#35: Three Different Mornings

In just half a day, all three of them had gotten really close.

It’s probably because they’re all good kids.

Megucchi might talk harsh, but she’s considerate in subtle ways, and she’s got great instincts for closing distances. Classic extrovert energy.

Sakura san has leadership qualities and pulls the other two along. Her occasional selfishness creates a sense of closeness. She’s probably just naturally clueless about it.

Kyouko chan takes on the dirty role, making the two of them forget about her being a teacher, and as a result, both of them look up to her.

All three are beautiful with distinct personalities, but they’re absolutely worthy of being called heroines. Charming, talented women. And me—a protagonist loved by such women.

Yes.

I’m Norio, a man who used to be a sinner.

As I lay there thinking these things, someone came out of the bedroom.

“Norio, you still awake?”

It was Sakura san.

“What’s wrong, Sakura san? Did you two get in a fight?”

“It’s the opposite. They sent me out to be with you.”

“Huh? Why?”

I sat up and turned on the room light, then had Sakura san sit next to me while I listened to the full story.

“We were all sleeping in a row on the bed, and when I mentioned I’d never been to a sleepover before, Megucchi said she sleeps over at your place all the time, and Kyouko chan said she’s been sleeping over the past couple weeks. And then I realized… I’m the only one who’s never slept at your place.”

“I see. So Megucchi and Kyouko chan sent you out here?”

“Yeah… Can we sleep together?”

“Of course.”

I lay down on the floor with some cushions as a pillow and pulled Sakura san close, cradling her in my arms.

“You changed out of the maid outfit?”

“It would be uncomfortable to sleep in, and it’s Kyouko chan’s precious collection anyway. I didn’t want to wrinkle it or get it dirty.”

“The maid outfit looked amazing on you. I’d love to see it again.”

“Hehe, thanks. I was embarrassed at first since it was my first cosplay, but since you praised me so much, I want to try it again.”

“Next time, I want you to try something bolder like Megucchi and Kyouko chan too.”

“Norio, you really like perverted stuff… But if the chance comes up, I’ll show it only to you, okay?”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

In the dim light, I couldn’t see her expression, but the soft sound of her breathing and her sweet scent were things only I could experience. That feeling of exclusivity, combined with the comfort, lulled me into peaceful sleep.

Before my consciousness faded, I felt soft lips on mine and heard, “Norio, I love you.”

When I woke up the next morning, Sakura san was still sleeping in my arms.

After watching her sleep for a while, she made an “uu~n” sound and her eyes fluttered open. I thought she was awake, so I said, “Good morning,” but instead, without a word, she clung to me tightly and started breathing deeply again.

Was she having a dream with me in it?

What a cute kitten.

After a while, Megucchi came out of the bedroom.

Megucchi had also changed out of her maid outfit and into her fluffy room clothes.

“Morning, Megucchi.”

“Whoa!? I startled! You were awake?”

“Yeah, just woke up. Sakura san is still sleeping, though.”

“Yeah, I see. She looks super happy in her sleep. Let me take a photo.”

Megucchi took several photos of me and Sakura san together.

“By the way, where’s Kyouko chan?”

“Still sleeping, I think. That lady’s seriously crazy though.”

“Did she say something weird?”

“Yeah. She kept going on about how amazing you are, and I was just like, ‘uh-huh,’ but then she went totally crazy talking about wanting to make you into a pet or whatever and what she wants to do with you. She was talking so fast, I couldn’t keep up. That’s why I’m so tired.”

“I got an earful of that too. Normally people hide stuff like that, right? Kyouko chan just told me to my face happily.”

“That’s way too much! How is she even a teacher??”

“Well, honestly, I’m glad she shows us her true self. We’re probably special to her.”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

As Megucchi and I were chatting about Kyouko chan, Sakura san finally woke up too. After trading good-morning kisses with her, I traded one with Megucchi as well.

Once all three had used the bathroom, washed up, and we’d aired out the room, I started preparing breakfast.

Sakura san helped with breakfast preparations, and Megucchi started tidying up the living room.

Once breakfast was ready, I headed to the bedroom to wake Kyouko chan.

