Unknowingly, the once-blank screen gradually filled with text.
When Utaha finally typed the last period, she slowly raised her arms, stretching out with a long, satisfying sigh.
"Mmm—!"
Pressing her left hand against her right shoulder, swinging her right arm to loosen stiff muscles, she glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand.
Huh? It's already this late?
Seeing "20:32" on the LCD screen, she was surprised she'd written for so long and quickly stood up.
Not realizing she'd been sitting cross-legged for too long, the moment she stood, an unbearable pins-and-needles sensation shot through her calves.
"Ouch..."
Letting out a soft gasp, she grimaced, carefully shuffling her increasingly numb legs step by step to the bed, and plopped down on the soft mattress.
Bending over, frowning, she pressed her hands against her calf muscles.
Slowly, with practiced movements, the numbness faded. Once it was completely gone, she let her hands drop.
But right then.
A hard-to-explain sense of grievance and loneliness welled up from the bottom of her heart.
Why? I've handled this alone before. Why do I feel so lonely now?
It's not my first time living alone... And this morning, Mom and Dad even called to ask if I was coming home for summer break... I told them with a smile: "No, I'll stay in Tokyo to finish the rest of the novel as soon as possible."
So, Utaha shouldn't, and wouldn't, feel lonely or isolated, right?
Gradually, unable to suppress the loneliness and grievance, her wine-red eyes began to mist over.
"Huh, that's weird." Forcing a smile, she awkwardly raised a hand and rubbed her sore, stinging eyes with the back of her hand.
"What's wrong with me... Why are my eyes so sore? Yeah, I must just be sleep-deprived."
"Alright! I'm going to bed early tonight!"
Speaking to herself with a slight whimper in her voice, she stood up from the bed, wobbled over to the apartment fridge, opened it without looking, grabbed a bag of cold bread, and tossed it on the clean counter to thaw.
Then, she turned around, pushed open the bathroom door behind her.
Still slightly distracted, she stood before the mirror. Just as she was about to take off the uniform she'd worn all day, she suddenly looked up at her reflection.
So weird.
The me in the mirror... looks exactly like a little kid who's too lonely being alone and can't help but want to cry.
So weird. Why am I making that face?
Feeling her mood plummet, Utaha pouted slightly and whispered to her reflection, "Mou! It's all Editor Machida's fault, nagging me every day! Look, she's stressed me out completely."
Saying something she wasn't even sure was true, she slowly stripped off her clothes.
Grabbing a towel from the rack, she wrapped her slender, well-proportioned figure in the blue fabric and tiptoed into the bathroom.
Just as she stepped in, she suddenly remembered something crucial.
"Ah!" Looking at the completely empty tub with a gloomy face, she complained tearfully to herself, "I forgot to turn on the hot water! Mou! You big idiot!"
Refusing to put her dirty uniform back on, Utaha had no choice but to carefully hold the towel over her chest and cautiously step out of the bathroom.
She turned on the water heater control in the hallway. Then, wrapped only in the towel and wearing nothing underneath, she turned back to her room to wait for the water to heat up.
Just then.
Her eyes caught the phone she'd casually tossed aside earlier. She picked it up.
Staring at the chat screen with Miyahito, which showed no new messages, Utaha puffed out her cheeks in mild dissatisfaction.
But a second later, she sighed helplessly, deflating. "Sigh, what am I thinking? His parents and Ayase are there."
"A family-oriented guy like him is definitely busy entertaining them right now."
"But... as his girlfriend, shouldn't I be considered family too...?"
The thought barely surfaced before Utaha instantly crushed it.
"Seriously!" Shaking her head to dispel the ridiculous jealousy, she chuckled to herself. "Am I really that petty? Getting jealous over this?"
But still, I can't help but miss you.
"I'll sleep early tonight!" Utaha regained her spirits, setting her phone down. "I'll wake up a bit earlier tomorrow."
"He's always been the one waiting downstairs for me. Tomorrow, I'll wait for him instead!"
After filling the bathtub with hot water, Utaha hummed a tune as she untied her towel.
Turning on the showerhead, warm water cascaded from above, droplets tracing the elegant, captivating curves of her slender figure.
Resting her hands naturally behind her head, lifting her sleek black hair, she closed her eyes, letting the warm water wash over her face, feeling her exhaustion drain away with each drop.
After enjoying the shower for a moment, she reached out to turn it off.
Just then, her peripheral vision caught her own naked reflection in the bathroom mirror.
At that exact moment, Utaha's wine-red pupils fixated on the space between her collarbones in the reflection.
That was... the place Miyahito had ki... ki... kissed... today.
The memory of his affectionate, clingy behavior that afternoon flashed through her mind again. Utaha's pale cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
Knowing she was completely alone, with no one to see her embarrassed state, she let her guard down.
Suppressing her budding shyness, Utaha took a serious look at her own figure for the first time.
"Is it really that good?"
Her gaze swept over her generously curved chest, her slender waist that could be wrapped in one hand, and her long, shapely, fair legs.
Well... maybe she couldn't entirely blame Miyahito for losing control of his emotions...
"After all, he is a perfectly normal teenage boy..." The moment the words left her lips, realizing what she'd just said and the inappropriate, unspoken thoughts flashing through her mind, Utaha's face turned completely red.
Instantly, she averted her gaze, too embarrassed to look at the mirror anymore, and clumsily slipped into the hot bath.
Then, she submerged her blushing body and burning face into the water.
Glug... glug...
150 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter
1 Review = 1 Bonus Chapter