After the passionately dating couple, Aragaki Miyahito and Kasumigaoka Utaha, chatted for a while longer.
"I'm going to take my shower."
"Yeah, go ahead."
Seeing her boyfriend with one earphone in, his gaze completely focused on his phone screen, Utaha, who was holding her nightgown and preparing to enter the washroom, suddenly paused. Her wine-red eyes shifted slightly, and then, with an inexplicably alluring tone in her voice, she called out.
"Hey, Miyahito."
"Hmm?" Miyahito responded with a nasal hum, not looking up from his work.
"Let me tell you a little secret." Leaning half against the wooden doorframe, Utaha looked at him with a playful smile in her eyes. The corners of her lips curved slightly as she spoke. "I, um, can't hear the door opening when I'm in the shower."
"...Ah, yeah." Caught off guard, Miyahito replied instinctively. Then, snapping out of his daze, his face instantly flushed crimson. "I wouldn't peek!! Seriously, Utaha!"
"Ehh..... (disgusted)"
"Don't 'ehh' me!"
"Tch... (even more disgusted)"
"And don't click your tongue! I said I won't peek! Just hurry up and go take your shower!"
"Ara ara, in such a hurry?" Utaha playfully licked her lips, her tone a mix of shyness and anticipation as she enunciated every word. "If you're this eager, even I would get shy, Miyahito."
The moment she finished speaking, Miyahito's brain completely short-circuited.
It wasn't until the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom into the room that his frozen mind finally rebooted. He muttered internally, 'Did I... just get teased by Utaha again?'
Only about ten minutes had passed since Utaha went into the bathroom.
Ding-dong—!
The sudden doorbell snapped Miyahito out of his focus as he was busy writing a simple music score in the room.
At the same time, Utaha's voice came from the bathroom. "Miyahito! The sushi delivery must be here."
"Oh!" Sitting cross-legged on the carpet, Miyahito stood up, calling back a quick "Coming!" to Utaha. He slipped on his slippers and hurried to the genkan, shouting, "Wait a sec, I'm coming!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Reciting the polite social script, Miyahito turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door open. "Are you the sushi... delivery...?" Seeing the delivery person outside, Miyahito's expression turned slightly surprised as he finished his sentence haltingly.
Then.
"Miyuki-senpai?"
"Good evening, Miyahito." Wearing his usual slightly annoyed expression, Shirogane Miyuki returned the greeting, his tone equally surprised.
At the same time, his gaze secretly flicked to the nameplate hanging beside the door.
Hmm. It says "Kasumigaoka"... I'm definitely at the right place.
"Miyuki-senpai." Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Miyahito stiffly accepted the sushi bag from Miyuki, forcing a laugh. "It's so late... Miyuki-senpai, are you still working?"
"Ah, yeah." For some reason, Miyuki sounded unusually weary, his tone carrying a hint of dazed exhaustion. "The sushi shop was short-staffed tonight, so they asked me to fill in temporarily."
"Ahaha, you're working hard, Miyuki-senpai. Make sure to get some rest."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"...."
For a moment, both Miyuki and Miyahito fell into a silent, yet perfectly synchronized, awkward pause.
"Um, Miyuki-senpai." Miyahito hesitated, wanting to explain. "It's, um... not what you think."
Just then.
"Miyahito! Is there a problem with the order?"
Utaha's voice drifted from the bathroom, followed by a sudden splash of water. The atmosphere at the door instantly grew ten times more awkward.
With his mouth twitching uncontrollably, Miyahito shot Miyuki an apologetic look, then quickly turned and shouted toward the bathroom, "No problem!"
"Um, I already paid on UE. Just give the delivery guy the tip."
"I-I got it!!"
Hearing Utaha's casual instructions, Miyahito practically wanted to bury his head in the floor.
Just as he frantically fumbled for his wallet to follow her instructions, Miyuki delivered the final blow from outside. "Actually, it's fine, Miyahito. I'm just filling in for one delivery."
"Ah..." Miyahito's jaw dropped. He stared at Miyuki, feeling like he was going to lose his mind.
Dear God!
Miyuki-senpai is just doing a one-time delivery run, and it just happens to be Utaha's place... And I'm the one answering the door while inside my girlfriend's room.
Watching his junior's eyes spin in sheer panic, Miyuki—who was still reeling from his own existential crisis—managed a stiff, awkward smile. "Well, I'll head back to the shop, Miyahito."
"Yeah... travel safely, Miyuki-senpai."
"Got it." Adjusting his cap, Miyuki turned and walked toward the nearby elevator.
However, just as he took a step, remembering his role as a senior and the fact that Miyuki respectfully called him "senpai," he silently stopped.
Shirogane Miyuki
Turning back, his expression deeply conflicted as he looked at Miyahito standing silently at the door with his head down, Miyuki stammered as if struggling to say it. "Um, Miyahito, at our age... just don't do anything impulsive, okay?"
"If you... um, remember to take proper precautions. Ahem..."
Finishing with a cough of sheer embarrassment, Miyuki immediately turned around and practically sprinted into the elevator just as the doors opened.
Left standing alone in the hallway, Miyahito's hair metaphorically stood on end, completely at a loss.
A few seconds later.
"It's really not what you think! I wasn't planning to do anything, Miyuki-senpai!"
"Guh— God, just kill me already!"
....
That night, after getting off work and returning home, Miyuki still wore an expression of utter disbelief.
This piqued the curiosity of Shirogane Kei, who was doing summer homework in the living room.
"Nii-san, what's wrong with you?"
Standing up from the tatami, a popsicle stick dangling from her lips, Kei walked over to her exhausted, existentially-crisis-stricken brother and asked softly.
Shirogane Kei
"Did something happen?"
"Ah, Kei." Calling his sister with a dazed tone, Miyuki's expression shifted at her question, turning deeply uncomfortable. "I guess... something did happen...?"
"Huh?" Completely bewildered by her brother's vague reply, Kei's small face was full of confusion. "What do you mean, Onii-chan?"
"Let me think how to phrase this." Wearing an expression of profound complexity, Miyuki wearily walked into the living room and plopped down onto the tatami.
Curious, Kei obediently followed and sat down neatly beside him.
After organizing his thoughts, Miyuki explained the evening's incident to his sister with a deeply complicated expression... especially about encountering a certain junior in a highly inappropriate context.
After listening to her brother's brief summary,
Kei was completely stunned.
After a long pause, her face flushed crimson, and she couldn't help but blurt out.
"EHHHH!!!!"
Miyahito-senpai is cohabiting with his girlfriend?!
That Miyahito-senpai actually...