Tuesday, January 2nd.
"Ugh—"
The noisy alarm from the phone by the bed rang out, forcing Yutsuki to open her eyes displeasedly.
"It's only... isn't it only six o'clock..."
Looking at the current ti, Yutsuki muttered with half-opened, sleepy eyes. After a long while, she finally realized that she had intentionally set the alarm early a few days ago to help Shido and the others finish their manga before the convention.
"...I'll sleep a little longer."
It was winter break anyway, and she didn't have to go to school. Plus, she hadn't gotten enough sleep last night because she stayed up watching late-night ani. Sleeping in occasionally wouldn't hurt.
Thinking of this, Yutsuki buried her head back into the pillow, pulled up the covers, and prepared to re-enter dreamland.
"..."
"..."
"..."
She couldn't fall asleep.
Crawling out of bed once again, this ti Yutsuki's face was filled with frustration.
Perhaps it was because she had developed a habit of waking up early. Even though she was still sleepy, once she woke up, no matter how long she lay with her eyes closed, she couldn't fall back asleep. In fact, her consciousness would only beco clearer and clearer.
"Damn it... for the first ti, I kind of hate my biological clock..."
Sighing helplessly, Yutsuki got out of bed, walked to the balcony, and opened the curtains.
The cool morning light shone into the room. It wasn't blinding; instead, it carried a refreshing chill. Yutsuki comfortably narrowed her eyes, spread her arms, and stretched.
"Ah, I forgot to clean up yesterday..."
Turning her head to look at the current state of her room, a drop of sweat appeared on Yutsuki's forehead.
Seven or eight manga magazines were scattered haphazardly on the floor. On the table were several empty snack bags and drink bottles. Snack crumbs could be seen everywhere on the ground. It seed she had forgotten to turn off the power before sleeping yesterday, as the TV and ga console were still on. The Blu-ray disc she had finished watching hadn't been put away either; it was just sitting in the player.
"Looking at this... I guess I have no right to lecture Nia..."
Chuckling bitterly at herself, Yutsuki scratched her hair, feeling inexplicably at a loss for what to do.
Normally, at this ti, she would have swiftly and efficiently tidied up her room in a few quick motions. But for so reason, today she felt like a spring sowhere in her body hadn't been wound up; she couldn't muster any motivation at all.
"Forget it... I'll just clean it up tonight."
Letting out a soft breath, Yutsuki simply washed up, changed into casual clothes, and left the room.
(Is everyone still asleep?)
Walking down the empty hallway, Yutsuki thought casually.
Since it was still early, Yuzuru and Kaguya, who had a habit of sleeping in, were definitely still asleep. Tohka was the type to wake up exactly on ti for breakfast. Natsumi had played online gas with her late into the night yesterday, so she was definitely still dead to the world.
Normally, it was her job to drag everyone who was fast asleep out of bed, but since it was the holidays, Yutsuki continued to let them sleep until they woke up naturally.
"...Hm?"
Suddenly, in the large living room on the first floor, Yutsuki saw a small figure bustling about.
"Yoshino, good morning."
"...Ah... Yutsuki-san... good morning..."
Nodding gently at Yutsuki, Yoshino spoke softly.
"My, my~ Isn't this Yutsuki-chan? To be able to get up this early, that's really impressive!"
At the sa ti, the rabbit puppet on her hand—Yoshinon—also waved its little hand at Yutsuki energetically.
"I should be the one saying that, shouldn't I? I thought no one would be up at this hour." Yutsuki shrugged and asked, "Do you usually wake up at this ti?"
"No..." Yoshino shook her head and answered softly, "Today I just happened to... wake up early. While waiting for everyone here... I decided to clean up a bit."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Yutsuki finally noticed that the dust in so inconspicuous corners of the living room had been swept away, and the tables and glass had been carefully wiped. Although at first glance it didn't look any different from usual, upon closer inspection, it gave off a refreshed and renewed feeling.
Looking at the large living room cleaned by Yoshino, and then thinking of her own ssy room that she had just tossed aside, Yutsuki couldn't help but feel a bit ashad.
"Really, it's cleaned so thoroughly. That's amazing, Yoshino."
