After My First Love Who is My Classmate Became My Family, My Childhood Friend Became Really Sweet to Me - Chapter 8

Morning Scenery/Homemade Food/Where is The Cat?

The next morning, Hinata finished moving into my house.

I entered the living room sleepily and smelled a delicious aroma of miso soup.

Why there was a smell of miso soup when I hadn’t even made breakfast yet?

“Oh, you’re awake, Yuto. Breakfast will be ready soon, okay?”

A girl’s voice…? Then I finally realized.

Standing in the kitchen was a beautiful girl wearing an apron over her school uniform. It was Hinata.

“Oh—oh. Thanks for the breakfast and good morning.”

“Yeah, good morning. Hehehe…”

Hinata’s face breaks into a smile, then she stirred the ingredients inside the pot with a ladle.

For a moment, I was surprised and confused, why the girl I like was standing in the kitchen. It sounds like the kind of dream a high school boy with an unrequited love might have. That sounds a lot like me.

When the breakfast was ready on the table, I spilled out an exclamation.

“Oh…”

The rice was warm and tender, and the miso soup was steaming hot. A vegetable salad was served next to a grilled salmon fillet as well.

It was a traditional Japanese breakfast; it was a very luxurious menu.

“What do you think? Do you think you can give it a passing grade, Yuto?”

“It’s a perfect score, no question about it. I don’t know when was the last time I’ve had such a fine breakfast and it’s been a long time since I’ve had a meal served on a proper plate.”

“…? Um, what do you mean by served on a proper plate?”

“When I eat at home, I eat on a hundred-yen paper plate. I can throw them away when I’m done, so I don’t have to wash them.”

“What—”

Hinata froze as if she were a foreigner in a culture shock.

“I remember Tetsuya saying Yuto is good at taking care of others, but you are careless towards yourself.”

“Dad, did you even tell that to Hinata…”

“Okay I’ve decided. From now on, I will cook our meals every day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything. Oh, and I’ve already made lunch, so if you want to, you can have it for lunch today.”

I didn’t expect her to had prepared our lunch… Eh, but that’s not what I need to be concerned about.

“I appreciate the bento, but cooking every day is not good for Hinata. We just talked the other day about sharing the housework.”

“Nope. Tetsuya-san asked me to take care of Yuto. I’m in the position of being allowed to live with Yuto, so I want you to leave everything about the house to me.”

“But that must be tough for Hinata…”

“When I lived with my mother, I did most of the work as well, so it’s not much different than how it is now, or maybe you are confident that you can cook better than me, Yuto? If that’s the case, I’d be happy to let you cook for us.”

I know in an instant, it’s absolutely impossible. The taste of the food may be the same, but Hinata’s efficiency of cooking and the variety of recipes that she knew would be far more superior than mine.

“So, what do you think? I think I would be happier if Yuto eats it without complaining.”

“I understand… But you can always tell me if you don’t feel like cooking. It’s not like I can’t cook at all.”

“Itadakimasu”, she said while clapping her hands together and sipping her miso soup.

I knew it was coming, but her meal was so delicious that I felt the soup warmed up my whole body.

I have often avoided dishes that require dashi because of the time and effort to prepare it, but I never knew miso soup could have such a deep flavour with dashi. It’s a homey taste that I haven’t had in a long time.

“It’s delicious. Honestly, I’m thrilled to have such good food in the morning.”

“I see. I’m glad it suits your taste… You’re going have it a lot in the future.”

“I guess I should thank Hinata for that. I’ve never had breakfast other than toast since I started living alone. I usually skipped breakfast because I’m the only one eating it.”

“…? You sound like you’re making meals for someone else except in the morning.”

“Ahh, that’s…”

I almost forgot an important daily routine because of seeing Hinata in an apron.

But I still have plenty of time left, and most importantly, I’ll feel bad for Hinata who had made the breakfast for me if I don’t eat it. I’m going to cook for Tsukino after we finish breakfast.

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Ten minutes later. As usual, I put my hands together in front of my mother’s picture frame, then I leave the house to do my daily routine. I took out my wallet to grab a key inside it.

It was a duplicate key to Tsukino’s house.

After pressing the intercom, I went inside Tsukino’s house using a duplicate key. It was so quiet that I don’t hear a single sound, she was probably still sleeping. She’s always like this every morning.

Every morning I need to wake Tsukino up. That’s my weekday routine.

someone might think, why do I need to wake Tsukino up, but Tsukino, who has zero life skills would be late for school if I don’t do this. This is also an important job for me as her caretaker.

While standing in front of Tsukino’s room, I called her out while knocking on her door.

“Are you awake yet? It’s time to get ready or we’ll be late.”

“…uh…”

I heard a faint voice, but there was no sign of her getting up.

“Oi, get up! Tsukino’s mother will be furious if she finds out you were late for school. Even your sister Saya won’t keep quiet about it. We’re going to school together, let’s go.”

“…”

“Oh, there’s a stray cat sunbathing on the balcony. How cute.”

I said.

A few seconds later. Tsukino appeared in her pajamas, with a sleepy face.

Tsukino looked at the balcony, but there is no cat there. Of course, there is no such thing from the beginning.

“…where’s the cat?”

“Oh, you’re up. Good morning, it’s a nice morning.”

“Where’s the cat?”

“I’m a little late, but it’s totally fine. Let’s work hard for today as well.”

“Yeah, I’ll do my best…”

Yosh, another successful mission today.

“Why don’t you take a shower? It might wake you up a little.”

“…(moso-moso)”

“If you’re going to take your clothes off, do it in the bathroom.”

When Tsukino realized what she’s doing, she stopped to take her clothes off and said, “Fua…”. and went to the bathroom.

Since neither of us has time on weekday mornings, we prepare our breakfast separately. Tsukino is a small eater, so she seems to get by on yogurt and bananas in the morning.

So, the only thing I prepare in the morning is instant coffee to wake me up. Tsukino doesn’t like bitter coffee, so I add more sugar and milk for her.

Speaking of which, what should I tell Tsukino about Hinata…?

We had discussed and decided together that we would not hide the fact that we brother and sisters. It’s not like we can’t hide it, but telling the truth is much better than having a strange rumor about us.

…but we’re going to keep the fact that we’re living together a secret between us. Even though Hinata has become my family, we were just classmates until yesterday. I’d like to keep the fact that we’re living together a secret until graduation if possible.

Then, who is the first person I should tell that I am Hinata’s half-brother? When I thought about it, the first person that came into my mind was the face of my expressionless childhood friend.

The sunflower goddess who is my classmate is my half-sister all this time— if I tell her that, I wonder if even that girl, who is not very good at expressing his emotions, would be surprised.