Our Life That Begins with a Convenient Relationship - Chapter 11

“Let’s get married.”

—In that instant, the lingering afterglow of our meal vanished, and the air changed into a different world. I could hear the sound of a plane and birds chirping, but everything felt like it had been pushed far away.

“…Eh?”

The voice that finally escaped my mouth sounded incredibly foolish and weak.

But it was only natural. Her words were so sudden that they lightly leaped right over any sense of reality.

Sakura-san looked at me with a serious expression. There was a slight wrinkle between her brows, but the depths of her eyes were straight and steady. There wasn’t a hint of a joke in them; they held only a firm, solid will.

I couldn’t believe that the face smiling like a child saying “This is delicious!” just a few minutes ago belonged to the same person I was looking at now.

—Marriage? Me? At my age? And with a younger woman…? Wait, what?

My mind went blank, and my thoughts wouldn’t move forward. I couldn’t keep up. I didn’t have the composure to choose my words; I just stared back at her in a daze.

Then, she suddenly started waving her hands back and forth frantically.

“S-sorry, I made a mistake! Um… right! Let’s have a sham marriage!”

“A… sham marriage? Eh? What?”

…Does a person normally mix up “marriage” and “sham marriage”? That is a mistake on a completely different scale. No, the fact that the words “sham marriage” even came out of her mouth with a straight face was strange in itself.

“I mean, Sakurai-san, your parents are pressuring you to get married, right?”

“W-well, yes… that’s true! But wait, you remember that even though you were drunk?”

“Yes. Even if I’m drunk, as long as I’m awake, I keep my memories. And as you probably know, my parents are pressuring me to get married, too. I’m managing to run away from it for now, but I don’t know what will happen in the future.”

“I see… I know all too well how that pressure just keeps getting stronger.”

“So, um… I thought it would be convenient for both of us if we pretended to be married, or at least pretended to be dating.”

“…Well, I understand what you’re trying to say.”

It certainly would be convenient. If I declared that I had someone I was seeing, my mother would probably stop trying to force marriage on me. I didn’t know how long that would last, but even that much would be a huge relief for me.

Thinking about it that way, her proposal was logically quite rational. …Even if we had the issue of being the same gender.

“Even so, a sham marriage? Won’t people realize it’s a lie immediately, even if we coordinate our stories?”

I managed to jump in with a realistic doubt, but her face didn’t flinch at all. Instead, she wore a slightly proud smile, as if she had her next move already prepared.

“If we stay as we are now, yes. That’s why… why don’t we live together here? That would make it much easier to convince them.”

“Eh… live here…?”

My eyes involuntarily wandered around the room.

The spacious living room. The neatly arranged furniture. The flooring softly reflecting the sunlight. And in the corner sat the massage chair that had led me to heaven just moments ago.

—Living in this room? You mean, unlimited use of that massage chair? …No, no, that’s not the point.

Seeing my confusion, Sakura-san cleared her throat and held up a finger as if starting a presentation.

“There are many other benefits for you, Sakurai-san. First, this place is quite close to the izakaya where you work.”

“…True. Compared to my run-down apartment, it would probably cut my commute in half.”

“That’s the best part. Also, this apartment has an automatic lock and a resident manager. It’s very safe. Especially if your current place is a run-down apartment, this is much better.”

“Yeah, that is important.”

For someone like me who often walks home late at night, cutting my commute time in half was a blessing for both my time and my safety. Security was a major point, too.

She listed these things off with the rhythm of a real estate agent, and I found myself nodding along.

“Also, I won’t charge you rent.”

“No, that’s going too far. Though I don’t think I could afford the rent for a place like this anyway.”

“In that case, if you could just cover the food costs instead of rent, that would be fine.”

“…What?”

I thought I misheard her. I replayed her words in my head over and over, but no matter how I heard it, it was the same.

Instead of rent… just food costs?

“Oh, of course I’ll pay for my own meals when I go to the izakaya, so don’t worry about that.”

“No, it’s not a matter of ‘worrying’…”

This meant that most of my living expenses would disappear. I wouldn’t have to live month-to-month on the edge like I had been; I might actually be able to save a lot of money.

Plus, I could cook every day in this large, well-equipped kitchen and use the massage chair as much as I wanted…?

“As you can see, I’m hopeless at housework, so I’d be happy if you could handle the general chores. In return, I don’t think you’ll have to struggle with money. I’ll pay for your phone bill, insurance, and taxes. If there’s any furniture or appliances you need, just let me know.”

With that, she straightened her back formally and looked at me with a serious face.

“What do you think?”

It was a simple question, but I felt the temperature of the air in the room change slightly. What she was saying were major matters that affected the very core of my life.

“What do I think…?”

Honestly, I could only think of benefits.

Rent, food, other necessary expenses, time, commute distance, security—there wasn’t a single bad condition. It was far too convenient for me.

If there was a downside, it would be how the world sees us. A marriage between two women… no, we can’t get married in the first place, so it’s more like moving in together. I didn’t know how people around us would view it. No, wait, this is a sham marriage, so that shouldn’t really matter.

But, a wealthy woman with no life skills and a woman with no money who is good at housework. It might be the ideal balance for living together.

The more I tried to think about it calmly, the more real it felt. While part of me understood that, another part of me remained bewildered.

—Is this really okay? Am I being tricked?

I hesitated, and hesitated, and hesitated. While my thoughts went around and around in circles, my mouth finally moved.

“Can you let me think about it for one night?”

In that instant, her face brightened up. Her eyes sparkled like a child’s, and she made a small fist on the table.

“Yes! I’ll be looking forward to a good answer!”

That smile was as bright as spring sunshine; just looking at it made my chest feel ticklish deep inside.

—Ah, I’m doomed.

The moment I saw that face, I felt a conviction somewhere in my heart. I knew I would probably say yes.

But it was such an out-of-the-blue proposal. No matter how much I could accept it logically, my emotions hadn’t caught up yet. Reality was too heavy to just nod along with the momentum.

That’s why I wanted to at least sleep on it and think calmly—that’s what I thought.