Arc 3: Home Date

Chapter 15: “She didn’t just ‘end up here’…”

The Sunday after my first date with Mizushima, I spent the morning lounging at home, trying to recover from the exhaustion of yesterday (mostly mental).

“Yawn… Good morning.”

“It’s not ‘good morning.’ It’s already 10 o’clock.”

My mom, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, let out a sigh as I made my way lazily from my room on the second floor to the living room on the first floor.

“You shouldn’t be so lazy just because it’s the weekend.”

“No, no. It’s precisely because it’s the weekend that I can relax at home.”

“You say that, but if you keep cooping yourself up inside, you’ll start growing mold.”

“I won’t grow mold. I’m not cheese.”

While having our usual morning exchange, I poured myself a glass of milk from the fridge.

“Gulp, gulp… Ahh. By the way, where are dad and Suzuka?”

“Dad went fishing with his work friends, as usual. Suzuka went out with her friends too. They both left a while ago.”

“Hmm.”

“Mom has a yoga class to go to soon, so I’ll be leaving as well. Why don’t you go out somewhere like you did yesterday?”

Geez, my whole family loves the outdoors. It’s as if they think being outside during the day is the norm, which is frustrating for me, the only indoor type.

“Go out like yesterday, huh…”

To be honest, I was prepared for the fact that I wouldn’t be able to laze around at home today either. I thought I’d be dragged out on another date with Mizushima.

However, for some reason, there had been no contact from Mizushima since last night to this morning. I had expected her to say something like, “Souta, let’s go on a date again tomorrow,” but nothing happened, and it felt a bit anticlimactic.

Well, no news is good news for me. In fact, I was relieved not to have my weekend taken up for two days in a row. Today, I’m going to make up for yesterday and thoroughly enjoy lazing around at home!

—Ding-dong!

Just as I was smirking to myself about it, the doorbell rang unexpectedly.

“Is that a delivery, I wonder? Souta, could you get that? I’m tied up right now.”

“Okay~.”

I left the living room and sluggishly made my way to the entrance. I switched from my indoor slippers to sandals, unchained the door, and opened it.

“Yes, who might this b—…”

I stopped mid-sentence, standing there with my mouth wide open like an idiot, frozen in place.

I had expected to find a delivery guy wearing a cap and coveralls, but instead, someone who shouldn’t be here… well, someone who wasn’t supposed to be here was standing there.

“Hey, Souta. I ended up coming.”

Indeed, it was Mizushima standing at the door.

“Wa~, Souta, your bed hair is something else. Were you sleeping until just now? But, it’s kind of cute. Oh, speaking of bed hair, the other day…”

Mizushima started chatting with a cheerful smile, but I was far from in the mood for small talk.

“Souta? Hey, Souta? You’re spacing out, you okay?”

“…You’ve got the wrong person.”

Slam. Click. Lock.

Without giving Mizushima a chance to say anything, I immediately closed the door. Of course, I didn’t forget to lock it and put the chain on. My sense of security was at an all-time high at that moment.

“What’s going on…?”

Why is she in front of my house!? What does she want? I don’t remember giving her my address, let alone my contact information. How did she find this place?

“Phew, let’s pretend I didn’t see anything.”

“Souta? Who was at the door?”

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, which was starting to hurt, I went back to the living room. Seeing me return without any envelope or package, my mom looked puzzled.

“Ah… it was just some weird religious solicitation.”

“Really? Did you make sure to send them away?”

“Yeah, totally. They might ring again, but just ignore it.”

“Okay, I will.”

As my mom sighed, wondering if such people really existed, I went back to my room upstairs. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I flopped face down onto my bed.

“I can’t believe she came straight to my house.”

I did think it was odd not hearing from her since last night, but showing up at my house was definitely beyond what I expected.

Would someone really come over to their boyfriend’s house on the second day of dating, especially when we’re only going to be together for a month? If I were a girl, I’d hesitate even after two months, let alone two days.

“She’s really serious about… winning me over…”

Maybe the mental exhaustion from yesterday was hitting me again. As I collapsed onto my bed, I began to doze off.

─Ding-dong ─Ding-dong…

As I drifted off, I thought I heard the intercom ringing a few times. It must be Mizushima not giving up, but I told Mom to ignore it. She’ll probably give up and go home eventually.

Feeling completely at ease, I fell into a deep sleep.