V3 - Chapter 8

Volume 3 - Me, Her, and a Pair of Wings

Chapter 8

The gentle winter sunlight filtered into the room through the thin curtains. Even though Chinatsu wasn’t particularly sensitive to the cold, the chill of the morning made it hard for her to leave the warmth of the blanket. Finally escaping the temptation, she managed to get up, stretched, and greeted the owner of the photo in the middle of the room, “Good morning, Miho-chan.” 

Usually, she’d head straight to the bathroom, but for the past few days, Chinatsu had made it a point to tidy herself up in front of the mirror first. It was Friday, marking the sixth morning since Sunday. By now, she no longer had trouble sleeping.

Since Chinatsu had just woken up, she hadn’t put on any makeup. However, she felt uncomfortable being seen by Hajime with her bed hair in a defenseless state. Although the idea of living together had a certain appeal to her, because of her mother's words, she felt a little bit reluctant, however a certain bit of happiness still welled up within her. The act of living together, on the other hand, meant seeing both the good and bad sides of each other, and both Hajime and Chinatsu were still figuring out the right distance to keep. Sometimes, she felt loved by how Hajime maintained that distance, and other times she squirmed at the thought of how they were trying to adjust to each other.

That being said, there were no major problems. Chinatsu and Hajime had gotten used to being together more than they had expected. It was refreshing for Chinatsu to realize that, despite thinking she knew Hajime well, there were still many things she didn't know about him. More than anything, she became acutely aware of her femininity in ways she hadn't imagined before. She thought to herself, "Love sure is amazing."

She reflected on their life together since Monday.

◇◆

Living together meant knowing each other's whereabouts in the house and telling each other beforehand if the other wants to use the bathroom. Meaning, there are no awkward encounters such as getting inside the bathroom and finding the other naked.

Perhaps it would take a downpour to create the kind of scenarios often seen in novels. Chinatsu realized that those events don't happen naturally in daily life unless one of them deliberately tried to make it happen.

—Or at least, according to my research. After all, there are no signs of something happening between us at all!

Initially, Chinatsu thought about taking turns making breakfast, but soon recognized Hajime's superior cooking skills and decided to become the dishwashing expert instead. Her pride was a small price to pay for delicious meals. While Hajime excelled at cooking, he wasn’t as good at tidying up, whereas Chinatsu was. This made Chinatsu feel as if they complement each other, which made her very happy.

They would eat breakfast together but go to school separately. To manage the rumors, Chinatsu made sure that she had an explanation ready to tell someone in her circle. Things like if she wasn’t at the station or on the train in the morning, it was because her mother was hospitalized and she had to take care of things at home, or she was staying with relatives.

People generally didn’t question things once they had an answer. As long as Chinatsu didn’t misuse her influence, she figured she could use it to manage the situation smoothly.

Usually, Chinatsu would leave first, as Hajime would stay home reading a book until the last minute. They had already confirmed that no other students from their school lived nearby, and considering how Hajime isn’t that social, the route he takes allowed him to travel to school without encountering anyone from school.

Whenever Chinatsu is about to leave or during small moments, she would often fix her hair or uniform in front of Hajime and ask, "How do I look?" just to hear him say she was cute. She would ask that everytime, knowing how Hajime would respond.

—I’m so sly… really really sly. 

If she saw a friend doing this, she would immediately avert her gaze and internally scream, ‘How sly!’ Yet, she was doing it herself. She had always heard that love was blind and that love changes people. She would always think to herself, ‘Heh, is that so?’ but she hadn’t expected it to apply to her.

—No, unfortunately, mine is different.

She wasn’t blindly in love; she was aware of her feelings. On top of that, she still stepped forward for those feelings. It was probably because of that choice that love changed her as a person.

◇◆

During the whole week at their school, Hajime avoided looking at or talking to Chinatsu. Despite Chinatsu occasionally glancing over naturally, their eyes never met. She noticed he spoke with other girls occasionally, although only about school matters, he never did with her.

Chinatsu began to subtly jab at Hajime about it during the Wednesday.

"Hey, even though we're hiding it, isn’t it a bit too much that you never look at me? It feels like you're ignoring me and it makes me a bit lonely.”

"But we text each other at school, no?”

"True… but I still glance at you sometimes, especially when you’re skipping P.E. or eating lunch. You never even glance my way.”

"...If I did, though… I’m afraid my feelings might slip out.”

Hajime was the kind of guy who, despite being incredibly reliable in tough situations like when pulling Chinatsu away to escape from her father,  or protecting her with his back, would blush deeply and get extremely flustered over such things.

Chinatsu had to restrain herself from pouncing on him whenever she saw him like that.

"Geez, just act a bit more naturally. It’s even weirder if it looks like you’re avoiding me on purpose. You know, just glance over occasionally… and smile if our eyes meet."

"Hmm… naturally, huh… true. Alright, I’ll put in maximum effort… I mean, I’ll do my best.”

"Geez… do you really need to use so much effort just to not let your feelings slip out?" 

…This is not good. Chinatsu thought as he found Hajime nodding to himself, cute. Likewise, she thought the same after hearing her completely sweet and affectionate voice.

The past Minamino Chinatsu thought that calling a boy cute was just because she liked saying the word to others. However, she was wrong. 

—After all, it has a different meaning now compared to a year ago, no doubt.

