[Warning 15+]
Part One~She Only Acts Like Her Old Self When She's with Me... Wait, Hold Up!~Chapter 40See You Tomorrow
The night after Haruki's sleepover. After grabbing dinner at Hayato's place like usual, she headed back to her own pitch-black house.
"I'm home~!"
Even though Haruki knew d*mn well nobody was gonna answer, she never skipped saying 'I'm home'. It'd honestly become some kind of ritual for her.
Just as expected, Haruki's voice just got swallowed up by the dark. Even though she'd stayed out all night without telling anyone, there wasn't a soul there to give her cr*p about it.
"…Right."
Haruki let out a tiny mumble.
Haruki totally saw it coming. She couldn't help but give a self-deprecating little smirk.
Haruki always hated these moments.
Because no matter how much Haruki tried to be a 'good girl' and wait around, this whole routine was just a reminder that at the end of the day, she was all on her own.
Despite all that, for some reason, Haruki's heart was racing today.
Haruki started thinking back to when she was just at Hayato's place.
Since Haruki'd been stuck helping out with Committee stuff at school today, she'd ended up heading over there about an hour later than Hayato did.
'Excuse me... ...I'm coming in.'
It was Haruki's first time dropping by alone, so her voice was actually shaking a bit from the nerves.
'…You're late.'
'Oh— welcome back~!'
What greeted Haruki was Hayato sounding low-key annoyed and Himeko just melting into the couch looking totally drained.
Definitely not what you'd call a "warm welcome."
Especially Hayato—he seemed pretty sulky, probably 'cause Haruki teased the heck out of him with that prank photo this morning.
But honestly, they only acted that way because they took it for granted that Haruki belonged there. Realizing that was exactly why Haruki felt a smirk creeping onto her face.
'Geez, my bad, Hayato. I'll help out too, so what do you need me to do? What's for dinner? Meat?'
'Ginger pork. Grate that for me, will ya? Seriously, I went through heck this morning.'
'Wait, what happened? Something funny?'
'Hmm, basically everyone found out Hayato is totally obsessed with Hime-chan?'
'Grossssss.'
'Give me a break…'
'Ahaha!'
Hayato was blunt and cranky at first, but as they kept talking, the vibe somehow shifted into a "guess I can't help it" kind of mood, and everyone started cracking up.
Come to think of it, they'd had countless fights since they were kids.
And they'd made up just as many times.
That's why, whenever they're together, the smiles just come naturally.
(Man, today was a blast too.)
While lost in those memories, Haruki stared down the pitch-black hallway in front of her.
No matter how hard Haruki tried, she couldn't help but compare it to her bestie's house.
"…I'm home."
Haruki whispered it one more time.
The result didn't change—just like before, Haruki's voice was swallowed up by the darkness.
It was the same as always. But for some reason, Haruki couldn't shake this weird, unsettling feeling that had bubbled up inside her.
On top of that, Haruki felt a chilling sensation starting to spread through her heart.
"―!"
This is stupid. Haruki's probably just overthinking it or something.
Trying to convince herself, Haruki dropped her bag at the entrance and headed straight for the bathroom.
Haruki'd been in such a great mood since this morning, too.
Hoping to wash away this restless feeling, Haruki hopped in the shower and cranked up the heat.
But instead of getting washed away, that hollow feeling in Haruki's chest only seemed to get bigger and emptier.
Haruki ended up staying under the water way longer than usual that night.
Once she was done, Haruki grabbed her bag and headed back to her room with her hair still damp.
Everything was exactly how Haruki'd left it when she changed into her uniform this morning—her summer dress was still tossed right there on the bed.
Catching sight of it made Haruki think back to yesterday, and for some reason, her chest just tightened up like crazy.
At the same time, Haruki looked around and something felt off.
(Wait... ...was my room always this huge…?)
The room was still about six mats big, exactly the same as yesterday.
But for some reason, that thought just kept sticking in Haruki's head.
It was that weird, unsettling feeling Haruki was dealing with.
Feeling totally restless, Haruki tried to fall back on her usual routine—spreading her textbooks across the desk to tackle her homework and prep for class.
Honestly, it's not like Haruki actually loved studying or anything.
Haruki just did it because she felt this weird pressure to be a 'good girl', and because as long as she was stuffing her brain with facts, she didn't have to think about all the other crap.
But today, even sitting at Haruki's desk didn't help. She tried firing up her console and even pulled out a half-finished plastic model kit, but she just wasn't feeling it.
For some reason, this unexplainable swirl of emptiness and longing was churning inside her, and Haruki was just totally lost in her own head.
～～～～♪
Right then, Haruki's smartphone buzzed with a notification.
Haruki has surprisingly few contacts saved, so it was pretty obvious who it was.
Like Haruki'd been spring-loaded, she snatched up her smartphone and checked the message in a flash.
'Any requests for dinner tomorrow?'
It was from Hayato.
It sounded kinda blunt, but it also showed Hayato totally took it for granted that Haruki'd be coming over again tomorrow. Just like that, Haruki's face lit up with a huge grin. And even though they'd only been apart for a bit, she just had to hear his voice.
'Whoa, you scared me!'
"Ahaha, I just figured it'd be faster to talk. I'm fine with whatever, though."
'Ugh, that's the worst answer. Figuring out a menu every single day is actually a huge pain.'
"Hmm, fair point. It's been so hot lately, so maybe something refreshing? Also, we've been having a lot of meat, so let's go with fish!"
'Something light with fish, huh. Wonder what I should make―'
"Yeah, let's see―"
With that as a starting point, they got totally lost in their convo.
Starting from dinner, they moved on to the prank this morning, stuff about school, and just how they usually spend their days―just casual small talk.
But those little stories were so much fun that Haruki's heart was practically bouncing, and she lost track of time as she dived into the convo. It was like they were finally filling in the blanks of those seven lost years.
'Oh, my bad. Himeko just got out of the shower, so I gotta hop in too.'
"Ahaha, it was sweltering today, so you're gonna smell like a locker room if you don't."
'True that. Alright, see ya tomorrow at school. Catch ya later...'
"Yeah, catch ya later..."
On the screen of her smartphone after the call ended, the numbers 15:23 showed the length of their convo.
Just 15 minutes. But those 15 minutes were enough to totally flip Haruki's mood around.
Unlike back in the day, Haruki can hear Hayato's voice and talk to him whenever she wants now.
Thinking about that, Haruki realized the anxiety and that hollow feeling in her chest had vanished before she even knew it.
(Gosh...)
Feeling like all that drama was basically Hayato's fault, Haruki puffed out her cheeks in a pout while still wearing a huge grin.
"See you tomorrow."
Haruki whispered softly to her smartphone.
Finally, the smile was back on Haruki's face for real.
Author's Notes:
Consider this a little bonus or maybe an interlude-style chapter.
And that's a wrap on Part One. Part Two kicks off starting with the next update.
∧,,∧
(,,・∀・) ＜Meow~
～(_ｕ, uノ
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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