"Haha~ But of course. Yutsuki-chan, our Yoshino-chan is a capable child who can do a great job if she sets her mind to it."
"No... it's nothing..."
Yoshino felt a bit flattered and lowered her head shyly.
"Do you need my help?"
"Thank you... but it's fine... I'm almost done cleaning."
Smiling and shaking her head, Yoshino and Yoshinon together held a small ceramic pot and carefully placed it under the sunlight by the window.
"How beautiful, is this lavender?"
Looking at the few bundles of pale purple, fuzzy flowers in the ceramic pot, Yutsuki asked curiously.
"Mhm, yes." Yoshino nodded and said, "Yesterday... the old lady at the flower shop gave it to ... so... I'm using it for decoration..."
"When we passed by the shopping district yesterday, Yoshino-chan stared at the flower shop's glass display case for a long ti. Her eyes were sparkling, and when the old lady noticed, she kindly gave us a few."
Yoshinon added playfully from the side.
"Yo, Yoshinon!"
Yoshino's cheeks instantly turned completely red, and she hurriedly reached out to cover Yoshinon's mouth.
Even though the vocal organs weren't actually there.
"I see."
Yutsuki nodded in realization. A well-behaved and sensible child like Yoshino was indeed very loved by the uncles and aunties in the shopping district.
"But this lavender must have been grown in a greenhouse at the flower shop, right? Do you know how to take care of it, Yoshino?"
Yutsuki asked with so concern. Although she didn't know much about flowers, in her impression, lavender clearly wasn't the type of plant that could bloom tenaciously in the harsh winter.
"Yes... the old lady... explained it to us in great detail... and also gave us... soil and tools... it should be... fine..."
"Well, although Yoshino and I were very confused when she talked about temperature, dry air, and stuff. But when we got back, Reine-chan told us that the temperature and ventilation in this apartnt are automatically adjusted according to the conditions, so we don't have to worry about it being too hot or too cold. As long as we pay attention to the watering schedule and give it so appropriate sunlight, it will be fine."
"Mhm, since Reine-san says so, then it should be fine."
Although the dark circles accumulated from her self-proclaid "thirty years without sleep" always made people subconsciously worry about her health, her knowledge was unexpectedly broad and diverse, so it wouldn't be strange for her to know a thing or two about plants.
"Although I don't know much about this, if you need help, just tell . I'll definitely help with anything I can."
"Okay... thank you..."
"My~ how reliable, Yutsuki-chan. Then without further ado, could you do us a small favor right now?"
Right at this mont, a glint flashed in Yoshinon's eyes (even though it was just a puppet), and it raised its hand imposingy to speak.
"Oh? What is it?"
"Actually... when Yoshino-chan and I woke up, we saw that the lights in Shido-kun's house were already on. Yoshino has been very curious and wants to go over and see, but going alone is too embarrassing, so she's been sitting here restlessly waiting for soone to accompany her mmph mmmph mmmph—"
Halfway through speaking, Yoshinon was pressed under the sofa by Yoshino, making incomprehensible muffled sounds.
"Um...Yutsuki-san... no... I just..."
Her tender little face flushed as red as a boiled lobster, Yoshino looked at Yutsuki with teary eyes and answered hesitantly.
"Haha—"
Yutsuki chuckled bitterly. After thinking for a mont, she got up and grabbed two sets of winter coats and scarves.
After handing the smaller set to Yoshino, Yutsuki asked.
"Yoshino, I'm hungry. I'm going to Shido's to find so breakfast, do you want to co along?"
"Okay... I want to go too."
Taking the coat handed by Yutsuki, Yoshino nodded excitedly. She bowed slightly to Yutsuki and said softly.
"...Thank you."
"It's nothing, we're all family, no need to thank ."
Waving her hand nonchalantly, Yutsuki waited until she put on her coat and scarf, then pushed the door open and walked out of the Spirit apartnt with Yoshino.
"Phew—"
Exhaling a puff of faint white mist, Yutsuki couldn't help but look up, staring blankly at the gray sky.
(It's a new year again... I really want to spend it leisurely.)
User Comments
0 comments from readers