈夫ぞ」と少し微笑んで答え、「お勤め、お疲れ様ぞ」と僕を労り、僕は有難うとお礼を言った。僕は部屋着に着替え、布都ちゃんに食事はうまく作れたかい？と聞いた。「うむ。とても美味しかったぞ。あれは何という食べ物ぞ？」と聞き返してきたので「ラーメン」と答えた。仕事に出る前、昼食はこれを食べる様にと言っておいたのだ。「あんな、美味しいくて、簡単に出来る食べ物、我が眠る前には無かった。あれは何か、術がかかっている食べ物であろう、そうであるな？」と聞くと、いや、普通の食べ物だよと答えておいた。お腹空いただろう？またラーメンで悪いけど、ご飯にするよ、好きなラーメン選んで、と僕が立ち上げると、「あ、有難うぞ。あ、お主は座っててくれ、我が作ろうぞ」と布都ちゃんが立ち、僕はじゃあ、お願いと言うと「我にお任せを」とドヤ顔になって台所に消えた。ちょっと変わった子かもしれない。数分後、僕らはラーメンの封を開いた。布都ちゃんが、台所に行っている間、僕は部屋にある、雑に置いた物が整理されてる事に気づいて、その事を布都ちゃんに聞いてみると、「うむ、何かやっておこうかと思って、見える範囲で片付けたのだが・・・迷惑だったか・・・」と少し不安げに聞いてきたので、そんな事ないよ有難うと答えると「いやいや、このぐらい当然の事ぞ」と得意げに笑った。変わった子である。でもいい子だ。いや、もしかすると、それぐらいしかやる事もなかったからかもしれない。他人の家で独りきりというのも、また、寂しい事だろうし。僕は、布都ちゃんの気を揉もうと、、ラーメンを美味しそうに食べる布都ちゃんを軽くからかったりしながら、会話をして食事を共にした。布都ちゃんはまだ心を構えている部分はあると思うけど、笑ってくれた。だけど、妖夢さんから聞いた神霊というものが現れた話をすると、布都ちゃんは、少しだけ声の調子落としてしまいわっふるわっふる

I hear a "hya!" erupt from the living room. Looking for the source, I see a startled Futo-chan. "W-welcome home!" she greets as she sees my face. I wondered why she was startled; probably because I didn't say anything as I opened the door. I'm used to not saying anything as I enter my home, which is somewhat abnormal now that I think about it. "Sorry for surprising you," I apologized. "No, I am fine," she replied with a warm smile. "You worked hard today," she comforted me with, and I thanked her. I changed into a casual robe and asked Futo-chan if she was able to cook some food. "Yes, it was rather delicious. What sort of food is it?" she asked; I told her it was called "ramen". Before I left for work I gave her some and told her to cook it. "In my time, there was no such food that was so pleasant yet so easy to make. Surely it must have taken great skill to create," she inquired, to which I told her that it was just a normal food. She must have been pretty hungry.

"Sorry for the repeat, but I'm gonna make some more ramen, so pick out your favorite," I invited her as I got up. "Ah, thank you... oh, please, sit down. I shall prepare it," she interrupted, and then got up. I thanked her again and she piped up, "Leave it to me!" before disappearing into the kitchen. She can be a rather strange girl sometimes. A few minutes later we opened our ramen. While she was in the kitchen I noticed that the various things strewn across my room were now nice and organized and asked her about it. "Yes, I thought I should do something while you were gone, so I tidied up a bit... did I bother you by doing that?" she asked with an anxious tone. "Not at all... thanks," I reassured her. "Oh no, it was the least I could do!" she laughed proudly. She was definitely a strange girl, but a good one. Or maybe, I thought, that was all there was for her to do. Leaving her here by herself probably made her feel lonely. Worried for her, I lightly teased her about her devouring of the ramen as we continued to talk and eat together. I'm sure she still has some things hidden deep in her heart, but at least I got her to smile. When I mentioned the story I heard from Youmu about some sort of spirit appearing, however, her tone of voice seemed to drop just a bit... to be continued