The feeling of waking up with a ball of white fluff snuggled in my arms, sleeping soundly… no, that makes it sound like I was sleeping with a pet, doesn't it?.
Anyway.. I had woken up with a sense of unease, but for some reason, the moment I saw Hina held tightly in my arms, all that discomfort washed away as if it had never been there..
So what if I made a suspicious deal in my dream last night?. I'm happy right now, and isn't that what matters?.
I deliberately buried the doubts about my choice deep in the back of my mind and fumbled for my phone, careful not to wake Hina..
[6:10 AM].
Ugh, you've got to be kidding me.. I don't even know if I got four hours of sleep.. So much for sleeping in..
My mind was so clear that I knew lying here would just be a waste of time..
…But, as I glanced at Hina's peacefully sleeping face, the thought that maybe it would be okay to just stay like this for a while crept into my mind. .
That thought burrowed into my brain before I could stop it..
No, I can't do that.. If my guess is right, Hina will wake up at 6:30 at the earliest, 7:00 at the latest..
Since I'm up anyway, I wanted to make something for her, who was sure to have another hard day..
I have this image of Hina as the type who usually skips her own breakfast, but would learn to cook just to make it for someone else. .
The key part here is that she probably skips her own breakfast..
For that reason, I was going to use my experience living alone to whip up a simple meal, but..
"...Huuu.".
What should I do?. No matter how I think about it, there's no way to get up from this position without waking Hina..
Not only are we pressed up against each other, but one of my arms is trapped under her, making it a chore to even pull it out. .
But I couldn't just stay here forever.. I extracted my arm as carefully as possible so as not to wake her..
Thankfully, Hina only stirred slightly as I pulled my arm free.. Relieved, I slowly sat up and was about to get out of bed when a halo appeared above Hina's head..
"Mika, where are you going…?".
Her voice was drowsy, as if still half-asleep, her eyes barely open.. She was clearly still out of it..
With the thought that I might be able to get her back to sleep if I handled this well, I brought my lips to her forehead and whispered softly. .
"It's nothing, Hina-chan.. I'm just going to the bathroom for a second.".
"…Mmm, 'kay.. You have to come back quick.".
"I will, I will.. You go back to sleep.".
Thankfully, it seemed to work.. Hina squeezed her eyes shut.. Her halo flickered and then disappeared again..
…By the way, what is Hina's deal?. Is she an onion?. How is it that the more layers I peel back, the more cute sides I find?. My eyes filled with a cuteness so intense it made my heart ache, I carefully left her room..
After closing the door without a sound, I made my way to the kitchen.. The house, a little too big for one person but not overwhelmingly so, seemed to be crying out for a bit of human warmth..
Well, if I hadn't known, I wouldn't have known, but now that I do, I can just change things little by little from now on..
And when I can't do it myself, I can do it through Ako..
I didn't have high hopes as I opened the refrigerator.. It would be foolish to expect a well-stocked fridge in the home of someone who spends so little time there..
As expected, the fridge was bare.. The only impression I got was that she at least consistently buys milk..
But that's okay.. No expectations, no disappointments.. In the first place, the ingredients I was looking for were staples in any fridge..
Eggs and butter.. Let's be satisfied with that for today.. I'll have to make some time in the afternoon to go grocery shopping..
***.
Scrambled eggs are best when served with something else..
It could be bacon, it could be toast..
Unfortunately, Hina's house had no bacon, but I was able to find bread, jam, and a toaster. .
This gave me a rough picture of her usual meals..
Eggs, bread, jam, milk.. With that lineup, she probably has bacon sometimes, it's just that she's run out..
And so, a simple breakfast was prepared.. Just placing the glossy, buttery scrambled eggs on top of the golden-brown toast was enough to complete the meal..
I had thought Hina would wake up at 6:30 rather than 7:00, and the faint sound of an alarm confirmed my guess..
About five minutes later, Hina emerged from her room with sleepy eyes.. The look on her face when she saw me standing in the kitchen was indescribable..
I'm not that great of a cook, but in that moment, my resolve to make her breakfast for the rest of my stay here solidified..
"…Thanks, Mika.. You saved me the trouble of making breakfast.".
"Mhm, it's not much, but enjoy!".
I sat Hina down at the table, took out a glass, and poured her some milk.. Come to think of it, kids with a complex about their height tend to drink a lot of milk..
