“Are you lonely, Tatsumi?”
His heart skipped a beat at his soft-spoken and straight-forward question. He never expected anyone to ask an already employed person over twenty if they were lonely so directly. He was temporarily at a loss for words.
“&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;I’m not lonely.”
“You don’t need to lie&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;you can tell me the truth, even if there’s nothing I can really do for you.”
“—I’m not lying. Besides, that’s not true. Being able to talk to you like this fun, Kusamakura.”
This was the only time Tatsumi, who spent his days doing routine work without speaking to anyone, could have a conversation with someone.
“Today, a coworker&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;I didn’t know her name, but she asked me, if anything good happened. I guess I look a little more cheerful to others lately.”
When he squeezed Kusamakura’s hand, he pulled it away frantically. He became nervous when he thought he had pushed him away somehow, but Kusamakura cleared his throat with a cough.
“&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;that’s good then. Yeah.”
He replied with a fl.u.s.tered voice. Tatsumi suddenly looked away.