Kyouko chan, sleeping quietly on the bed without makeup, was incredibly cute. Seeing her sleep like that made me smile involuntarily.

I lay down next to her, gently stroked her head, and called out to her.

“Kyouko chan, it’s morning. If you don’t wake up, I’ll have to pull a prank on you.”

Of course, with a cool, charming morning-after face.

“Uu~n,” she stretched and her eyes fluttered open. Then suddenly she pounced on me.

She dove for my mouth like she was invading it, covering my face with her saliva.

“Your on-off switch is totally broken, Kyouko chan! Seriously!”

“When I woke up and saw you right there, I thought I was still dreaming, so I just went for it.”

She was so cute while sleeping, but turned into a beast the moment she woke up. Total fraud.

#36: After the Sleepover Ends

After waking Kyouko chan, we all had breakfast together, cleaned up the bedroom and the cosplay outfits, and relaxed for a bit. Then we started discussing the future schedule.

Until now, I’d been going to the literature club on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays were my after-school dates with Sakura san. Friday evenings through Saturday, I’d stay at Kyouko chan’s place. Megucchi came over almost every night, and she’d sometimes stay over on Saturdays.

Going forward, we’d reduce my literature club attendance and keep the freed-up time flexible.

Also, we’d do group sleepovers like this one occasionally in the future.

Plus, Kyouko chan invited both Megucchi and Sakura san to visit her house whenever they felt like, and both of them seemed really interested. With everything working out so well between all three, I let out a relieved sigh.

Finally, we confirmed that Kyouko chan and I would continue our “teacher and student” relationship at school to maintain appearances. Mid-morning, we decided everyone should head home. Sakura san had entrance exams to study for, and Megucchi and I still had unfinished homework.

On the way home, Kyouko chan drove everyone in her car.

Right after everyone got in and we started driving, Kyouko chan said, “Let’s make a quick stop,” and pulled into a nearby Japanese sweets shop.

Only Kyouko chan got out and went into the store, returning quickly with three paper bags.

“I’d ordered this as a gift for your families,” she said, handing one to each of us. We all tried to politely refuse, but Kyouko chan said, “The three of you told your families you were staying at your teacher’s house, right? It’s good for our relationship going forward. Don’t be modest—just take them.”

She had a point. From a parent’s perspective, hearing that a teacher had students sleep over could create a bad impression. This was Kyouko chan thinking ahead for all our sakes.

Once we understood her reasoning, we accepted gratefully.

We dropped off Sakura san first.

As we arrived at her place, only Sakura san got out.

I rolled down the window and said, “Study hard for your exams.”

At that, Sakura san leaned through the window and hugged me.

“Don’t want to go home… uuu,” she said, getting a little tearful. I patted her head and comforted her by saying, “What a lonely kitten you are,” which made her cheer up immediately when Megucchi offered to send her photos of the two of us later.

Finally, we said goodbye and drove away from Sakura san’s house.

“Sakura san really enjoyed the sleepover. That’s thanks to Kyouko chan and Megucchi,” I said.

“Huh? What’s wrong with you? Suddenly saying something normal?” Megucchi asked.

“Yeah, seriously! You usually say stuff like, ‘So you don’t want to be apart from me? What a cute kitten! What a pain!’ and talk in that gross way!” she continued.

“Hey, I can thank my heroines sometimes, right? …Actually, Megucchi, you’re really good at imitating me, huh?”

When we arrived at Megucchi and my street, I pulled her close. “Bye! See you later!” and we headed to our respective homes after seeing Kyouko chan off.

Back home, both my parents were out, and only Kurumi was there. I handed her the gift from Kyouko chan, and she seemed pleased. I changed into room clothes and headed to the kitchen to start preparing lunch.

While I was making fried rice for two, I suddenly got tackled from behind.

Kurumi had finally warmed up to me after I’d been gone for two days straight? How cute, my little sister.

But when I only turned my neck to look, it was Megucchi, not Kurumi.

“You came early, Megucchi.”

“Yeah, both my parents were out anyway, so I figured I’d have lunch here.”

“Then I’ll make it for three.”

“Thanks.”

We prepared lunch together while chatting, and Kurumi came down from her room.

