Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051597934651646/episodes/2912051599888543111
In a room still filled with the cool morning air, Houtarou Achi quietly woke up.
The smartphone by his pillow vibrated briefly, signaling a notification.
When he turned on the screen, he saw several messages from Seika Hirugami.
They were a sticker of a dog character cheerfully shouting “Good morning” and a trivial comment about this morning’s weather.
Seeing them, a small, involuntary “hehe” escaped from Houtarou’s lips.
It was an unproductive exchange with no particular purpose.
Yet, he found himself feeling that this kind of trivial connection was incredibly comforting and enjoyable right now.
Recalling the noisy time they’d spent gathered around the sukiyaki pot just yesterday, Houtarou slowly got out of bed.
He quickly got ready in the bathroom and headed to the kitchen.
He ate a simple breakfast alone, consisting of nothing more than toasted bread and a cup of coffee.
As if last night’s liveliness had been a lie, the dining table was now completely silent.
He put the dishes away in the sink and slung his school bag over his shoulder.
The usual Hotarou would have simply headed to school as soon as he was ready, without telling anyone.
He considered it the height of inefficiency to sacrifice his own time to match someone else’s pace.
But this time, Hotaro paused for a moment before reaching for the doorknob.
He took his smartphone out of his uniform pocket and opened the messaging app.
“I’m heading out now.”
He sent just those two words to Seika’s chat screen.
It wasn’t merely a report; it was more like a subtle invitation to “go together.”
Taking the initiative to consider someone else’s schedule, let alone offering to wait for them—that was behavior the old him would have never even considered.
As he stared at the screen, the “Read” notification appeared within seconds of sending the message.
Immediately, a reply came flying in.
“I’m coming too! Wait a sec!”
From the short message written entirely in hiragana, he could clearly picture her flustered state.
He could easily picture her on the other end of the smartphone, wagging an invisible tail so hard it might snap off, overjoyed.
There was no playing hard to get at all; it was an overly honest reaction where her happiness showed through directly.
Houtarou slipped his smartphone into his pocket and let out a small sigh of exasperation.
(Really, that’s just the kind of person she is.)
Her affection was noisy, but utterly pure and sincere.
He realized that his daily life, which had once been so sterile, was now undeniably colored by her presence.
Houtarou gripped the doorknob of the front door and, thinking of the person he was meeting, let a faint smile slip onto his face.
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