Chapter 30: Tour With the Triplets

"Remind me what we're doing again," Natsume grumbles. He grips the wheel as he makes a turn at the lights. 

To my right Tsubaki leans against the back of the seat in front of him. "We're escorting the Lady of the Moonlit Night to her dwelling."

"What?" In the rearview mirror Natsume raises a brow. "What does that even mean?"

To my left Azusa clears his throat. "We heard that you gave Mai-san some housing advice, but neglected to offer to go with her to the place itself."

"How is that my problem?" Natsume asks. He turns again. "Tsukiyo-san said she was happy to go on her own. Why do the three of us need to go. Why do I need to go?"

"We promised Ema-chan that we'd be Tsukiyo-san's bodyguards," Tsubaki says unhelpfully. "So that means you're the chauffeur." 

"It's the polite thing to do since you were the one who suggested this in the first place," Azusa adds.

"Is this another one of your weird acting games?" Natsume rubs his temples. I'm beginning to wonder if this was one of the reasons why he moved out. 

I cough. "Ema would have come with me instead, but she has classes. Tsubaki-san and Azusa-san then kindly offered to come with me." I eye both of them, not even hiding my exhaustion. "I'm really sorry that you got caught up in it. If you're not too busy would you mind dropping me off at the station instead? I can still make it to the tour on the next train."

Natsume flashes me an empathetic look, as if to say that he's been here before so he knows there's no escape. He sighs in resignation. 

"Well, since it's come to this where are we heading?" 

"Ehh?"

Natsume glances at me in the rearview mirror. "I'm already here, so we might as well go together."

"Are you sure?" I ask, side eyeing Tsubaki and Azusa. The two of them make no show of hiding their amusement. 

Natsume clears his throat. "I bet they'll complain to Ema if I don't help you. I don't want them saying that I'm a bad brother who refused to help."

"I mean, you wouldn't be refusing since I didn't outright ask you in the first place."

"It's fine. I'm already here. Can you show me the address?"

Still feeling guilty about dragging him into this, I show him the rental address on my phone. Without checking his own GPS Natsume drives us in to our destination. He must be pretty familiar with the area. 

We reach the building in record time, much to my delight. Having to ride with Tsubaki asking me all kinds of things about Ema and moving out drains even more of my energy. 

Once parked, we leave the car and make our way to the front of the building. There, the real estate agent is waiting. 

He greets us, shrinking back at the sight of the three tall men behind me. To others, I can only imagine what they must be thinking. Being shadowed by three very similar-looking men, who are well dressed and oozing confidence would be startling to anyone. 

I'm sweating in embarrassment and try not to make eye contact. I apologize for the crowd, saying that they are friends of mine.

The real estate agent can't really turn them away, so he laughs nervously and says that they're welcome to join me on the tour, then invites us inside. Thereafter, he proceeds to extol the virtues of the building. 

He got back in business mode real fast. 

The tour goes well, with me asking my usual list of questions for when I go house hunting. The twins stick close to the entrance since the unit isn't that big. Tsubaki uses this time to poke around in the small kitchen, opening the fridge and other cupboards even though there's nothing inside.

 From the side is a closet for the washer and dryer, adjacent to the toilet and wet room. At the back is a single room that functions as both a living space and a bedroom. For a student this is a luxury place, and I spot no concerning signs of water damage or mould infestations. 

"Have there been any accidents in the building lately?" I ask, feeling a little guilty for questioning the building's integrity. I sound like one of those viewers on those house-hunting shows who complain about everything when it's not even meant to be a permanent home. 

The agent shakes his head and explains that this is a newer building. There have been no issues as of late, except for a few complaints about clogs in the garbage chute, which were immediately remedied by the landlord once he learned of it. 

"What about the lease duration?" Natsume asks. 

I stare at him in surprise. Wasn't he tagging along only because we made him?

He sees me staring and clears his throat. "I figured to ask just in case. I recommended this place, but I don't know all the details."

