Book 3: Chapter 7: 28th of August (Friday)
“I messed up…”
How long has it been since I overslept like that? When I woke up, it was already long past noon, and I had even slept through the start of summer classes. Knowing that my old man had gone out of his way to pay the fees for these classes, skipping them like this made me feel like I had betrayed his trust, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
I couldn’t sleep at all last night. Although Ayase-san and I ate dinner together at the dining table yesterday, it was rather awkward, and there was a lot of silence between the bits of our conversation. Even after I slipped into my bed, the events of today and memories of Ayase-san kept flickering up in my mind and behind my eyelids, making me restless. Seriously, just what am I doing?
My throat felt dry, so I decided to get something to drink. I tried to fix my pathetic bed hair with one hand, feeling too bothered to even wash my face. I made my way to the living room where I heard a cheerful woman’s ‘Oh’ voice.
“Yuuta-kun, good morning.”
“Eh, Akiko-san? …And Dad as well?”
“Yo, sleepyhead.”
My old man seemed to be reading some newspapers on his tablet. He raised his head to greet me with a slight wave of his hand. He and Akiko-san were sitting at the dining table facing each other, cups of iced coffee in front of them. The TV was turned on, playing a popular drama from overseas. It was a peaceful scene that I hadn’t expected.
“Yuuta-kun?”