Rei lies on the bed. Exhausted, his eyes slowly shut, and he falls asleep without even realizing it. His mind drifts into a vivid dream… of Miharu.
In the dream, Miharu lies on the bed, and Rei gently pushes her down. The mattress bounces lightly.
He climbs on top, locking her in place, their faces inches apart. Miharu blushes, her voice barely a whisper. She looks away shyly, avoiding eye contact.
"Wait… I've never done this before. So… go slow, okay?"
Rei was flustered by her actions. He smiled softly, gently holding her face up. Her eyes sparkled as he did so.
"As you wish…"
He leans in for the kiss. She opens her trembling lips, shutting her eyes. As their bodies touch, a spark runs through them.
Suddenly, a sharp, familiar noise comes—
"TRUUUUU TRUUUUU!!"
A loud alarm blares out of nowhere.
"What the—?"
Miharu slowly fades away as her voice echoes in Rei's mind.
"Why did you stop…?"
Suddenly, she morphs into the ringing alarm clock.
"TRUUUUU TRUUUUU!!"
Rei jerks awake, groggy and furious. He slams the alarm off.
"Stupid clock… I was living my dream life."
Still half-dreaming, he gets up and paces around his room in frustration. He snaps out of it.
I need to get my head straight. Miharu's distracting me way too much. Exams are around the corner… but now that I know where she lives, maybe I can do something. I could ask Mom if she knows her mother...
A thought crossed his mind when he spotted the window. He opened it, sunlight seeping in as he looked around. Then he saw Miharu's house.
I can even see her house from here… No! That's stalker behavior. Dammit.
He scratches his head and leans out for a better look.
I think I can get a better look from balcony.
She doesn't even know my name… I'm losing my mind. Should I focus on her—or the exams?
The doorbell rings, and Rei's thoughts shift. He closes the window in a hurry and rushes to open the door.
When he checks who came by, he's surprised. It's Yuzuki, holding a large lunchbox. He opens the door.
Yuzuki speaks casually, her tone bored. She looks at him and pushes the lunchbox forward.
"Here. Your dinner. Your mom said they'll get home late… and bye."
She tries to leave, but Rei grabs her wrist. She gasps and turns to him. He looks irritated.
"Where do you think you're going? Get inside."
"Wha—?!"
Yuzuki is startled. Rei pulls her in, walks to the living room, and tosses her onto the couch. He pins her down, locking both her hands behind her back.
Yuzuki squirms and shifts her legs in an attempt to break free, but she fails. She is mad and annoyed.
"What are you doing?! Cut it out!"
Rei grits his teeth, mad as hell. He tosses a bunch of H-manga magazines onto the table.
"Mind explaining these?"
Yuzuki paused, avoiding eye contact, and with an obvious tone, she replied.
"That's just the result of your dirty mind…"
Rei was exhausted at her attempt to take these types of things like a joke.
"Liar. You bought those and planted them in my room so my mom would find them. Well, joke's on you—I found them first."
Yuzuki smirked devilishly, looking at Rei. She shifted her voice to a flirty tone.
"If you don't want to read them… we could always try it out. You're already on top of me."
Rei rubbed his eyes out of boredom, his tone serious.
"Shut it… Are you ready for your punishment?"
Yuzuki mock-gasped and shifted, feigning shock.
"Punishment?! Don't tell me you're really gonna do something lewd to me…"
Instead of anything lewd, he starts tickling her mercilessly. Yuzuki is driven to laughter, kicking randomly.
"Hey—! Ha ha! Stop! Hahaha—NO—!"
Rei's fingers inch closer to her stomach.
As they make contact, she instantly blushes a deep red. Yuzuki laughs uncontrollably in between.
"HA—ha—NOT my stomach—haha—please—!"
Rei finally stops. Both of them are breathless. Yuzuki lets out a breath of relief.
Rei smiles gently, hopeful, and says.
"Remember how I used to tickle you all the time? We'd laugh for hours. Why can't we just go back to that? If I did something wrong… just tell me already."
Yuzuki, panting, eyes sharp and voice cold, replied,
"Never."
Rei stands up, hurt but composed. He looks away.
"Thanks for the lunchbox. Take theses magazines and leave."
Yuzuki gets up slowly. She storms out, slamming the door behind her… Rei takes a deep breath.
Yuzuki runs through the streets, her shoulders trembling. Hiding her tears, she steadies herself and slows down.
After getting rid of the magazines and cleaning the living area, Rei slouches on the couch. He spots something under the pillow.
He reaches out and finds that Yuzuki left her phone behind by accident. It doesn't bother him—until a notification pops up.
When Rei reads it, the name above it is Miharu. His eyes widen in pure shock.
"Miharu..... Wait what the~"
Rei rubs his eyes and reads it again. He runs out of words. He wipes the screen with his shirt, but no matter how many times he reads it, it's still Miharu.
"God... Who is writing my story? Am I a main character?"
Rei waited before opening the chat. He started reading; the message said:
"Did you finish the shojo animes I recommended??"
Wait… should I be reading her chats… I don't care.
As he scrolled through her chat, he became more focused and shocked. Time passed quickly.
He was learning about Miharu and her personal life. This much knowledge caused his mind to freeze.
Eventually, he got tired and started watching anime—Miharu's recommendations. It's dinner time.
Rei opened the lunchbox Yuzuki had brought: yosenabe with rice and a small portion of chawanmushi, separately.
His mouth watering, he couldn't help himself and took a bite.
"It's spicy..."
He pauses, chewing thoughtfully.
"She made my favorite dish… and still found a way to make it difficult for me to enjoy."
Smirking, eyes lighting up as he continues.
"Well, joke's on you—I love spicy food."
Without hesitation, Rei starts eating like a starved man. Or you could say… Rei's used to it by now. As for her feelings? Well, let's just say… even she doesn't really know what she wants.
Time skips. After binge-watching a lot of anime, Rei turns off the screen, yawning and stretching.
"Multiple endings? Seriously?"
"Why do I always crave anime when exams are around the corner…"
He heads to his room and lies down, staring at the ceiling. His thoughts drift to Miharu.
When will the time come…
He pauses, then smirks.
That's right… I've got that volleyball competition coming up.
Miharu… guess you'll have to wait a little longer.
He raises one hand, up right to the ceiling—suddenly something clicks. Sits up, eyes sparkling.
"Wait… that's it!"