The girl's long, thick black eyelashes trembled slightly.
Her delicate little nose twitched as an unfamiliar scent—not her own—filled her senses, pulling her consciousness swiftly from the depths of her dreams back into her body.
She slowly opened her eyes, unfocused and hazy, unable to process any information from her surroundings just yet. A rough voice sounded beside her:
"Finally awake, huh?"
Yukinoshita Yukino snapped fully awake and turned her head in a flash.
There, lounging on her side with a hand propping up her head, was a girl with her hair down, grinning at her in a way that made Yukino feel strangely violated.
"Yamauchi Sakura..."
Yukino sighed helplessly.
This girl really never got tired of these antics, did she? Playing this same stupid prank first thing in the morning again.
That deliberately rough voice, that irritatingly smug "I'm satisfied with what I see" expression—seriously, this girl was just—
"Did you sleep well last night?" Sakura said cheerfully, smiling like a cat that caught its prey.
Yukino didn't bother to reply.
She simply turned her back to Sakura and yanked the blanket up to cover her entire head.
"You're going to be late, you know~"
"….."
"Yukino-chan~~ Did you fall asleep again~?"
"..."
Still no response.
At least not until they got to school, she wasn't going to acknowledge this idiot.
"I'm serious~ You're really going to be late!"
Yukino grumbled silently in her head.
'What, does she think I'm stupid?' She had set her phone alarm, after all!
"Your alarm's already gone off several times~ I didn't know Yukino-chan was such a heavy sleeper~"
Under the darkness of the blanket, Yukino's pale blue eyes snapped open.
She didn't poke her head out but stretched her hand in the direction of the nightstand by memory.
Fumbling... feeling... nothing.
"Where's my phone?"
Her head finally popped out from under the covers, pale blue eyes glaring at Sakura, who was still propped up and grinning mischievously.
"Over here~"
Sakura dangled Yukino's phone between two fingers, pouting playfully.
"You slept so soundly you didn't even notice what I was doing~"
Yukino ignored the obvious teasing and quickly unlocked her phone.
"You turned off my alarm, didn't you?!"
That alarm wouldn't stop until she physically got up to shut it off—yet here it was, completely silenced.
"You turned it off yourself, you know. You sleepwalk, remember?"
"As if! I don't—"
'Knock knock knock—'
The sudden knock at the door cut her off.
Yukino instinctively looked down at herself, realizing her loose collar was exposing a lot of skin.
Flustered, she quickly dived back under the blanket.
"Sakura, wake up already."
It was Hojou's voice from the other side of the door.
"Oh, and Yukinoshita said that she absolutely won't get up unless Hojou personally calls her."
With one hand, Sakura effortlessly pinned down Yukino as she tried to cover Sakura's mouth.
"I did not say that!" Yukino shouted from under the covers.
"Yukinoshita, get up," came Kyousuke's bland voice from the hallway.
Yukino immediately bristled.
'Seriously, this guy doesn't even try to hide it.'
'No "oh" or gentle ending sound—just cold and to the point.'
No wonder Sakura started her pranks so early; Kyousuke was annoyingly clingy right from the start of the day.
"Alright~ We're coming~" Sakura sang loudly.
"Hurry up, Yukino-chan! Kyousuke probably made breakfast already—today it's waffles!"
With a loud smack, Sakura yanked the blanket off and gave Yukino a playful swat on the butt.
"You little—!" Yukino gasped, both hands clutching her rear in shock and embarrassment.
"Hehe~ So soft and springy~"
Grinning wickedly, Sakura started getting dressed.
As Yukino carefully descended the staircase, her hand brushing the familiar polished wooden railing, a strange sense of nostalgia flickered in her mind.
Her family house in Shinagawa had a similar open staircase like this.
"Good morning, Yukino," came a soft, gentle voice.
Halfway down, Yukino spotted Nishimiya Shouko's serene smile greeting her.
'Home... never had such a cute girl smiling and saying "good morning" to me like this.'
"Good morning, Shouko," Yukino replied, pausing gracefully on the stairs with a polite nod.
The perfect image of a refined young lady.
'Whoosh—'
A blur dashed past her, zooming down the stairs.
"No running on the stairs!" Kyousuke called from the kitchen.
"Oh please~ It's fine, you'd catch me anyway, wouldn't you?" Sakura teased, leaning halfway into the kitchen over the bar counter.
"Doesn't matter. No running," he replied firmly.
"Yeah, yeah~"
Yukino watched their pointless flirting with mild disgust before her gaze drifted to Shouko sitting at the table.
The girl was watching the two with a gentle, doting smile, eyes squinting happily as if their antics made her day.
'I don't get it. I really don't.'