That makes sense, but why would he need to know the fine details in the first place? He only recommended it to me; he's not selling it to me himself. 

Mah, whatever Natsume wants to know doesn't concern me. 

I continue down my list of things, and the agent politely answers them all. At the end of it I'm glad to have come, and my mental checklist has been filled out for this unit. 

Heading back toward the entrance, the twins perk up and put their shoes back on. 

"I'll contact you if I make a decision," I tell the agent. He nods and sees us off. 

Outside the building the twins have their own barrage of questions.

"What did you think?" Azusa asks. 

"It's a little small, but I guess only one person will be living here," Tsubaki notes. 

"Yeah," I say. "It looks like a good place, though the rent is on the higher side of my budget range."

"By a lot?" Natsume asks, bringing up the rear. The visit seems to have proved a bit long for him. He opens a box of cigarettes from his pocket and lights one. Fait wisps of smoke swirl around him. 

I stifle a cough and turn away. "Living in this area would be more secure than my old place, but the rental price worries me. I have to think about other living expenses, too, right?"

The twins consider this. 

"But other than that it's a good place, right?" 

"It's close enough to the train station that you won't have to make any transfers on the way to school, either."

Natsume removes the cigarette from his lips and exhales. "Is there another thing about the place that's bothering you by chance?"

To tell the truth, apart from the budget I'm a little reluctant to settle on the first place that doesn't feel as sketchy as my old place. While the price is higher than I'd like it it wasn't totally unreasonable. It has all the amenities and utilities, is in close proximity to transportation and commercial areas for shopping. 

So what's really bothering me?

The answer I come up with on the spot is simple: It's been three years since I've needed to look for a place, so I feel a bit out of practice. Last time I'd been in high school, so it was more exciting being my first time away from home. Furthermore, my parents had helped me out back then. This time I'd told them I could handle things on my own.

As an adult I want to take responsibility for my life and not worry my family, especially my mother, who'd have dropped everything and rushed to Tokyo if she knew I'd been struggling to find a place. 

Biting my lip, I explain to the brothers, "I guess I just want to check all my options before making a final decision. The goal is to not have to worry about housing again until at least after graduation."

The triplets take this into consideration. 

"If you put it like that then sure," Tsubaki concedes. "But if you do choose this place Ema-chan will be happy. It's close enough to come visit."

"The room is also big enough to hold sleepovers. Ema hasn't been to any of those lately," Azusa notes.

What kind of reasons are those? 

The twins seem to be thinking more about how the place would benefit Ema rather than me. While I can appreciate brothers looking out for their sister, Ema won't have any bearing on where I end up living. We're friends, yes, but she's not going to tell me where to live.

"Even if you don't plan on inviting company, it's a good point to think on when getting a place," Natsume says. 

Not you, too, Natsume-san!

I close my mouth, lest it fall to the ground. 

"I'll think about it, but when I have visitors we'll probably just go out to eat instead." 

For example, when my parents come to visit this summer they won't be staying at my place. We'll meet up and go places, but that'll be it. 

This satisfies the triplets for now. Since the tour is over we don't have any further reason to be out together. Tsubaki pesters Natsume to drive us to a café, citing that they deserve a break from their hard work today.

"What hard work? I'm the one who drove all this way..." Natsume mutters. But he fetches the car anyway. I'm beginning to see how birth order is very impactful in big families.

Shooting Natsume an apologetic look, I climb into the front seat this time, hoping to have a break from the twins. They're alright, but it's been a lot to spend even a couple of hours with them. Even Shin doesn't give me this many headaches.

"Got anywhere you want to go?" Natsume asks me. He ignores Tsubaki's request for a specific café.

Following his lead, I give my recommendation, which differs from Tsubaki's entirely in location and aesthetic.

"Good choice." Natsume puts the car in drive and we're off. In the back, Azusa consoles Tsubaki, saying that they'll go out to his favourite café next time, just the two of them. 

"Must be fun being triplets," I murmur, gazing out the window. 

Natsume grunts in response, his eyes unwavering from the road ahead.