As expected, Kurumi interrogated me about the overnight stay.

“So you stayed at the teacher’s place? With Megucchi? What were you two doing?”

“At our homeroom teacher’s place. We had a fun cosplay party with everyone until late. Did you want to come too, Kurumi? You’re such a lonely, spoiled little sister.”

“Huh? Shut up, you creep.”

“Come on, Megucchi’s being so nice, and you’re being so mean to big bro.”

“Megucchi’s being gross and creepy too.”

“So Norio and Megucchi are both gross but cool? Interesting.”

“You two are seriously annoying and gross!”

After finishing her fried rice, Kurumi angrily went back to her room.

This exchange was carefully orchestrated to deflect Kurumi’s questioning. Megucchi and I work in perfect sync.

With this, Kurumi wouldn’t bring up the topic again. She’d be worried that if she did, she’d have to witness us being lovey-dovey again.

After cleaning up with Megucchi, we went to my room and started on the homework we’d let pile up.

Even though we continued doing the same things as before, the consciousness between us had changed, subtly shifting how we acted and interacted.

For example, even now, as we lay on the floor side by side doing homework, the distance between us was closer than before. We were pretty much touching the whole time.

Physical contact had always been abundant between us, but it felt different now.

Before, it was playful, teasing contact. Now it was pure, tender affection.

Whenever we took study breaks, she’d cling to me with not just her arms but also wrap her legs around me, and she kept asking for kisses.

Interestingly, despite Megucchi being bold and active, she was a bit shy. She made bold advances, but when it came to kisses, she was always passive—she’d ask me to kiss her rather than initiating. In that way, she was the opposite of Kyouko chan.

That shyness was part of what made her so cute.

We studied like that for a while until Megucchi said, “Tsukareta~” and lost focus, so we took a break.

Lying on the floor, she clung to me again, and I decided to ask what was on my mind.

“Megucchi, how was the sleepover?”

“It was fun. Sakura chan and Kyouko chan were both interesting.”

“So, about Kyouko chan—you said you’d think about her confession back then. Did you reach a conclusion?”

“Oh yeah, that. Um, Megucchi’s okay with Sakura chan being there and Kyouko chan being there too, so it’s all good.”

“I see. Thanks. You’re a true childhood friend. A cute childhood friend.”

“Of course I’m cute!”

“But I was nervous at first. Kyouko chan kept acting childishly competitive, and Megucchi was firing back too.”

“Yeah, but I think Kyouko chan was trying to get closer to us in her own way. At first I didn’t realize it, but after talking more, that’s what it felt like.”

“You sensed that too? I was thinking the same thing. She probably didn’t want to mention it directly because she’d get cocky and ask for more praise.”

“So once I figured that out, I couldn’t hate Kyouko chan anymore.”

“She’s got a perverted core, but in situations like this, she’s got adult wisdom.”

“Hey, that’s actually true. We were talking about stuff, and that’s when I realized Kyouko chan was really clever and thoughtful.”

“Her twisted inside and her consideration are a package deal.”

We continued our playful banter while finishing our homework, then spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around my room in a relaxed, cuddly atmosphere.

In the evening, when my parents came home, I told them about the gift from Kyouko chan. My mom was immediately excited to eat it.

The gifts turned out to be assorted dora-yaki—those sweet red bean pastries.

Kurumi got really excited.

“Wait, these are from Kishio-an! The fancy one?! That’s so cool! They sell out every day!”

“Wait, it’s that famous?” Megucchi and I asked in unison.

“Yeah! It was on TV! They’re 730 yen each and sell out daily!”

“730 yen?!”

Kyouko chan really went all out.

Megucchi sent Kyouko chan a photo of Kurumi happily munching on a dora-yaki. Kyouko chan replied, “I don’t need photos of Megucchi! Send me pics of Mizumoto! Preferably shirtless!” So Megucchi took a photo of me shirtless, eating a dora-yaki with a cool, piercing gaze for the camera, just as requested, and sent it over.

But Kyouko chan never replied after that.

She was probably off in her fantasy world by now.

Yep, my charm as a man is working on Kyouko chan too. What a pain.