"Is my ultra-super-mega delicious waffle ready yet?" Sakura asked loudly.
"Ready, ready," Kyousuke replied.
Just as Yukino reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw it—a colorful waffle being set on the bar counter.
"What... is that?" she asked cautiously, stepping closer.
Her instincts screamed non-edible.
"It's your special breakfast made with love!" Sakura declared proudly.
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she casually slid a normal-looking waffle onto Yukino's plate.
"Of course I knew that. I meant why is it rainbow-colored? And stop calling it 'made with love' when you hand it to me" Yukino muttered with exasperation.
"Yukino-chan, your mind is too narrow!"
Sakura put on a mock-serious face.
"Kyousuke is a top-class chef! Every dish he makes is filled with love!"
"Sakura... have you ever considered starting a debating club?"
"Eh? Yukino-chan, how did you know what I did back in middle school?"
"I didn't. I don't want to know. Not even a little."
Still chatting, the two girls made their way to the dining table as Kyousuke followed, balancing a ridiculous 20-centimeter-tall mountain of waffles on a plate.
"Where is everyone else?" Yukino asked, glancing around.
"They've already left," Kyousuke answered.
Eriri, as usual, liked to sleep in the latest but also had the tightest schedule, so thanks to him, the students of Toyosaki Academy left on time every day.
Even Utaha-senpai wasn't an exception—if he didn't wake her, Eriri would.
"Told you we were late. You think everyone's as lazy as you?" Sakura said, mouth full of waffle, though careful not to smear the jam everywhere.
"And whose fault do you think that is?!" Yukino shot back sharply.
Though she was annoyed, she hadn't expected to sleep so soundly.
She'd thought she'd struggle to rest in a new place with someone else nearby... but she hadn't even woken up when the alarm first rang.
She thought for a moment and realized why—it was because she felt safe here. In this place.
With Sakura beside her.
"Yukino, hurry up and eat," Shouko gently urged.
"Mm." Yukino nodded softly, lowering her gaze—only to be drawn to the two plates across from her.
Impossible not to notice.
One plate held at least twenty waffles stacked high.
The other looked like someone had dumped an artist's paint palette onto it.
Those two were like a slapstick comedy duo. Perfectly ridiculous.
After witnessing Hojou's monstrous appetite the night before, Yukinoshita wasn't particularly surprised anymore—but it was still impressive to behold.
However… Sakura's eating habits were another matter entirely.
"What's the matter, Yukino-chan? Want a bite?" Sakura asked, lifting a piece of bluish-purple waffle on her fork.
"No thanks. Is that blueberry sauce?" Yukinoshita asked with a frown.
"Yup yup! This one's blueberry, this one's strawberry, this is peanut butter, honey, egg yolk mayo…"
Sakura proudly pointed at each flavor spread across the waffles as if she were an ancient Roman emperor boasting about the vast territories on her parchment map.
The confident, imperial air about her was hard to miss.
"See? This way I can taste all the flavors at once! Genius, right? Hojou really is amazing!"
'Smug. Smug. Smug~'
"..."
Yukinoshita glanced silently at Hojou.
Sure, opening ten different jars wasn't much effort—but knowing this weirdo, there was no way these were store-bought.
No, he probably made every one of these jams himself.
Heck, he might've even grown the ingredients.
This deduction came from everything she'd seen when she visited the Ruyi Dorm yesterday:
The table—handmade by Hojou.
The hot pot broth—homemade.
Beef meatballs—homemade.
The sea bream—personally filleted.
And in a corner of the room, she'd even seen a strawberry plant growing...
There was no doubt in her mind—if the world ended tomorrow, this guy would survive longer than anyone else.
And his quality of life probably wouldn't drop much from modern standards.
Just like Yamauchi Sakura said—every dish Kyousuke made was filled with heart.
Yukinoshita lowered her gaze to the waffle on her plate, drizzled in glistening honey.
For some reason, she felt a strange hint of disappointment.
"Oh, Yukino-chan, that honey is from Aunt Mikiko, y'know! Special Hokkaido honey—super rare!" Sakura added cheerfully.
Yukinoshita looked up.
Sakura had already finished her own plate and was now aggressively slathering more honey onto Hojou's waffles while he ate them one after another.
...
"I'm full~"
"Study hard, okay~"
After putting on her shoes and grabbing her bag, Yukinoshita walked to the entrance of Ruyi Dorm.
Turning back, she saw Kyousuke, still in his slippers, waving them off from the doorway with a gentle smile.
For a moment, Yukinoshita frowned.
The scene felt oddly domestic… like a househusband seeing off his career-woman wife on her way to work.
"Aren't you coming with us?" she asked.