It seems Hina was no exception..
For the record, this applies to me too.. I think my current figure is close to perfect, but I do wish I were a little taller..
The taste of the scrambled eggs was beyond question.. In the first place, if you copy a proper recipe, you rarely fail, and that's especially true for dishes you've made often enough to master..
"…It's delicious.".
For something so simple, Hina's praise was a little generous, but I decided to think of it as her gratitude for the gesture of me making breakfast for her..
"Hina-chan, what time are you planning on heading to school?".
"I usually leave around 7:30.. Why do you ask?".
"Ahaha, it's nothing.. I was just thinking of helping you get ready.. Ah, right, I'll stop by the Prefect Team office before lunch.. Let's eat together!".
"…Alright.".
There was no way I could come all the way to Gehenna and not taste Fuuka's school lunch. . This was, quite literally, the most natural choice..
Afterward, we discussed our work plans over our meal.. For me, the main schedule for the day was to coordinate with the General Student Council and Millennium..
If I had been trying to do this back in Trinity, I would have had to do it in the middle of my own work, which would have been hectic.. But today, I was a body freed from the shackles of paperwork..
I was, in a word, strong, invincible, supreme..
In the afternoon, despite Hina's best efforts to stop me, I was planning on helping out with some of the Prefect Team's external duties. .
I figured I could just wander around, like a post-meal exercise..
"You know, Mika.. I think accepting your proposal back then was one of the wisest decisions I've made all year.".
"Hmm… what's that based on?. From a work-related perspective?. Or the purely personal perspective that because of that choice, you were able to meet me?".
"I-it's embarrassing when you ask so pointedly when you already know…".
"Ahaha, no matter how many times I see it, I never get tired of how cute you are!. Ah, if you're done eating, just leave the plate and go get washed up.. I'll do the dishes later.".
"Thank—hmph?!".
It's not that Hina isn't cute when she says thank you, but for the one hearing it over and over, it was starting to become a bit much. .
After silencing her with a light bit of skinship, I shooed her off to the bathroom and opened Momotalk..
The people I needed to contact for work were Seminar's secretary, Ushio Noa, and the GSC's Chief Administrator, Nanakami Rin, but given the time, I decided to message them in an hour or two and opened my chat with Nagisa instead..
…Asking me to contact her morning, noon, and night might be a bit much, but..
Isn't that what love is like?.
And for me, the person in question, this lovely girl's clingy side is nothing but welcome, so it's all good..
***.
After Hina left for school, I found an instant coffee mix and made myself a cup..
I know it's not polite to do this in someone else's house, but… Hina and I are past the point of being strangers, right?.
I had sent a message to Rin, but she hadn't seen it yet, while I had gotten in touch with Noa right away and told her what I needed..
Now all that was left was to wait..
I passed the time by sipping my coffee and scrolling through the headlines on a news portal..
Instant coffee really does have its own unique taste, different from what you get at a café..
[Infighting at the Top of Gehenna?!. The Confrontation between Pandemonium Society and the Prefect Team Escalates!].
[Do Opposites Attract?. Uncovering the Love Triangle between Trinity's Two Student Presidents and the Gehenna Prefect Team Leader.].
[From "Trinity Will Win Anyway"… to Humiliation for the Confident Trinity Tea Party Host.].
No, but why are all the articles like this?. It's all stuff I already know, so there's no fun in reading it..
There were also articles covering the sinking of the Odyssey school ship and articles analyzing my true political alignment, but again, it was all stuff I knew, so not worth clicking..
[Was Millennium Science School the Biggest Winner of the 1st Annual Gehenna-Trinity Exhibition Summer Festival?!].
No, the GTE is next year, this year was just the 20XX Summer Festival…!.
But this topic was at least interesting.. An article about how Millennium had reaped huge promotional benefits from their technology being so deeply involved in the tournament..
The article's claim that this alone had advanced the relationship between the three major academies was no exaggeration.. It was, in fact, the truth..
I'm sure even Rio was quite surprised to see the size of the pie they had managed to claim from this event..
Of course, since the money didn't go into Seminar's official funds, she wouldn't have been able to embezzle it..
Just as I was reading the one article worth my time, a call finally came through..
The caller ID read Ushio Noa.. A name I had been waiting for..
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