Early that morning, Kazami vaguely heard a girl's soft, melodious voice, gentle beyond measure, sounding quietly beside his ear with little traces of warmth and warm breath. "Kazami, time to get up."
It came with a slight shaking, the touch gentle. She had to be an incredibly kind, good girl to wake someone so tenderly. He decided that this was the kind of girlfriend he would find in the future.
Still half asleep, Kazami did not want to open his eyes. He tucked his head under the covers and mumbled, "Not getting up."
The gentle female voice sounded again, yielding with a touch of playfulness, her tone suggestive. "If you don't get up, I'm going to kiss you."
There was actually something this good? Kazami took it as a gift from heaven and happily settled into position. "Then I'm not getting up! Hurry and kiss me! Hehe."
Nothing this good had ever happened to him since he was born. His luck was finally turning around.
The voice beside his ear sighed softly, a hint of helplessness in it. "What am I going to do with you?"
Kazami had his eyes closed, waiting for that sweet kiss, when a whoosh suddenly sounded beside his ear.
Clang!
Something with tremendous impact slammed into Kazami's head, the force instantly knocking him out of his drowsy state and wide awake.
With his sleepiness completely gone, Kazami sat up. The person before him was no gentle beauty, but Horikita Suzune, her face full of impatience and her presence icy.
She stood beside the bed with her arms folded, her expression frosty and her tone fierce, without a trace of gentleness. "Kiss you, my foot! Hurry up and eat your breakfast!"
Ah, so it wasn't real after all. The gap between reality and dreams really was cruel. Who would've thought it was Horikita?
Still not recovered from his sweet fantasy, Kazami asked in utter confusion, his hair sticking up in a tangled mess, "Wait... how did you get into my room?!"
Dorm rooms were private spaces. In principle, outsiders should never have been able to enter freely, much less appear alone in a boy's room first thing in the morning.
Horikita showed none of the bashfulness a girl might have on entering a male classmate's room for the first time. "I called you from outside for ages, but you didn't respond at all. I had no choice but to find the dorm supervisor and get your key card."
Kazami picked up the phone beside his pillow to check the time. The screen showed that it was only six thirty.
"Do you normally get up this early?"
Horikita nodded, her tone matter-of-fact. "I've always made sure to get eight hours of sleep and keep a regular schedule."
Kazami inwardly retorted, Was that what I was asking about getting up early?!
It had all started yesterday. Holding a secret over her-You wouldn't want your brother to... Ahem-he had forced Horikita to compromise and agree to provide all three of his meals for a month. That was also why Horikita had become his personal cook today and barged into his room early in the morning to deliver food.
Kazami had originally thought Horikita would, at most, pick up breakfast from the cafeteria on her way in the morning. He had never expected this tsundere girl to deliver it at six thirty, which meant she had gotten up even earlier. Suddenly, she felt like a mother. Why did he feel so guilty?
Of course, that little bit of guilt vanished in an instant, soon buried beneath the joy of ordering Horikita around.
Horikita arranged breakfast on the desk, then handed him an elegant two-tier lunch box. "Oh, and here's your lunch. Make sure you keep it safe. You can eat it straight away at noon."
Kazami opened the lunch box curiously, brimming with anticipation, only for disappointment to fill his face once he saw the dishes inside.
The box was packed full of stir-fried seasonal vegetables and cold vegetable dishes, all lightly colored and looking incredibly healthy, but there was not a single scrap of meat in sight.
"No meat?" Kazami was a meat lover. Although he ate vegetables too, meat made up most of his diet.
Horikita remained perfectly calm. "You can have meat. Give me the points, and I'll add some next time."
Kazami had no points to spare either. Who knew how long Class D's zero-point situation would last? Without any income, he had better save more. He had no desire to eat the wild vegetable set meal. Wild vegetables actually tasted quite good, but the school cafeteria was inhumane enough to deliberately make them taste awful, all to spur competition among the students.
"Never mind, never mind. Vegetarian food is pretty good too. Light and easy on the stomach. I love vegetables."
Yeah, right. I don't love them at all. But as things stood, he had to grit his teeth and eat them anyway.
Time flew by, the day's classes came to an end, and the dismissal bell rang.
As the crowd dispersed, Horikita stopped Kazami as he was about to leave and got straight to the point. "What are we doing about dinner?"
Kazami thought for a moment. "Just come get me when you're done cooking. I'll be ready whenever."
After that brief exchange, the two went their separate ways.
But Kazami failed to notice Kushida at a nearby corner of the corridor, silently watching the whole exchange, her eyes filled with confusion.
As someone who stuck to Horikita all day and understood her personality best, Kushida knew her temperament all too well. Aloof, disinclined to get close to others, and always a loner-not only was she unlikely to cook for someone and bring them lunch of her own accord, but even seeing her voluntarily exchange a few extra words with a boy was rare.
Yet now, Horikita had specifically asked Kazami about his dinner arrangements.
Kushida instantly lost her composure. Well, well. Kazami looks so honest, and every day he tells me how awful his relationship with Horikita is. It was all a lie. He's been playing me for a fool!
Countless theories sprang up in her mind, and the biggest question immediately took over her thoughts. Could these two be secretly dating? Is that why they have this intimate bond all to themselves?
Desperate to know everything, Kushida could no longer hold herself back. She hurried after Kazami, eager to uncover the truth and find out why Horikita had made an exception and cooked for him.
Seeing how anxious Kushida was, Kazami's heart lurched. She doesn't think I stole Horikita from her, does she...? How am I supposed to explain this? I've never run into anything like this before. I have absolutely no experience.
But if Kushida had misunderstood, he had to explain. Just as he was about to speak, he remembered his promise to Horikita to keep the siblings' argument that night a secret, and instantly found himself stuck.
Just as Kazami was at a loss as to how to smooth things over, Ayanokoji spoke to Kushida. "If you want to know why, help us with something tomorrow at noon."
With an opening before her, Kushida nodded in agreement. Delighted to have secured a promise, she left reassured, waiting for tomorrow's answer.
Kazami, the person at the center of it all, completely panicked and hurriedly grabbed Ayanokoji. "Are you serious?! If I tell her and Horikita finds out, she'll definitely kill me!"
His ability to push Horikita around a little now rested entirely on his helping her keep that secret. If he told Kushida... yes, he really would get beaten up.
"If you want to tell her, do it yourself. I'm not doing it."
Ayanokoji remained calm, not the least bit flustered, and coolly offered a solution. "Just make up some excuse to fool her when the time comes."
"For instance, the simplest explanation is that she lost a bet. Horikita accepted the loss, so she's been forced to bring you meals for a month. Perfectly reasonable. No one will suspect a thing."
Before you continue