Akane lay down on the bed, shut her eyes tightly, and turned to face him. She was showing her sleeping face to Saito for him to look at. Even in this moment, she was still absurdly serious.
Saito lay down beside Akane too, but his heart was oddly racing, making it impossible for him to fall back asleep. Meanwhile, Akane had elevens between her eyebrows, also seemingly unable to fall asleep. She was probably feeling just as tense. Feeling suffocated even by the slightest movement under the blanket, time passed with the two of them unable to turn over. Gradually, the outside world grew brighter.
Just as Saito finally felt himself drifting off to sleep, the alarm clock on the headboard went off. It was thirty minutes later than usual; apparently the snooze function had activated a few times. As Saito reached to turn off the alarm, Akane stirred beside him, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders as she sat up. The collar of her sleepwear had shifted, exposing the delicate line of her collarbone.
“G-good morning,” said Akane, giving him a shy smile.
A sweet atmosphere lingered between them—something completely foreign to their usual love-hate dynamic.
Are we a newlywed couple or something? Saito took a moment to reconfirm the fact that they were indeed newlyweds—officially, and sanctioned by both of their families. Saito had no idea how to react to this kind of bittersweet atmosphere. Saito had never been involved in anything even remotely romantic before.
“…Good morning,” Saito mumbled.
Saito felt as if he’d completely lose his sense of self if he stayed in the room any longer. Without another word, he grabbed his towel and made a beeline for the bathroom. Saito turned the faucet to full and splashed cold water onto his face. He looked at himself in the mirror—even after slapping his cheeks, he couldn’t wipe away his slight smirky expression.
“Aaaah!”
Saito, hearing Akane’s scream, rushed to the kitchen. Akane, clad in her apron, was holding an empty rice cooker, trembling as her eyes filled with tears.
“The rice… The rice is uncooked! I forgot to set the timer…!”
“It’s okay, Akane… Didn’t we get some bread too?”
“Yeah…but I burned it trying to make toast. I was spaced out.”
On the stove, the slices of bread that had been placed directly on the burner, were all engulfed in flames.
“They aren’t just burned… They’re beyond saving!” Saito exclaimed.
Saito tried to grab them to throw them in the sink, but the fire was too intense. For some reason, there were mushrooms and bamboo shoots around the toast, also engulfed in flame. The thought crossed Saito’s mind that they looked like bystanders who were also consumed by the flames while watching a witch being burned at the stake. What kind of ritual fire is this? Saito grabbed a pot from the shelf and covered the burning bread with it.
The flames went out, but smoke soon filled the kitchen. Both Saito and Akane coughed violently.
“What’s up with you today? You’re acting weird,” Saito muttered to Akane.
“You’re the one acting weird! Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!” countered Akane.
“What are you talking about? There’s no way I’d walk around without clothes…”
Midsentence, Saito looked down at himself and realized he was, in fact, shirtless. For some inexplicable reason, he was still wearing a necktie, making him look even goofier.
“For now, let’s just give up on making breakfast. Neither of us are at the top of our game this morning. If we keep on going like this, there’s a real risk of burning the entire house down.”
Akane nodded solemnly.
“You’re so right, Saito. Earlier, I tried to iron my uniform and somehow ended up spreading butter on it instead.”
“Get yourself together, seriously!”
Saito was pretty concerned. Normally, Akane was the epitome of responsibility, but today, she was completely out of it. She attached a hose to the sink faucet and was about to spray water all over the stove.
“What are you doing?” Saito inquired.
“Firefighting, of course,” Akane replied.
“C’mon, the fire is already out. You’re just going to flood the kitchen,” Saito said.
“My duty remains unchanged,” she declared, her expression sharp and determined.
“Right now, you have no duty. Just sit still over there,” urged Saito, dragging Akane to the living room and plopping her down on the sofa.
“Giving me orders? How impudent…”
She pouted, hugging her knees. But surprisingly, she stayed put. Feeling an overwhelming sense of exhaustion despite the wee hour of the morning, Saito started to clean up the kitchen. He soaked the burnt remains of the bread and mushrooms before tossing them into a bag, then scrubbed the stove and sink clean.
As they busied themselves with various household tasks, the time to leave for school approached. Grabbing their school bags, Saito and Akane did a quick check of each other’s outfits—just in case.
