The Carnivorous Maidens Living with Me - Chapter 6: A Melancholy Heart and a Radiant Expression

Chapter 6: A Melancholy Heart and a Radiant Expression

Waking from a dream is always sudden.

Good dreams, bad dreams—they’re all just dreams in the end.

You wake up, snap to reality, break free from yesterday.

Hope for what’s ahead, while being mingled with gloom.

※

“…Hah!”

I jolt awake.

After yesterday’s fireworks, I must’ve completely crashed.

“Crap, it’s 10 o’clock!”

I’m super late.

Something soft and squishy presses against me.

I glance down and see the cutest little attack happening on my chest.

“Nya~”

It’s a cat.

Well, a kitten, really.

“Shiratama-cha~n! Did you wake me up? You’re just too adorable~!”

I’m all mushy.

And kinda gross.

This cat is a three-month-old white kitten named Shiratama.

She’s the daughter of Zenzai, our resident cat.

There were other kittens too, but my family—smitten by their cuteness—took them all in.

So now, just Shiratama and Zenzai live in this house.

I scarf down some food, shoot a message to school about being late, and think about yesterday.

“Honestly, I don’t even want to go to school. I’m so freaking depressed.”

After what happened yesterday, I bolted, and now I have no clue how to face her.

“Well, it’ll work out somehow.”

Guys who say this usually stop thinking.

But I haven’t stopped thinking—I’m certain.

“At least I can smile better now than I used to.”

She’s not a stranger to me.

Sure, I freaked out and ran yesterday, but I remember meeting her clearly.

It’s etched in my mind, sharp as anything.

“My heart’s all gloomy, but I’m kinda excited to see her face… even if she’s a stalker.”

I laugh at myself as I get ready, my slow jog to school turning into a sprint.

※

Sofia Kisaragi

“What do I do? He’s not here!”

My face goes pale.

“Did I scare him off with that bold move yesterday? Is he upset? Sick? Feverish and delirious? …No way… did he… throw himself into the river?!”

I slump onto my desk, trembling with worry.

It’s just past 11 a.m.

We’re in a short break between classes.

Some kids chat, others hit the bathroom, and a few sprint to the school store.

But I’m so down, the surrounding noise barely reaches me.

“…ragi.”

“Kisa…”

I think someone’s calling me.

Probably my imagination.

No one in this school would talk to me, not with the rumors about me.

“Hey, Kisaragi!”

Pon! Someone taps my shoulder.

I turn around, and there he is—him.

He’s talking to me, the girl no one approaches.

“Uh, so…”

My heart races as I clutch my chest, waiting for his words.

“G-Good morning. Your hair… it’s really pretty today.”

“—!”

He scratches his cheek awkwardly as he says it.

I linger on his words, especially “today.”

No expression, no phrase could capture how I feel right now.

His words light up my face—and my heart—with a radiant glow.