After Being Dumped With the Insult, “You’re So Clingy!” and Finding Her in Despair, I Kept Encouraging My Beautiful Classmate and as a Result, That Beautiful Girl Started Directing Her Heavy Emotions Toward Me Instead, but Since I Like Emotionally Heavy Girls, It’s No Problem - 14

Chapter 14: Experiencing What It’s Like to Be Woken Up by My Childhood Friend

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“…e-kun. …noe-kun. Please wake up. It’s already nine in the morning, you know?”

“U-uhh…?”

I heard a voice calling my name from nearby. I also felt someone gently shaking my body back and forth. At that moment, my consciousness was caught right between dream and reality. If I had to compare it to something, it was like half of my brain was still dreaming, while the other half was awake and able to pick up sounds from the real world. That kind of feeling. It seemed like someone was trying to pull me out of the world of dreams.

“Just… a little… more…”

I rolled over and refused the request of whoever was speaking. If I remembered correctly, today was Saturday. There was no school. In that case, it should be fine to sleep until noon. When I made that silent demand, I heard a small sigh, followed by a delighted little “Hehe♪.”

“Honestly, what a sleepyhead… But that just makes you worth taking care of ♪”

The owner of the voice began shaking me again.

“Come on now, we promised we’d go grocery shopping today, didn’t we? Please wake up.”

“Mmm…? Grocery shopping…?”

My brain started turning at the word “grocery shopping.”

Grocery shopping… grocery shopping…

Right. I had promised to go buy ingredients with Jujoji today. The moment I realized that, my consciousness rapidly surfaced from the world of dreams. I threw off the blanket and sat up abruptly. When my eyes fully opened, I saw Jujoji smiling at me gently.

“Jujoji…?”

“Yes. This is your Futaba Jujoji ♪”

“Oh… right. I gave you the spare key.”

I was slightly startled to find her inside my room, but then I remembered that I had given her the spare key yesterday, and it all made sense. She must have used it to let herself in. Being woken up in the morning by a girl who let herself into my room with a spare key…

…What is this? This is exactly the kind of scene I’ve seen countless times in romantic comedy manga and light novels.

Realizing that something straight out of a rom-com protagonist’s life was actually happening to me made me feel a little moved.

“Sorry… I’m not great in the mornings. Hoam…”

“I don’t mind. In fact, it’s better if you’re still asleep. That way I get to take care of you more. Hehe♪”

Just like yesterday, I apologized for not greeting her properly. I tended to have low blood pressure and was weak in the mornings, so my mind always felt sluggish right after waking up. But Jujoji looked satisfied instead, smiling as if she preferred it that way.

“But couldn’t we go grocery shopping later in the afternoon…?”

It was true that we had promised to go shopping today. But we hadn’t set a specific time. I had just assumed we’d go around noon or so.

“I need to make breakfast for you, Kokonoe-kun, and the earlier we go, the higher the chance the better ingredients will still be available. The good items might be sold out by noon. I want you to eat the best things, Kokonoe-kun.”

“Is that so…”

The only time I had cooked for myself was for about a month or two after starting high school. After that, I got lazy and only bought cup noodles and ready-made meals. So it wasn’t like I knew the basics of smart grocery shopping. Jujoji, who cooked regularly, was clearly more knowledgeable in that area. If she said so, then it must be true.

“Alright. I’ll get ready. Yaaawn…”

“Then I’ll prepare breakfast ♪”

As I stifled a yawn and got out of bed, Jujoji headed toward the kitchen. When I looked more closely, I saw that prepped ingredients were already placed on top of the stove. All that was left was to cook them, and they could be served at any time.

At the same time, a sharp “Beep!” echoed through the room. I turned toward the sound and saw steam puffing out of the rice cooker beside the refrigerator. It seemed the rice had just finished cooking. Seeing that sight made me suspicious.

…It should take about an hour to cook rice…. I hadn’t cooked any. That meant Jujoji must have done it. Just how long had she been in my room?

“…Jujoji, have you been here for quite a while?”

“No. At most about an hour, I suppose?”

“That’s quite a while!?”

That meant she had come to my room around eight in the morning and had been preparing breakfast.

“I really wanted to be the one to wake you up today, Kokonoe-kun, so I came early ♪”

“Seriously…?”

…Coming early just because you want to wake someone up… She’s hard to understand.

Pulling myself together, I changed out of my sleepwear into clothes suitable for going out. Since Jujoji was in the living room, I grabbed my clothes and moved to the dressing area. Just as I was about to take off my pajamas, Jujoji suddenly poked half her face through the door and called out to me.

“Ah, shall I help you change as well?”

“Please spare me that…”

“Muu… That’s disappointing.”

I politely declined her offer. I definitely didn’t need help with that. She withdrew her face with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

After changing clothes, I returned to the living room and found a freshly made, steaming, delicious-looking breakfast set on the table in the center. The menu consisted of white rice, rolled omelet, sausages, grilled salmon, and miso soup packed with vegetables.

“Oh, today feels like a good old-fashioned Japanese breakfast. It looks delicious…”

“Please enjoy ♡”

It had been a long time since I’d had such an authentic Japanese meal. Before Jujoji started cooking for me, I’d just quickly gotten by on cup noodles, sliced bread, and ready-made meals.

After all, I’m a Japanese person. I love a good old-fashioned Japanese breakfast. 

My stomach was already growling, telling me to hurry up and eat.

“Thank you for the meal!”

With gratitude toward Jujoji for preparing breakfast, I began eating the food she had made.

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T/N: MC has the survival instinct of a blueberry… But I suppose that’s why he’s the best pair for someone like FL…