“All right, you’re properly dressed, Akane.”
“You too, Saito.”
“Why do we even need to confirm something so obvious?” Saito wondered out loud.
“We’re both half-asleep; better safe than sorry,” said Akane.
Saito wasn’t so sure. He felt like this wasn’t happening because they were half-asleep—it was something else. There was no time to debate the matter though, so the two of them hurried out of the house.
As they passed by a convenience store, Akane slowed down. She gazed longingly at a poster on the wall. It was advertising a new strawberry-cream bread.
“Hungry?”
“Yeah, but I don’t have time to buy or eat anything.”
“You won’t be able to focus on studying if you don’t eat.”
Ignoring Akane’s attempt to stop him, Saito dashed into the convenience store. He grabbed a loaf of the strawberry-cream bread and some vegetable juice, quickly paid, and stepped back outside. Despite costing just a single five-hundred-yen coin, the bread was three times the size of a normal cream bread.
“I can’t eat something that big,” Akane said, her eyes widening. The bread was obviously far removed from what she had imagined based on the poster.
“Then let’s split it,” said Saito, casually splitting the bread in half and handing one portion to Akane.
“Half and half,” said Akane, hesitantly inspecting the bread before taking a bite.
“Hmmm…it tastes like they just mixed red food coloring into the cream. It barely has any strawberry flavor. The baker clearly has no love for strawberries.”
“You don’t have to eat it if you’re gonna complain.”
But when Saito reached out to take it back, Akane quickly pulled it away from him.
“It’s mine! I won’t give you any, not even a crumb!”
“I’m the one who bought it, though,” replied Saito.
“No, the moment you gave it to me, it became mine. I have no obligation to return it to you,” retorted Akane, happily munching on the bread. Despite her complaints, she really did seem to be enjoying it. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Akane, Saito took a bite of his portion.
“See? Not that great, right?” Akane insisted.
“Yeah, pretty mediocre,” Saito agreed, although he didn’t really mind. Sharing a cheap piece of bread and critiquing it as he walked with Akane—once in a while, that might not be so bad.
As the two headed toward school together, a surprised voice called out.
“Saito-kun? Akane?”
Himari ran over to them, her long blonde hair trailing behind her.
“…?!”
Saito and Akane froze in terror.
“Weird! You two together? Outside of school? Are you walking to school together? Why, huh? Why?” Himari’s innocent eyes sparkled with curiosity as she eagerly pressed the pair for answers.
Damn it. A fatal lapse. Saito could feel himself breaking out in a cold sweat, enough to fill oceans. Because of the hectic morning—or rather, because of the several thousand loose screws in his head—they had completely forgotten to stagger their departure times from home to school. He had always been so careful to avoid this exact situation. Glancing to his side, he saw that Akane was just as pale. She was panicking, on the verge of hyperventilating, like a mermaid who had washed ashore.
It was these moments where Akane was most dangerous.
“There’s no way we were walking to school together! Th-this is, um…Saito was stalking me! Call the police immediately!” Akane exclaimed.
“Wait a second,” Saito said, countering the outrageous accusation from a completely unexpected angle.
Himari tilted her head.
“Saito doesn’t really seem like he’s stalking you.”
“You two looked like you were having a nice conversation…and it kinda looked like you were sharing some bread?” Himari said.
“Kh…!” A strangled, unintelligible sound escaped from Akane’s throat. Himari had scored a critical hit.
“It’s…um…”
Akane searched desperately to find an answer. Her brain must have already exceeded its processing limits. Her eyes spun in confusion as she flailed her hands.
“This…was… Yes, Saito had picked up some bread I couldn’t finish and threw away on the road and started eating it,” said Akane.
“Saito-kun?” Himari cast him a disapproving look.
“I’m not a dog, y’know,” said Saito.
“No, he’s not,” Akane affirmed. “He’s just the kind of person who devours anything I toss away, driven only by his desires.”
“Is this the part where I sue you for defamation?” said Saito, feeling a deep sadness. The peaceful moment they had just shared felt like a fleeting mirage.
Himari flicked Akane on the forehead.
“Hey!”
“Oww! Wh-what was that for, Himari?”
Akane clutched her forehead, eyes brimming with tears as she stepped back. Was her best friend finally going to scold her properly? Good. Give her a proper talking-to. Saito had high hopes, but…