Chapter 52 After the Stormy Night

After the Stormy Night

“Hachoo!”

I wake up to the sound of my own sneeze.

The light filtering through the curtains tells me that morning has arrived.

After Irara slept in my futon…

Of course, I couldn’t sleep in the same futon with her, so I ended up sleeping on the living room sofa.

Since there wasn’t anything like a blanket, it was a bit chilly.

“Ufufufu, did you sleep well?”

“Well, I guess… Wait, eh!?”

I hurriedly sit up.

Right in front of my face, so close I can feel her breath, is Akiko-san’s beautiful face—so youthful she could easily be mistaken for someone in her twenties.

With a gentle smile, she peers into my face.

“Good morning, Kyogoku-kun. It’s a lovely morning, isn’t it?”

“Y-yeah, I guess so.”

Akiko-san stands up and pulls open the curtains.

A flood of dazzling light pours into the room.

Birds chirp softly, and the sky is a cloudless, brilliant blue.

It seems the storm had passed during the night.

“But why is Kyogoku-kun sleeping in the living room? I’m sure I prepared a futon in the guest room…”

“Uh… well, about that…”

I hesitate whether or not to tell her that Irara came to my room and fell asleep there.

Because depending on how she takes it, it could lead to a huge misunderstanding.

And especially with Akiko-san, it could be even worse.

However, it seemed that my hesitation alone was already enough of an answer for Akiko-san…

“Ufufu, I see. So that’s what happened.”

Akiko-san nods as if she understands.

Still smiling, she casually says,

“For some reason, your futon got dirty, didn’t it?”

“Wha—!?”

“Don’t worry about it~! I saw Akari quietly sneaking into your room, without me noticing. I don’t think Akari would ever push you down or do anything improper… But youth, right~? Sometimes those emotions just surge up in a stormy night~! How nostalgic! I remember when my husband and I stayed in a business hotel when we couldn’t return home due to a typhoon…”

“I don’t want to hear any more about that! Also, that’s a huge misunderstanding!”

“Araraa, you don’t want to hear an old woman’s stories~? That’s a little disappointing… I thought I was still in my prime…”

Akiko-san noticeably looks dejected.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that… You’re still as beautiful as ever, Akiko-san…”

What am I even saying?

Saying things like that to the mother of my classmate, my friend… This is bad…

“Well, I’m glad~! Ufufufu~~”

“…”

This woman, she absolutely intended to make me say it.

The way she immediately accepted and recovered was so quick, it could only mean she had planned this all along.

To be tossed around by Akiko-san from the morning… Seriously, what a great way to wake up.

“Ah, I have to go wake up Akari now! Kyogoku-kun, come with me!”

“Akiko-san, Irara is… right now…”

“Sleeping in Kyogoku-kun’s room, right? Come on, let’s go~!”

“…Haa, she knows everything.”

In the end, I was completely played by Akiko-san.

“Mmm… muhmm. Mmm…”

Irara, wrapped in my futon, is softly snoring.

Her figure is so irresistibly cute that it’s even more charming than any photo of a cute person posted on SNS…

“…This is going to cause a crime.”

“It might have been a good decision for Kyogoku-kun to sleep in the living room after all~! I don’t mind, though!”

“Please mind…”

But Akiko-san is right.

Irara’s sleeping face, so deeply peaceful like a child’s, is too cute.

Her soft, puffy white cheeks look so squishy that I can’t help but feel the urge to press them. I can hardly resist reaching out.

So, I’ll wake her up before I end up doing something.

Even if it’s morning, Irara probably looks like an angel when she wakes up.

“I-Irara? It’s morning.”

I call out to her, but Irara doesn’t seem to wake up.

“She won’t wake up unless you speak right next to her ear, you know?”

“O-Okay.”

I squat down right beside Irara and say it again.

“Irara? It’s time to wake up…”

“Mmm~~!”

“…Huh?”

Irara’s hand quickly shoots out from the futon and wraps around my neck.

And just like that, she forcefully pulls me toward her, hugging me tightly as if to press me against her body.

“I-Irara!?”

“Nfufufu… Hah… Ehehe…”

Her breath tickles my ear.

What’s happening? What’s going on!?

Everything I’m touching is so soft.

And the two “mountains” pressing against me are bigger than I had imagined, and even through the fabric, their softness and size are so vivid, it feels too real.

“W-Wait, Irara!? Are you still half-asleep!?”

“Nfufufufufu~~”

“Ah, Akiko-san!”

“Ufufufu~~ Actually, Akari is really weak in the mornings, you know~!”

“You should’ve told me that earlier!!!”

“Ehehe~~”

“Aaaahhhhhh!!!”

I wasn’t just overwhelmed by Akiko-san.

I was being tossed around by both Akiko-san and Irara’s mother-daughter duo from the morning.

I walk down the road with Irara in the morning.

There are puddles scattered around, clearly signs of the storm passing.

In the middle of it all, Irara walks a little behind me, her head slightly down…

“S-sorry. I was half-asleep and don’t really remember…”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“U-uh, okay…”

By the way, I haven’t told Irara that she hugged me.

But I think she remembers something happened.

Since she said she would see me off, she’s been like this the whole time.

“And I ended up sleeping in Kyogoku-kun’s futon…”

“Don’t worry about that. Everyone’s been through something like that… or so I assume.”

“Ehehe, I see.”

Irara smiles slightly and catches up to me.

Then, with a shy look, she smiles at me again.

“Ah!”

Her smile… it’s so unfair.

Once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to get it out of your head.

“This is good enough for here. Thanks.”

We reach the usual fork in the road, and I say to Irara.

“Let me walk you home.”

“It’s okay, right here is fine.”

“I-I see. Got it.”

Honestly, I want her to see me home.

I want to talk more with her, just the two of us.

But, any more than this would lead to misunderstandings.

I have to stop here, or it’ll go too far.

How do I know that?

Well, of course, it’s because of experience.

“Well, I’ll see you at school.”

“U-yeah… at school…”

I turn my back to Irara and start walking.

Despite feeling reluctant, I push forward, shaking off the lingering feeling… and then.

“Kyogoku-kun!”

Irara calls out to stop me.

When I turn around, Irara’s cheeks are faintly flushed.

Shining in the light of the sun, which resembles her, floating in the post-rain sky, she begins to speak.

“A-actually, you know…”