Rubbing his eyes with his fist, Kaito boiled the milk and poured it into a glass. Taking the glass, he sat down at the table and started drinking it. Long yawns were escaping from his mouth from time to time.
He was still a bit sleepy. Yesterday he had stayed till 2'o clock reading light novels.
After finishing his drink, he stretched his body a bit. He brushed his teeth and washed his face which made him feel a bit better and refreshed.
He went to the balcony and gazed outside. The sun was out there, shining brightly in the azure sky. After a while of sightseeing from the balcony, he decided to go back and continue his reading. He still had a backlog of light novels to clear.
"Good morning."
Just when he turned around to head inside, a bell-like voice called out to him. When he looked in the direction of the voice, his neighbor was standing there clad in her pajamas.
"Morning. How are you feeling now?"
"I feel a lot better. All thanks to you."
She said with a smile on her face. This smile was different from the smile that was etched into his mind. It was the smile that she showed in school. But more importantly, she did look a bit better than yesterday.
"Is that so?"
He said that and prepared to leave when she again called out to him.
"Um….."
"Hmm?"
"Uh..."
"What?"
She didn't reply. She kept fidgeting and he could see her face turn a tad bit red. Kaito kept waiting for a while but she said nothing. Exasperated, he told her, "If you don't have anything to say, then I'm leaving."
And with that, he left the balcony. He did want to hear what she had to say, but since she showed no signs of saying anything he gave up and left.
"But why did I want to hear what she wanted to say anyway?"
He heaved a big sigh. He had said that he wouldn't involve himself with other people much. But whenever he interacted with this girl, he always ended up contradicting himself.
"For now let's just read some books and relax."
He took out three books from his bookshelf and sat on the sofa. He had intended to spend his weekend reading books.
*
He closed the book and put it beside him on the sofa. He had read all three books.
After reading them, he stood up and stretched his body. He had spent about seven hours sitting on the sofa, reading the books.
Then he realized that he was hungry. This was almost a habit of his. Whenever he was reading a book, he didn't care about other things, not even hunger and thirst.
He thought of having some noodles today. So, he prepared to go to the convenience store. When he checked his phone before leaving, it was already 6'o clock in the evening.
After returning from the store, he made the noodles and finished his dinner. After finishing dinner, he always went to the balcony. But today he wanted to go to the park outside.
He descended the stairs and made his way towards the park. The small park was a part of the apartment where he lived. As expected, there's no one around the park. He decided to sit at one of the benches.
Kaito sat down and closed his eyes. The gentle night breeze felt really good. The night was tranquil and much to his liking.
"Oh. Hello there, Kobayashi-kun."
When he opened his eyes, his neighbor was standing there. She was wearing a U-neck, button-up blouse, and a chino skirt with a white ribbon belt giving her a clean and classy look.
She had a grocery bag clutched in her hands, probably ingredients for dinner.
"What are you doing here, all alone?"
"Just enjoying the night."
When he replied she didn't say anything. For a while, the sound of the night breeze was the only thing that could be heard.
"Um…"
"Yes?"
She said, breaking the silence.
"Do you have any dinner plans?"
"I have already had my dinner."
"Huh?!"
She seemed a bit disappointed. She was the one who lectured him that he should eat properly. And when he did have a decent dinner, she was disappointed. After a while, that expression turned into frustration. Maybe she thought that he again had those drinks as his dinner, that's why she seemed frustrated that he didn't take her advice to heart.
When he was about to tell her that he had a decent meal, he felt as if she just clicked her tongue.
"Is that so?"
She hung her head and swiftly headed towards the apartment, her steps pattering away.
"What the hell is up with this girl?" with that, a yawn escaped from his mouth. He was a bit sleepy because he had stayed up till late at night yesterday and his eyes also felt a bit heavy.
He slightly tilted his head backward, resting his head on the top of the bench, and closed his eyes.
*
Kaito slowly opened his heavy eyelids. Something soft was hitting his cheek. He remembered resting his head on the top of the bench and no way was it supposed to be this soft.
When he lifted his head to see what it was, his eyes widened.
He reflexively jumped back and landed on his butt. It hurt a bit.
"Why the hell are you here?!"
He cried at his neighbor who was sitting on the bench with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Oye. Don't dodge the question. I'm asking why the hell are you here? And what were you thinking doing that, huh?!"
The reason that Kaito felt a soft sensation earlier when he woke up was because his head was rested on her shoulders. This girl must have done that. No wonder he started feeling comfortable resting his head on the hard bench halfway through.
He shook his head from right to left and left to right in quick succession to see if anyone was around. Fortunately, there was no one else around and a sigh of relief escaped from his mouth.
When he looked at her, she played an innocent-looking face and replied.
"I was just loitering around the park when I saw you sleeping here with your head resting on the hard bench. Since I thought that your head will hurt if you continued resting your head at the hard surface, I lent you my shoulder."
After a slight pause, she raised her hand over her wide open mouth, and widened her eyes as if in surprise, and continued.
"Don't tell me that you wanted a lap pillow! I'm not that shameless, you know. "
She acted as if embarrassed, but her mischievous grin never left her face.
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Kaito slowly stood up and patted his back to remove the dust.
He didn't even spare a glance at her and made his way towards the lobby.
After reaching his floor, he looked down at the park. That girl was still sitting there hugging her knees.
That girl was probably enjoying that he was embarrassed.
He felt a bit annoyed at that fact. But he really was embarrassed. That's why he had made a swift escape.
Sitting down on the sofa inside his living room, Kaiti pressed his hand on his forehead.
"What the hell is wrong with me?"
He heaved a sigh.
He had promised himself that he won't involve himself with others. He had been doing well in that regard. But, for some reason, he always tended to act normal around this girl. He was frustrated that he wasn't able to uphold his conviction. But at the same time, some part of him was happy that there was someone around him whom he could act normal.
While thinking that, he didn't even realize that he was smiling.
"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me?"