A Beautiful Girl Confessed Her Love to Me as a Punishment Game, but After We Started Dating, She Started Getting More and More Obsessive - Chapter 12

I’m the type of person who can never sleep well the night before something nerve-wracking, like an exam. But I’ve never overslept because of it.

In fact, because I’m so afraid of being late, I usually go to bed earlier than normal, forcing myself into a shallow sleep, and then end up waking up earlier than usual.

The day of my promise with Kiryu. I woke up at 4 a.m. It was still dark outside, and the neighborhood was silent since no one was awake at that hour.

Considering that our meeting time was at 9 a.m., even if I left the house early, around 8 a.m., I still had three hours left. I could have slept a bit more, assuming it would only take me an hour to get ready.

But my nerves kept me wide awake, making it impossible to fall back asleep.

So, I had no choice but to get up.

On days when I don’t have enough time, it usually takes me around 20 minutes to get ready, but today, when I had all the time in the world, I was done in just seconds. For some reason, I didn’t feel sleepy at all, so I went to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth.

Looking in the mirror, my hair looked flat and odd.

Huh? It looked way cooler when I got it cut yesterday.

Oh, right. It’s because I didn’t put any hair wax on.

I opened my dad’s drawer and grabbed some hair wax without asking—wait, this wax is white and kind of looks like ointment…

Yesterday, the stuff Minami used was more like a clear liquid.

Is it a different type?

I put some of the white cream in my hand, recalling the steps Minami did yesterday as I spread it over my hands. Huh, it’s kind of stiff.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember exactly what she did yesterday.

Now that I think about it, after she put something on her hands, she sprayed some kind of clear liquid on top. I thought that liquid was wax, but maybe it was just water?

I mixed the wax with some tap water to thin it out and spread it over my hands.

It didn’t mix well. I felt like I was doing something wrong, but I had no idea what else to do, so I decided to put it on my hair anyway.

It felt sticky, and my hands got caught in my hair, but I forced it through, rubbing the wax all over.

I looked in the mirror.

…It’s not what I imagined.

I messed with my hair for a while, hoping it would somehow look better, but when it didn’t, I gave up and returned to my room.

I laid out the clothes Minami helped me pick out yesterday on the bed.

Huh? Did I really choose this?

When I saw them on the mannequin yesterday, I thought they looked really good, but now that they’re laid out in front of me, they seem pretty average.

Well, maybe they’ll look better once I put them on.

I cut the tags and tried them on, then stood in front of the mirror.

The fabric felt crisp, and there was that distinct new-clothing smell.

The size fit perfectly since I had tried it on yesterday, but it just didn’t feel as good as it did then.

I put on the necklace I bought as an accent. Maybe I should take it off? But Minami said it looked better with it…

I don’t know. Suddenly, I started losing confidence.

I glanced at the clock in my room. It was 4:40 a.m.

Even though I wasn’t confident about the way I looked, I didn’t have any other clothes to wear. As for my hair, I could ask Mom for help, but it wasn’t the right time yet.

I had all the time in the world but nothing to do.

With nothing else to do, I picked up the light novel I had been reading until Friday.

…The words weren’t sinking in at all. I glanced at the clock again. Only one minute had passed.

Time felt like it was dragging on painfully. Should I try to sleep again? No, I was too anxious to fall asleep.

I paced around my room like a bear, book in hand, as time slowly crawled by.

The light filtering through the curtains turned a soft red. The sun had started to rise. I opened the window, and a warm breeze drifted into the room. I watched as the sun slowly illuminated the rooftops of the houses in the neighborhood.

…I wonder if Mom is awake by now.

I left my room and went to the living room. Dad, already dressed in his suit, was sipping coffee while scrolling through the news on his phone.

In old manga, it was pretty common to see dads reading the newspaper over breakfast, but in our house, it was basically the same scene—just with a phone instead of a newspaper.

Come to think of it, I wonder if newspapers still sell well in a time when people can just get all their information from their smartphones? I hadn’t seen a newspaper delivery person in years.

But then again, we always have newspapers in the house.

I often see Mom using them as a tray for fried food or for cleaning windows. No one ever seems to be reading them, though. It’s strange.

“Don’t look at your phone during meals.”

“…I’m just trying to stay updated so I can have something to talk about with clients. Oh, you’re up already, Karasu? It’s Sunday.”

“Yeah. Good morning, Dad.”

“What’s with the outfit? You going somewhere?”

“Uh, well…”

“He is! Karasu’s going on a date today. With his girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend!? You have a girlfriend, Karasu?”

“Uh, yeah, sort of…”

“I see. That’s great. By the way, you’re not working a part-time job, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, let me give you some spending money. It wouldn’t be cool if you couldn’t pay for anything.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Dad took out a 5,000 yen bill from his wallet and handed it to me.

“Have fun.”

“Yeah…”

Even though I figured my relationship with Kiryu would probably fizzle out soon, and this date would be the first and last, my parents’ kindness felt warm.

“Oh, and listen to this, honey. Yesterday, Karasu was so nervous just to call her.”

“Th-that’s enough about that. Anyway, Mom, my hair isn’t turning out right. Could you help me?”

“Huh, your hair? Did you use some kind of wax on it?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought it was just bedhead. I’ll help you once I finish making your father’s lunch.”

“Thanks.”

With that, Mom went back to the kitchen.

I gave a small nod to Dad before heading back to my room to put the 5,000 yen in my wallet.

Then, Dad left for work.

Even though it was Sunday, he had to go in. He said that not many companies in our local industry get proper days off.

Mom came in and fixed my hair.

It turned out the clear liquid I thought was hair wax was actually baby oil. Since wax is oil-based, it doesn’t mix with water, but it does mix with oil. That’s how it worked.

By the time we were done, it was already past 7 a.m.

There was still plenty of time before our meeting, but I felt restless, so I decided to head to the school early.