Chapter 50

The trigger had been a manga I’d been reading lately.

A pretty standard rom-com.
It had a few unconventional twists, but overall, it was a classic, by-the-book love story.

There was one particular scene where the heroine sneaked into the protagonist’s bed, sniffing his sheets and taking a nap.
That scene ended up being the cause of… this.

…At first, when I read it, I kinda wanted to try it too.
The heroine looked so happy in the story—all wrapped up in the protagonist’s futon, grinning to herself.
Just a little… just a tiny bit… I envied her.

But at the same time, I knew I could never actually do something like that.
I mean, getting all excited over the smell of someone you like? That’s, like, total creep behavior.
The thought of getting caught was enough to make sure I’d never dare.

…And yet, even though I knew that, this morning, something came over me.
I knew Shin had left for school early. I also knew he’d planned to air out his futon today since the weather was nice.

Maybe another reason was that, ever since school started, Shin had been a little busier than usual.
I’d known this would happen, but… I guess I got lonely. So I ended up doing it anyway.

Once I crawled under his futon, just like in the manga, I caught his scent and couldn’t help but smile.
It’s fine, it’s gonna get washed anyway, I told myself, burying my face in his pillow, rolling around, even considering taking a quick nap right there.

And that was exactly when I heard Shin’s voice.

Shin stood in front of me, looking troubled.

Normally, that expression would put me at ease—but right now, just seeing it made my heart pound so loud I could hear it.
The one face I never wanted to see right now was right there, staring at me.

…Why?

Wasn’t he supposed to be at school?
I saw him leave this morning!

“…H-huh?”

A meaningless sound slipped out of my mouth.
My thoughts were a tangled mess—I couldn’t think straight.

Because he saw me. Saw me in his futon, smiling like some kind of—I wasn’t excited, okay?! But still!
What do I do? What am I even supposed to say?!

“…U-um.”

I forced my stiff lips to move, calling out to Shin.
I had to say something. Anything.

Shin looked up.
His expression was the same as usual—the one he made when he was thinking.

…But right now, to me, it looked like he was thinking, “Yuu’s a total weirdo getting off on my futon.”

“I-It’s not what you think! It’s not!”
“…O-oh. Right.”

I denied it desperately.

It wasn’t like that. I’m not a creep.
I just… got a little curious, that’s all.

…Right, I need an excuse.
I had to give him a reason why being in his futon wasn’t weird.

“I-I was just… uh… testing the futon! Yeah! I wanted to see if yours felt different from mine!”
“…A-ah. Yeah, makes sense.”

I forced out the lamest excuse imaginable.
Shin said he bought it, but his eyes were looking somewhere far away.

No good. He definitely doesn’t believe me.

“…Uuu.”

Too embarrassed to face him, I hid behind the pillow I was clutching.
No, really, it’s not like that. I’m not a pervert.

How do I make him believe me?
My brain spun at full speed.

…And that was exactly when Shin moved.

“Oh, right. I just came back to get something I forgot.”

He said it so deliberately, grabbing his textbook from the desk and stuffing it into his bag.
Then, in a flash, he was already at the door.

“Alright, I’m heading back to school.”
“Eh? O-oh. S-see you later…”

I replied out of habit, and just like that, Shin left the room.
A second later, I heard the front door close. He was already gone.

“…Huh?”

Shin left.

But I hadn’t even finished explaining.

…Wait.

Does this mean… I don’t get another chance?
Which means… from now on, Shin’s gonna think I’m some kind of futon-sniffing creep…

“…Aaaaah.”

My whole body burned. Blood rushed to my head, making me dizzy.
I couldn’t hold back the wave of frustration rising inside me.

Instinctively, I buried my face in the pillow again.

“AAAAAAAAAH!”

I hate this.
This has to be a nightmare.

I yanked the futon over my head and squeezed my eyes shut, praying I’d wake up.

Later that night.

I sat on my futon, tilting my head in confusion.

…I feel like I forgot something.

There was something I was supposed to do, but I couldn’t remember what.
The shock of this morning’s incident must’ve wiped everything else from my mind.

I spent the whole day thinking, barely managing the bare minimum of chores, but I still couldn’t come up with a good excuse for the futon thing.
So now, my new plan was just to dodge the topic if Shin ever brought it up.

…Well, if I can’t remember, it can’t be that important.
I don’t know what I forgot, but it can’t possibly be worse than this morning.

Once I thought about it that way, everything else seemed trivial.

“Time for bed.”

I slipped under the covers and closed my eyes.
Sleep came surprisingly easy.