"Kyousuke's got other plans this morning," Sakura answered quickly, linking arms with both Yukinoshita and Shouko.
"Plans? What, like going back to bed?"
Looking at Kyousuke's relaxed, carefree posture, Yukinoshita couldn't imagine what pressing business a high school student could possibly have to skip class.
While pondering this, she noticed a black sedan pulling into the street.
She instinctively stepped aside, but the car slowed to a stop right in front of them.
The door opened, and out stepped a blond young man—no, man, not boy.
The distinction came from his sharp business suit, despite his youthful face.
"Good morning, Yamauchi-san, Nishimiya-san," the man greeted with a polite nod.
Then he spotted Yukinoshita—and his eyes widened in shock.
"Y-Yukinoshita-san! Good morning!"
Why did his tone jump an octave just for me? Am I that surprising to see here…?
Oh, right. Anyone who knew her and happened to see her walking out of Hojou's house this early in the morning would definitely be startled.
Honestly, this reaction from Kisaki Tetta was probably one of the milder ones.
She remembered him now—this was Kisaki Tetta, one of the infamous "Five Fingers of Hojou Kyousuke" at school.
But why the fancy outfit?
What, do delinquents these days extort elementary kids in suits?
"It's the day before the Bookstore Grand Prize ceremony," Sakura explained with a grin. "Kyousuke's got a meeting with the event organizers this morning."
"The Bookstore Grand Prize?" Yukinoshita repeated, surprised.
Then the weight of her bag on her shoulder reminded her of something she'd nearly forgotten—Hojou, who had spent all of last night and this morning dazzling her with his chef skills… wasn't a chef at all.
He was a nationally famous novelist.
No—his real occupation was still technically 'high school student.'
That made it even scarier.
Come to think of it, it was almost unbelievable that this guy showed up to school like a normal kid every day.
From what she knew, he had two ongoing manga series and a light novel serialization.
And yet, all week long, she hadn't seen a single sign of him actually working.
And that's not even counting summer prep for the Koshien baseball tournament and the national high school kendo championship.
Thankfully, their school hadn't qualified for spring Koshien, or this lunatic would probably be swinging a bat on the field right now.
With this in mind, Yukinoshita looked at Kyousuke again, standing at the door with his gentle smile, and wondered if he was even human.
She felt a little guilty for suspecting he just wanted to slack off and sleep.
This wasn't skipping school—it was squeezing school into an impossibly packed life.
A quiet respect welled up in her chest.
So much so that she almost forgot she planned to check on his dance practice this afternoon.
Almost.
"Are you coming to school at lunch?" she asked.
"Of course. I'm eating lunch with Sakura and Shouko, after all," Kyousuke replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Sure, the publisher and event staff would probably invite him to some fancy lunch… but why bother when you could enjoy a breeze on the school rooftop with cute girls instead?
Hearing this, Kisaki Tetta sighed internally and braced himself to attend the business lunch in his boss's place and collect business cards.
He also started drafting excuses in his head:
Should he say a Tokyo University professor was visiting Kyousuke to discuss research?
Or that the principal needed him to host a study workshop?
"Jeez, Kyousuke, it's been ages since you visited the publishing office. Poor Editor Akamatsu's suffering," Sakura teased.
Akamatsu was Kyousuke's editor, who'd poured out complaints about Kyousuke ditching so many PR events the last time she visited.
"Hey, I went to a bunch of signing events before school started! I've been working hard, okay!" Kyousuke protested.
"Three times," Kisaki Tetta calmly corrected, pushing his glasses up with his fingers.
"Once per day. That's already a stamina level that would make all the men in the world blush with shame."
"H-rated comment, stop right there. Anyway, Yukino-chan, let's have lunch together with us today! You'll probably get dragged into dance practice if you show up, though~" Sakura teased with a mischievous grin.
"Now that I think about it, it really has been a while since I saw everyone at the editorial department… and Chief Shimomura too. Masao invited me to dinner the other day, didn't he?"
Saying this, Kyousuke clapped his hands.
"Kisaki, bring Masao over to school at lunchtime."
"Got it," Kisaki Tetta nodded.
"Alright, you girls are gonna be late. Let Hirata drive you," Kyousuke said, waving over Hirata Toshitaka by the car.
"Drive carefully!" Kyousuke said with a hearty slap on Hirata's shoulder.
"Ossu!" Hirata replied with that strangely spirited shout you only ever heard near all-boys high schools.
Once again, Yukinoshita was reminded of another one of Kyousuke's countless identities.
This guy… don't tell me he sneaks out every night after Sakura and the others fall asleep to get into brutal street fights?
The most dangerous delinquent in Tokyo's high school scene—the "Handless Demon."
