Fukayama Midori Cannot Eat Breakfast

Early in the morning, Fukayama Midori was awakened by a series of calls and shaking.

"Onii! Onii! Wake up already, Onii! The breakfast is already getting cold!"

Dazed, Fukayama Midori opened his eyes and immediately saw a lively, swaying cowlick, along with that small face that had inherited their mother's beauty.

He turned over, pulled the blanket up, and faced away from the girl behind him.

"Today is a day off. I don't have club activities, and I don't need to go to cram school, so I'm not getting up."

"Then you should still get up! It's a rare day off, and I worked so hard to make breakfast! And you're just not going to eat it?"

Looking at her lazy brother, Fukayama Natsuki could only pout and put her hands on her hips in frustration.

She stretched out a long leg clad in white stockings and kicked her good-for-nothing brother, but seeing that he remained unmoved, she gave up.

Complaining, she turned and headed out of the room.

"Stupid brother, I spent a long time preparing this breakfast, so fine, don't eat it! Starve to death! Just starve!"

"Looking at you like this, you must have stayed up all night playing games or watching anime again."

"If your exam scores end up terrible and Mom and Dad cut your allowance, don't come crying to me."

Muttering, Fukayama Natsuki slammed the door to Fukayama Midori's room shut.

Listening to the footsteps fading away outside the door, Fukayama Midori's sleepiness gradually began to dissipate.

It wasn't that he cared about the breakfast Natsuki had painstakingly prepared, but rather what Natsuki had just said about last night.

"Hm? A new message!" Before he even turned on the screen, he saw the notification light on his phone blinking.

Fukayama Midori immediately swiped his finger to unlock the phone and saw several unread emails, all sent by Nagase Kumari.

Although he had indeed watched new anime and played games last night, and even discussed the plot with his friends, that wasn't the reason Fukayama Midori had stayed up until past one in the morning. The reason was that he had been waiting for a message from Nagase Kumari.

They had been chatting about how to design a flyer, and Fukayama Midori genuinely felt that he and Nagase Kumari got along very well; it was his first time discussing 2D culture with a girl.

However, just as they were having a great time, Nagase Kumari suddenly stopped replying.

Perhaps Nagase Kumari was eating, or maybe she was doing something else; she just didn't have the time for a moment.

Fukayama Midori, caught up in the excitement, didn't give up and kept sending messages to Nagase Kumari.

After another ten minutes or so, Fukayama Midori realized that Nagase Kumari might have fallen asleep since he hadn't received a reply.

So, he stopped sending messages and only sent a few concerned texts like "Don't catch a cold" and "Make sure to cover up with your blanket" before going to sleep.

By that time, it was already past one, and Fukayama Midori had tossed and turned, watching anime and reading manga for a while before finally drifting off.

[Nagase Kumari: Sorry, Otaku-kun, I was dozing off just now. You should get some rest too, and be careful not to catch a cold. (Time: 3:28 AM)]

[Nagase Kumari: (Grinning)]

Seeing this message, Fukayama Midori immediately broke into a smile.

The only thing he regretted was that if he had stayed up for two more hours, he probably could have replied to Nagase Kumari!

Unfortunately, both of them had fallen asleep.

After the excitement settled, Fukayama Midori thought for a moment and sent a reply.

[Fukayama Midori: wwwwww I fell asleep too, sorry for not replying in time.]

Fukayama Midori held his phone and waited for a while, but there was no reply.

Looking at his latest message, he placed the phone by his pillow, curled up in his blanket, and felt as if time were moving slowly.

It was probably because he had woken up in the middle of the night, so Nagase-san hadn't woken up yet.

Thinking this, Fukayama Midori shifted into a few different positions. He closed his eyes again, but remained ready to open them the moment he heard any movement.

However, the heavy sound of a door closing in the yard was a bit noisy.

Natsuki must have gone out.

Fukayama Midori didn't pay it any mind, simply keeping his phone close as he closed his eyes and waited for a notification.

"Tsk, that stupid brother! If you won't eat it, I'll give it all to Ayano-nee! I wonder how it turned out; even though I followed everything Ayano-nee told me to do, I don't have much confidence."

Carrying the beef and potato curry she had just made, Fukayama Natsuki sniffed the aroma—it seemed pretty good.

Originally, Natsuki had wanted her brother to have a taste, but she hadn't expected Fukayama Midori to be so uncooperative.

She had woken up at six in the morning, bought the freshest ingredients and beef, and spent hours cooking it by hand—she even had seven bandages on her fingers now.

"Let that brother of mine eat instant noodles! Let him eat convenience store rice balls or discounted bento boxes every day!"

"I finally wanted to try and improve my cooking skills, and I even specially joined the Cooking Club. This is the first time I've finished a dish on my own, and he doesn't even give me the time of day!"

"I hope Ayano-nee likes it. If not, I can accept her guidance! Either way, I'm definitely going to surprise my brother!"

Thinking of this, Natsuki couldn't help but skip along.

Carrying the small pot, she quickened her pace and rushed toward the Suzuran house next door.

However, just as she passed through the small alley between her house and the Suzuran house, Fukayama Natsuki felt as if she had run into a wall.

"Ah!"

"Hm?"

Fukayama Natsuki lost her grip on the iron pot filled with curry, and it plummeted, causing her to stumble and land on the floor.

Watching the curry she had spent all morning preparing splash onto the other person's clothes, with the pot itself on the verge of hitting the ground and spilling its contents, Natsuki felt a wave of panic.

However, just as she thought her maiden culinary effort was destined to return to the earth, a hand caught the iron pot regardless of the still-warm curry, steadily catching the contents that were about to spill out.

Fukayama Natsuki, who had let out a sigh of relief, sat on the floor before finally reacting and hurriedly apologizing: "I'm sorry! I was running too fast and wasn't paying attention! I'm really sorry! I'm so sorry for dirtying your clothes!"

Only then did Fukayama Natsuki shift her gaze from her curry to the "wall" in front of her.

It was a sturdy, tall frame, completely different from her older brother Fukayama Midori; compared to Natsuki, a 157cm-tall third-year middle school student, the boy in front of her was indeed a wall.

The other person was wearing a school uniform, the same one as her brother and Ayano, only now it was stained by her curry.

Upon seeing his yellow hair and the scars on his face, Natsuki wore an expression of fright and timidity, like a small animal encountering a predator.

"Are you okay?" Akimoto Yoichi held the curry pot, looking down at the sweet and cute middle schooler who looked like a startled fawn.