CH 14

"I never thought I would leave home at this time..."

I muttered to myself as I looked at the time on the screen of my smartphone.

It was 6:45 in the morning. One hour earlier from when I usually went to school.

After the incredible weekends, the school started again from today. To be honest, I didn't like school, so I didn't really want to go early.

Then why did I leave my apartment this early, you ask?

The reason was simple.

I simply happened to wake up earlier... Well, to be exact, I was woken up early in the morning.

When I saw "Wakamiya Rin" displayed in the incoming call history on my smartphone, I sighed.

"So this is what people call 'wake-up call'? I didn't expect it to be such a pain..."

I wanted to spend my morning lazing around in my blanket. The true supreme bliss.

However, the wake-up call didn't allow me to stay idle. Another call came, as if she was aiming for the timing I would try to sleep again.

Her timing was too good at I even thought, "Maybe she's watching me?"

I almost had no registered contacts on my smartphone. There were only my father, the manager of my part-time job, Katou Kenichi who forced me to register his number, and... Wakamiya Rin.

It couldn't be helped. Most of the D-group members didn't have a large community to keep in touch. Having the required minimum was enough.

Well, the limit of the required minimum changed yesterday, though...

The reason was that I slipped my tongue yesterday.

——Yesterday night

"Tokiwagi-san, I already made your breakfast for tomorrow, so please eat them."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'll make sure to eat them if I can wake up."

"'Can wake up'? What do you mean?"

"It's literally what I'm saying. I'm not a morning person. I love my bed too much."

"I see... Tokiwagi-san, please hand me your smartphone."

"What? Do you want to check what's inside? I don't save anything stra..."

I couldn't finish my words... For now, let's erase my browser history. Just in case.

"Hmm, this should be it. Wakamiya-san, here."

"Err, yes. Thank you."

Wakamiya looked puzzled, but she didn't make any comment about my behaviour and typed something on my smartphone.

"Okay, I'm done. You can have it back."

"Oh... What did you do?"

"You told me that you couldn't wake up in the morning, so I will give you a wake-up call. That's why I registered my phone number in your contacts."

"Ehhh... I want to sleep in the morning, though... I can eat breakfast even if I wake up late..."

I was complaining in my mouth, but I desperately endured, stopping myself from smiling. For the first time in my life, I got the contact information of a girl... Of course I would be happy.

Even so, I shouldn't show it on my face. I got the number of the Social Goddess who kept meddling in my life... It's not good to become overly excited or have strange expectations.

"I can't trust Tokiwagi-san's words."

"That's cruel. You don't have to say it so blatantly..."

"Listen, please think about this carefully. What kind of development do you think will be the most tragic?"

"What?"

"Haa, you really don't understand. It's when you throw away the food I have prepared without eating it. I wholeheartedly make all of my hand-made foods. I can't stand having my efforts wasted. Even my meal prep won't last for a week..."

It was a possible development.

I wasn't a morning person. And when I overslept, I would definitely choose not to eat breakfast.

It had always been the case.I made do with jelly and energy bar. The exact definition of a sloppy way to live.

My habit of eating breakfast had been long dead. I couldn't even remember the last time I ate a sandwich in the morning.

"I want you to eat what I made. It's my own selfishness."

"Selfishness, huh... I guess we can try?"

"I'm sorry if I sound pushy."

"No, it's me who should be grateful. After all, it probably won't hurt to try waking up early and eat healthily."

"Fufu. I'm happy to hear that."

And that's how I ended up in this situation.

Well, I couldn't just tell her not to call me because I want to sleep in the morning. That Goddess had taken care of me so much that I could no longer refuse her... We just knew each other for a short period, and yet I had troubled her a lot...

By the way, the pre-made simmered dishes and miso soup were exquisite. It was clear that she had thought out about this combination cleverly.

About the seasoning, she mentioned that she used kelp and soup stock made from flying fish.

Although she seemed to make the taste lighter after taking consideration of my health, the dishes by no means inferior to the food served at a restaurant.

"I'm really blessed..."

I rode my bicycle and head to the school. At the intersection, I was stuck at the traffic light. I absentmindedly stared at the traffic light until it turned green.

"Tokiwagi-san?"

The clear voice that I had heard early in this morning pierced my ears.

At that moment, I'm convinced that 'the early bird catches the worm' probably was something like this.