Timeskip!

As I gained consciousness, I struggled to open my eyes. I wanted to, though, as I knew something was wrong. My arms didn’t feel the warmth they normally would as I woke up. It wasn’t until my eyes finally opened that I found out what happened. Ayane wasn’t in the room, and I instead held onto a pillow she put in my arms. This had happened before, so I shut my eyes again. I knew she’d wake me up to a meal, so I could afford to sleep more. That’s what I thought until I yawned. Well, I couldn’t come back from that.

Now, with the instinct to get out of my bed, I stretched my arms and legs. As my body rolled out of my bed, I exited Ayane’s room to see her in the kitchen as I expected.

“Good morning,” Ayane said as she saw me.

“Good morning,” I replied back.

As Ayane continued cooking with her apron on, I took a seat at the table. Granted, once I did, my tired face crashed onto the table.

“Not feeling it this morning, huh,” Ayane told me.

“That’s every morning,” I mumbled before yawning.

“I can prepare some coffee for you.”

Turning a complete 180, I rushed out of my seat, holding my hands onto the top of the table as I faced her. Preparing to yell, I didn’t quite have the energy to, so my words came off a lot less impassioned than I wanted them to.

“No, you don’t have to. You already have your hands full.”

Ayane turned to face me.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I do this because I love you.”

Once she finished, she smiled. Seeing this, my eyes widened as my hands left the table, with my body attempting to process what I saw.

“Wow, I think that was the first time you faced me as you said that.”

As Ayane heard me, she instantly turned back to the wall, although that didn’t prevent me from seeing the erupted volcano that was her face. Equally erupted was her response.

“No, it’s not!”

Smirking, I decided to toy with her a bit.

“I’m too tired to hear you.”

Ayane’s shoulders rose.

“If… if you keep being an asshole, you’ll have to make the coffee yourself.”

With a comeback like that, I decided to submit and put my head back on the table.

“Sorry…”

I wanted to use this as a chance to nap, but it didn’t happen. I simply had too much on my mind, so I tried starting a conversation to bypass them.

“Aya and Aka have been on that trip for a while, huh.”

“Yep.”

“It’s kind of lonely without them.”

“Yeah, it is.”

I put my arm on my neck.

“At least they’ll be back tomorrow… I hope.”

Ayane faced me, no red on her face.

“They will be back.”

“How do you know?”

“My parents have never missed any important events for me.”

I put my arm back on the table.

“I always forget that you have good parents.”

With Ayane not responding, the conversation appeared to die, until she came over to my table soon after.

“Here’s your coffee.”

“Thanks.”

As Ayane returned to the kitchen, I stared into my cup, gazing at its reflection.

“Why didn’t you tell me how tired I look?”

With massive bags under my eyes and a severe case of bedhead, my reaction was only reasonable, even if Ayane disagreed.

“That’s no way to talk about yourself.”

I got out of my seat and turned back.

“I’ll finish this coffee later. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Ayane raised her voice.

“Wait until breakfast is done! It’s almost ready.”

While starting aggressively, she ended her statement as koi as what I’d expect from her. When I finally took a look back at her, I saw her with her head down. With the manipulative eyes of a puppy, my pity got the best of me.

“Fine. I’ll take a seat,” I said as I scratched my head.

Thankfully, she didn’t pull my leg like I thought she would. Glancing over at the kitchen, I saw her putting my food on my plate. As I waited for her to hand it to me, I found myself ready to drool, even if I stopped myself by wiping it off with my arm. After I finished that, though, my breakfast had come served.

“Here you go.”

As I closed my eyes, I clapped my hands together on top of my meal.

“Thank you for the meal!”

“You don’t always have to yell that.”

As she said that, she tried to hide her face in her apron. It failed, though, even though she kept on trying it. Although I wanted to swoon at this reaction, I knew I could take it further before fully admiring it.

“But I need to properly communicate my thoughts!”

Not nearly as flustered, Ayane’s panicky series of motions transformed into her still body being unable to look at me.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I have to yell my thanks.”

Ayane faced me again, even if she could only do so by finally figuring out how to hide her face with her apron.

“Oh… thanks.”

“We’ve gone through this so many times, and your reaction never changes.”

“I’m just not used to being validated.”

“In that case, the world is full of idiots.”

Once she heard this, she finally looked at me directly.

“Why do you love me so much?”

“Are you sure you want the answer? I could go on for a while if you’d let me.”

“In that case, let me put my food onto my plate first.”

“Sounds good.”

A few seconds passed, and we were now both at the table, ready to eat our meals. As Ayane took the first bite, I finally told her how I felt.

“I’m trying to think of a place to start. Maybe how I felt before we started dating. Hm… In that case, I thought you were cute. You looked and acted like someone I could protect, someone who I could feel superior to in an attempt to dodge my insecurities. Little did I know, though, that you’d be so much more. You’re kind, considerate, and giving. Someone with grand ambitions and so much potential to become a star. I feel lucky to have someone like you, someone with the patience to help me get over my flaws.”

Ayane leaned back, seemingly tugging on her skirt as she looked at her food.

“The last time you told me something like that, it was before you reunited with your dad. I thought that maybe you were exaggerating when you said you needed me.”

“I wasn’t, Ayane.”

Ayane finally looked at me.

“What happened to the honorifics?”

I wanted to hold back my answer, but I instead looked her straight in the face, knowing that this was the better move to make.

“Well, if you’re so special to me, then why would I refer to you as I would with anyone else?”

“You really weren’t kidding, huh.”

She somehow managed to keep her eye contact, but that didn’t wash away the red on her cheeks.

“It took you long enough.”

After this, I decided to finally take a bite of my breakfast. Once I did, I couldn’t stop, although Ayane ate slower than usual. With it being clear that something was on her mind, I put my utensil down waiting for her to say something.

“You know, I’ve never been confident in myself.”

Even though her face was directed toward her meal, I still tried to look her right in the eye.

“I’ll help you regain it. I mean, the school festival play is tomorrow. That’s the perfect time for you to shine.”

“I don’t know if I can do it,” she said as her vision came closer to the floor.

“And you say that after all of the acting and singing lessons you gave me at the karaoke bar.”

“I only looked good because you… how do I put it nicely?”

Now she covered her head with her hands. This wouldn’t stop me from complimenting her, though.

“Satou-kun said I’m a passable actor yesterday, so that must mean you’re a goddess by his standards. Checkmate.”

Instead of hiding her face out of embarrassment, she now pinched it in mild frustration.

“I sense this is an argument I can’t win.”

“Well, with that settled, I’m going to keep gorging on the best food I’ve ever eaten.”