Back at his apartment.
"By the way, Mom." Miyahito opened the overhead cabinet, searching for spare teacups. "Where's Ayase? Didn't she come to Tokyo with you?"
"Ayase suddenly got a photoshoot assignment." Surveying the living room and noting it was messier than before, Satomi frowned slightly. "Your father and I just dropped her off at Shinjuku Gyoen to meet with Nakamura-san."
"Miyahito, why is the living room so messy? Don't you clean?"
Pausing while putting tea leaves in the pot, Miyahito replied with a slightly awkward tone.
"Well, lately... I've been a bit busy, so I just let it slide."
Remembering his depressive, self-pitying days while suspended at home, he felt guilty... his hand holding the teapot lid even trembled slightly.
Knowing full well he'd already been grilled the entire ride back by both parents, if they found out he'd locked himself in his room for days in a depressive slump, only needing Miyuki-senpai to drag him out of it...
The family atmosphere would definitely become "bloodily" intense.
"Is that so?" Satomi's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she glanced at him in the kitchen. She slowly picked up a wrinkled, balled-up summer blanket from the sofa. "Then can you tell Mom how you managed to get the blanket into this state?"
"Ahahaha, couldn't sleep at night, so I just rolled around on the sofa." His heart skipped a beat as he forced a laugh.
Just then, Seiichiro, who had been silent since entering, suddenly spoke.
"Miyahito." Standing in the corner of the living room, his gaze fixed on a guitar casually tossed in the corner, gathering dust, he asked sternly, "What's going on with this guitar?"
"I remember, back in Chiba, these instruments were your most treasured possessions."
Alright. Cornered again.
"I'm sorry." Rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin, Miyahito shuffled out of the kitchen. He lowered his gaze respectfully, addressing the Aragaki couple who stood side-by-side in the living room with arms crossed.
"During my suspension, I just... had a momentary lapse in judgment. I was acting all dramatic at home, feeling like my life was over... Honestly! I don't even know what came over me. I was practically possessed."
Watching his son's frantic explanation, the couple exchanged a helpless glance.
"You... Sigh, forget it. We've said enough already."
Satomi shot him a mildly exasperated look, pointing a finger at the living room. "Clean up the house before we leave, got it?"
"Leaving it this dirty is unacceptable."
"Understood!" Miyahito instantly snapped to attention, answering loudly with a serious expression.
"Go make the tea."
"Yes, my dear Mother."
Gurgle gurgle.....
Hot water poured into the teapot. Amidst the rising steam and natural fragrance, the crumpled tea leaves slowly unfurled in the warm "hot spring."
For some reason, in this quiet time filled with the aroma of tea, Utaha's figure involuntarily floated into Miyahito's mind.
Even though they had only been apart for less than two hours.
'I can't believe it.'
The corners of his mouth lifted unconsciously as he shook his head helplessly.
Setting down the teapot he was holding, after roughly estimating the steeping time, he naturally pulled out his phone from his pocket. He opened his contacts and found Utaha's number.
However, just as his finger was about to press the dial button, his action suddenly froze.
'Maybe I should text first?' he told himself quietly. 'If Utaha is busy writing, a call would disrupt her train of thought.'
Nodding to himself, he switched the phone screen to LINE.
`[Miyahito: Are you busy, Utaha?]`
The moment the message sent, its status instantly changed from `[Unread]` to `[Read]`.
Utaha happens to be holding her phone?
Before he could even process it, Utaha's reply appeared on the screen.
`[Utaha: Mhm, I was just about to... do homework.]`
Looking at the `[Read]` status, Utaha—still in her school uniform, hair slightly messy—lay on her room's carpet, guiltily staring at the "do homework" part of her message.
On the small table beside her, her red laptop silently displayed its screen: a blank document titled only Love's Metronome Vol 4, Chapter 8.
'What should I do?'
Noticing the `[Typing...]` indicator next to Miyahito's name, Utaha rolled over onto her back, looking troubled as she glanced at the computer.
'How do I even tell him I'm Kasumi Utako?'
'We're already dating, and my boyfriend still doesn't know my secret... Mou, I feel kind of bad keeping it from him....' Pouting slightly, she mumbled to herself, then rolled again, burying her face in the fluffy carpet.
Just as she was worrying, restlessly kicking her fair legs up and down, her boyfriend's reply arrived.
`[Miyahito: I see. Did I disturb you? (Sorry #)]`
Realizing she'd accidentally played herself, Utaha quickly grabbed her phone.
`[Utaha: No, no! I haven't started yet.]`
`[Miyahito: That's a relief. I was worried I interrupted you.]`
`[Utaha: Hmm... It feels like you're almost scared of me. Why, am I that terrifying?]`
`[Miyahito: Eh? How could that be? Utaha is the cutest.]`
`[Utaha: ...]`
"Mou! How can you just say things that make me blush so easily!" Hit squarely in the heart by her boyfriend's unabashed straight ball, Utaha covered her burning cheeks with both hands. Despite herself, a smile broke through as she involuntarily rolled around on the carpet.
Only after her pounding heart returned to a normal rhythm did she pick up her phone again, gritting her teeth as she typed:
`[Utaha: From now on, you're not allowed to intentionally say such embarrassing things!]`
"Eh?" Looking at her reply, Miyahito scratched his cheek, looking slightly troubled.
Embarrassing things? But those are my genuine feelings, Utaha.
`[Miyahito: ? I'm not being intentional. And it's really how I feel.]`
`[Miyahito: In my heart, you're the cutest.]`
That's exactly why it's more embarrassing! Mou!
Puffing up her flushed cheeks, Utaha 'fiercely' glared at Miyahito's profile picture on the screen.
Then continued typing.
`[Utaha: Anyway, you're not allowed!]`
`[Miyahito: Eh, alright, alright, I get it (aggrieved #)]`
`[...]`
Gradually, so immersed in chatting with Utaha, Miyahito completely failed to notice that the tea on the counter beside him had long finished steeping.
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