The first weekday after the party at Kanade’s house.
I woke up while letting out a yawn.
“Fwaaaah.”
Yesterday, as promised, Kanade visited my home and we ended up immersing ourselves in our studies.
The study time was about three hours. Kanade arrived a bit after noon and went home just before evening.
『Ak-kun. Ak-kun. There’s a problem I don’t understand, can you teach me?』
However, even after she returned home, we both continued to immerse ourselves in studying at our respective houses.
Whenever Kanade hit a problem she didn’t understand, she would call me to ask for the solution.
I ended up having several five-minute phone calls with Kanade.
I say “several times”... but I don’t remember the specific count.
Because five minutes after a five-minute call ended, I would get another call from Kanade.
...If we were going to talk that many times, she might as well have just stayed over.
While thinking that, I taught her how to solve the problems while also working hard on my own studies.
『Ak-kun. Ak-kun. It’s hard to understand over the phone, so why don’t we switch to a video call?』
Kanade’s demands knew no bounds.
I was hesitant at first, but...
『Ak-kun. Could it be that there’s someone else in your room?』
She said things like that.
『...If there isn’t, then there’s no problem, right? Or is there something you don’t want me to see over the video call?』
Anyway, pushed by Kanade’s pressure over the phone, I ended up talking to her for about three hours via video call.
『Ak-kun. Are you sleepy already? Should I sing you a lullaby?』
Near the end, Kanade ended up looking after me as I was being overcome by drowsiness.
Really... I felt nothing but apologetic, but anyway, because of those study sessions with Kanade, I was a bit sleep-deprived today.
“Good morning, Ak-kun.”
“Morning, Kanade.”
When I went to the living room, Kanade was eating breakfast.
“Ak-kun. You look really sleepy.”
Once again, Kanade was worrying about my physical condition.
“Could it be that you stayed up for a while after that phone call yesterday?”
“No. I went to sleep right away.”
“Hmmmmmmm.”
I felt an intense gaze from Kanade for some reason, but I sat down in the seat next to her while rubbing my sleepy eyes.
“Atsushi. What do you want for breakfast?”
“Hmm. Anything is fine~”
“Ak-kun. ‘Anything’ is the most troubling answer, you know? You have to say what you want to eat properly.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“...Then, egg on rice.”
“Okay.”
I yawned once more.
“...Ak-kun. Did you like egg on rice?”
Kanade, who was sitting next to me, asked.
“Eh? Well... I don’t dislike it.”
“Then, you don’t like it either?”
“...If I had to say if I liked it or disliked it, I’d say I like it.”
“I see.”
...What was that all about, I wonder?
“Kanade...”
Just as I was about to ask Kanade why she was questioning me so much about the egg on rice.
“Obasan. How do you make your egg on rice?”
Kanade headed toward the kitchen.
...Feeling a slight sense of alienation, I turned on the TV and absent-mindedly watched the morning news program.
“Ak-kun.”
Kanade called out to me from the kitchen.
“Ak-kun, you always watch that news program in the morning, don’t you?”
“Eh? ...Ah—maybe so.”
It wasn't that I thought deeply about it; I just watched it because this program happened to be on when I turned on the TV in the morning.
There shouldn't be anything particular to look into.
“...Could it be, Ak-kun, that someone like the announcer appearing on that program is your type?”
Just then on the TV, the station announcer appearing on the news program was wearing a smile that seemed meant to captivate the viewers.
“No, she’s not really my type.”
“Hmm. Why?”
“...How should I put it, it feels like a fake smile. Calculated, or maybe superficial. I feel like there’s a hidden side to her.”
I gave a wry smile.
“She’s the complete opposite of you, who has no hidden side.”
...After a moment of silence.
“G-Geez. Ak-kun, what are you saying? Honestly, geez.”
Kanade was wriggling her body happily.
“You two, it’s fine that you’re flirting, but you need to leave the house soon. You’ll be late, you know?”
Warned by my mother, my sleep-addled head finally cleared up.
“Crap. I have to hurry.”
I stood up in a panic and quickly got ready for school.
“Well then, I’m off.”
“I’m off, Obasan.”
“Yes, yes. Take care.”
Waving to my mother, who came to the front door to see us off, we left the house.
We walked the road to the station, the station building came into view, and we boarded the train...
“Wait.”
I realized at the timing I grabbed the hand strap.
“Kanade, did you stay over at my place yesterday?”
“Ahaha. Ak-kun, what are you talking about? We talked on the phone that much yesterday, didn’t we? Of course I went home.”
Well, that makes sense.
If she had been at my house, there would have been no need at all to talk over the phone.
“...Eh? Then, why were you at my house?”
“What do you mean ‘why’... ahaha. Ak-kun says the strangest things.”
Kanade was smiling.
“I just came to see Ak-kun, you know?”
If that was the case... it could have waited until school.
Whether she had seen through my unconvinced face or not, there was no light in Kanade’s eyes.