Chapter 53: A normal morning

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Translator: Soafp

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Morning.

Today, I brewed coffee with carefully selected beans and warmed up the curry from last night's dinner.

Where’s the naan? I'm having rice today (a true Japanese trait).

It's mid-May, and the temperature is rising.

Actually, it's already quite hot.

“…Ah, let's eat.”

After finishing my dance practice, I finally get to have breakfast.

I'm a bit rushed.

There are two reasons for this.

The first is to engage in my recently started creative activities.

“Feeling pumped up (excited).”

I head to a corner of my room where I keep a “box.”

To be precise, it's a one-person tent.

There's a small personal space where I can comfortably move my arms.

“…Alright.”

In the calm, dark room, I pick up a pen.

…Ah, finally, I can make good use of this room.

Thanks to my parents, I'm living in a pretty nice apartment.

It's a relatively spacious 1LDK (about 11 tatami mats), so it feels a bit wasteful.

[――”This way, even if a lot of friends come over, it'll be fine.”――]

[――”Mom, do you really understand? It's for Hajime-nii…”――]

I recall my mother's words when she introduced me to this property.

My younger sister's face, looking like she'd bitten into a bitter bug, is still vivid in my memory (a trauma).

I did insist that a small room would be fine.

But yesterday! I assembled the item that arrived and set it up in the LDK room.

It's amazing (swoon). It feels like an adult's secret base.

For now, let's start with some morning drawing practice.

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“Got too absorbed…!”

The personal space is so distraction-free that I lost track of time (a bit scary).

Looking at the clock, I'm five minutes past the scheduled time.

I hurriedly change and head to school.

――”Wow, look at that!” “Was there such a person before?” “But that's Hoshizaka, right?”――

Due to the unusual train time, all eyes are on me.

When I get off at the station, the scrutiny intensifies.

As I get closer to school, the scrutiny increases even more.

Good, look at me more (suspiciously).

…Well, I can joke about it in my mind now.

Humans really do get “used to” things, don't they (says who)?

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“――Oh! It's you, Icchi! Good morning～!”

The second reason I rushed out of the house this morning is to talk with her, Hatsune-san.

Since Kisaragi-san comes to school later, I have about 15 minutes before homeroom to chat with her.

“Good morning.”

“? You seem happy today.”

Of course.

I've never had the chance to talk with a friend in the morning before.

“…Maybe it's because I brewed the coffee so well today.”

“Heh.”

Humans get used to things.

But this morning time—well, I'm not used to it yet.

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“…”

“…?”

What should I talk about?

What do you talk about with friends before homeroom?

The weather today, perhaps (it's cloudy)?

“Oh, by the way, I watched the DVD from yesterday.”

“Why are you using polite language~?”

“Ah, um…”

I stumble over my words.

When it comes to this, I freeze up.

It's strange; I had been looking forward to it so much. I used to talk normally before!

No, maybe it's because of that.

Seriously—this is where it shows (one year with zero friends).

“You're acting strange today, Icchi! You're always strange, though!”

“Yeah, that's right (instinctively).”

“You admitted it~!”

Maybe it's because of those two gal girls teasing me, but that response slipped out easily.

It feels quite pathetic (at this point).

But she smiled.

……Thank you, Yumesaki-san and Hiiragi-san.

I feel like my nerves have eased up just a bit.

“By the way, Icchi, you’re pretty close with the two people next to you, right?”

“Eh?”

This time, her voice was trembling.

But thinking about it, it's a strange relationship.

“It's surprising, isn't it?”

“Well, I guess so…”

“Honestly, they seem like completely incompatible people…”

“…Hmm.”

Hatsune-san said that.

But I think that's a bit off.

They are genuine extroverts, while I'm an irredeemable introvert.

But—

“I actually like those two a lot.”

“Eh?”

“Hiiragi-san teases me, and Yumesaki-san is a bit scary. But they both laugh a lot—”

Hiiragi-san and Yumesaki-san.

It makes me happy that they talk and laugh with me.

It's tiring sometimes, though (hunger).

I'm sorry for thinking of them as a demon lord or a yankee in my mind.

Looking back, they seem like they'd be high in combat power if they were on my side (super rude).

“Ah, ah…”

“?”

I realize after saying it.

Hatsune-san is, for some reason, frozen.

“…I-Icchi. Behind you…”

“Eh?”

At that moment, I felt a sense of impending doom.

“Hey there☆”

“…”

Behind me, a bright voice and an intimidating presence.

It was scary.

I slowly turned around like a machine with its oil drained.

Of course—naturally.

They're classmates, so they'd definitely come into the classroom.

Why did I say something like that!

“…G-Good morning.”

“I heard everything～☆”

“…I didn't say anything.”

No way, they definitely heard (despair).

Hiiragi-san is as usual, and actually, she's laughing a lot (Demon King of the Sixth Heaven).

Yumesaki-san is turning away…

[――”Hiiragi-san teases me, and Yumezaki-san is a bit scary”――]

[A bit scary.]

[Scary.]

—I'm sorry, can we pretend this never happened (time leap)?