◇◆

After school, in exchange for not being able to hang out with them, I spent a little time with my close friends from class. My circle of friends aren’t exactly composed of flashy gals, but with pretty and cute girls.

Saki was on the girls' basketball team. She was tall, slim, and beautiful, more popular with girls than boys. Despite her beautiful appearance, she had a fiery temper and had been infatuated with Satou-kun from the boys' basketball team since she entered the school. To be honest, she could be quite scary, especially when she sees someone getting close to him. But now, I came to understand her possessive feelings a bit. Just a bit. 

There were always those who irresponsibly suggested that Satou-kun and I would make a good couple, so I fully supported Saki to avoid any drama. I also made sure to show my support through my actions and words. While it might have been an option to reveal my relationship with Hajime to her just to set her mind at ease and ensure her silence, I hadn't had a peaceful enough school life to trust in talks like "just between us girls."

Yuuko was a petite, calm girl who loved to eat. Her slightly brown hair, which was apparently natural since birth, gave her a squirrel-like appearance. She kept her bangs low on purpose to avoid standing out. If she showed off her cute face and her impressive chest, I bet she'd be much more popular with the boys. I wonder what Hajime thinks… mine aren't exactly small either…

She was smart and the balancer of our group. She listened to everyone's complaints calmly and was surprisingly okay with spicy gossip. Judging by how well she handled interactions with boys, I thought she either had a boyfriend in middle school or was secretly seeing someone now. I have no intentions of prying further, though. She’s a super nice girl to the point that if it weren't for what happened in middle school, she could've been my best friend. I even thought that she might’ve already seen through my mask but chose not to say anything about it.

Rena was the epitome of a pure and innocent beauty. She had black hair, long eyes, and fair skin. Even though she never dressed provocatively, just one slip of her bare skin could sometimes make even me, another girl, blush. She was a member of the archery club. Unlike Saki, Rena was as pure and innocent as she looked and actually came from a wealthy family. She even had a fiancé of similar family background. It was a fact she didn't bother to hide and was apparently arranged by her parents.

She was from another world. Yet, she never flaunted her background and always maintained her elegance. I even wondered at one point how someone could learn to exude such grace. By the way, her fiancé apparently had another girlfriend, but it’s not something I should be prying about. When other girls ask her about it, she would skillfully stop it and even sometimes change the subject to lean towards the one who asked it. 

Although I might be wearing my mask in front of them, it doesn’t change the fact that this group consisted of nice girls. We all might seem very close to the point where there are no strange rumors surrounding us, but we still maintained a comfortable distance with one another.

I enjoyed our time together, and it might have been the second best thing about this high school. Although it used to be the best, now the spot has been occupied by another person. This doesn't change the fact that they still remained important to me.

We usually disbanded when Saki and Rena had to go to their club activities. However, before disbanding, while I’m busy chatting with them, or rather, almost as soon as the bell rings, Hajime would always quietly slip away. His ability to disappear was really impressive, in a certain way.

Some boys, who didn't know Hajime well, looked down on him, thinking he left early because he had no friends. I had overheard such talk before. It was only until the second semester that no one bothered saying such things out loud anymore.

However, I knew he left early for his part-time job or if he didn’t have a shift for that day, it was to make it to the supermarket's 4 PM sale.

And only I know the fact that he is a good cook, a skilled basketball player, a kind person… and that recently… he was getting better at the angles of his kisses and moving my bangs out of the way.

◇◆

At night, we ate dinner together, did our homework, and after taking turns in the bath, we spent time playing games or watching movies.

Speaking of things only I knew, Hajime had a lot of interesting games.

The first game I completed on my own was one I played when Shiro-chan was still around. It was a grand adventure where the ship a certain red-haired adventurer rode on was wrecked and he ended up on a mysterious island, and you had to solve the island's mysteries. It was the first time I realized that a game’s story could make me cry. [T/N: a game called Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana]

I also played a game where the main character felt like a chuunibyou and the plot revolved around using D-mails to change word lines or something. I honestly thought that it wouldn’t be any good but it turned out to be an incredibly moving visual novel. Currently, I'm playing a spin-off of that game called Hiyoku Renri.

[T/N: Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace/Hiyoku Renri no Darling.]

I used to avoid games, but wanting to try something that my boyfriend liked turned into genuine enjoyment for me.

Of course, as a couple, we occasionally kissed and hugged. But beyond that, while we sometimes wanted to do more, we seemed to have an unspoken agreement to keep it at just kissing and hugging.

Without any real restrictions stopping us, we instead controlled ourselves. Partly because we were a bit scared, but probably also because we wanted to take things slowly.

They say men are wolves, but Hajime was a gentleman in that regard. When I teased him about being a coward, he blushed and preferred to be referred to as a gentleman instead, which I honestly found cute.

—Everytime I finished taking a bath, I could feel his gaze linger on me, so I knew it wasn’t that he found me unattractive. I feel truly cherished by him.

We both knew that once we crossed that line, there would be no turning back. 

That was how much I loved Hajime, and I was sure he felt the same way about me.

◇◆

“Chinatsu, breakfast is almost ready, so wake up!”

I heard Hajime calling for me.

"Coming!" I replied, trying to make myself look cuter before heading downstairs.

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Bonus Chapter (2/10)

Damn this chapter really cooked my brain cells. It took me 5 hours just to finish this;;