Such a misleading impression.
Yukinoshita glanced at Hojou, who was still standing in the doorway wearing an apron, then at the two sharply dressed men in black suits flanking him.
She shook her head and let Sakura pull her toward the black sedan.
"Safe travels," Kyousuke waved.
"See you this afternoon, Kyousuke-kun," Shouko turned back slightly and gave him a small wave.
"See you later!"
"If you get drunk, make sure to call me. I'll come pick you up, okay~?" Sakura reminded with a playful smile.
"Haha, got it."
"Idiot. Like anyone would dare let him drink in the first place," Yukinoshita scolded Sakura, then quickly turned her head and muttered softly:
"Bye, Hojou-kun."
"Yeah. See you this afternoon. Don't forget Megumi's request," Kyousuke reminded.
Megumi? Request?
As Sakura dragged Yukinoshita along, she mechanically stumbled forward a few steps.
Even after settling into the back seat of the car and shutting the door, she still couldn't remember who "Megumi" was.
"Hehe, it's Katou Megumi~" Sakura grinned.
Yukinoshita's eyes lit up with surprise.
"Of course I haven't forgotten who Katou Megumi is!" she shot back defensively.
"Sure, sure. I know, I know. Yukino-chan definitely hasn't forgotten Megumi—or her request," Sakura said with an overly casual nod.
———————————————————————
Back at the house, Hojou Kyousuke watched the car slowly pull away, catching Shouko waving at him from the rear window until the vehicle disappeared down the street.
Only then did he turn around.
"Let's head in, Kisaki."
"Yes, Aniki."
"Hey, don't call me that here—you'll make the neighbors misunderstand who I really am."
"Haha, of course. I won't call you that inside."
"Hah, you'd better not. Or Momotarou will bite you," Kyousuke chuckled.
Still bantering, the two of them stepped onto the stone-paved path.
Kisaki Tetta carefully shut the gate behind them.
"Aniki!! Why's this annoying guy here again?! This house only needs me as your little brother!"
A fluffy little white creature charged at them like an army of a thousand horses, dashing full speed on its tiny stubby legs.
"See? Told you. Momotarou's here to bite you," Kyousuke laughed as he headed to the kitchen and returned with a plate of freshly made waffles, sitting down again.
With a face full of dark lines, Kisaki Tetta nudged the furious Momotarou away from his pant leg and sat down too.
He remembered long ago, the first time he'd ever come to Aniki's house—Kyousuke had plopped an enormous plate of food in front of him.
No matter how many times he insisted he'd already eaten, Kyousuke, like a man possessed by some strange spirit, kept repeating, "You're here, so eat! Eat! Eat some more!"
From then on, he learned to always arrive at Aniki's house with an empty stomach—just to savor his incredible cooking.
Knife in the right hand, fork in the left, Kisaki sliced off a crisp piece of waffle and put it into his mouth, slowly closing his eyes.
Ahhh… delicious…
On his tongue, golden wheat bloomed.
Bees danced above the stalks. Autumn—he could taste the flavor of autumn itself!
Wait… no, there was spring too—the faint scent of sakura mixed in the honey!
For a moment, Kisaki Tetta was completely lost in the magic of this flavor.
His eyes grew moist.
His chewing slowed down. He wanted time to freeze here forever.
"Oi, Kisaki, ease up a little! You look like you're on illegal substances or something!" Kyousuke sighed, holding his forehead.
Only when his cooking skills had shot up—after receiving Yukino's gift—had the girls at home shown reactions this dramatic.
Kisaki's face lit up with excitement.
"Aniki's cooking has reached new heights… such terrifying talent. Why don't we open another restaurant chain? You just need to provide three or four exclusive recipes."
"We can even give jobs to some of the guys who don't plan to go to college after graduation. Or maybe a ramen shop? That'd be simpler, all you'd have to—"
"Stop right there! You're trying to get me arrested, aren't you? If you become the third boss, I'll toss in ten secret recipes for free."
Kyousuke stood, holding the now-empty plate.
Kisaki was such a reliable underling—meticulous, tireless, and loyal.
The perfect right-hand man.
But he had one flaw: always dreaming of expanding the Bouquet Angels gang into Japan's top syndicate.
Honestly, it was scarier than open rebellion.
Watching his boss's retreating figure, Kisaki Tetta let out a heavy sigh.
Then, without hesitation, he grabbed the rest of the waffles and stuffed them into his mouth.
He headed into the kitchen, pulled on latex gloves, and started washing the pots and plates without being asked.
Of course he knew there was a dishwasher—but this was the proper way to show loyalty!
As he scrubbed the dishes, he started reporting the next steps in today's plan.