This story is part of the Wanderer series.
A single old bookshelf cluttered with leather-bound books. A stack of yellowed newspapers on top. The main room did turn out to be mostly bare, but not without effort. Sitting in front of the window, there were two padded chairs with a small square table between. A faded beige rug stretched out across the entire floor in front of them.
There was a set of stairs lining this end of the room, starting from the back of the cottage and climbing towards the front. In the center of the room, perpendicular to the sliding door, was a simple wooden table stained in a rich red color. Four similarly stained dining chairs were tucked into the table. A single oil lamp hung above this table, chained to the ceiling.
It was a long room. It wasn’t quite a drawing room, being open to a kitchen-like area. A moderately sized woodstove occupied the center of this end, with a cylindrical ventilating pipe extending out of it into the ceiling. Two wooden countertops flanked the stove, each containing a set of drawers and cabinets. There were no wall cabinets, but there were long shelves mounted above the backmost counter. Perpendicular to this counter was a cast iron sink sitting under a second window with its own small counter to the left. This counter had only a single cabinet filling the entirety of its body.
Though the glass doors and windows permitted sunlight into the house, it still felt a little dark inside. The foliage-filtered sunlight did not produce any hot spots, giving the room an even tone. The air felt stale and humid, having been enclosed at length during the peak of summer.
With heavy footsteps, Rin hastily walked to the sliding door, dropping the metal key on the table with a loud clunk. Grabbing the handle on the left door, she widened her stance and pulled, sliding it open with a grunt. The door screeched a bit, betraying it had not opened for a while. Then, grabbing the frame of the right-side door, she pushed this one open, exposing the house to the wild outdoors. She left the bar door closed, moving immediately to the kitchen window, unlatching the lock on the left and pushing it open. She then rushed to the other side of the room and did the same, this window with its latch on the right.
Nozomi watched her move with round eyes, seemingly unsure what her haste was about. She stayed just beyond the threshold between the room and the hallway. Eventually, as Rin fiddled with the second window, her gaze started meandering about the place, moving first towards the sitting space.
She noticed behind her, in the wall opposing the back of the cottage, there was a cased opening flanking either side of the hallway. They led to two separate rooms facing the front of the house with its double panel windows. The one across the sitting space looked like a proper withdrawing room, furnished with wider padded chairs for seating two people and another room-wide rug. A short rectangular table was set in the middle with an empty candle tray. There was another old bookshelf positioned on the right wall looking in, but it was mostly empty aside from a single book and a vacant glass flower vase.
The room across the kitchen, on the other hand, was a cluttered mess. There was a cupboard situated an arm’s length from the wall, another table up against the window with empty ceramic planting pots as well as a cast-iron pan on top of some newspapers. There was a drying rack standing in the middle of the room with some stiff, somewhat ragged towels hanging off it. A bucket sat underneath, with another under the table. The room looked like it was effectively being used as storage.
Nozomi peered into this room longer, given how it had more details to distract her. Meanwhile, Rin moved on to the drawing room to open the windows there, unlatching them in the middle and pushing each one out. Then, leaning out with her arms propped under her, Rin audibly sighed, taking in the fresh air.
Hearing this, Nozomi turned to the other room, glancing at the red-haired girl. Then, all of a sudden, she seemed to turn her gaze inward, focusing on herself.
“It’s hot in here.”
Rin whipped her head around. “Of course it’s hot! That’s why I’m opening everything!”
Reaching up to her shirt collar, she started pulling it in and out to fan herself. “It’s hotter than outside.”
“Because the air can’t move,” Rin pointed out. “So the heat stays in.”
Leaving the window, she returned to the main living space, her enthusiasm returning. Crossing her arms, she grinned as she prodded Nozomi for her thoughts again.
“So…? What do you think?”
Nozomi idly glanced away towards the two chairs, eyes narrowing, forehead furrowing as her lips drew in. “It’s hot.”
Blinking, Rin’s grin quickly transformed into a frown. “I know it’s hot! Give it a minute!”